I hated to have to go on but this was his girl so I couldn’t hold back.

“And me.”

“Come again?”

“The reason for the shopping trip. The change in your circumstances your ex-wife who you loved, who also loved you, would react to.” I explained.

“Fuckin’ great,” he muttered.

“I think Rhiannon is adjusting to that,” I told him, thinking I didn’t want to go back on my promise to Rhiannon but I could no longer hold back in sharing what could give the Donovans some hope after all that had spilled out that day.

So I was setting up to tell him his ex had made the colossal step toward recovery…for her kids.

“You guys sittin’ at my bar, drinkin’ tea, think you’re right,” he agreed.

“Ash wanted her mom to know I was cool,” I kept explaining. “I think she wanted her to know that everyone was moving on and it was good and she was trying to make it so her mom moved on with the rest of us.”

Mickey didn’t say anything.

“Anyway, how was the visit with Rhiannon?” I asked, hoping he’d give me a natural lead in to share about his ex-wife.

“Get this, the woman is in AA.”

My mouth dropped open before I used it to ask, “I’m sorry?”

“Obviously had to have a word with her to tell her what was up with Ash and the shit Cillian spewed. Took her out outside to chat. Told her what went down and what was said. Thought that would be yet another fantastic conversation for this stellar Thanksgiving.”

I closed my eyes again.

I opened them when he went on, “She then tells me she’s been in AA for a while, it’s goin’ good, she hasn’t had a drink since the night of town council meeting, and if I’m good with it, we can share that with the kids.”

This was great.

“Did you?” I asked.

“Yeah. Cillian didn’t know what to do with it and neither of them did cartwheels, but Rhiannon didn’t expect that. She knows she’s got things to prove and that’s gonna be a long haul. But it was somethin’. She never admitted to having a problem. Now the woman’s in AA?” He paused before finishing, “It was definitely something.”

“I should tell you,” I began carefully. “She shared this with me at Bed Bath and Beyond.”

“Say again?”

“She told me she was in recovery. She didn’t put pressure on for me not to tell you but she did say she wanted to do it herself. Since it’s hers, I agreed.”

He was silent a second.

I fretted that second.

Then he said, “Since you and me got a future, you two gotta establish your own relationship and with that comes trust. Sucks she put you in that position but you probably made the right decision for her.”

I liked his mention about us having a future but I still asked, “Was it the right decision for you?”