Kim walked through the empty house, truly alone for the first time in two weeks. She so desperately wanted to remember and while some things were coming back to her, it wasn't enough. It was nowhere near enough to be what she needed to be to her family. She knew about Murianthius, but that was spotty at best. She believed Tommy when he said he loved her, but it was hard to resolve with her memory of him dating Katherine. Her memories of him moving on to someone else and even though she told him to do that, she still hated it.
She scoured the house for proof that Katherine was still in his life, that she was right to feel this way. When she came up empty she let out a sigh and tried to find comfort in that, but she couldn't. It felt like he just had to be hiding something from her. Admittedly, she was hiding something huge from him with where she felt she was in life. She was hiding their son.
She had watched Tommy with their children and saw how well adjusted all of them were, especially Ollie. Obviously what she had done had not had lasting effects, at least not effects that she could see. She just felt that things could not possibly be this good for the two of them now. The lie that she was holding in her body and remembered in her mind was so large that she could not believe that this was the end result when she finally got back together with Tommy. She couldn't even believe, at times, that she was back together with Tommy.
She scrolled through her phone and looked at text messages between her and Katherine and several group messages that appeared to be between all of the rangers. It confirmed that they kept in touch, but from what she read, it seemed like they had become friends over the years. She couldn't imagine being friends with her with how she felt towards her right now. What changed? What was she missing that this level of camaraderie made sense?
She glanced at her keys and let out a sigh. While Tommy was being more than accommodating with anything she needed, Jason was right. Tommy was her husband and the longer she kept holding him at arm's length, the worse it was going to be for the both of them. She could tell that he was used to no space between them, but he seemed to be handling it well. She wasn't really sure if she could trust her gut on that. The Tommy she knew had held his emotions about the worst things close to his chest.
"Oh c'mon Kimberly. You've only wanted him back in your life from the minute you put that damn letter in the mail," Kim muttered to herself as she grabbed the keys, input the address into her phone, and headed towards the front door. Maybe it would do her good to get out of the house and see people that knew her other than Tommy and their children.
She parked the jeep towards the back of the lot and stared at the other businesses in the area. There was a family jeweler, a restaurant, and what looked like a dry cleaner. She stared at the front of the dojo, seeing Tommy and Jason steadily working with people she assumed must be their staff, but no one looked familiar. She moved to get out of the car, but froze as she saw a woman that looked a lot like Katherine approaching. Her heart sank as Tommy came to the door and gave her a quick hug before nodding for her to come in. Why was she here? Katherine had never been even remotely interested in karate. When Tommy walked her back to her car and leaned in far too close she had seen enough. She buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. How was this possible? How did Jason and everyone else not see it?
"Kim! Hey Kim! You'll never believe what Kat dropped off at the dojo!" Tommy yelled as he walked in with a bag of play clothes that Kat had dropped off for Opal. Opal had just started a dress up phase and he had never been so grateful for friends that had girls. He looked towards their bedroom and saw that the door was closed once again. He walked over and gently knocked on it, hoping that she was taking a nap. "Kim…baby?"
He opened the door and saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, surrounded by clothes and he glanced towards the closet to see that she had completely emptied her things out. She looked up at him and he saw a heart break that he couldn't understand. What had happened today?
"Beautiful…" Tommy started as she held up a hand and he went silent. He heard the front door open and the sound of their kids filtered into the house. He hoped that that might shake her out of whatever this was, but it only seemed to steel her determination to act. He remembered what their fights had been like when they were teens and he hoped there would not be a replay of it today. He might have 10 years of learning to work through their problems in a productive manner, but she didn't. "What's wrong?"
"How long have you been cheating on me with Katherine?" Kim asked as Tommy dropped the bag of play clothes and stared at her. Where in the hell had she gotten that idea? "I saw you today. When she stopped by and you walked her back to her car."
"She brought some play clothes by for Opal, her girls have long outgrown them and when I mentioned that she was obsessed with dress up, Kat offered to drop them off there instead of me having to drive to meet up with her or Billy," Tommy explained as he moved towards her and she glared at him. "I've never cheated on you."
"The hell you haven't!" Kim exploded and Tommy stared up at the ceiling as he heard the kids go quiet. They weren't used to yelling. He took a deep breath and then moved to close the door but she jumped up and got between him and the door. "What? You don't want our kids to hear that their father is unfaithful?"
"I've never cheated on you," Tommy repeated as he looked past her and saw Ollie was frozen on the other side of the living room. "Katherine and I are only friends. We've only been friends since we broke up, after Murianthius. And you would know why she broke up with me then if you had all your memories."
"Give me your phone. Give me your phone!" Kim yelled and Tommy walked out of their bedroom to grab his phone and she stormed after him. "You were only pretending. You only came back to me because of Ollie."
"No. I came back to you because I still loved you. I still love you," Tommy stated as he handed over his phone and he leaned back against the wall. He knew what she was looking for and she would find text messages between just him and Katherine, but they exclusively had to deal with babysitting, playdates, and lately how Kim was doing. All of the rangers he served with had sent him individual messages over the weeks to offer their own kinds of support and he had needed every bit of it. "Kim- I know that what you remember is me dating Kat, but…"
"See!" Kim yelled as she shoved the messages in his face and he read the last message.
"You want to read my proof of infidelity out loud for the class," Tommy seethed as he passed it back to her and crossed his arms. Their children were staring at them and he was not going to let her battered memory kill their family. He watched as she read the last text and then frantically scrolled back to read the other messages. This was obviously not what she was expecting to see.
"You…you're talking about me and how…how she hopes I get better and remember things soon," Kim muttered as she glanced up at him and he met her gaze. He was furious, but he could keep that under wraps for their kids. "But…I saw…I saw…"
"I hugged a friend, the way I've hugged a friend a thousand times before," Tommy stated as he walked closer to her and took his phone back. "The only person I've ever cheated on was Katherine and it was with you."
He saw the shock in her eyes as he pulled away and he then locked eyes with Ollie, who quickly looked away. He walked past their children as he headed for the garage and the four wheelers. He needed to get away. He needed thirty minutes to lose his shit somewhere that his kids couldn't see it and then he was going to come back and fix the mess that their mother had made. He looked over as he heard footsteps behind him and saw Kim following him.
"I need space, Kim. Before I say or do something that I am going to really regret," Tommy warned and she moved closer to him, ignoring his request. "Kim- I mean it."
"I'm sorry," Kim whispered and he wanted to automatically forgive her, but this hurt. It hurt him that she couldn't look at everything he was doing and see that he would never go outside of their marriage. It hurt that he had considered everything he did and what it would do to her and that she hadn't even taken a moment to think about what this would do to him. "Tommy...I...please..."
"I need space. I'll be back in a half hour and I'll come talk to you then, I promise," Tommy said as he walked out of the garage, abandoning the idea of driving around the property. He didn't look back and he heard the sound of a sob come from her and he kept walking. This wasn't the first time he had walked away from a fight, but it was the first time he had walked away from her crying like this.