THIRTEEN
Calvin paced in frontof the sandwich shop, watching every car that drove by. He pulled out his phone and glanced at the time. She was three minutes late. But then, with California’s busy lunch-hour traffic, hardly anyone could get to a destination on time.
He pushed his fingers through his hair, trying to calm himself. She was coming. She told him she was, and she wouldn’t lie. If something had come up, she would have called him by now.
Further up the road, he recognized the model and color of her car. Sighing, he smiled. It must have been a traffic jam somewhere.
He waited for her to park before hurrying toward the car. As he studied her face, even from a distance he could see she was upset. Unease tightened his chest. Had she gotten the flowers? But of course, she did. He’d called the flower shop to confirm the delivery.
She climbed out of the car and headed toward him. In her hand, she clutched a manila envelope. She wasn’t smiling. She didn’t look sad, though. She looked very upset.
When she reached him, she folded her arms across her chest and met his stare head on.
“Calvin, we need to put lunch on hold. Something has come up that’s more important to discuss.”
Slowly, he nodded his head. “All right. What’s going on?”
She motioned her head toward the car. “Let’s get in my car. I don’t want this to be in public.”
This didn’t sound good at all. “All right.”
He followed her to the car and opened the driver’s side door. She didn’t meet his eyes as she climbed in. He closed it and hurried around to the passenger’s side. His gut twisted with worry. There were so many ideas running through his head of what could be bothering her. None of them were positive.
“Will you tell me what’s going on now?” He shifted in the seat, facing her as much as he could.
She handed him the envelope. “This was on my windshield when I got to the car to come here.”
He withdrew the contents of the envelope. At first, he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. It was just a couple embracing. But then he recognized his suit – the one he was wearing right now. And then...Rona?
“What are these?” He looked at Rayne.
“I don’t know. I was hoping you’d tell me.”
He glanced back at the pictures. Then he knew. “Well, right after I’d called you and asked you to have lunch with me, I was heading for the elevator when Rona ran into me. The impact knocked her to the ground. I helped her up, but she stumbled and fell against me. Apparently, she’d sprained her ankle.” He rolled his eyes. “I was hoping to just help her to one of the benches, but...” He gave Rayne a small smile. “Then I remembered what we’d talked about at dinner last night, and well, I wanted to be the man you thought me to be.” He shrugged. “So, I helped Rona by lifting her up and carrying her all the way to her office so she could put some ice on her ankle.”
Gradually, the stiffness of Rayne’s shoulders relaxed, and even the lines on her face disappeared. A gentle smile touched her perfect mouth.
“Now that’s something very believable, especially since I’ve already met Rona.”
He chuckled. “Yes, but...” He frowned again, glancing at the pictures. “Why does it look like we’re trying to make out? That’s definitely not the way it had gone. It happened in the main lobby of the office building. There were people standing around watching.” He shook his head. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
She sighed and handed him a folded piece of paper. “This was also in the envelope. Read it.”
He unfolded the paper and skimmed the typed words.
Your husband is having an affair, and here is the evidence. These photos will go public if he doesn’t start divorce proceedings immediately.
