He wondered if she’d said this just to prove she had no trouble admitting when she was at fault. Fine, he could do it, too.
“Speaking of assumptions,” Zach said, looking past his ex-wife. He owed her this, even if it meant humiliating himself in the process. “It’s easy to leap to conclusions.” He glanced at Rosie to see if she got his point.
“How do you mean?”
It should be obvious, but apparently she wanted him to spell it out. “The way I assumed you were talking to Cecilia to pump her for information about Janice.”
Rosie stared at him. Then she frowned as if she wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “Are you apologizing, Zachary Cox?”
Zach clenched his jaw and nodded. “Yes, I’m apologizing. I was out of line that day.”
Her face relaxed, and she offered him a soft, almost shy smile. Then she said, “Thank you, Zach.”
“For what?”
“For admitting you were wrong. I know how hard it is for you to do that.”
“Really?” He didn’t think he was that bad, just reluctant at times. Still, he’d gotten worse once his marriage began to fall apart. Although maybe that was why his marriage had fallen apart—or at least a contributing factor.
“Oh, that sounded self-righteous of me, didn’t it?” Rosie laughed and shook her head.
It was easy to forgive her when she was so willing to laugh at herself. He smiled in response, feeling a connection with her that he hadn’t felt in nearly two years.
“I owe you an apology, too,” she told him.
“Me?” They’d waged war over a comma in their divorce papers. Their weapons had been highly paid attorneys. During the bitter months preceding the divorce, there’d been no interchange that wasn’t witnessed and presided over by those same attorneys. Yet here was Rosie, standing with him in a school parking lot, and they were having one of the most important conversations of their relationship.
“I apologize for assuming you were involved with Janice,” Rosie continued. “I convinced myself that you were having an affair and I turned into a vindictive shrew. I’m not proud of the things I said and did, and I apologize.”
Zach had never expected Rosie to do anything like this. For months she’d been filled with resentment and vicious anger. Now he saw the tears of regret in her eyes, and his own heart softened.
“Rosie…”
“You denied the affair from the beginning,” she went on, barely able to speak through her tears. “I never had any real proof. I’d decided it was happening, felt it must be. She was obviously attractive and capable, and you spent eight hours a day with her. I was insanely jealous.”
Zach swallowed hard. He looked toward the school, sick at heart. Even now, months after his divorce, Janice haunted his life. Today his son had even fought with hers. She wasn’t to blame for the death of his marriage, but she wasn’t exactly a disinterested bystander. Janice’s attention had flattered him; he’d liked the way she’d catered to him, liked it far more than he should have. And she’d been well aware of that….
Clearly embarrassed by her loss of control, Rosie shoved the hair away from her face. “I apologize for the ugly things I said, for the way I behaved.”
The school bell rang, but they both ignored it.
“Rosie, listen, I was as much at fault as you. More so,” Zach confessed. “I should never have let things go on as long as they did. I was wrong, dead wrong.”
“But—”
“Let me finish,” he said, fearing he’d lose his courage if he didn’t say it now. “I wasn’t physically involved with Janice, but I did care about her. And I relied on her.”
Zach held his breath a moment. “I didn’t sleep with Janice, although it might have gone that way eventually—it was definitely what she wanted. But I did become emotionally dependent on her.”
He watched as the color drained from Rosie’s face. He wanted to explain what he meant, but by then the school busses had rolled into the parking lot, belching smoke and diesel fumes.
“Mom,” Eddie shouted, running toward them. “What are you doing here?”
“We’ll talk later,” Zach promised, but he could see from the shock in Rosie’s eyes that she wasn’t ready to discuss Janice. For that matter, he wasn’t eager to bring up the subject again—ever.
Grace was breathing hard as she followed the aerobics instructor. “One, two, one, two, three. Come on, ladies! Pick up the pace.” She groaned at the young woman’s words; she could barely keep up with the other members of her Wednesday night class as it was. She had conceded a long time ago that Olivia was far more agile than she was. The only reason she’d signed up for this class was so she could count on seeing her best friend at least once a week. By now, three years later, she’d figured all these exercises would’ve gotten easier. Not so.
Back in the locker room, Grace felt convinced she was losing whatever ground she’d gained. The problem was, this was her only exercise program. Like it or not, she needed the class.
She used to take a brisk walk along the waterfront at lunchtime, especially on sunny days. Now she ate her lunch in front of the computer at the library. At home it was the same thing. If Will wasn’t online when she logged on, he almost always had a message waiting for her. She’d come to live for his messages. She’d let so many things slide, and all because of Will. She feared their online relationship had become an obsession, but recognizing that did nothing to change the way she felt about him.
“I don’t know why I do this to myself,” Grace complained as she slumped onto the bench in the locker room.
Olivia wasn’t even out of breath, whereas Grace was panting. Her hair was plastered to her head and her face felt hot. This couldn’t be good for her, although according to the pencil-thin group leader, she was doing wonderful things for her heart. Wanna bet?
“You’re going to seed, Gracie-girl,” Olivia teased.
Grace rolled her eyes. “And you’re not?”
Olivia braced her tennis shoe against the bench and untied it. “Not me. Say, you never did tell me what you did on Valentine’s Day.” Olivia sank down on the bench next to Grace.
“Nothing much. I stayed home.” She didn’t have anything exciting to report. In fact, her night had gotten off to a slow start.
Olivia wiped her face with a towel. “Being alone didn’t bother you?”
“Not in the least.” Grace shrugged. “I enjoy my own company.” Yes, at first she’d been a bit down, since Will hadn’t been available, but eventually she was able to talk to him. He’d e-mailed her later than usual. He’d stayed at the office finishing up a report so he could leave for New Orleans the following week. Grace didn’t dare think about that. After all this time, she was actually going to be in Will’s arms. She’d dreamed of this in high school and only recently confessed to him how she’d felt back then.
The plane ticket he’d mailed her waited on her dresser, where she gazed at it every day, imagining the pleasures to come. For his part, Will had made her a number of promises. This first time would be as special as he could make it. Soon they’d have a life together. Will hadn’t wanted to discuss the details but said they’d go over all of that once she arrived.
“Did you and Jack have a good time?” Grace asked in order to turn her thoughts from Will.
“We had a fabulous time,” Olivia said, with a long, drawn-out sigh.
“Did he get you flowers?”
“Jack?” Olivia arched her eyebrows dramatically. “Once a year is about all I should expect from him.”
“He did buy you that tennis bracelet for your birthday last year.”
“And gave it to me weeks late,” she recalled.
Olivia loved that bracelet; she wore it almost constantly.
“If you must know, Jack bought me two tickets to the Sonics basketball game.”
“He didn’t!” Grace loved the way Jack could make Olivia smile. It was just like him to buy her a gift he wanted.
“That’s all right, I outsmarted him,” Olivia assured her. “I bought him a facial at the health spa.”
Grace shook her head and marveled that her friend could get exactly what she wanted and do it in such a clever manner. “You two are getting along better than ever, aren’t you?”
Olivia nodded. “I can’t believe how silly I was to make demands on him. And that stupid ultimatum—I should’ve known better. I was such a fool to consider getting back with Stan.” She lowered her voice. “I’m in love with Jack.”
Grace was thrilled for her. This really was good news, but it wasn’t something she hadn’t figured out herself. Olivia’s feelings for Jack were obvious. While Grace had similar news concerning Will, she wasn’t free to share it. But she would the minute his divorce was final.
Grace had told Olivia everything nearly her entire life. The urge to tell her dearest friend about her plans with Will was almost overwhelming, but she couldn’t. Soon, though. Very soon. According to Will, his wife had moved out and the divorce was all but over. The legalities couldn’t be settled quickly enough to suit Grace.
“Did I tell you Mom heard from Will? He’s worried about this protest rally she’s organizing. He’s going to be out of town next week, but he’s planning to call and give her his two cents’ worth.”
Grace already knew he’d be in New Orleans. What Olivia didn’t know was that Will would be with her. She was a bit surprised that Olivia avoided mentioning his divorce, but she was probably waiting until it was final before she said anything, which was understandable.
“I’d love to take a cruise one day,” Olivia said dreamily.
Grace frowned. “A cruise. What’s that got to do with anything?”
Olivia glanced at her. “My brother. He and Georgia booked a cruise this summer in the South Pacific.”
It felt as if her heart had stopped beating. “Will’s taking a cruise with his wife?” she asked, just to be certain she’d heard Olivia correctly.
“They’ve gone on several over the years. Will says it’s the only way to travel.”
This was a mistake; it had to be. Will and Georgia were in the middle of a divorce. Will couldn’t have misled Grace like this, couldn’t have lied to her…not after the things he’d promised. She didn’t believe it. She absolutely refused to accept it.
Somehow Grace managed to remain in one piece until she got back to the house. Buttercup was waiting for her as usual, but Grace ran past the dog and reached for the phone. Her hand trembled so badly she nearly dropped the receiver.
No, she couldn’t just call him out of the blue like this. After all these months of communicating online, she didn’t even know his home number. He was always the one who phoned her. With finances so tight, she couldn’t afford lengthy long-distance conversations, and Will knew that. She needed to think this through before she made accusations.
