“Where?” He hands me the plastic cover.
“Not far this time. He flew into Lewisburg.”
A small pop sounds from Beau’s fist. He curses, shakes his head, then curses again.
The blades of my internal blender go wild. “What?”
“Trish flies into Lewisburg tomorrow. She’s headed to Hot Springs. Some fancy resort, I guess.”
My mind jumps to the obvious. “Yeah, but if she doesn’t leave until tomorrow,” I say. “Greg probably isn’t lying about meeting a client down there. Or about staying in a hotel—he said he has enough travel points that this one’s free.”
“He’s staying there tonight, I’m sure. But I bet you anything he’ll be hauling his bags into the resort I’m paying for after that. Trish said it was just her and the girls. She ordered a handful of new swimsuits for the occasion.”
Swimsuits?I groan because who can compete with that woman’s body?
The package in Beau’s fist falls to the ground. “I’ll buy you a new one.” He holds his hand out expectantly, but I don’t exactly know what he wants until he gingerly tugs the plastic cover out of my grip.
And that’s when I see it—the shattered bulb on the ground, its shards trapped between the plastic, bulb-shaped cover and the thin, cardboard back. I hand him the tiny screws in turn, feeling angry and desperate and…and so miserably sad I want to burst into tears.
What about Jack?
What about our home? I didn’t want Jack to have divorced parents like I did. I don’t want to trade off holidays, tell him goodbye for days at a time during the last few years I’ll have him at home.
And would Jack evenwantto switch off? My friend Linda’s teenager said he only wanted to live with his dad, and the judge let him, saying he was old enough to decide for himself.
I want to cry. To give in to the stinging in my eyes, and the quivering of my chin and the deep, dreaded emptiness taking over my soul.
“I spoke with an attorney,” Beau says.
His statement rips me out of the pity zone in a blink. “What? You did?”
“He says ifIwant to get out of paying alimony, and ifyouwant to receive any, we need cold hard proof that they’re cheating.”
I shake my head, still too stunned to process what he said. “You spoke to an attorney? Already?”
He sits back on his foot and plops the small screwdriver on the blanket. “One of my brothers is a lawyer. He went through an ugly divorce himself a few years ago.”
I recall the way Maggie asked about Beau after Jack’s birthday party, wanting to know if he was single. I didn’t bother pointing out the age gap; Maggie knows she’s as close to Parker’s age as she is to ours. I simply told her that he was still married to Parker’s mom. That’s when she asked if he had any brothers.
I’d rather think about that than the trainwreck of my marriage. I’d rather play matchmaker to my single sister than deal with the fact that my husband prefers Beau’s wife to me and that he’s probably been sleeping with her behind my back for months now.
My gaze drops back to the shattered bulb resting in the package. “How would we ever get proof?” I ask.
When I lift my gaze, I see a flicker of something in Beau’s eyes. A flicker that tells me he has a plan.
A sudden wind picks up, swirling until the tips of my hair tickle my nose. I tuck the wandering strands behind my ear, but the wind only whips them free once more. A wild howl echoes off the wall like a war cry. Chimes sound in the distance, and the American flag waves rapidly from its pole nearby. The onset fans the sensations stirring inside me. New ones, fueled with fresh possibilities and a rare sense of empowerment.
It’s like the feeling that coursed through me before I marched to Beau’s hotel room with a plan in my head and determination in my heart. I was ready to take action then, and I’m ready for it now.
Beau’s watching me, seeming to sense that I feel it coming too. Our comeback. Our moment of vindication.
“Two words,” he says with a dangerous look in his eye. “Sting op.”
CHAPTER12
Beau
Jack’s mom mentioned a slang term for suspicious when she caught me sayinglow-key.Sus, that’s the word, and that’s exactly how I feel as I watch Kirsten Hill, dressed in black from head to toe, dart glances over her shoulder before exiting her Volvo in the parking lot of the Dollar General. I thought the idea of asting opmight appeal to her, but I had no idea she’d go allMission Impossibleon me.
