Married to a Boy-Band

32

Harper and I got on the plane the next morning, bright and early. No one had been awake when I left the hotel, but there hadn’t been anyone to say goodbye to anyway. I had slept on the couch, fitfully. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I had abandoned Chase. Harper happily followed along, excited to be taking a plane ride. I tried to keep my spirits up for her, but it was hard. Instead of going to California, we went back home to Michigan. Jane had mentioned that we were always welcome to stay and I was ready to take her up on the offer. Darwin was staying with her while we toured anyway.

We made it to Michigan without too much of a commotion and then took a cab to Jane’s house. She still lived in the same house she had had for ages and it came with a lot of memories for me. As I knocked on the familiar white door, I felt a wave of grief for my younger self, who would have walked right in. The door opened and Tom appeared. I gasped at his appearance. I hadn’t seen him in a year or so and he had aged almost ten. His hair was almost all white now and all his laugh lines had turned to wrinkles. He studied me with a confused expression, a small smile on his face. Unfortunately, he hadn’t put on any clothes and was standing at the door in only his underwear.

“Hello, darling, can’t seem to place you at the moment,” he said.

I felt tears come to my eyes. Tom had dotted on Harper the minute he laid eyes on her. Now, he didn’t even recognize her. I heard some loud yelling and a second later Jane was at the door.

“Oh my! Thyme, Harper, how lovely to see you. I’m sorry, Tom was still in the process of getting changed.”

She ushered us in quickly and led Tom away.

“Darwin is waiting out back,” she called.

I looked around the house in surprise – it was nothing like it had been before. Dirty dishes and trash was scattered around the open living room. Jane had always kept a tidy home. It seemed caregiving had finally gotten the best of her. I opened up the screen door that led to the backyard and let in a jumpy Darwin. He whined and exclaimed at seeing us and I kneeled down to hug him. I had missed the ease in which he loved me.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t expecting company,” Jane said as she bustled into the room.

She looked exhausted – huge bags hung underneath her eyes and her hair was greasy and limp. Not knowing what else to do, I hugged her.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She broke down sobbing in my arms. My heart melted onto the floor. I hadn’t realized how bad it was for her. We stayed like that for at least ten minutes, her tears soaking into my shirt. Finally, I had to sit her down on the couch.

“What can I do?” I asked.

She shook her head, not wanting to say anything, so I started cleaning. I cleaned up all the trash and clutter and put all the dishes into the dishwasher. I dusted, I vacuumed. I did everything I could think of. Jane took Harper out of the room and Darwin followed suite. They all knew to stay away from me once I started cleaning. While I was picking up some loose papers I noticed the letter from the bank. Normally, I wouldn’t have read it, but I was worried about Jane. My heart stopped as I read the words on the page – she had missed some mortgage payments. I heard footsteps and quickly pushed the paper aside. My mind was spinning. I wasn’t sure what to do. I wanted to help her out, but I didn’t want to let her know that I was snooping. Hoping to forget about it, I continued to clean.

When the house was clean, I went to the kitchen to make some food. There wasn’t anything fresh in the fridge, so I started a list for the grocery store. Jane came back in while I was writing.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” she said, voice soft.

“Of course. Anything I can grab you from the grocery store?” I asked.