Chapter 85

“You’re leaving?” Emma’s voice came out smaller than she intended.

Alek was standing in their bedroom doorway with a suitcase in his hand, looking like a stranger. “Just for a while. To think.”

“To Stockholm. With her.”

“It’s a consulting project, Emma. Work.”

“Right. Work.” Emma sat on the edge of their bed, the bed they’d shared for five years, watching him pack like her world wasn’t ending. “How long?”

“I don’t know. A few weeks, maybe.”

“A few weeks.”

Alek paused in his packing. “Emma, we can’t keep doing this. We can’t keep hurting each other.”

“So you’re running away.”

“I’m taking space before we say things we can’t take back.”

“I think we already said those things.”

Alek’s shoulders slumped. “Yeah. Maybe we did.”

From downstairs, they could hear Charlotte and Frankie playing in the living room, completely unaware that their family was falling apart above their heads.

“What do we tell the kids?” Emma