by Francis Ray
“I can just imagine,” Justine said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Andrew might not remember, but his little playmate would. “Sneaking around can be tiring.”
Teresa’s gaze snapped back to Justine. “What? You know?”
“Yes, I know.”
She held up her hands, palm up. “No one likes to be the bearer of bad news. As it was, she still found a way to get rid of me to keep things hushed up,” Teresa said, her voice filled with anger.
Justine frowned. Suddenly the pieces she thought were coming together no longer fit. “Keep talking.”
Teresa glanced over her shoulder. “Why don’t you ask her? I thought I’d ask Andrew for help, but she beat me to it.”
Justine’s gaze went to Andrew’s door. Who was in there? If Teresa hadn’t been “the other woman,” then who had? Teresa stepped around her, and hurried away. Justine’s chest felt tight. It was time to find out. Going to the door, she eased it open. Befitting the high-priced suite, the door opened without a sound.
In the sitting room decorated in muted shades of green, Andrew sat in the straight-backed chair his physical therapist had recommended. In front of him was a woman, bent at the waist, her hands on the arms of Andrew’s chair.
“Stop calling the house and the office. Fun was fun, but you can’t do anything for me now.” She straightened, then said snidely, “You can’t even do anything for yourself.”
“Bit—”
Her scornful laughter drowned out his word. “Nothing you can say will hurt me. And, if you tell him, you can kiss your company and the money that pays for this and your therapy good-bye. No more calls, or I might tell him you made a pass at me, then there’ll be hell to pay.”
“There already is.”
Nina whirled. Fear widened her eyes. “Justine!”
Justine stared at Marcus’s wife. “Marcus deserved better. So did I,” Justine said, feeling relief.
Nina rushed to her. “You can’t tell Marcus! He’ll go crazy!”
“Then I suggest you tell him first.” Justine stepped around the other woman and faced Andrew. “Obviously you lied about remembering the accident. I see no reason for delaying divorce proceedings. I intend to file as soon as possible.”
“I—lov—”
“Spare me the lies,” Justine said. “Marcus is a better man than you ever hoped to be. He’ll continue until the senior citizen’s complex is complete, then he’ll leave, taking Kent with him. Your personal finances will take a big hit. You better start preparing yourself for a less grandiose life-style.”
“Justine, can’t we talk?” Nina pleaded, her body trembling with fear.
“We have nothing to say.” Her gaze drifted to the other woman’s stomach. “Do you know whose baby you’re carrying?”
Uncertainty flashed in Nina’s eyes again. “This is Marcus’s baby.”
“You might not believe me, but I hope it is. You have twenty-four hours.”
With a strangled cry, Nina rushed out of the room. As the door opened, Justine saw Beverly with a cup of coffee in her hand. Justine got the impression that her mother-in-law hadn’t just arrived. There was no surprise on her face. She knows. That betrayal hurt almost as much as Andrew’s.
“So she’s the reason you didn’t mind me being late,” Justine said, facing her mother-in-law. “How could you do that to me? I loved you.”
“Men stray sometimes. Nina means nothing to him,” Beverly declared mildly. “Stay and together you and Andrew will be unstoppable.”
“Not all men stray,” Justine replied in anger. “And if he had, why didn’t you tell him he was wrong and not condone and help him? I thought you loved me?”
“I do, but I love Andrew more,” she said flatly.
“I see that,” Justine said, her anger mounting. “You and Andrew have played me long enough. I’m leaving.”
An anxious Beverly blocked Justine’s exit. “You can’t. Andrew needs you. He loves you. You saw how he responded to you.”
“He should have thought of that when he began cheating.” Justine looked at Andrew with disdain. “Was Nina the first or were there others?”
“I—lo—” Andrew began.
“Stop lying.” Justine faced his mother. “How many others were there?”
For the first time Beverly looked uncomfortable. “Andrew loves you.”
“I don’t love him,” Justine told her, then said to Andrew. “You killed any love I had for you.” She spoke to his mother. “You both have. Thank you, because this makes it easier to walk away.” Her chin lifted. “Andrew will have to find another gullible fool.
“The next time you see me it will be in court. Goodbye.” Moving past the stunned Beverly, Justine walked away, feeling the shackles of her failed marriage fall away.
In her car, she called Brianna’s office and left a message on her personal line to start divorce proceedings immediately and to cancel their dinner date. The second call was to the bookstore to tell Iris she was taking off for a couple of days.
At home, she packed a bag, and then got back in the van. Twenty minutes later, she arrived at her mother’s house. Helen answered the door before the chimes ended.
“Justine, Beverly called. She was crying. She said you’re divorcing Andrew because of some man,” her mother accused. “Are you crazy?”
Justine fought to keep her anger under control. “Why do you always want to think the worst of me?”
Her mother frowned, seemingly caught off guard by the question. “I . . . I don’t.”
“We both know that you do.” Justine jabbed her fingers through her hair in frustration. “I’m not even sure why I came to tell you.”
“I just want the best for you,” her mother said.
“Then why aren’t you ever on my side? Why didn’t you wait until you talked to me? Why aren’t you more worried about how I feel than Beverly being upset?” Justine asked. Seconds ticked away without an answer. “I don’t know why I even bothered. Good-bye.” She started back to the van.
“What happened?”
Halfway up the walk, Justine paused. She did know why she came. She wanted her mother’s love, her understanding. She wanted her mother to be on her side first and always. She retraced her steps. “Do you want to hear the truth or just Beverly’s version?”
“I know it’s him that has you all worked up. I saw the way he looked at you at the news conference. You’ve always been easily persuaded by Dalton,” her mother said. “You were in high school, and you still are!”
Justine struggled to remain calm as they entered the house. “Yes, I am. And perhaps if you hadn’t interfered I wouldn’t have married Andrew and had to deal with catching him having an affair with Nina Hayes.”
Her mother’s eyes rounded in disbelief. “What?”
Justine told her everything. “Nina even got his secretary fired to hide their affair.”
“I can’t believe it,” Helen murmured as they sat side by side on the sofa.
“It was hard at first for me as well, but I had no choice.”
Her mother clasped her hands in her lap. “Do you really think I don’t love you?”
“Yes,” Justine said, the hurt making her voice tight and strained.
“You’re wrong. I just didn’t want you to make the mistakes I had by marrying a man with a reputation for going from woman to woman.”
“Andrew didn’t have the reputation, but he proved just as amoral.” Justine hesitated, then placed her hand on her mother’s. “Dalton isn’t like that. He loves me, and I love him.”
“Some people are going to think the worst of you, no matter what,” her mother told her.
“It won’t deter me. It would help if you understand and are with me,” Justine said. “I’d like for us to try and find our way.”
“I’d like that, too.” She glanced down at her hands, then up at Justine. “Maybe it’s time I told you something.” She visibly swallowed. “Your grandfather made your father marry me. The
marriage was doomed from the first. A month after your grandfather died, your father left.” Her mother glanced away.
“For a while I blamed you. I kept thinking if I hadn’t gotten pregnant, he would have stayed.” Her hands clasped Justine’s when she started to stand. “By the time I accepted that he wouldn’t have stayed, I didn’t know how to be a good mother to you.”
It was a time for new beginnings. “Why don’t we start over from this moment?” Justine asked.
“I’d like that,” her mother said.
The hug was awkward, but it was a hug. Hopefully the next one and the next one after that would be easier and easier. “I’m going to Dalton. I may be gone for a couple of days. I’ll call.”
Anxiety flashed in her mother’s eyes. “Jus—”
“I love him,” Justine said.
Acceptance replaced apprehension. Her mother nodded. “Be careful and call me when you get there.”
“Thank you.” Justine hugged her mother again and then got back in her van, turned the radio to an oldies station. “Purple Rain” was playing.
Dalton’s Buckhead home, at the end of a long paved driveway, was impressive. Single story, it stretched out in front of her with manicured lawns, green shrubbery, and lush flowers. No other homes could be seen through the dense oak trees surrounding it.
Getting out of the van, Justine went to the front door and rang the doorbell, which was almost hidden by English ivy. On either side of the double door was a bronzed lion and just below, on the second step, bronzed urns filled with flowering vines.
Justine stepped off the bricked porch and tried to decide if she should go around to the back. He might be working in his office. She definitely wasn’t leaving until she saw him. She was about to go around the side of the house when she heard the lock in the front door disengage.
Before he had the door opened completely, she was in his arms, his mouth on hers. “I love you. I love you,” she repeated when he finally lifted his head.
His arms tightened. “I’m not sure I can let you go again. Leaving you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I left because it wasn’t fair to you.”
“You don’t have to. Brianna is filing the papers tomorrow at the latest.” She explained what had happened at the hospital. “We don’t have to be apart anymore. Let people talk.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“Thank goodness.” His forehead briefly touched hers. “I’m not sure how much longer I could have held out not seeing you, holding you. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” she said, adoration shining in her eyes. “We have another chance.”
“Let’s not waste another second.” Holding both of her hands, Dalton got down on one knee. “Will you marry me?”
“Yes, a thousand times yes!” she said, laughing and crying at the same time.
Laughing, Dalton surged to his feet, kissing her. “You’ll never be sorry.”
“I know. Now, take me to bed, the only man’s bed I’ll ever want to be in.”
Closing the door, hand in hand, they raced to Dalton’s bed, their happy laughter floating behind them.
A Reading Group Guide
1. If Justine hadn’t wanted to surprise her husband, she might never have learned he was having an affair. Do you think she was clueless because she had little experience with men or just that Andrew was good at covering up his infidelity? Can a woman “always tell” when her man is cheating?
2. Do you think men cheat more than women? Why? Can “cheaters” ever be reformed?
3. If you had been in Justine’s position would you have signed the papers to disconnect life support? Why or why not?
4. Dalton and Justine were high school sweet-hearts. Why do you think we always remember our first love?
5. Brianna Ireland’s unplanned pregnancy caught her by surprise and threw her into a tailspin. Her efforts to push Patrick away failed because her heart wasn’t in it, and because of his unwavering love and support. Can a man love another man s child as much as he loves his own? Why or why not?
6. Dalton and Patrick both refused to give up on Justine and Brianna. Do you think the men were too persistent? When does a man cross the line between being assertive and being a nuisance?
7. Why do some marriages endure and others do not? What are ways to keep a marriage as committed and as passionate as the day the vows were made?
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-one
Twenty-two
Twenty-three
Twenty-four
Twenty-five
A Reading Group Guide
