Suddenly she felt mentally drained as well as emotionally abused, and she had no intention of apologizing. Deciding it was best if she left, she grabbed her purse off the sofa. When she met her parents’ gaze, she tried smiling but knew she was failing miserably. “Look, I’m not in the best of moods right now, so I’ll come back later.”
“But where are you going?” her mother asked with deep concern etched on her face.
“Back to the hotel,” she said, glancing at her watch and deciding not to tell them just yet of her decision to move in with Rose instead of moving back home.
“But why, Sage?” her mother asked softly. “Why sleep at a hotel tonight when you know you can move back here until you get things together?”
Sage sighed. She knew that to her mother “getting things together” was the same thing as her taking time to work out her problems with Erol. She shook her head. That would never happen, and in time her mother would realize that.
She reached out and lovingly touched her mother’s arm. “The hotel is where I want to be for a while, Mom, to sort through some things, alone. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
Sage reached out and hugged her mother fiercely. “I’ll be fine, Mom,” she repeated softly.
Quickly releasing her mother and refusing to meet her father’s gaze, or even give him the hug that would have been so automatic, she headed for the door. She had made it down to the walkway and almost to her car when she heard her father calling after her, but she ignored him.
He caught up with her just when she was about to reach out and open her car door. Grabbing her upper arm, he turned her around to face him. A sheen of tears all but covered her vision, but she lifted her chin and met his gaze. His hold on her arm gentled when he saw she was crying.
“Oh, baby, don’t cry. Everything is going to be all right.”
When he tried pulling her into his arms, she abruptly pulled back, needing his affection and tenderness but refusing to take it. He was wrong; nothing would ever be all right again. “Save the loving kindness for your woman, Dad,” she snapped.
She heard his sharp intake of breath and watched surprise flash in his eyes, something he quickly masked. “What are you saying?” he asked quietly, dropping his hands to his sides and taking a step back.
A pounding need to hurt him the way he had hurt her, the way he was hurting her mother, tore into Sage. “What I mean,” she said, closing the space between them and speaking low just in case her mother was at the window looking and listening, “is that I know. I know about her. I saw the two of you together last night, Dad. You sought seclusion in Kannapolis, and so did I. Unfortunately, it was at the same hotel.”
There was a long pause. Then he said, “Sage …”
“No,” she said, holding up her hand and cutting off whatever he was about to say. “There’s nothing you can say. What I saw last night pretty much said it all. Just like Erol, you’re nothing but a fraud.”
Charles Dunbar blanched, stiffened his spine and lifted his chin. “Need I remind you that I’m your father, young lady,” he said in a stern voice.
Sage felt blood rush to her head and exhaled a deep, angry breath. “And need I remind you that you’re also Delores Dunbar’s husband, which is something you seem to have conveniently forgotten about last night.”
Without giving him a chance to say anything else, Sage went to her car and got in and turned on the ignition. As she pulled out of the driveway, she struggled to get her breathing to normalize. Her gaze darted back to her father. He was standing in the same spot with a look of total shame on his face.
“And you’re sure that I won’t be putting you out?” Sage asked Rose as she followed her down the hallway carrying another box.
Rose looked over her shoulder at her and frowned. “Didn’t we have this same conversation yesterday?”
Sage smiled weakly. “Yes, but I was making sure you hadn’t changed your mind.”
Rose grinned. “I haven’t changed my mind, but I have ordered new springs for my bed so the next time Mr. Poole comes over the noise won’t disturb you.”
Sage raised her eyes to the ceiling and returned her friend’s grin. “You aren’t going to let me forget that, are you?”
Rose shook her head. “No time soon and it serves you right. But you don’t have to worry about Mr. Poole anymore. He announced to everyone today that he’s leaving.”
Sage nearly dropped the box she was holding. “He’s leaving?”
Rose laughed at her reaction. “Yes, he’s leaving Charlotte but not the Denmark Group. He got this big promotion at the corporate office in California and will be leaving in a few weeks.”
Sage nodded as she set the box down on the bed. Mr. Poole, even with his philandering ways, had been a good boss. Glancing over at Rose and seeing the satisfied smirk on her face, Sage could only assume that Rose felt the same way and probably had an entirely different definition of the word good when it came to Mr. Poole. “I hate to admit it, but I’m going to miss him.”
“Umm, so am I,” Rose said, smiling broadly and daring her to comment.
Sage had learned her lesson and had nothing to say on that subject, but did ask, “Was it also announced who would be taking his place?”
Rose shrugged. “No, but I figured it will be someone who can keep his pants zipped. Although Mr. Poole got a promotion out of this, I think transferring him to the corporate office was a way to keep him in line.”
Sage thought what Rose said was probably true. “I’ll be staying at the hotel again for the next two nights,” she suddenly thought to remind Rose.
Rose nodded. “Did your parents lay a guilt trip on you for breaking your engagement to Erol?”
Sage shook her head. “No, not exactly, but although they admitted he acted irresponsibly, it’s obvious that they feel it’s something we can work out. However, I assured them it’s not.” She sighed, having no desire to go there with her parents, and Erol’s parents had been just as bad. They had called her earlier at the apartment when she’d gone back to get some more of her things. She was glad Erol hadn’t been there that time, but a part of her had resented him for getting his parents involved. And she knew they had spoken to her parents as well.
Sage couldn’t understand why everyone felt she should forgive and forget. Evidently no one they’d ever trusted had wiped them clean of over fifty thousand dollars.
“So, what do you plan to do for dinner,” Rose asked, breaking into her thoughts.
Sage remembered what she’d discovered yesterday while dining at the hotel restaurant and quickly decided she didn’t want to eat there again tonight. “Why? What do you have in mind?”
Rose smiled. “I thought that maybe the two of us could go somewhere and enjoy a really nice meal.”
Sage nodded and agreed. “That sounds nice, and I’d really like that.”
“Sage?”
Sage turned before stepping onto the elevator that would take her up to her hotel room. She watched as her father crossed the lobby to her. She hadn’t seen him when she had entered the hotel, and coincidentally, he had been sitting on the same sofa she had occupied for over three hours the night before.
“Dad, what are you doing here?” she asked when he came to stand in front of her. She tried not to notice just how tired and worn out he looked. She quickly dismissed the tired and worn look for one of profound guilt that was eating away at him.
“I think we need to talk.”
Sage shook her head. If he really thought that, then he had another thought coming. There was nothing they had to say to each other, especially not now. Her pain was still too raw. “Dad, I don’t want to talk to you right now. I—”
“Please, Sage, I need you to hear what I have to say.”
She sighed. She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. She knew he had cheated on her mother, and that said enough.
“Just a few minutes of your time, Sage. I do believe I deserve that,” he ad
ded before she could say anything.
Sage swallowed and was reminded of the times he had been there for her, even when she had been wrong—like that night she had sneaked into the house way past midnight when she’d been sixteen years old. He had been the one who’d caught her climbing into her bedroom window. To this day her mother still didn’t know about that incident. It had been Sage and her father’s secret. But she quickly reminded herself that this was a totally different situation. A teenager sneaking into a house past midnight was nothing compared to a married man breaking his marriage vows and sneaking around and sleeping with a woman. Yet, for some reason, Sage couldn’t trust her voice to speak, to turn down what he was requesting. So instead, she nodded. “All right. I was about to go up to my room.”
They traveled in the elevator up to the eighth floor in silence. Sage figured they would save the talking until they were safely behind closed doors. When she reached her hotel room door and unlocked it, she pushed it open, resigning herself to whatever lay ahead. She wondered if any other woman in the world had ever gone through what she was experiencing simultaneously with her fi-ancé and her father. It was real tough when the two men you loved the most had fallen off that pedestal you had placed them on.
She tossed her purse on the bed when she heard him close the door behind them. She turned around. “I would offer you something to drink, but all I have right now is bottled water.” She kicked off her shoes. “But please have a seat or you’re more than welcome to look around and check out the place, although I’m sure it’s probably similar to the room you and your lady friend enjoyed last night,” she couldn’t help but lash out.
Ignoring the hurt look on his face, she continued. “But then, I guess the hotel room’s décor isn’t what the two of you were really interested in, was it?”
Charles Dunbar’s gaze dipped to the floor. Seconds later, he raised his head and met his daughter’s eyes. “None of that is necessary, Sage. I already feel worse than you can ever imagine.”
Sage pushed her hair back from her face. “Oh, I don’t know, Dad, you’ve known me long enough to know my imagination can get pretty wild at times. That’s why I’m in the business that I’m in. I just love coming up with creative ideas.”
She sat on the bed. “And last night my mind was working overtime as I sat on that very same couch you were sitting on in the lobby tonight as I waited for you to come down so you could assure me what I thought I saw was all a misunderstanding. But after you were up there for over three hours, I figured that you and your companion had very little to say. In fact, I’m surprised the two of you could actually even walk straight.”
Charles Dunbar took a sharp breath, then slowly walked across the room to stand in front of the only window in the room. He turned and faced his daughter’s stormy expression. “I think you’ve said enough, Sage,” he said tightly. After inhaling deeply, he then said, “Just so you’ll know, that was our first time together,” he said softly. “It was something that happened, but I assure you it won’t happen again.”
Sage blinked. Then the frown on her face deepened. “It won’t happen again? It should never have happened in the first place.”
“But it did, and I feel awful about it,” he said in a voice that was even softer than before.
Sage actually flinched at his words. “Well, you should, since you broke your wedding vows to spend one night in a sleazy affair.”
Charles Dunbar looked away for a few seconds, and when he looked back at Sage, the piece of her heart she had closed shut to him almost fell back open. She knew that this conversation, her hostile attitude, was defeating him, draining him of the dignity he always possessed, and was actually breaking him down. He had hurt her deeply and was no longer a hero in her eyes; he knew it and regretted it. And she could tell it was literally eating him up inside.
But at that very moment, she didn’t care. A part of her refused to ease his pain and humiliation. There was another person she had to think about. “What about Mom?”
He snatched his head up and met her gaze. “What about your mother?”
“Are you going to tell her what you did?”
She watched her father sadly shake his head. “There’s no need. During my thirty years of marriage, I was unfaithful to her only this one time. The woman and I had been working late.” He met her gaze and implored her to believe him. “Neither of us meant for this to happen. It just did.”
Sage held her breath as a dozen or so questions popped into her head, and she quickly asked the first one. “Is she married, too?”
“No, she’s divorced.”
“But she knew you were married?”
Her father hesitated briefly before answering. “Yes.”
The slut, Sage immediately thought. That was what she thought of any woman who willingly became involved with a married man. For the life of her she couldn’t understand why any woman would want to be the other woman.
“I disagree with you that there’s no need for Mom to know. I think she has every right to know you’ve been unfaithful to her.”
She watched her father release a long, slow breath before saying, “Not telling your mother is my decision to make, Sage, and not yours.”
Sage pulled back. His words had been like a slap to her face. “It’s not just your decision. I saw you. I know about it. Keeping it from Mom makes me feel disloyal.”
“You shouldn’t feel that way since it doesn’t concern you. This is between me and your mother, and I should be the one to tell her about it.”
“When will you tell her?” From across the room she could feel her father’s tension.
“I’ll tell her one day.”
Sage shook her head angrily. “One day! When she’s too old to care! There is something called AIDS, and I care about my mother’s health if you don’t.”
She was taken aback by the furious expression that suddenly appeared on her father’s face. “Do you think I’d place your mother at a risk such as that! I took the necessary precautions! I love your mother!”
Sage laughed. It was more in anger than humor. “You love Mom? Then, it’s a good thing I decided not to get married if committing adultery is the way a married man shows his love for his wife. Taking money out of my bank accounts without me knowing it was bad enough. I would hate to think that after we’d been married thirty years, the next best thing to expect was for Erol to engage in an affair … out of his love for me.”
“Sage, you don’t understand …”
“Yeah, Dad, you’re right, I don’t understand and doubt I ever will.”
For the longest time there was total silence in the room. Then Charles Dunbar spoke. “Will you let me be the one to tell your mother at what I feel is an appropriate time?” His voice was so soft it was barely a whisper.
She sighed, not wanting to deal with anything any longer. A part of her wished she could leave Charlotte for a while. In fact, maybe it was a good idea if she did. The Denmark Corporation had several offices across the country, and maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to check in to the possibility of transferring to one of them.
“Yes, Dad,” she finally answered, in just as soft a voice as his. “I’ll let you be the one to tell her … unless I witness something like it again. Then I’ll be the one to tell her, no matter what.”
Charles Dunbar nodded quietly before crossing the room. Before opening the door, he turned to his daughter. “I know I’ve hurt you deeply and have let you down, and for that I’m truly sorry,” he said in a broken voice.
Tears slid down Sage’s cheeks as she gazed into her father’s crumpled and tormented face. “Yes, I’m sorry for that, too, Dad.”
He shook his head. “I just hope and pray to God that one day you will find it in your heart to forgive me and let me redeem myself in your sight. You are my daughter, and I love you very much.”
Without saying anything else, he stepped out into the hallway and gently closed the door behind him.
The next
day Sage returned to work. She was reviewing the document she had just completed, a Request for Transfer form. The three locations she had chosen were Florida, Texas and Alaska. Mr. Poole had informed her that morning that due to their exclusive contract with Landmark Industries and the future projects he had planned for Anchorage, a decision had been made to open an office in Anchorage. Although Sage much preferred relocating to Florida or Texas, at the moment she would be grateful for either of the three.
She looked up, surprised, when her secretary walked in carrying a huge vase containing a dozen red roses.
“These are for you, Ms. Dunbar,” the older woman said, placing them on her desk.
Sage thanked her, knowing word would probably get around the office about the flowers. A number of people were curious as to why she was no longer wearing her engagement ring. She’d been surprised that anyone would even notice, which went to show just how observant some people were.
She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. The flowers were from Erol, and the card read,
I hope you’ll soon realize that you and I were meant to be together and find it in your heart to forgive me for what I did.
Love Always,
Erol
Sage stood and walked over to the window, carrying the card with her. She reread it a second time, then closed her eyes, briefly wondering if she would ever be able to find it in her heart to forgive Erol. She also thought of her father. Would she ever find it in her heart to forgive him as well for what he’d done to her mother? For what he’d done to their special father-daughter relationship? And now what about her feelings toward men in general after the two most important men in her life had violated her trust this way? She would definitely find it difficult to let another man get close to her again.
Walking back to her desk, she glanced down at the transfer papers she had completed. She swallowed as she tried to calm her tormented heart. At the moment, she felt incapable of putting the past behind her and moving on … at least not here in Charlotte.
Perfect Fit Page 8
