“You’re crying because he’s leaving.”
But over the past year, I had started wrapping up his dinner before I even sat down to eat mine.
He missed Thanksgiving, our anniversary, and our daughter Olive’s eighth birthday.
Sometimes he didn’t come home at all.
“We’re short-staffed, honey. Please don’t wait up.”
Whenever he finally crawled into bed, he looked so exhausted I swallowed every complaint.
Once, I woke to find him sitting on the edge of the mattress, his shoulders shaking.
“We’re short-staffed, honey.”
“Ben?”
He wiped his face before turning around.
“Rough night, Chels. Go back to sleep.”
***
So that Tuesday, after watching him leave with his hospital badge clipped to his pocket, I decided to surprise him.
I packed his favorite lunch, added the apple pie, and tucked in the note.
“Go back to sleep.”
Then I drove to the hospital, imagining how happy he’d be to see me.
Instead, I found Arnold nearly crying.
“Where’s Ben?” I asked.
Arnold hesitated.
“Chelsea, you should talk to him.”
“I plan on doing that. Where is he? Not in surgery?”
“Chelsea, you should talk to him.”
He pointed down the hall.
I walked away before he could say anything else.
***
Ben’s office door was partly open.
I pushed it wider.
A folder lay open on his desk.
One page showed an Oregon address. Another showed a start date six weeks away.
He pointed down the hall.
Ben’s office looked half-erased.
Two shelves were bare. His books sat in boxes by the wall. The framed photo of Olive and me was wrapped in newspaper, and the mug she’d painted for him was already packed.
“Chelsea?”
I turned.
Ben stood in the doorway holding a coffee.
“Chelsea?”
I looked from him to the boxes.
“You accepted a job in Oregon?”
His face changed.
“I was going to tell you everything!”
“Chelsea, let me explain.”
I held up the lunch bag.
“You accepted a job in Oregon?”
“I brought you your favorite sandwich and apple pie because I thought you were exhausted. Meanwhile, you’ve been packing up your office.”
He set the coffee down.
“I haven’t finished packing.”
“That’s supposed to help me, Ben?”
“No.”
“I haven’t finished packing.”
“When were you planning to tell Olive?”
His mouth tightened.
“After I told you.”
“And when were you planning to tell me?”
“Tonight.”
“After you applied?”
“And when were you planning to tell me?”
He nodded.
“After you interviewed?”
Another nod.
“After you accepted?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“When did this start?”
“After you interviewed?”
“Four months ago.”
“Four months.”
“I didn’t know I’d get it. It was a long shot, Chels.”
“But when you did, you kept going without me. You never even told me it was an idea.”
“The position has fewer overnight calls, actual weekends, and better hours. They want me to lead part of the department.”
“It was a long shot, Chels.”
“And you thought that gave you the right to decide where we live? You thought you’d uproot our child and everything would be okay? What about my job, Ben?”
“I thought it gave us a way out of this. We’ve barely had time together.”
I stepped closer.
“Then why wasn’t I in the conversation?”
His jaw tightened.
“We’ve barely had time together.”
“Because I thought you’d reject it before hearing me out.”
There it was.
He’d decided what I would think before I ever got to think it.
“So you didn’t want my opinion,” I said. “You wanted me to approve the plan once there was nothing left to discuss.”
“Chelsea, I’m trying to save us.”
“No. You’re trying to solve us by doing everything yourself. As usual.”
“So you didn’t want my opinion.”
I picked up the lunch bag.
“I’m not moving. And I’m not messing up Olive’s school year.”
His head snapped up.
“What?”
“I’m not saying never. I’m saying you made this decision alone, so right now I’m making my own.”
Then I walked out before he could make another one for me.
“I’m not moving.”
I made it to my car before the tears came.
Five minutes later, Arnold tapped on the window.
I lowered it.
“Please don’t explain my husband to me.”
“I won’t. But don’t assume he took that job just because it paid more.”
“I didn’t.”
Arnold tapped on the window.
“He thought he was fixing something.”
“Then he should’ve spoken to the person he was fixing it for.”
Arnold nodded.
“On that, I’m with you.”
***
Ben arrived before Olive finished dinner.
She looked between us.
“He thought he was fixing something.”
“Are you guys mad at each other?”
“We’re upset,” I said. “But it’s adult stuff.”
Ben nodded.
