“He’s my husband. The father of my children. We’ve already invested ten years in each other. I live near his family, not here. There are so many reasons.”

“I understand that. But he’s not your husband anymore,” Karoline said.

Harper slid onto a bar stool at the island. “Your own husband said that people sometimes lose sight of what’s important to them. That occasionally they need—maybe even deserve—a second chance.”

Karoline’s eyebrows furrowed but, for a change, she didn’t immediately spout off. Instead, she started to clean with renewed vigor.

“You don’t think Axel will straighten up and be a good husband?” Harper could tell her sister was holding back. “Like he was before?”

With a frown, Karoline dropped her rag in the sink, dried her hands and came around the island to sit on the bar stool next to Harper’s. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s the thing. Now that he’s broken my trust, I’m afraid of what he might do in the future, afraid he might hurt you again. You said it yourself at the Blue Suede Shoe. How can you trust him? Well, I feel the same. And there are other considerations.”

“Like…”

“What will you be thinking and feeling whenever he’s away from you? Are you willing to endure the long absences? Live the rest of your life in his shadow? Continue the outpouring of energy required to keep him up and happy and functioning?”

Now it was Harper who didn’t have answers. Was she willing to dive right back into that situation? Would she be capable of keeping him up and happy and functioning if she couldn’t do it well enough before? Could she ever be fulfilled in that situation? She’d gone into salvage mode so quickly and worked so hard to save her marriage that she’d never really asked herself if things had changed so much since Axel’s band took off that she was no longer happy. “That’s what I need to figure out,” she said.

“I’d also consider one other thing.”

“And that is…”

“Is he feeling sorry for himself right now, for what he may have lost—or for what he did to you and his children?”

“Does it matter? He’s starting to press me to get back together.”

“It would matter to me.” With a sigh she got up and went to reclaim her washcloth. “But you’re the only one who can make the decision. And I’ll support you no matter what you choose.”

“Thank you,” Harper said. “I appreciate that. And now…I think I’ll go spend some time with the girls and then take a hot bath.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”