A Step Closer to Love

“Mom, why don’t you tell me the truth?” Kieran asked as he drove her home.

She looked better than when he had first seen her. It was as if life had suddenly returned to her. Her face looked brighter and she was getting better, she had calmed down and the tears ceased as well.

“What truth?” she asked looking out the window to avoid any form of eye contact they might have.

“About what happened”

“Nothing happened,” she said trying her best to sound happy as possible. “I had not been exercising for a while now so I decided to just take a little walk around the neighbourhood”

“Nas you found yourself forty minutes away?”

“Yeah”

“Forty minutes drive away from the house?” he asked again.

“Yeah”

“If you were taking a walk why did you call me then?”

“Turns out I left my phone at home and could not figure out the way back home” She lied.

Kieran could easily detect that lie, she was always so good with directions and she had been living in the city throughout her adulthood it would not be that hard to locate her house.

Everly began to regret obeying her impulsive thoughts to call him. Maybe she should have endured it a bit and then found her way home when she felt stable enough. She did not have to trouble her son because of something her husband did.

“Mom, I will try to understand because this is the first time this is happening but if it is something we need to address immediately please let me know” he said and she nodded.

She felt herself tearing up again and she yawned and let out a loud scream. She glanced at the dashboard and noticed it was almost lunchtime.

“Oh my god, it’s almost lunchtime” she exclaimed.

“It is” Kieran replied his eyes dashing to the dashboard quickly.

“When you drop me off I will whip something quickly for yourself and Arabella make sure to give it to her.

“I don’t think I would be able to wait for that,” Kieran said.

“Please” she let out in a low squeak. She did not want to be left alone in the house with her husband but she did not want him to know anything. It was only the first time and it wouldn’t happen again, she was sure of it. It had to be a mistake.

“Okay,” Kieran said. He did not want to ask any further questions since she didn’t want to tell him anything more. Her please sounded like a cry for help.

“That’s good” she said clapping her hands together. “I will make a delicious meal” she added with a smile. “I have to make up for taking up your time while you were at work”

“It’s no problem at all, call me anytime,” Kieran said.

Everly always knew her son to be distant and cold but seeing him be this expressive put her in a bit of shock.

“What do you want to eat? Anything special? I would make them all” Everly said.

“Anything you make is special to me”

“Everly,” Ethan said as he saw her come down from the car. He did not know the direction to go to search for her so all he did was wait outside in the cold barefooted.

“Hey honey,” she said and he was taken aback. She wanted to run away but she had to pretend in front of her child. He was not even young she wondered why she was doing all this for him.

“What?” he let out in a shriek.

“You must have been worried” she said going to stand before him. “I got lost on my way out for a walk and I asked Kieran to come to get me, I guess I must be getting old seeing that I don’t know how to tell directions again” Everly rambled.

“What are you doing?” Ethan asked with a fearful voice.

“Do you want Kieran to know what happened? Just play along” she said in a hushed whisper.

“Oh,” he said with no voice as he nodded. He knew he was in the wrong but he had to make sure to keep this away from him.

He wanted to apologize but he didn’t see the right time to do it. The very moment will expose him to his son.

“I then asked him to come with me home so I could get him a packed lunch as well,” Everly said.

Ethan saw her eyes, he knew she was uncomfortable and she was telling him that the reason she brought Keiran home was because of the fear for him that gripped her heart.

“I will assist you in the kitchen,” Ethan said.

“I can manage myself,” Everly said with gritted teeth.

“If you say so” Ethan agreed without making a fuss out of the situation.

Everly walked into the house holding her breath. It had only been a place of good memories to her but now as she looked inside she could not help but feel like someone or something was about to break her heart into a million billion little pieces.

“Kieran, why don’t you help me in the kitchen?” Everly asked.

“I will be with you in a minute, I need to ask Dad something” Kieran said.

Everly nodded her head and headed for the kitchen. She knew that by the time Kieran left she would be alone with him in the house. She did not know what to do, should she run away or should she stay with him and talk it out?

“Dad, what happened?” Kieran asked as they entered the study room.

“What do you mean?” Ethan asked biting the corner of his lips.

“Why did Mom walk such a distance and why did she look so sad”

“What did she say?” Ethan asked. Kieran could see the nervousness in his face and voice. He felt uncomfortable about the topic. it was as if he wanted to run far away from the scene.

“She refused to tell me anything”

“Nothing happened,” Ethan said dismissively.This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Dad!” Kieran said with a strong voice.

“We are both fine, trust me on that”