She crossed her arms. Slapping her ex-husband across the face probably wasn’t a good idea. “Let me get this straight—you sent me divorce papers from Korea with a note that said you’d fallen in love with someone else and she was pregnant. Not only that, but you had your buddies move all your stuff out while I was at work and took your name off the lease, leaving me with an apartmentyouinsisted we rent because you needed the extra room andIcouldn’t afford on my own, but I should have informed you of my plans?
“And now you’ve changed your mind so I should just drop what I’m doing and take you back. Is that about it?”
“Zoe, you love me.”
“What’s funny about that statement is you didn’t say you loved me.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tim approaching across the yard, dressed in gym shorts and a faded Haven Springs Police Department t-shirt. Glancing between him and Mark, there was no comparison. She couldn’t even remember what she’d ever seen in Mark to begin with.
Tim pushed passed Mark and kissed Zoe. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s perfect,” she said.
Tim’s gaze searched her face. Satisfied with what he found, he gave her a short nod. “Holler if you need anything.”
“I will.” She watched over her shoulder as Tim disappeared into the house.
“Who the hell is that?” Mark demanded.
“No one you need to worry about. Goodbye, Mark.”
He pushed against the door, as she tried to close it. “Zoe, please! She left me. She’s going back to her husband, even though the baby is probably mine.”
A small twinge of sympathy hit her. She wasn’t a monster. If it had been anyone else, she would have offered a shoulder to cry on, but she couldn’t do it with Mark. He was in this mess because of what he’d done—he could deal with it himself.
“I’m sorry for that. I hope you work it out, but it’s not my problem.”
She closed and locked the door, pressing her forehead it.
“You sure you’re okay?” Tim asked from behind her.
“Baby Jesus is punishing me.”
“I don’t think baby Jesus is punishing you.”
Zoe could hear the amusement in his voice. “How do you know?”
Tim pulled her away from the door, turned her and pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.”
He rubbed his hands up and down her back and the tension left her body as she relaxed against him.
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.
Where to start? With her ex leaving her for another woman or her mother interfering in her life? Impotent anger built in her chest. Her mother.
“What just happened? You got tense again.”
“Just a minute.” Pulling out of his arms, she stalked to the dining room and picked up her phone from the table and called her mom.
She answered on the second ring. “Querida. I’m so glad you called. How are you settling in?”
“Did you tell Mark where I was?”
“Yes. He called and said he wanted to apologize.”
“You had no right.”
“Don’t take that tone with me Zoe Mariana. I’m your mother, I have every right.”
