“It’s not that I don’t feel comfortable. It’s just…not a good story. And it ends badly. Obviously, as we’re divorced.”
“I have time. Take all you need.”
I dropped my head back and sucked in a long breath.
“Maggie and I met through one of her cousins who lived in town. She lived about an hour away, but we started dating and it went very fast. She wanted every second of my time, and I was too into her to realize why that may not have been such a good thing.”
“Was she possessive? Sometimes that takes a minute to notice. When it’s all hot and heavy and fun, you don’t realize it until it becomes stifling. I’ve been through that a time or two.”
“She was, but she told me that she’d had a falling-out with her friends and didn’t get along with her family, so her focus was on me. No details other than that her friends had stabbed her in the back and her cousins were always mean, even though, knowing who they were, that made no sense to me at first.”
Every time I looked back, I became pissed at myself all over again for believing the best in her and the worst of everyone else without any proof.
“She was convincing enough for me to take her at her word without asking for details. People tried to warn me there was more to it, but I didn’t want to hear it. Looking back, I cringe at how fucking stupid I was.”
“You’re a good guy who believed the woman you were in love with. When you care about someone, you don’t think to ask for receipts.” Claudia shook her head.
“I didn’t think much at all,” I said, letting out a sad chuckle. “Anyway, we were married, and she begged me to move out of Kelly Lakes. She found a job in Putnam County, and I transferred over to their police department. For a while, it was nice. She found friends and wasn’t as clingy. I missed my old town, but I thought we’d made a good life there. And it was close enough to see my parents whenever I wanted to. Dad has been diabetic for years, but he was holding his own even with some complications. Then my mother got sick. Cancer. No symptoms before, but once they found it, it moved fast and nothing we did could stop it.”
“I’m so sorry, Jude.” Claudia squeezed my hand.
“So, I had to be in Kelly Lakes even more,” I continued, ignoring the stricken look in her eyes. “All my time off was here. Doctor’s appointments for them both, cancer treatments for her, then eventually hospice care. It was a lot. And I did it alone.”
“Wait, what? She never came with you?”
“Sometimes. When she didn’t, she’d just tell me that they didn’t like her anyway and probably wouldn’t want her around. That it was better to go by myself.”
“That is a lot for one person to handle.”
She pressed her hand against my chest, sympathy I didn’t want to acknowledge pulling at her features. But at the same time, the heat from where her skin touched mine, even with the cotton barrier of my shirt, soothed me.
“And really shitty of her to make you go through that all alone.”
“She wasn’t totally wrong. They were never crazy about her, but they always treated her well for my sake.”
“I believe that,” Claudia said, inching closer. “Your dad seems like a straight shooter, but I’m sure he would have tried for you.”
“He did, they both did. Anyway, after my mother passed away, my father’s health took a nose dive. He had a wound on his leg that wouldn’t go away. Since he’s diabetic, he’s slow to heal, but when the wound became infected and spread, they couldn’t cure it without removing his leg. He refused, but I told him it was either do that or leave me with no parents. I took a leave of absence to get him prepared and stayed at the house during his operation and recovery so I’d be close. Even though he told me he wanted to be alone, I didn’t let him. It’s basically how you know us now.”
Claudia’s sad smile gave me the push to keep going.
“When I came home after I’d gotten him settled into rehab, Maggie was in our bed with her best friend’s husband. And I found out later he’d been coming and going for months.”
“Please tell me you shot him. Or at least wounded him.”
“No,” I said, a surprised laugh slipping out. “I was in shock and threw him out. Maggie was sobbing, telling me she felt abandoned and that’s the only reason she did what she did. If I’d paid attention to her, this wouldn’t have happened. And some other excuses I ignored. I packed my stuff while she ranted, and I headed back to my father’s house. I haven’t seen her since the divorce was finalized.”
“I am so sorry.” She pressed her hand to my chest again. The warmth from her palm calmed my racing heart.
People assumed my divorce was bad, rightly assuming the worst of Maggie, but no one other than my father knew the whole story. The betrayal was the least of it all when I looked back. What got to me the most was the embarrassment over being an idiot from the beginning and never seeing Maggie for who she really was until it was too late.
“I was a moron and fell for her victim act—”
“You mean herdictimact. She was a dick playing the victim so she could keep being a dick. I hate people like that. Never apologize for having a good heart. Hate the ones who take advantage of it.”
I exhaled a gust of air that seemed to take a thousand pounds off my chest. I laughed when my gaze came back to Claudia.
“Dictim? Is that even a word?”
