Free Reconciled for Easter by Noelle Adams

didn’t give her the chance to even finish the sentence. “I have to leave. I’ll give you a call when the plane lands. Give Mia a kiss for me.”
    And then he just turned around and walked for the door.
    “Don’t leave, Thomas,” she called after him, her voice almost a plea. “Please don’t leave me.”
    Thomas closed the door quietly behind him, and the sound seemed to signal his final answer, the nature of their marriage, their entire future.
    Don’t leave me. Baby, please don’t leave me .
    ***
    I can’t do this without you. I really can’t do this without you.
    The words were still coming from outside her and then turning into something she said. This time, it was during the last of the marriage counseling sessions they’d done before Christmas.
    Since they’d both quickly fallen into angry accusations today, Lorraine, the counselor, asked them to start using “I” statements.
    “I understand what you’re saying,” Abigail said, slowly, working hard to keep her emotions under control. “But I can’t do this without you. I know I was always too jealous and insecure, and I know it wasn’t fair of me to blame you for it. But it’s one part of the whole picture of our relationship, so it’s not something I can work through on my own. I can’t fix this without you.”
    “Am I asking you to fix it on your own?” Thomas’s shoulders were stiff, and his face was unrevealing—sure signs that he was upset and defensive.
    Lorraine lifted her eyebrows, but before she could say anything, Thomas rephrased, “I don’t understand why you think I’ve expected you to fix it on your own. I’m here twice a week to work through this with you.”
    Abigail thought for a minute so she could say what came next in the clearest way possible, her hands twisting in her lap. “I know you’re here. I really appreciate it. I know you want to work through this as much as I do. But every time I try to explain how I feel or what wasn’t working for me, I don’t feel like you’ve really heard me.”
    “Of course, I’ve heard you.” Thomas’s voice was soft and rough, and his expression twisted slightly with impatience. “I’ve heard it over and over again for more than a year now. How many times do we have to go over it?”
    The words—his clear frustration with her and the implication that she was the only one with the real problem—hurt so much she froze, focused down on her clenched hands.
    Lorraine said gently, “Okay. Maybe you can explain to Abigail what it is you’ve heard from her about your marriage.”
    Thomas took a ragged breath and shifted in the upholstered chair. “You left me because…” When Lorraine cleared her throat, he stopped and began again. “I understand that you left because you wanted more than you had.”
    This was so unexpected—and so completely wrong—that Abigail stared at her husband. “I wanted more than I had?”
    He’d been meeting her eyes, but now he looked away. “You wanted to work. You wanted this job. You wanted me to spend more time with Mia. You wanted more independence. I understand that. And I keep telling you that I’m okay with it.” His voice thickened with the last words, matching the tightly repressed feeling in his face.
    “But you’re angry,” she began. Then remembered the “I” statements. “I feel like you’re angry about it—even now. Like you’re just going to put up with me so you can have a wife back, but it’s not really me you want.”
    Thomas released a brief sound of frustration and rubbed his face. “I don’t care if you work. You never wanted to before we got married, but I don’t care . I’m not your father, and I’m really tired of you assuming I’m just as narrow-minded as he is.”
    Abigail was again consumed with the reality that he wasn’t hearing her at all, he didn’t understand her at all. He thought all of this was just about her job and the time he spent with Mia.
    He really believed that was their whole