~Jennie’s~

“I’m tired of being the one who has to carry the bruise and the burden.”

I whisper it to myself as I stand near the rosebush, where the air is too still and the petals look too red. The kind of red that makes you think of warning signs, not romance. I stare at them like they owe me answers. Like they should bloom in a way that tells me if I should stay or go.

The divorce papers sit in my purse. Folded, warm now from how long they’ve been pressed against my side. Reo gave them to me like he meant it…like he finally meant to let...