Page 80 of The Redemption of Remy St. Claire

“How do you know what I do?”

“Don’t panic, counselor, I didn’t do anything illegal.” She signaled the waitress. “May I have a glass of water?”

“Of course.”

The waitress left and Sissy’s attention returned to Remy. “What was I saying? Oh, yeah, illegal. I just hired a private investigator to find out more about my replacement.”

“I’m not your replacement, Sissy. I don’t want to supplant you.”

“Yet you married my husband just a week after I signed divorce papers. I mean, talk about acting with the ink barely dry.”

Remy couldn’t find a good answer to the assertion because shehadrushed headlong into marriage with the woman’s ex-husband. She met Sissy’s gaze. “We wanted to make it legal. We wanted to show the world how we feel about each other.”

“And how is that?”

Pondering the question, she sought the right words. “We care. We came to feel an affection for each other while helping each other out through a difficult period in our lives. We consider it providential we met when we did.”

“And did you really just meet eight weeks ago, or was my husband cheating on me?”

Remy sucked in a breath. “He’s the most honorable man I’ve ever known. We met after you went to rehab. You have to believe me—I hadn’t planned this. Sometimes things happen to cause people to cross paths. We met and it just fit.”

“He wasn’t really available, you know.”

“I know.”Tread carefully.“I didn’t move in on your territory, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

The woman’s eyes flashed venom. “You have no idea what I’m thinking.”

“True.” She could acknowledge this much. “But I suspect you feel betrayed.”

“You have no idea.”

Remy almost felt sorry for the woman across from her.Almost.“I believe Rusty has his reasons for wanting to move forward.”

Sissy’s face dropped, her veneer showing signs of cracking. “That was cruel.”

“Cruel, maybe, but true.”

“You think you know me. You think you know all the facts, but the truth is, you know nothing about me.”

“That may be true, but I know enough. I know he no longer trusts you.” She decided to take the plunge, knowing the following lie would hurt, but also wanting to leave no room for hope. “I know he doesn’t love you anymore.”

“And he loves you?” Brown eyes narrowed and condemned.

“Does anyone really know what’s in someone else’s heart?” She hoped she knew how he felt about her. Her and Calleigh. “I know how I feel about him, and that’s all that matters to me.”

“And that is?” Sarcasm laced her tone.

Make this real.“I love him.”

“Bullshit.”

Unperturbed by the crassness of the woman’s response, Remy continued to smile. “I can only speak from my heart. The way he cares for my sister made it easy for me to love him.”

Sissy had the decency to appear slightly uncomfortable.

“I was sorry to hear about your parents. That must’ve been tough.”

She believed the other woman was being sincere. “Thank you for that. I’ve been told that grief lessens as time goes on, but it doesn’t feel that way at the moment.”

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