He Erased Me From The Photo I Erased Him From My Life Chapter 05
Owen spent the entire afternoon at the park with Lucy.
As the evening sun spread across the lake, Sloane brushed bits of grass from his shoulder and said softly, “Thanks for today. Lucy hasn’t been this happy in a long time.”
“Mm-hm.”
Owen looked down at his phone, a knot of exhaustion tightening in his chest.
He had sent Natalie three messages.
“I was too harsh earlier. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll figure something out about the papers. Sloane really didn’t do it on purpose.”
“I’ll be home later. We need to talk.”
All three showed as delivered, but none had been read.
At first, he assumed she was busy talking to lawyers. But as the hours stretched on, a vague, nameless unease began to settle over him.
He suddenly remembered that morning at the clerk’s office.
When Sloane had called about her car, and he’d gotten up to leave, Natalie had only said, calmly, “She can call an Uber.”
She hadn’t argued. She hadn’t tried to stop him. There hadn’t even been any anger in her eyes—just a quiet resignation, as if she had already known what he would choose.
At the time, he had just thought she was being unreasonable.
After dark, he drove Sloane and Lucy home. Lucy had fallen asleep in the back. Leaning against the passenger seat, Sloane said softly, “Thank God you were there.”
“You should get the car serviced,” Owen said, his voice flat.
Sloane smiled. “As long as you’re around, I’m not afraid of anything.”
Owen didn’t answer.
Thinking back on it now, he had the sudden, chilling feeling that maybe, in that moment, Natalie had stopped expecting anything from him at all.