Page 103 of First Date: Divorce
Their eyes met.She thought she could see every moment of their time together in his.
Was that what she loved about his eyes?
Then she looked up — because if she looked down, gravity could turn the moisture in her eyes into tears that didn’t fit her role.
She was the one ending this.
“I nearly forgot.”
Not letting herself hesitate, she drew off the rings, took his unresisting hand and placed them on his palm.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
It wasn’t a tragedy to take off those rings and go about their lives, like Mrs.Schmidt’s niece and her fiancé did.
K.D.returned to Cabot four days ago, after leaving — she mentally blocked his name, and substituted —Bardville.
Her departure caught the attention of several people on Main Street as she drove through.
If some swore they’d seen her crying, they couldn’t be absolutely sure.
Now, she was back to work while already fielding inquiries from the divorce lawyer.Cully was happy about that.And Eric … Eric was surely back to his normal life, with friends and clients and trips to that greenhouse where the clerk named Shar doted on him.
On impulse, she placed a call before her late shift.
“Mom, it’s K.D.”
“Is everything all right?Are you okay?”
“Yes, of course.I’m fine.”
And she was.
She’d put in a full shift each day and would again today, even though she wasn’t scheduled until next week.But she’d need time then to go see the lawyer, so might as well work extra shifts now.
The work was fine.A little boring, yes.But it filled the time.
Some of the time.
Not the nights.
“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?The last two times you called — once was that pneumonia, and then that driver who hit your police car.”
Was that true?Those were the last times she’d called her mother?That had to be, what?Two calls in almost two years?
“Nothing like that this time, Mom.I wanted to see how you are.”
“Me?I’m fine.Mark and I are boring as can be, same schedule day to day, year to year.”
That caught K.D.Not the words, but what she heard in the voice she’d known all her life.
Contentment.That’s what she heard.Was it new?Or had it been there all along and she’d missed it before?Had her assumption of boredom hidden it from her?
“That’s great, Mom.”
There was a long, unexpected pause.
She prompted, “Mom?”
