Point Hope by Kristen James Page B

kids to leave if he wasn’t staying? But that’s what he always did. There were long periods in their marriage when he was overseas, but that was his career. He was in the Navy when she’d married him, after all. Still, he wasn’t there for her when she’d had so many problems in her first pregnancy, or in her second, or when she’d miscarried her third pregnancy. That third pregnancy had been a surprise. When she’d had the miscarriage, he said, “That takes care of that.” He didn’t even stay home from work that day. He just didn’t have a clue how hard it was on her. And of course she’d responded in her typical way—flawed, too, because she’d shut down and built a wall to protect herself. She could see that now, but she still couldn’t do anything about it. There was just too much anger gluing all those bricks together.
    He was home sometimes, but he wasn’t there emotionally, especially after he was injured.
    They’d fought in their early days, but it was so much different. She’d get mad at him and untune his guitar by loosening the strings. Stupid little things like that. She would want her way about something—going to Portland for a trip instead of Eastern Oregon, or a getting an Outback station wagon instead of that black Toyota he’d wanted to buy.
    She looked down at the baby—at Hope. She was puckering her mouth in her sleep like she was nursing.
    Oh, why did Amanda have to die?
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    The baby cried for an hour straight that evening, and there wasn’t anything Trey could do about it. He’d rocked her, Rosette had held her, Summer had sung to her, and Alex even had tried. This wasn’t a happy homecoming for Hope. Candice and Jake were cranky and acting up, and who could blame them? Everything felt off.
    The entire situation wasn’t what anyone would dream about for bringing a new baby home, come to think of it. Rosette had eventually taken the baby upstairs to calm her down, but Trey could still hear her crying. He looked into the bedroom and saw Rosette walking with the baby bundled in a blanket in her arms, rocking and singing to her. If she was at the end of her rope, she didn’t show it. But that was Rosette.
    He had just asked Alex to heat up another premade dinner. For the last hour, Alex had been keeping the kids occupied at the table playing Candy Land.
    He felt invisible. Strangers had brought their food. Alex was taking care of the kids, and Rosette was busy with Hope.
    Wasn’t it ironic that he saved people for a job, but no one really needed him around here?
    Rosette glanced toward the bedroom door and noticed him. “Hey, we need to talk.”
    He stepped into the room. They’d put this talk off for a while now.
    “I’m not sure how to handle this.” She kept rocking the baby, who continued to softly whimper in her state of half sleep. He simply waited so she said, “The sleeping arrangements. You have to help tonight so I can get some sleep.” She turned her body, and he followed her gaze over to the crib, changing table, and supplies. Everything was set up in here.
    This wasn’t at all the talk he’d expected. “I can sleep in here and get up with her tonight.” He took another step into the room, feeling out of place, but wanting to put her at ease. Since they’d decided to separate, he had barely ventured into this room, unless she wasn’t in it. He’d been sleeping on the couch and using the downstairs bathroom.
    They were separated, but no one else knew about it. They were living in the same house, raising the kids together, but there was no “them.”
    She slowly nodded, looking at the bed. He knew her too well. She couldn’t sleep on the couch, or anywhere besides her own bed, very well. When they took a trip, she always took a sleeping pill to get to sleep in a strange bed.
    Standing closer, he saw the dark circles under her eyes and a worry line between her eyebrows. She still looked twenty-five, but that line always