“We got through it.” June thanked the waitress as she set their plates of food in front of them. “It wasn’t long before Willa got married, graduated, became a firefighter, and gave me three beautiful grandchildren.”
“What happened with your accident?” Holt steered the conversation to the present.
June told him about it. “But, since I’ve been in Sandpiper Shores, I’m driving again at least.” She tried to make light of it.
“That was until I ran out in front of you and scared the heck out of you,” Holt pointed out, his gaze softening and his voice lowered. “You’re doing great. In all honesty, when I found out about your accident, I kind of did some checking. I saw your car. It’s only natural that you’d be wary of getting back behind the wheel.”
They ate in silence for a few moments.
“I’ve told you my life story. It seems only fair that you tell me about you,” June said.
“Okay. As you know, I went to Virginia,” Holt told her. “And uh… You remember Lillian Forester?”
June’s shoulders stiffened slightly at that name, and a pain sliced through her heart. She’d known he’d married Lillian, and when they’d gotten a divorce all those years ago, June had felt awful at the feeling of pure elation that had hit her back then. But Lillian had been the woman who had been the final straw that had broken her fragile marriage to Holt. The woman who had changed the entire course of June’s life. She took a quick deep breath and mentally shook it off.
“Yes, I remember her,” June said, hoping her voice didn’t sound strained.
Holt’s expression turned distant for a moment. “Lillian was studying at the University of Virginia.”
“What did she study?” June asked, hating the way it sounded.
“Communications and public relations,” Holt told her.
June heard the bitterness beneath his calm tone, and her heart squeezed for him.
“I’m not even sure how it happened,” Holt continued, his voice steady but not warm. “We seemed to just fall into a relationship and then marriage. It was easy at first. She liked the idea of my work. The title. The structure. I think she liked what it looked like.”
June listened, feeling the sadness settle in her chest, and couldn’t help the dark thought that swept through her mind:Lillian also liked Holt’s money.
“Rad was born a year after we were married,” Holt’s voice was soft now. “He was such an easy baby.”
“He’s a wonderful young man,” June admitted. “You must be so proud of him.”
“I really am.” Holt nodded. “When Rad was three, Lillian decided being a mother and my wife no longer suited her image, so she left.” He sighed. “Lillian met a plastic surgeon in California and decided she wanted that life. She took off and never looked back.”
“That’s awful,” June said, and her voice held real compassion.
Holt shrugged, but it was not careless. It was a man who had learned how to survive.
“Honestly,” Holt admitted, “it was the best thing for both of us. She was never a good mother to Rad. Lillian used him as a prop.”
“You never remarried?” June asked, watching him, her heart aching for him and his son.
“No,” Holt said simply. He took a sip of coffee, then continued. “I raised my son. And then, until they moved to New York, I helped raise my grandson.”
“Tyler is a great kid,” June said.
Holt nodded. His expression darkened briefly. “All thanks to Rad. Tyler’s mother did to him what Lillian did to Rad. ” Holt said.
June’s chest tightened. “Oh, Holt, I’m so sorry.”
“It seems to have been a pattern,” Holt said quietly. “A painful one.”
June’s eyebrows lifted as a realization clicked. “I just realized,” June said softly. “The two of you both lost your wives to divorce.”
Holt’s eyes lifted to hers, and something in his gaze softened, not with romance, but with understanding.
“And you and Willa lost yours to tragedy,” Holt pointed out.
