Shit ones.But still choices.
And I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.
I can’t believe I allowed myself to turn a blind eye to Mike’s weaknesses.
What a fool you’ve been, Kelly McCrae.
None of that, however, explains why my stomach feels like it’s full of rocks as I move deeper into the room.
“Oh my God, is that Kelly Stevens?”
“Guess she’s trying a little too late to keep her husband at home.”
“Yeah, well, Kelly always was too much.Too loud.Too opinionated.Too BIG.”
That last voice slithers across my spine.
Darla Stern.
Blonde.Sharp.She almost took Thatcher for a ride once upon a time.
But thank God he found someone worthy in Willow, someone who loves him back the way he deserves to be loved.
Darla’s the kind of woman who mistakes cruelty for charisma.
“Hey Kelly, how’s the single life treating you?”she shouts, and I can hear the snark.
My back stiffens.
I don’t turn.
I don’t give her the satisfaction.
I just keep walking, looking for my table.
Head high.
Chin level.
More whispers trail me.
Some sympathetic.
Some curious.
Some gleeful.
Tom Gilbert, one of the board members, intercepts me before I can get away.
“Wow, Kelly, you look amazing.Where’s that lucky husband of yours?”
I blanch.
His wife elbows him so hard I hear it.
“Tom, they’re divorced,” she hisses, mortified.
“Oh—um—sorry about that, Kelly,” he stammers.“I bet that’s hard, being a woman here on your own.”
