“So he divorced you.” It was not a question.
“Yes. He had been having an affair with a former girlfriend. They had met in school, before he even met me.” She sighed. “Maybe I should start from the beginning. But I warn you, it might be a long story. Do you have the time?”
“For you, always.” And he meant it. He would always make time for her.
She leaned against the library table. On the same spot were moments before he had her in his arms. He wished he was still there, between her legs–
“In that case,” she continued, pulling him out of his fantasies. “Charles and I met when I was seventeen years old. I had just finished high school and was on my summer break before college. He is a contractor and my parents had hired him to remodel the kitchen. We spent lots of time together while he was on the job. He was older than me, ten years older to be exact, and had such charisma and physical magnetism. I thought he was the most worldly man I had ever met. Compared to him, all the other boys my age looked like... well, boys. I couldn’t believe he seemed to like me.”
Her mouth twisted self deprecatingly and his heart twisted too. How could such a beautiful and sweet woman doubt her likeability?
“A few weeks later, when I turned eighteen, he asked me out on a date. That is, he took me on an outing. We became romantically involved soon after that. I had originally planned to go to college out of state, but I changed to a local university to be near him. A year later he proposed to me, and we married three years after that when I graduated from college. It was a beautiful wedding. Not extravagant, but everything I had dreamed of.”
Ah yes, he knew firsthand how often dream weddings don't turn out to be dream marriages.
“We went to work together. With my architectural degree, we expanded his company. We went from doing small remodeling jobs to completely custom work, designing and building houses. We worked really hard in the beginning, and were focused on achieving success. But once we got more comfortable, we traveled, designed and built our own house, and I began thinking it was time to have children.”
He sucked in a breath at the mention of children. Bracing for a blow.
Her fingers were white from clutching the edge of the table on either side of her, belying her apparent serenity while relaying her story.
“In hindsight, he really didn’t seem that interested in having kids, but I was really looking forward to this next phase of our lives. But then my sister died, and I couldn’t get pregnant. That sent me into a tailspin of depression and obsession for months.”
“Oh Livvy. I’m so sorry, darling.” Dale was familiar with both emotions. He wouldn’t have wished them on his worst enemy. Imagining vibrant, laughing, Livvy depressed so much, aroused in him such protectiveness he could barely stand it. “What did your husband do about it?”
“He didn’t handle it well. He is a physical guy, not comfortable dealing with emotions and feelings. So he retreated emotionally. I finally pulled out of the depression, but my marriage was not the same. I tried to fix it, but I didn’t even know what was wrong. I only knew Charles was different. Distant.”
“So what happened?” He asked warily, fearing he already knew.
She started pacing.
CHAPTER 31 - His Story
“OH, NOTHING TOO DRAMATIC.” She said airily, but her tone did not fool him. “Another year went on like this. Everything I did seemed to bother him. We argued a lot and the distance between us kept getting greater until he finally confessed he had been having an affair with a former girlfriend. It had been going on for over a year.”
The ass. Dale thought savagely, trying to control his reaction.
