Unexpected Eva (Triple Trouble #3)(31)

“He was roaring throughout the house, scaring my poor kids half to death. The entire street heard him.” She turns her head to me. “I’m surprised you don’t know this already. No one can keep their mouths shut in Castleview.”

“I honestly didn’t know any of this, Eva.”

She looks away again and starts fiddling with the cover between her fingers. “Well, anyway, I called his parents to come and take him away. Eventually he left, kicking and screaming profanities my way. The words he spat I will never forget. His deplorable tirade of next level verbal abuse will stay with me forever. I can’t forgive him. He vowed I would regret what I was doing. Informed me I was making the wrong choice and I would beg him to take me back.”

She stops to think for a moment, and I give her the space.

“But something peculiar happened. I didn’t feel any pain when he left. Or heartbreak. I felt relieved.” She raises her hands to the sky with elation, slapping them back on the bed again. “I changed the locks on the house. We were safe. For the first time in months, I felt like me and my boys could finally thrive again. I knew deep down Ewan’s behavior while intoxicated was becoming more and more unacceptable as the weeks went on, and I wasn’t sure what he would do next. Forget to pick the boys up from day care and school? Spend all our money on alcohol? Would he drive while under the influence with the boys in the car?” She groans. “I am glad I ended it before I got the chance to find out.”

I’m fucking glad she did, too.

Her tone changes to a faint whisper. “When I closed the door on our marriage, I felt light. Calm. Like someone sprinkled solace across my shoulders and my worries floated away. My beautiful, cheerful boys were no longer exposed to Ewan’s stumbling throughout the house, calling me names, aggressive outbursts, slurring his words, and saying inappropriate things to them. I could finally breathe again. In an instant, our home life changed.”

Her voice becomes stronger with every word she speaks next. “And goddammit, if I have to hug my boys extra tight at night, shower them with kisses and love, explain that it’s just us three now, and that we are going to be okay, I will do all of that and more to keep them safe and let them know I love them every single day of every single minute of their lives. I will fight for them.”

Her chest heaves up and down at her lengthy recital. She turns back onto her side to face me again, tucking her hands prayer-style under her cheek against the pillow.

“But I'm heartbroken. For my boys. For never getting to know the man I know Ewan once was. Archie at least got a glimmer of him, but little Hamish will never get to see what a fine man his father once was. Funny, smart, handsome. He loved me. Once. I know he did because I felt it. In the beginning, his love was passionate and deep. Ewan always made me his priority.

“I keep wishing that one morning I will wake up to a text message from Ewan that isn’t vulgar or gut-wrenching. That he’ll stop calling me names, stop shooting small incomprehensible jabs and digs my way. A text that simply says, I’m getting help. That’s all I hope for. Not for me. But for my boys. I don’t love him anymore. Not romantically.”

Automatically I reach out and pull her in close to me, hoping I can pour my feelings into her through my embrace.

My curiosity gets the better of me. “Have you received text messages from Ewan this weekend while you’ve been here?”

“Yeah. Dozens. It’s like his signature thing now. I can’t block him because, according to my lawyer, I have to keep the flow of communication open to arrange his visitation times. But it’s hard not to read those text messages and not believe them.”

“I don’t know what he’s saying in those text messages, Eva, but you can’t let him get to you. You are an excellent mother. One I wished Lincoln had. You are a beautiful woman with a heart of gold. You’re remarkable.”

Soft sobs break free from Eva’s chest.

“Hey, hey, Sunshine. I didn’t mean to upset you.” I tighten my supportive hug.

She whispers almost inaudibly, “Thank you for that. I feel like I failed, though. More than anything, I wanted us to be a tight family unit, but that was never meant to be. So me, Hamish, and Archie are a newly formed trio powerhouse. Or as me and my sisters would say, omne trium perfectum. It means everything that comes in threes is perfect. Archie loves when I say it. He reckons it makes us sound magical, like we are wizards and can achieve anything.” She giggles faintly and wipes her tears away with the back of her hand.

“Omne trium perfectum. I like that. I’ve never heard of that before,” I say, kissing the top of her head.

“It’s Latin.”

After pausing to give her time to recover from her heartbreaking story, I ask, “Are you okay, Eva?”

“Yeah, I will be. I’m mad though. Like inferno-burning, fury mad. I hate the building industry for taking a downturn in our area. I hate that Ewan was one of the hundred men who was laid off. I hate that he gave up and didn’t apply for other jobs. I hate that losing his job shone a light on his increasing alcohol dependency. It’s me I hate most of all, though. I hate myself for not doing anything about it sooner. Thinking it would stop or go away. That it would get better. But it didn’t.” She clenches her fist against my chest.

“None of this is your fault, Eva. Have you told your family all of this?” I hope she has.