The Restarting Point

by Marci Bolden

  “I’m fine,” Jade said.

  “Taylor!”

  Jade shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I—”

  Taylor turned from the grill to where Darby was overreacting. Setting down the tongs she’d been holding, she trotted toward the beach. “What’s going on?”

  “I went for a swim,” Jade explained.

  Taylor furrowed her brow. “In your clothes?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t think skinny dipping was a good plan, so…” She heaved a big breath. “How’s dinner coming?”

  Taylor glanced at Darby. “Um, about fifteen minutes or so.”

  “Cool,” Jade said, grabbing the crutches she’d left by the chairs. She could limp a short distance without them but still needed the support to get from the water’s edge to the cabin. “Just enough time for me to shower.”

  “She went swimming in her clothes,” Darby whispered as Jade made her way toward the cabin.

  “Shh,” Taylor hushed. “She’ll be okay.”

  Jade ignored the urge to respond. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to yell at them or cry, but they didn’t deserve either. They really were doing far more for her than necessary, considering they hadn’t even known each other a week yet. Jade had no right to dump all her emotional vomit onto them. They’d carried more than their share already.

  She set her crutches against the bedroom wall before moving into the bathroom and turning the shower onto hot. As the water heated, she peeled her wet clothes off and tossed them into the sink. Though she’d had plenty of bouts of crying over the last few days, she’d somehow held on to the hope that Nick would realize he was making a mistake. Part of her really thought he’d snap out of whatever phase he was going through and realize he wanted to make their marriage work.

  She hadn’t allowed herself to digest the reality of his affair and what that meant for them. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about how that would impact any chance they had at a future together. Her mind had focused on the fact that he hadn’t let her try. It was just like her to get so narrow sighted on one point that she couldn’t see anything else.

  That had been the problem all along, hadn’t it? She’d been so focused on her job and the financial responsibility they’d agreed she would carry that she’d lost sight of everything else. And while she’d been working long hours to support their family and his dreams, he’d been falling in love with someone else. While she’d been facing death and apologizing for not being the wife he’d needed, he’d been having his needs met elsewhere. While she’d been promising she was going to appreciate him more, he’d been planning to leave her.

  How pathetic was that?

  Jade used the edges of the pedestal sink to hold herself up since her crutches were in the other room. She finally let the truth of what was happening hit her. She let herself feel the knife slicing through her, and a sob ripped from her throat. Her mini breakdown was interrupted when the sink pulled from the wall. Jade jumped back and gasped. Holding her breath, she waited, but the sink stayed standing.

  The sink not crashing down and breaking both her feet was probably the best thing that had happened to her all day. A wry laugh left her as she grabbed a handful of toilet paper and dried her face. The mirror was starting to steam, but she wiped the moisture away and looked at her reflection. Her pale skin was starting to take on an ashen hue, despite her time in the sun. She’d been slathering sunscreen on and sitting in the shade as much as possible, but she should at least look sun-kissed.

  She didn’t. She had that familiar shade of underlying exhaustion. The skin under her eyes was dark like bruises, and she seemed to have aged in the last few days. She needed real sleep, but she didn’t think she’d be getting that anytime soon. Every time she closed her eyes, she envisioned the night she’d caught Nick leaving. The scene played on repeat, over and over. And she feared if she didn’t find a way to make it stop, she’d never find a way to let him go.

  Six

  The sense that someone was watching her pulled Jade from sleep. She blinked several times before making out a figure standing over her bed. A scream erupted from her as she sat up, but the fear only lasted a moment. Jade cleared her throat and then fell back into bed, pulled the comforter back over herself, and muttered, “Darby, just because you own this house doesn’t mean you can walk in whenever you want.”

  “I was worried about you,” Darby said. “It’s almost noon.”

  “It is?”

  Darby held up a bottle of wine Taylor had brought over the day before. “Did you drink this?”

  The wine had been unopened when Jade’s guests had left after dinner. However, once she was alone, she’d started feeling sorry for herself. Then the wine began calling out to her. At first, she’d ignored the liquor. But then she’d told herself she’d have one drink, which had turned into two, which had turned into several more. The last thing she remembered was crying in the kitchen. She couldn’t even recall getting into bed.

  “Jade,” Darby pressed, “did you drink last night?”

  Jade nodded and instantly regretted the movement. Her brain felt like water sloshing around in a mold.

  “Why?”

  “Because my heart hurts,” she said with a cracked voice.

  With a maternal touch, Darby stroked her hand over Jade’s hair. “I know it does, sweetie. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but alcohol isn’t the answer.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about him leaving. Whenever I try to sleep, I just… I needed to not think about him leaving.”

  “Oh, honey,” Darby cooed. “Not like this. I don’t care how much he hurts you. You can’t drink, okay? It’s bad for your butt.”

  Jade didn’t want to laugh, but she couldn’t help herself. “I won’t. I feel horrible. My head is spinning and my stomach hurts.”

  “I’ll get you something for that. You stay in bed as long as you need. I’ll take care of you.” Darby took the empty wine bottle with her as she disappeared from Jade’s side.

  Jade chastised herself for giving in to the urge to drink her problems away. That hadn’t seemed to help anyway. The heartache was still there, and her head had joined the party. Every part of her was regretting her decision to have “just one glass” to help ease her mind.

  Staring at the ceiling, she let her vision swim as tears found her. Nick was leaving her. Her marriage, the thing that had gotten her through the last year, had been a facade. Worse than that, it had been a series of lies to hide how incredibly miserable she’d made him. She didn’t care if he’d faked his concern to protect her or help her or whatever the hell he’d told himself to make himself feel better. He’d been lying to her for too long. She deserved to be treated better than that.

  “I brought you cranberry juice. Straight. With ice.” Darby held out a glass as proof. “What do you want for breakfast? Raw kale? Birdseed? Grass?”

  Jade accepted the juice and two pills. She took the painkillers and let out a long, miserable groan. “I don’t want to eat just yet. My stomach isn’t quite right.” She listened to the silence for several seconds before creasing her brow. “Where’s Taylor? I thought she was going to finish the banister today.”

  “She didn’t want to start all that banging while you were sleeping. I texted her to let her know I was checking on you. She’s on her way.”

  As if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

  “Don’t worry,” Darby said. “If she tries to give you a lecture about the wine, I’ll distract her by telling her all about that time I got arrested for streaking down Main Street during the Christmas parade.”

  Jade started to ask for clarification but then clamped her mouth shut. She probably didn’t need to know more than she had just learned. Darby disappeared once again, and Jade looked out the window at the bright blue sky. The day was annoyingly beautiful. If she weren’t so hell-bent on being miserable, she’d be out on the water by now. She’d be enjoying this… Could she even call this a vacation? It certainly didn’t feel li
ke one any longer.

  The muffled voices in the other room were intelligible, but she didn’t need to hear them to understand the conversation. Darby was relaying Jade’s overindulgence to Taylor. They were probably talking about how pathetic she was and how she needed to buck up and face life. Jade closed her eyes at the bitter, unfair thought that had rolled through her.

  Just because she thought she was pathetic didn’t mean her new friends did. They’d been nothing but supportive and didn’t deserve the wrath brewing in her mind. Her anger wasn’t directed at them but at herself and Nick and…Amber.

  Taylor appeared in the doorway with her jaw set and her shoulders rolled back. Her eyes weren’t exactly hard, but she was clearly upset. “Have you had any water yet?”

  “No.”

  “You need some. We need to flush your system out, then you’ll feel better.”

  Jade struggled to sit. “I have juice.”

  “You need water. Come on. I don’t care what Darby says. You aren’t staying in bed all day.” Taylor crossed the room and pulled the covers back. “You slept in your sun dress.”

  Jade looked down at the wrinkled lime green material. “It’s kind of like a nightgown if you think about it.”

  Taylor shook her head and took Jade’s hand. “Come on. Up and at ’em. We’ve got things to do today.”

  Jade swallowed hard when her stomach lurched. She closed her eyes to stop the room from spinning after Taylor pulled her to her feet. “Like what?”

  “Like getting your head out of your ass.” A bright smile broke across Taylor’s face as she looked down. “Hey, check you out.”

  Jade followed Taylor’s gaze to her feet. She stood without the assistance of crutches or the shooting pain that had plagued her for days.

  “Does it hurt?” Taylor asked.

  Jade put a little more weight on her foot and tested the pain level. “Not too much.”

  “You should try walking on it some today. Keep your crutches close though. You might need them.”

  Jade suspected that once her head stopped aching and her stomach settled, the slight pain in her ankle would increase. The other aches in her body were muting that one, but she didn’t expect it to last.

  “Have you called an attorney yet?” Taylor asked.

  Jade blinked several times. The question seemed to have come out of nowhere, and she had to think about why she would have called an attorney. Oh. Right. Nick. Her stomach rolled again. “No.”

  “Have you called the bank to prevent him from emptying your accounts?”

  Jade opened her mouth as her mind started to connect with the concerns Taylor was tiptoeing around.

  “Jade,” she said in that gentle but firm tone that made her sound more maternal than friendly. “He could be walking away with everything you have right now. Get up. It’s time to make a plan.”

  “A plan?”

  “Yes. You’ve had two days to feel bad. Now you need to get up and start taking care of business. You have to make some calls to start protecting your assets.”

  Taylor disappeared, and Jade looked around the tiny bedroom as she tried to make sense of what Taylor was saying. Yes, Jade needed a plan. She’d considered that while out on the lake, but her plan had been about moving on, not protecting her assets. Nick wouldn’t steal from her. She was sure of that. But then she considered that he’d been planning to leave her for a long time, and she’d had no idea. There was no way of knowing what he’d been up to. Or what he might be capable of.

  “Shit.” Jade rushed into the bathroom, certain that a hot shower would clear her head. As the water warmed, she reminded herself to tell Darby about the sink. Though the sink should have held her weight without pulling from the wall, she’d offer to pay Taylor to fix it. She wouldn’t put that expense off on Darby.

  Twenty minutes and a lot of panic later, Jade headed right to the kitchen and dropped onto a bench at the table. Darby set a cup of water and a bowl of cottage cheese with a few strawberries in front of Jade. Taylor sat across from her and slid a notebook toward Jade with a numbered to-do list written in small but neat handwriting.

  “First thing,” Taylor said. “You need an attorney. Unless you have one you intend to contact, we need to start researching.” Taylor’s raised brow meant this minute. Immediately. Right this very second.

  “I-I don’t have one,” Jade stuttered out.

  “Do you have a will?” Taylor asked.

  Jade nodded, feeling like a deer frozen in the headlights.

  “Is Nick the beneficiary?”

  Again, she confirmed.

  Darby dropped down onto the bench next to Jade and lifted the top of a pink laptop that had been covered in jewels, much like the crutches Jade had been using. “Who did you use for that?” Darby asked.

  Jade had to think for a moment before the name came to her. Her mind was a jumbled mess, and it wasn’t just because she’d consumed alcohol for the first time in over a year. Taylor was throwing too much at her too fast to process. Usually, Jade was the take-charge type, but she was still in shock from how drastically her life had changed over the last few days.

  Darby started pecking away. Within seconds, she grabbed the notebook and jotted down, in big bubbly letters that contrasted Taylor’s neat print, a phone number next to number two: Change will beneficiaries to kids.

  “Do you know a divorce attorney? Or have a preference?” Taylor asked.

  Again, Jade shook her head. “I can ask the attorney who did my will for a referral if he doesn’t do that sort of thing.”

  Darby scribbled another note, adding to the to-do list before Taylor pulled the notebook back and began throwing more questions at Jade. She suddenly felt like she’d been caught in a tornado. Taylor pointed at number three: Check bank accounts for unexpected withdrawals. Darby turned the laptop toward her as if she expected Jade to check right that moment.

  This all seemed so drastic, but Taylor was right. Jade had to go on the defensive. Nick had been planning his departure for over a year. He might already have an attorney waiting to pounce on their assets. They weren’t rich, but they were well off because she had worked hard to build a successful career. She wasn’t going to stand back and let Nick take all they had, and he could be planning just that. She wasn’t going to get taken by surprise again.

  Even so, this all felt overwhelming.

  Jade shoved her untouched breakfast aside, collapsed onto the table, and rested her head on her forearms. “Darby, I need—”

  “Cranberry juice, straight, no chaser. On it.”

  “No. Drink your water,” Taylor said. “Until her hangover clears, she gets water.”

  “Stop being bossy,” Jade said as she rubbed her aching forehead. “I don’t like it.”

  As Darby ran her hand up and down Jade’s back, she whispered, “She’s right. About the water and about getting ready for this divorce. You should listen.”

  Jade sat up to read over Taylor’s list again. 401K/Pension. Loans. Investments. The list went on for too long. It was thorough, and Jade understood why she needed to do these things, but damned if she didn’t feel like she was being buried in despair once again. “This is too much. I can’t deal with this.”

  “You have to. He didn’t leave you any choice.”

  Jade sat back and looked at Taylor. “You’ve been through this, haven’t you?”

  “I haven’t been what you’d call lucky in love. I came to Chammont Point to start over.” She frowned. “It hasn’t worked out as well as I’d hoped.”

  “I grew up here,” Darby said. “I’ve tried to leave a few times but always end up right back here. I don’t fit in, but I can’t seem to escape.”

  “It’s not so bad,” Jade said. “There are worse places to be.”

  “Says the girl who’s going home in a few days,” Darby muttered.

  “To an empty house,” Jade reminded her.

  “Come on,” Taylor said gently. “Let’s get through as much of this list as
possible today so you can find time to relax before heading back.”

  Reaching across the table, Jade put her hand on Taylor’s and then gripped Darby’s. “Thank you. Thank you both. I can honestly say I don’t know how I would have made it through the last few days without you two.”

  “You’re welcome,” Taylor said.

  Darby put her arm around Jade’s shoulders and hugged her close. “We got you, boo. We’re not going to let this keep you down.”

  “One hour,” Jade conceded. “We’re giving this list one hour, and then we’re treating ourselves to an adventure.”

  “Will there be naked men involved?” Darby asked.

  “No,” Jade stated at the same time Taylor said, “Maybe.”

  Standing beside her car, Jade scanned their surroundings. Beyond the gravel parking lot of the busy winery, there were rolling hills and trees as far as she could see. Peace. That was the word that came to her mind. Despite the crowd, this place was filled with peace. She really needed that after the week she’d had.

  Darby climbed from the back seat and pulled a black hat onto her fire-engine red hair, which she’d worn in long barrel curls that cascaded down her shoulders and clashed against the lemon-yellow dress. When Taylor had suggested they go to a polo match at a nearby winery, Jade had been hesitant and reminded them that she no longer drank—other than the slight mishap that she continued to pay for.

  Darby’s excitement had won out. She’d started talking faster than Jade could comprehend, but Jade had picked up on the fact that Darby had wanted to go to a polo match ever since she’d seen Pretty Woman. In true Darby fashion, she’d dressed to the absolute nines, which was over-the-top for a winery. Jade had hushed Taylor when she’d tried to tell Darby that.

  “Let her have this,” Jade had whispered.

  However, now that they’d reached their destination and people were slowing their stride to take in Darby’s outlandish outfit, Jade worried that perhaps they should have intervened. As Taylor got the picnic basket out of the back seat, she glanced at Jade. She was obviously thinking the same thing, though Darby remained blissfully unaware that her outfit was drawing wide-eyed stares.