Back on the porch, Brandon stopped with grocery bags in both hands.
“I need tonight to go smoothly. Understand?”
“Meaning I smile while you tell Mr. Prescott what a devoted family man you are?”
“Don’t start. It was a few women. It’s not like I fell in love.” He laughed. “They were guests, for pity’s sake! I slept with them, and that was all.”
I stared at him.
“So you risked your job too?”
He shifted the bags.
“And if I lose it, you lose too. You and the girls. So you’re not going to do anything stupid.”
He carried the groceries inside. I stood on the porch a moment longer, and I knew exactly what my next move would be.
That evening, when Kelsey arrived to collect the twins, I put my suitcase beside their bags in her trunk.
“You can come now,” she said. “You don’t have to sit through dinner.”
Through the window, I could see Brandon arranging wineglasses. She was offering everything she could. I wished it were enough to stop me from being afraid.
I kissed both girls before Kelsey drove away. Then I went inside to finish the meal.
Mr. Prescott arrived at seven carrying wine. He shook Brandon’s hand, and Russell clapped them both on the back.
“A man who puts family first,” Russell announced over the roast. “This job means he can be here for his wife and daughters.”
Mr. Prescott smiled at me. “You must be pleased.”
Brandon grinned.
“Moving ashore gives my family everything they need. Tell him, babe.”
He wanted me to help sell the story, and he trusted my fear of losing his paycheck to keep me smiling.
I wasn’t going to do that.
“Have you told Mr. Prescott about the guests?”
Brandon stared at me.
“The women you described on our porch.”
“Jenna, come on.”
“This is neither the time nor the place,” Russell said.
I put my phone beside my plate. Brandon reached toward it.
“You’re really doing this?”
I moved it closer to me and pressed play on the doorbell camera recording of our conversation.
“They were guests, for pity’s sake! I slept with them, and that was all.”
Mr. Prescott looked at Brandon.
“That was private,” Brandon said quickly. “We were having an argument. I was winding her up.”
“Were you involved with passengers while you were working aboard?”
Brandon’s shoulders dropped.
“I’m sorry, sir. I made mistakes. It won’t happen again. Please give me another chance.”
I sat holding my phone. He’d found the apology he couldn’t give me at the terminal.
Mr. Prescott pushed back his chair.
“You know the rules. How could you do this?”
“Please. My girls…”
“You won’t start the shore position Monday. Send me that recording, Jenna. I’ll take this up with HR first thing.”
He left his wine untouched and stood. Brandon followed him to the hall, still talking. I heard the front door close.
Brandon came back.
“You’ve cost me the job. How are we going to support those girls now?”
My mouth went dry. He was asking the question I hadn’t stopped asking myself.
“She’s endangered this whole family,” Russell said. “To get even.”
I picked up my purse.
“The girls are with Kelsey. I’m staying there too.”
“For how long?” Brandon demanded.
“She’s given us six weeks.”
“And then what?” Russell asked. “Two babies, Jenna. This isn’t just about you.”
“I know it isn’t. I tried to work out how to stay, but you care more about your ‘male needs’ than about this family.”
Brandon stepped closer, his face changing.
“I’ll change. I swear. Family comes first from now on.”
I wanted to believe him. I wanted the man I’d seen humming to Piper to mean it.
“Stay while we sort it out,” he said. “You don’t have to do this on your own.”
My hand tightened around the purse strap. If I stayed, I could put off the spare room and the fear of having nowhere to go when the six weeks ended.
But I’d already seen how easily he broke a promise when keeping it became inconvenient.
“I hope you do change,” I said. “I’m still leaving.”
Russell started to speak. I walked out before I could be persuaded to sit down again.
Kelsey’s spare room barely held us, with two portable cribs squeezed between the bed and the window.
That first night, I settled Piper, then Quinn, and lay down with my suitcase still unpacked.
Brandon’s dismissal was confirmed on Monday. I returned to work that week and began arranging the separation. Money and parenting arrangements remained unresolved, and there was still no deposit for a place of our own.
On Monday evening, I was putting away bottles when Kelsey knocked softly on the bedroom door.
“Come eat.”
Two plates of pasta waited on the kitchen table. I sat across from her and picked up my fork.
Eventually, the twins and I moved into our own small place.
Brandon and I divorced. His father got him a job working at a restaurant owned by a friend.
Last week, Kelsey introduced me to her new neighbor. We’re going on a date tomorrow night.
This is definitely not where I thought life would take me, but I’m happier than I’ve ever been.
