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“No,” he broke in. “It wouldn’t work anyway.”

Unsure of what to say next, she studied the snowy patches on the grass and the fake presents under the tree, which were plastic to withstand the weather. “That’s too bad.”

“It’s a hard lesson. I regret ever getting involved with her, should never have given up on you. I guess I thought life would get easier if I did. Instead, it got harder.”

The bench was hard and cold through her coat. “Marriage is…always a challenge. A constant compromise.”

“You haven’t dated since we broke up,” he pointed out.

Whenever she got particularly lonely, she toyed with the idea of building a profile on a dating site. Sometimes she wanted company or someone to go out to eat with or to a movie. She hadn’t even had her best friend to fill that void, not after Glenda married Jack.

But then she’d consider the odds of meeting someone who lived close to Hard Luck—which were minimal—and knew she couldn’t risk being tempted into moving away. She couldn’t take Ari from the constant association of her father, her friends and her grandfather. She couldn’t leave Carl herself. Whatever his faults, her father had always been there for her, and she was determined to return the favor. “No, I haven’t.”

“Once burned, twice shy?” he said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

“I don’t blame you for the divorce, Jack,” she said. “I was part of the problem.”

He threw up one hand. “See that right there? That’s it. At least you’re fair. Glenda thinks she’s never part of the problem, that she should have everything her way.”

Patience cautioned herself to be careful. For all she knew they’d get back together—forgive each other but hold whatever she said in this situation against her. She couldn’t imagine that would make dynamics any easier when it came time to take Ari to their house. “She’s been decent to Ari, at least.”

“Because her only goal in life has been to show you up in everything—even motherhood,” he grumbled.

Still, she’d rather have Ari love Glenda than hate her and be miserable when she was at her father’s house. “Maybe putting me down is the only way she can feel good about herself.”

“Regardless, it’s not right. Her obsession with you drives me nuts. She accuses me of making you too big a focus, but I can’t forget you just because she’s so fixated on ‘beating’ you.”

“Nice.”

He frowned at her sarcasm. “How’d you ever get along with her before?”

“She was a different person then. I mean, she was always a bit self-centered, but this thing between the three of us—it’s brought out the worst in her.” She thought of how Glenda had behaved at the coffee shop yesterday and shook her head. “If she moved out, where’d she go? To her folks’ place? Because she doesn’t get along with them well enough to stay there for long, which means she’ll be back.”

“I can’t take her back.” He shifted to face her squarely. “What’d she say to you yesterday at Buzzworthy?”

“You heard about that?”

“Yeah. This morning when I went in for coffee. Nick told me Demin told him you two really got into it.”

Patience should’ve known word would get back to Jack—and would probably spread to a lot of other people, too. The citizens of Hard Luck loved drama, especially Demin. As much as she liked him, it was true that he often served a large helping of gossip with his coffee. “She wanted to cry on my shoulder, wasn’t happy about the donation you gave me.”

“She’s not upset about the donation, Patience. It’s that you were involved. She’s insanely jealous, is somehow convinced that I’m still not over you.”

She remembered what Glenda had screamed at her about the pregnancy but didn’t tell Jack. It didn’t matter anymore, not at this late date. “That’s crazy.”

He shifted again, this time toward the Christmas tree, and gave her a side-eyed look. “No, it’s not.”

Taken aback, she started to get up. “Jack…”

He caught her arm. “Relax. I know too much has happened, that we can’t go back. But you are twice the person she is. I knew shortly after I’d married her that I’d made a terrible mistake. I just didn’t want to fail twice.”

She gave him a feeble smile as she sank back onto the bench. “Which is exactly why I won’t get married again.”

“I’m sorry to hear you’re still saying that,” he said. “You deserve better than I was able to give you.”

“It wasn’t just you. It was my father. I think… I think he scarred me long before you did.”

He chuckled without mirth. “Carl… I’m convinced you and I could’ve made it without him.”