Eight by Jane Blythe

Author:Jane Blythe [Blythe, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jane Blythe
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

10:10 P.M.

“I’m going to bed,” Ryan announced.

“Okay, goodnight,” Sofia said stiffly. She has spent the evening working, finalizing details for the charity ball and attending to other things she’d been procrastinating on. She had someone who did all the finances for the center, and people who took care of the administration side of things, but in the end, it was her center and she made sure that she went over everything.

“Are you coming?” her husband asked.

“No, I’m still working.” She knew she couldn’t keep making excuses to avoid Ryan. Last night having all the kids had meant they were busy enough that there wasn’t any time where he could get her alone.

Tonight, it was just the four of them and avoiding him had been much harder. They had eaten dinner as a family then watched one of the kids’ favorite movies. Together she and Ryan had put Sophie and Ned to bed, tucked them in, read to them, then she had immediately announced she had work to do. She had expected him to try to push her to talk the second they were alone, but he hadn’t. He just turned on the TV and watched sports.

“Where are you sleeping tonight? Our bed or the couch?” he asked her. He was always one to be direct and not bother with beating around the bush.

She could lie and hope that Ryan was already asleep before he realized that she wasn’t going to join him, but in the end, he was going to find out anyway. “The couch.”

Ryan sighed and ran his hands through his blond hair. Then he directly met her eye. “I understand that taking a human life, no matter how justified—and what you did was justified—takes a toll on you. I get it. I do. I’ve been there. But shutting me out and withdrawing isn’t helping you. I know you’d usually talk to Laura at a time like this, but since you can’t, you have to find someone else to open up to. You can’t keep going on like this.”

Sofia felt herself bristle.

Why was Ryan always so understanding?

Couldn’t he just leave her alone and let her wallow in the stifling depression that was settling over her?

“You can talk to me, Sofia.” He took a tentative step toward her. “I’m right here. I know what you’re going through. I’ll listen to anything you have to say. I’ll give you my opinion, or if you just need to vent without me saying anything, then you can do that too. Whatever you need, but you have to do something.”

Maybe she should.

Maybe he was right.

Maybe isolating herself wasn’t the right thing to do.

It would be so easy; all she had to do was start talking. Ryan was a good listener. And really, she didn’t need him to say anything. She just needed to talk and keep talking until she figured out why shooting Deacon Staines was affecting her this way.

She should do it.

She knew that.

Instead, what came out of her mouth was, “I just need some space right now.

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