SHE ONLY WANTED TO HELP HER CHILD’S FATHER… UNTIL HER HUSBAND GAVE HER AN ULTIMATUM SHE NEVER EXPECTED. 😳

Friday was the day Harrow’s largest customer was due to renew its contract.

Andre remembered the loading team had been ordered to clear a backlog before the customer toured the warehouse. Shutting down the platform would have slowed the work.

Ms. Brooks gave that information to the investigator. I told Pascal because he had asked me to keep him informed, but I did not ask him to find anything else.

He was suspended. He needed to look after himself too.

“I knew about the tour,” he said. “I didn’t know the platform was failing.”

“I believe you.”

“I wish I’d listened when Rosa came to my office.”

“You told her the repair bill hadn’t reached you. She found someone else to tell. That matters.”

Pascal sighed. “It didn’t keep Andre from getting hurt.”

“No. We’re trying to find out who ignored the warning.”

For the first time since the night of the call, we talked without circling back to our marriage. Then he asked how Noah was doing.

“He misses his room. He also likes staying with Simone.”

“I miss him.”

“He knows.”

Pascal waited before asking his next question. “Could we speak to a counselor together? I’m going to mine. I’d like to hear you without waiting until we’re both angry.”

I told him I would think about it.

Andre came home from the hospital the following week. Leila stayed with him while he learned to move safely with a walker. Noah spent Saturday afternoon there. When I picked him up, he had a list of games they could play sitting down.

“Dad says I’m in charge of the rules,” he announced.

Andre raised his eyebrows. “Apparently.”

I smiled. It was the most like himself I had seen him since the accident.

Outside, Leila walked me to my car.

“He’s frightened about work,” she said. “He loves seeing Noah, then he worries about how he’ll manage when I go back to my shifts.”

“I can help with the schedule.”

“I know. I’ll ask if we need you.”

I appreciated her honesty. We had spent years making sure our care for Noah did not turn into another argument between adults.

That evening, Pascal came to Simone’s with dinner for everyone. He had asked before coming. Noah ran to the door when he heard his voice.

After we ate, I asked Simone to stay with Noah while Pascal and I walked outside.

“I’ll go to counseling with you,” I said.

“I’m glad.”

“I need you to understand something first. I went to the hospital because Noah’s father might die. If you had been hurt, I would have come for you too.”

Pascal looked at me for a long moment.

“I know that now,” he said. “That night, all I could hear was that he needed you.”

“You needed me to hear that you felt left out. I wish you had told me before it became an ultimatum.”

“I tried a few times. Then I stopped trying well.”

“We both should have had a better talk. The ultimatum was still your choice.”

“Yes.”

He said it without asking me to share the blame for his words.

The next morning, Rosa called Leila. Harrow had offered to return her to work. She was relieved, but she wanted the reason for her leave corrected in writing. She had her own adviser helping her request it.

Two days later, the safety investigator interviewed Andre again. Leila and I waited in his kitchen. When the investigator left, Andre seemed tired but peaceful.

“I told him what I remember,” he said. “I don’t have to keep rehearsing it in my head now.”

The inquiry continued. The customer delayed its contract decision. Vivian did not call me. Pascal’s suspension remained in place.

One evening, he came over after a counseling session and asked if he could speak with Noah for a few minutes. I stayed nearby while they sat on the floor with the card game.

“I told my mother she was wrong to ask you to choose between me and your dad,” Pascal said.

Noah stopped sorting cards.

“What did she say?”

“She was upset. I’ll keep that conversation with her. I wanted you to know I told her.”

Noah considered it.

“Can she still come to my birthday?”

“That’s for your mom and me to decide with you,” Pascal said. “You don’t have to decide today.”

After he left, Noah put his hand in mine.

“Pascal listened,” he said.

“He did.”

A week later, the safety investigator issued preliminary findings. The platform had been cleared for use without the inspection recorded in Harrow’s files. The company would have to answer further questions about the repair invoice and the decision to keep it running.

Pascal called after reading the notice.

“Vivian wants to meet with me,” he said. “She says I can have my job back if I make a statement.”