Emily seemed ready to say something but her cell phone buzzed from its perch on the table. She stood and looked at the display. “For heaven’s sake. What does he want now?” Her breath escaped in a defeated huff.
“Would you like me to talk to him?”
“Tempting, but no. I want to hear what he has to say, and then I’m done.”
“I can go.”
“I’d like you to stay, but if you don’t mind, I’ll take the call in the other room.”
“Of course.”
Emily grabbed her cell phone and padded toward her bedroom. As she closed the door behind her, she gave him a tight grin. Michael threw her a “thumbs up” for luck.
He sat still and tried hard not to listen to her muffled voice, but his curiosity got the better of him. Her voice grew louder anyway, and it was impossible not to get the gist of the conversation. A few phrases made their way to his ears.
“Veronica, of all people?”
“You felt resentment over my new business? Well, that makes everything okay.”
“There’s no excuse.”
“I’ll never forgive you.”
Shaking his head, Michael grabbed the TV remote from the table and turned on the TV, hoping to drown out the sounds of her pain. At the same time, he felt he needed to be a witness so he could support her better.
He couldn’t deny he was pleased to see the back of Trent Andrews, and he hated himself for thinking it. He wasn’t the sort of man to yearn for the demise of another couple’s relationship. Even though he no longer harbored feelings for Lacey, he remembered how shocked he’d been to discover she’d cheated with Alistair. No one wants to be the person who discovers their partner is cheating.
The door creaked as Emily opened it. Michael inhaled, expecting tears or grunts of frustration or…something. She stared blankly.
He eyed her warily. “Well?”
She picked her way back to the loveseat and sat, unnaturally poised, like that guy who walked the tightrope over Niagara Falls. Michael sensed Emily was keeping her emotions at bay for some strange reason. Her eyes were still dry.
“He tried to tell me it was alapse in judgment.”
Hadn’t Lacey used those same words? Couldn’t people come up with better excuses?
“He said he felt a need for excitement. Apparently, I didn’t excite him. He felt stifled by our engagement, and after he lost his job, he became resentful of my plan for starting my career. When Veronica showed interest a few months ago, he thought it might be a chance at a cooking job, a way into her bar. Looks like he found the way into her pants instead.”
“Didn’t he used to cook gourmet food? Why would he want a job frying chicken wings?”
“He’s trying to justify his actions. At the end of the day, he’s a cheater and a liar.” Her long bangs fell across her forehead and she blew them up out of her face. “I had no idea I was so boring.”
Her curvy figure and sweet voice inspired anything but boredom in Michael. “Em, this was never about you. You must know that. This has everything to do with Trent’s inability to commit. He clearly hasfois grasfor brains.”
“He apologized, but not for cheating. He apologized for how I found out. To me, that says everything.”
“Are you okay?”
“Can I be brutally honest with you now?”
He nodded.
“I feel even worse than before.”
She settled in and turned her attention to the TV. When Michael had turned it on, he’d landed on a Sylvester Stallone movie and he’d left it there. Emily didn’t object, and didn’t ask him to leave, so he sat back too and watched it with her.
About ten minutes later, she reached across the loveseat and grabbed his hand. Michael knew from the turn to her mouth she needed a friend, even more than he needed to haul her into his arms and show her she was the least boring person he knew.
