Free For Life by L.E. Chamberlin Page B

to finish my thought, because Sophie starts fussing and Renée goes to get her up, and then the little ones pile in the door from school. Addie has a very dramatic story about a boy in her reading group, Jacob needs help with his worksheet, and Noah is being Noah. For about the millionth time I marvel at Renée’s ability to cope. Noah asks if his daddy is coming back tonight and I hear her explain calmly that he isn’t coming back and that he’s in Heaven. I try to put myself in her shoes, and I honestly don’t think I could ever do it. Divorce was hard enough. But death? I don’t think I have it in me to make it through that.
    When I get back to Donna’s, she’s up playing Uno with the kids. She looks a bit more rested and she’s gotten her hair done, which is a good sign. I was shocked when we arrived and she didn’t already have her hair touched up, because that’s very unlike my mother-in-law. She’s always been meticulously groomed, so seeing her take care of herself again is reassuring.
    “Dad’s at the hardware store,” Caden pipes up. I see that he’s wearing his retainer and lean in to kiss the top of his head. “Thanks for remembering, Bud.”
    “About Dad?” I’ve confused him.
    “No, your retainer.”
    “Oh, right. Yeah.”
    “Grady’s getting a light bulb for the oven,” Donna tells me, as though I should know the particulars of his business at the hardware store. She never broke her habit of talking to me like I’m still his wife, and she makes no bones about telling me every holiday season - thankfully, not in front of my kids - that she thinks we should get back together.
    “Oh,” I reply politely. “That’s good of him.”
    “You know how handy he is,” she says casually, laying down her cards. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her. Although he is very handy, changing an oven light bulb hardly requires a great deal of skill. Even I can do that. But she just can’t help herself. I take this as a sign she’s feeling better and let it go.
    Caden wins and Chloe has just dealt me in to the new game when I hear the front door and Grady’s footfall in the hallway.
    “Find everything okay, son?” Donna asks when he strides into the kitchen, bringing the bite of frost with him. The faintest hint of cedar wafts around him, and I remember how much I always loved the way he smelled. He nods at his mother, then slips off his jacket and rolls up the sleeves on his flannel shirt before breaking open the package.
    “You needed new windshield wipers,” he says nonchalantly as he pulls the racks out of the oven. “I picked some up, so when I’m done with this I’ll go put them on.”
    “But they just replaced everything last week at the shop,” Donna protests.
    “Not your car,” he grunts from halfway in the oven. “The Camry.”
    The Camry . My car.
    “Um… Grady, that’s nice of you, but…”
    “You can’t drive the kids around with those wipers.”
    Is he implying that I’m a bad parent? That I’m careless with the kids’ safety? My hackles rise. “First of all—”
    But he cuts me off. “I’m sure you already had an appointment set up at the dealership. But they’ll charge you way more than you need to pay, and it’ll take me two seconds.” He’s already crumpling up the trash and closing the oven door.
    It’s hard to be angry when he’s obviously trying to help, but it’s so strange to have my ex-husband suddenly doing odds and ends for me as if we’re still married.
    Just thank him, you ungrateful bitch , the voice in my head hisses, and I choke out what I hope is a passable mumble of gratitude. I notice Donna watching me, and she looks… wistful? I’m reminded that she just lost her son, that family is so important to her, and that a new set of windshield wipers hardly puts me in debt to Grady, especially after some of the things that happened between us at the end of our marriage.
    “I really do appreciate it,” I call after him, but he’s