Finally, Ryan spoke.
“How long?”
I turned toward him.
“How long what?”
“How long have I been like this?”
I thought about it.
“A while.”
He nodded.
“I didn’t notice.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
“No.”
He watched Mason.
“I was so focused on work. The promotion. Lauren. What people thought of me.”
I stayed quiet.
“And you were just there.”
He stopped.
His face tightened when he heard his own words.
“I don’t mean that the way it sounds.”
“You do.”
He nodded.
“I do.”
He looked toward the water again.
“I stopped thinking about what it cost you to always be there.”
That was the first time I felt like he understood the real problem.
Not the sunscreen.
Not Lauren.
Not the cooler.
The pattern.
“When did he get so grown up?” Ryan asked.
I looked at Mason.
“He’s been paying attention the whole time.”
