Meant To Be by Jennifer Labelle Page A

they’d never seen Tyler so emotional and, in truth, neither had she.
    “What’s going on here?” Sam asked.
    “She’s leaving me,” Tyler whispered. “She wants a divorce.”
    Frozen until that moment, the sight of him and the sounds of his pleas were making Jenna nauseous. “Dad, I need Tyler to leave. Could you please help me out with that?”
    “ Come on, son. Let’s give Jenna some time.”
    Obeying, Tyler reluctantly followed. “Jenna, please,” he begged one last time before he was escorted out of sight.
    Her mother and Sam rushed to comfort her, and she did something then that made her feel like she was five again. Tired of talking, she leaped forward as soon as her mother was close enough to reach. Hugging her close, she sobbed, letting it all out.
    What a nightmare that day was.

     

Chapter Twelve

    When released first thing the next morning, the staff almost looked relieved to see her go. The previous night’s drama caused headaches for more than just her, she guessed.
    Her parents picked up Jayden and brought him to Sam’s. He took a run for it as soon as he saw her and landed straight in Jenna’s open arms, sobbing his heart out.
    “ I’ll never leave you again,” she vowed. “I promise you.”
    Sam extended an offer for Jayden and Jenna to stay as long as they wanted, and that got her mother going, of course. “That’s not necessary, but thanks anyway. Jenna and Jayden will be coming back with us.”
    That shocked Jenna. She hadn’t expected her mother to argue or be rude. “No, Mom. I love you, but I’m not going anywhere. I refuse to run away. Jayden’s got school now, and I can’t just pull him out like that. I’m staying, and I have enough to deal with so please just understand.”

    * * * *

    A week went by after that horrible day. It was time to stop sulking and start living, time for Jayden to try living like a normal child. He’d been traumatized yet again and developed a separation from Jenna anxiety, yet another thing she could thank Tyler for.
    Right then her biggest problem was retrieving her car. It was still parked in front of the house. She was afraid to go after it and chance seeing Tyler, afraid to start a scene, afraid she might change her mind, that he’d be able to persuade her to do so. She was vulnerable, emotional, and drained. She held Jayden close, trying hard to keep her emotions in check on the short walk there. Buckling him in his car seat as fast as possible to get the hell away, she could feel Tyler watching her.
    Backing away quickly, she glanced up and saw Tyler standing in the doorway, his eyes pleading and his expression pained. Her heart tore just a little more. She’d known Tyler half of her life, had been with him almost the same amount of time and, damn it, she still loved him despite what he’d done. She couldn’t forgive him, but still loved.
    Pathetic, she thought, but she had to stay strong, determined and forced herself to turn her back on him to leave. After dropping Jayden off at school, she looked for a good divorce lawyer to get things going before she lost her backbone. When asked the reason, she was only able to come up with one word, betrayal. Others came to mind afterward, but most were inappropriate to use in a court room. She cried the whole way back to pick up Jayden. This was it, her actions that afternoon had made everything final, but instead of feeling relieved, she hurt more. It just didn’t seem to end. How could one person claim to love you so much and do what he did? What was it with men? Did they have some secret class called Manipulation 101?
    She wondered and could swear sometimes that they were born with this special gene, because they sure had a good way of making you feel bad when you hadn’t done anything wrong, or maybe that was just Tyler. Sighing heavily at her thoughts, she pushed them away. It was time to revaluate things, time to figure out what she was going to do now that she didn’t have Tyler. She