Amanda took over then. She propped a department store’s worth of pillows around Blake, and then gently set the baby in his arms. She sat six inches away, watching with the vigilance of a new mother. She made a mama grizzly look laid-back and calm.

And it all went fine for ten minutes. Henry lay still, gurgling happily. Blake talked to him in a soothing voice. I even managed to take a photo, which I immediately posted on Instagram.

But then Blake decided to stand up. Without asking. And when he stood, he bumped Henry’s head against the glass lampshade next to the couch.

Immediately Henry began to wail. And Amanda moved to take Henry back so fast that a brief little tug-of-war ensued, as they both tried to hold the baby. For a second, I really thought Henry might end up on the floor.

But Amanda wrestled him from Blake’s arms. And a quick examination of his head showed that the bump against the lampshade had left only a small red mark. Henry quieted down, and Blake offered a halfhearted apology.

If he’d offered one that had sounded remotely sincere, he might have avoided Amanda’s wrath. And mine.

But he sounded so casual, so unconcerned about Henry’s well-being and the stress his actions had placed on us, that something had to give.

And Amanda hasn’t always been one for suppressing her feelings.

Amanda called him selfish and self-centered. Immature. Irresponsible.

Inconsiderate.

All the bad things we’d both thought about Blake for years but had never dared to say.

It all came pouring out that evening in our living room.

And I knew Amanda was mad at me too. And I couldn’t blame her.

I pushed Blake toward the door, trying to send him on his way and defuse the situation as much as possible. I told Blake he’d made a mistake, that all he’d had to do was stay on the couch and everything would have been fine.

Then Amanda told Blake he had no regard for anyone or anything. That he was careless and destructive. And she didn’t care if he never came back to our house.

Before he left, Blake turned back and said, “You think I don’t care about anyone? I have something to tell you, Amanda—you should talk to your husband about that.”

“What do you mean?” Amanda asked.

“Forget it,” Blake said. “I’ll just go.”

After I guided him out and went back in, Amanda told me she didn’t know if she could stand the thought of him coming back in the house when Henry was still a baby.

“Blake can see him again when Henry goes to college.”

Things cooled between Blake and me. We texted but didn’t see each other until that night when he’d appeared out of nowhere, saying my name in the dark.

CHAPTER FIVE