Lily had been awake since 4:50.
By eight, Brandon looked wrecked.
“I barely slept,” he complained automatically.
Then he stopped.
We stared at each other.
He gave one embarrassed nod.
“I heard it,” he said.
“Good.”
He never used that complaint against me again.
The hardest conversation happened during counseling three weeks later.
The therapist asked Brandon why he had taken the fishing trip after I explicitly told him I was overwhelmed.
He gave three answers before reaching the real one.
The guys had planned it months ago.
He needed a break.
He thought I could manage.
Then the therapist asked why his need for a break automatically outranked mine.
Brandon stared at the floor.
Finally, he said, “Because I assumed hers wasn’t going anywhere.”
I felt something cold move through me.
He explained.
His friends’ trip had a date.
My exhaustion was always there.
So in his mind, mine could wait until tomorrow.
