I had turned my phone off as soon as Troy left, not really wanting to hear from any of them that night. As angry and hurt as I was by the way he had presented the issue, I couldn’t really deny how monumental of a problem it would be for him. He had lost out on his dream of joining the NFL and had found a new love and set of ambitions in teaching; he had expounded before on how much he enjoyed his job and the way it meant the world to him. If I had been told there was a chance I’d have to stop writing, to give up this piece of myself, I probably would have freaked out too.

It still hurt, though, realizing that we may be parting ways. Even when it was unrealistic, I figured most people in a relationship wanted to hear that they were special enough to leave everything else behind for. I had scrubbed most of the house spotless since the night before and was half-delirious with exhaustion. Unable to bear the happy chatter of my kids, I had sent them upstairs with their video games for a competition, promising brownies as a prize in a few hours. I felt terrible about it, having spent so long without them, but I knew that they were thrilled.

The front door flew open with a bang as I scrubbed at the gunk stuck to my oven, startling me so badly that I slammed my hand in the door. “What in the world?” I gaped at my daughter in shock as she stomped into the kitchen, fuming. I kept my sore hand cradled against my chest.

“Is it true?” She spat the words at me. Her hands were balled into fists, her usually ordered hair a mess as she glared at me.

“What in the world are you talking about?” I stood from my knelt position, tossing the sponge I’d been using to scrub with onto the counter. “And what in the world is with the tone, young lady?” I definitely did not need this right now. I was busy enough fretting about how Troy’s meeting had gone, wondering if I should turn my phone back on and see what they wanted. I knew Jenna would probably be here shortly since she hadn’t heard from me in hours.

“Everyone in town is talking about you. All the girls on the dance team and their moms. Phones are ringing constantly.” The words were pushed through gritted teeth, her fists clenching and unclenching rapidly.

“Talking about me?” My brain went blank for a moment, between stress and lack of sleep my processing abilities were nearly non-existent.

“You’re sleeping with three guys!” She screeched the words at me, her face twisted in anger and disgust. “Some of them are saying you ended up getting the football coach fired and now we won’t have a chance at state this year.”

I completely froze, unable to form any words at all. They had actually fired Troy? Oh, I felt like such a bitch. I hadn’t even had my phone on so he could let me know, so I could comfort him in any way I could. Maybe I could march down there and have a word with the board, there was no way that this was legal.

“Would you stop thinking with your pants and actually pay attention to me!” The words were hissed out.

I turned my attention to my daughter, fighting the urge to clench my own fists. “First of all, young lady, you will stop screaming at me at once. I understand you’re mad at me, but this is not appropriate in any way.”

She sneered, shaking her head. “Like you have any right to lecture me on what’s appropriate. You’re sleeping with three guys. I thought Dad was embarrassing enough.”

“You’ll mind your tongue,” I snapped at her. “Be angry all you like, though what I do privately is nothing that you have a right to judge.”

“So you are sleeping with them.” Awe and disgust mingled. “You aren’t even denying it.”

“I spent some time with a few different guys this summer,” I hedged, unwilling to discuss my sex life with my teenage daughter, especially when she was throwing accusations at me. “I was starting to date again.”

“There’s a difference between dating and whoring around.”

“Brooke Chloe Lions.” Brooke winced as I threw her full name at her, my hands going to my hips. “You are officially grounded. You have the right to be angry, but I don’t care how old or angry you get, you can never talk to or about me like that.”

“What do you expect me to do?” Exasperation was clear as she threw her hands in the air. “I have football players texting me asking me if I’m as kinky as my mother and if I want to come party with them. All the girls on the dance team are whispering about me. Their moms are asking if I’m safe at home, if I’m being abused here.”

I felt dizzy for a moment, unable to breathe by the sudden weight that had landed on my chest. “I’ll talk to them. I can change your number.”

“What good will that do? Do I just not give my number out to anyone, ever again? If I give it to one person you know it’ll be given to other people. Did you think about what this would do to me at all, or were you only thinking about yourself? We moved here because of you. Dad left because you didn’t want to keep faking things anymore. We’re stuck in this tiny little town all because of your choices, and now you’ve screwed that over again too!”

“What’s going on?” Jake’s voice held a quiver, and I strode forward to see them standing in the hall. Cal was clutching tightly to his brother’s arm, both of their eyes were wide as they watched Brooke seethe.

“Go on back upstairs, guys. I’ll bring some snacks up later.” I tried to offer a smile.

“What are you going to do about them?” Brooke jumped in.

“Brooke, quiet,” I snapped.

She laughed, the sound harsh and bitter rather than full of humor. “You really think they aren’t going to hear about it? You think they’ll be able to avoid it when school starts and everyone’s still talking about it, asking them questions?”

“Hear about what?” Cal’s eyes were full of tears, his voice quavering as he looked back and forth between us, clinging to his brother.

“Mom’s got three boyfriends.” She glared at me definitely as she spat the words at her brothers, and I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment before facing my boys.

Both boys eyes were wide as they studied me for a moment. “I’ll have three dads?” Cal didn’t seem upset, merely curious, even slightly hopeful, and my heart tore a little more.

“Honey, it’s not like that. We’re just friends, we go out sometimes to do fun things.” Cal’s face fell. I knew he missed his father and having any kind of adult male figure in his life, and he wasn’t old enough to understand Brooke’s version of things. Jake shifted, uncomfortable and unsure.

“Brooke, you need to stop. I’m going to call your aunt to come to stay here with the boys, and you and I can go talk.” I emphasized the final word, my anger at her throwing this in her brothers’ faces clear.

“Whatever.” She muttered the word.

I turned back to my sons, trying to offer a smile, grabbing my phone from the counter to turn it on. “Jenna can make some more snacks for you. She’ll—”

“You know it’s going to cause them to be pervs too, right?” Brooke interrupted me.

“Brooke! Upstairs!” I shot the words at my daughter, doing my best not to scream them. “I’ll talk to you when Jenna gets here. Give me your cell,” I demanded. Brooke scowled but complied. “No computer either!” I hollered up the stairs after her. I punched buttons on my phone, praying that Jenna would answer.

“Now you have time for me? Why the hell did you turn off your phone, I’ve been worried sick?” Jenna complained as she picked up her cell.

“Jenna, not right now. I need you over here.”

“Did he hurt you?” Jenna’s voice rose, and I could hear her banging around as if gathering her stuff.

“Of course not!” I knew the shock in my voice was clear and she seemed to calm for a moment. I couldn’t even imagine Troy hurting me.

“Are the kids okay? Do they need a hospital or something?” She seemed slightly calmer now, apparently convinced I would have been more frantic if that were truly the case.

“It’s not that. Brooke needs to talk to me.” I chose my words carefully as two sets of curious eyes, one set confused, one cautious, watched me. “She was given a little more information about my summer than I had planned.”

Jenna swore. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” I murmured my agreement and put the phone away, hearing it chime several times for missed messages and calls. I glance at the phone, unsure now.

“You have a boyfriend? Like Daddy has Joseph?” Jake’s words were soft.

I sighed, kneeling down so that I could be closer to their level. “I made some new friends.” I hesitated, deciding to explain a little more. “You know Alex.” Cal brightened at the mention of his new hero.

“He’s fun. He plays ball with us.” He looked excitedly at his brother, who slowly nodded.

“He is fun. I think so too,” I admitted. “He has friends too, and I met them. Now we’re all friends.”

“The guys who were here when we first got back from California?” Jake guessed, his head cocked as he thought it through. I nodded my confirmation. “Are you going to move in with them like Dad did with Joseph?”

I smiled shakily. “I don’t have any plans, hun. We’re just friends right now.” I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to say, but it wasn’t like I could go into detail with them being the ages they were. “For right now, can you just go play in the living room, please? We’ll wait for Jenna.”

“Ok.” Jake reluctantly agreed, grabbing his brother’s hand and leading him to the rear of the house. I snatched my cell phone, heading out onto the porch to wait for Jenna, pacing back and forth, glancing around frequently to see if anyone was staring at me. I couldn’t be sure which, if any, of my neighbors knew at this point, and all I could think about was that they were waiting to judge me or ask questions, to probe into my pain and confusion.

Jenna squealed up to the curb, slamming her door shut before jogging up to the porch and pulling me into a hug. She dragged me over to the small lounge I had near the door, sitting down with me. “What in the hell is going on, Em?” She cradled my hand in hers, supporting me entirely.

“Should we really talk out here?” I asked, glancing around again. Though I couldn’t see any of my neighbors, I was unsure if they were possibly around and may be able to hear more of this drama unfolding.

Jenna smiled wryly. “Apparently the cat’s out of the bag, so I don’t think hiding now is going to help anything. Help me understand what’s going on and we can make some decisions.”

I sighed, leaning my head back against the wall. “Brooke came home in a terrible temper. Apparently, the girls on her dance team and their moms were teasing her and probing her about my sex life. I don’t even know how they found out about it.” I was exasperated at this point, wanting to tear into these gossiping women who felt like pulling my children into my private issues.

Jenna sighed. “I don’t know, but we can find out eventually. Let’s just deal with what’s happening at the moment.”

“Brooke came in screaming and yelling. Making accusations about me being a pervert.” The words were shaky, and I swiped a hand across my forehead, whisking the sweat from my clammy skin. “About me ruining her life, and her brothers’. That they’d end up being perverts like me; that I’m just being selfish again.” I could feel the tears welling as I repeated the harsh words she’d thrown in my face.

Jenna hissed, rubbing her fingers against her forehead. “You know she didn’t really mean those things. She’s like me. She has a seriously wicked temper.” I shrugged, trying to acknowledge it though I wasn’t truly able to. “Look, talking to her now isn’t going to do any good. Why don’t you let her come to stay with me for a few days? I’ll talk with her, try to talk some sense into her.”

“She’s right though.” I felt drained, so exhausted I could barely hold up my head. “I was selfish. I knew there was a possibility of backlash, but I figured it would be on our own terms. That I could talk to the children separately, that we could all be prepared if anything happened. Now with Troy…” I trailed off, shaking my head.

“You never did tell me what that was about,” Jenna encouraged, rubbing at my shoulder now.

“I should have known last night, after he told me, that the kids may hear something,” I admitted. “Troy was so upset because the school board had apparently found out about his relationship with me, someone had brought it to their attention, and they were threatening to fire him.”

“God.” Jenna shook her head. “Everything’s just snowballing, I see.” She shook her head dejectedly. “Did he actually lose his job, or was it just a threat?”

“I haven’t talked to him yet.” I winced slightly as I realized how cruel that made me. “I’ve been avoiding my phone, just not wanting to talk to anyone.”

“So you don’t know who told the school board?” Her voice had a calculating edge, her head tilted as she considered. “Not that many people knew about you, right? You rarely went out in public as a group.”

I murmured in agreement. “It’s fairly obvious who’s most likely to have told on us,” I pointed out to her.

Jenna snorted. “Libby.” She spat the name. I nodded my agreement.

“We just had that confrontation, she threatened me already. She definitely knew about the relationship.”

“I really should have kicked the living daylights out of her,” Jenna growled. “If she did this, she’s going to get what’s coming to her.”

“I can’t deal with that right now.” I knew I’d want more details in the future, would need to deal with this insane woman who would seek to destroy so many lives. Today wasn’t the time for that though.

“I’ll go grab Brooke. Want me to take Cal and Jake as well?” she offered, pushing to her feet.

I hesitated, unsure. I didn’t want Brooke telling them more than they needed to know, especially because I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about it yet. At the same time, if they wanted to go, I didn’t want to hold them back. They’d already had quite a shock today, and if they’d prefer to be with their aunt the way their sister wanted to be I didn’t feel I had a right to hold them back from that.

“You can ask them.” I decided. Jenna ducked inside and, exhausted, I simply leaned back against the wall, letting the stickily hot August air slap against my skin.

Jenna stepped back outside a few minutes later, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. “Brooke’s going to come with me. I told her to pack a few things in a bag. I made it clear that it’s just for the short term and not a reward.” Jenna hurried to tell me. “I told her we’re going to have quite a talk when we get back to my place, but I think it’d be better for both of you to sit apart for a while.”

“Cal? Jake?” I asked, my voice weary.

She shook her head. “Cal was emphatic that he wanted to stay home. Jake said he wasn’t leaving him either. I gave him money for pizza, told him he could order it for delivery in a bit. You’ve got enough to worry about, you don’t need to worry about feeding them too. I also told him if he needed me to give me a call, that you weren’t feeling well and not to bother you if he could help it.”

I nodded slowly, pushing myself up. I could feel myself beginning to shake. I couldn’t believe the accusations my own daughter had thrown at me, and I was questioning every piece of my life at the moment. “Thanks, Jenna.”

“Keep your phone on,” Jenna encouraged. “Get some rest. You know she’ll calm down in a bit.”

Brooke came through the door then, her duffel bag tossed over her shoulder. She refused to look me in the eye, her head turned down and away from me as she strode past her aunt and down to the car.

Tears welled up in my eyes and Jenna wrapped me in a tight hug. “It’ll be okay, Em. I’ll talk to her.”

I nodded, sending her a shaky smile and grabbing my cell. I couldn’t continue to avoid this. I needed to see what had happened with Troy, and let all three of them know that the word was out about us. It wasn’t just me and my kids this could affect, and it was time I did something about it. I turned to watch out the window as the car drove away, blowing out a breath as I headed up for the shower. I needed to pull myself together, and that was exactly what I was going to do.