I smiled on the day my husband finalized our divorce and married the woman he had been seeing behind my back while I was eight months pregnant.

harbor thawed.

The boys turned five beneath a sky filled with gulls and pale sunlight. Nathan helped Emily prepare a backyard party with dinosaur hats, pirate cupcakes, and a crooked banner that read HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN AND ELLIOT.

He stared at the banner for a long time.

Emily stood beside him. “You okay?”

“I missed four of these.”

“Yes.”

He swallowed.continue reading …