Page 74 of The Love Audit
“Why?”
“That’s a very long story.”
“Well, I’m heartbroken, unemployed, and living with my parents.” I lifted my hands and let them fall on the bed. “I have time.” I glared at her. My mother pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at me. Confusion, disbelief, and rage were waging war in my chest, and I struggled to make sense of the words that tumbled from my mother’s mouth.
“The first time I met Christopher Carter, I was a nineteen-year-old sophomore at Princeton. We were in a study group that would meet in the library a few times a week. We were always friends, nothing more. Then he invited me to a party, and that was where I met your father. It was love at first sight. He and Chris were best friends, so we saw a lot of each other.”
I stared at her in disbelief, and it took all of my energy to stay quiet and listen to her story because I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I would scream.
“After graduation, your father and I got married. Chris was supposed to be his best man, but he was chosen for a study abroad program in the Caribbean at the last minute. After that, we lost touch for a few years.
“Chris and your dad reconnected, and we found out that Chris was married with a beautiful family. Before I knew it, it waslike old times, and Janet was so sweet. Jasper and I had infertility issues, and Janet was there for me more times than I can remember. We decided to start a company together, and life was just perfect. God finally blessed us with a baby”—she patted my face—“and we felt like one happy family… for a while.”
“So why did you do it?” I whispered.
“There’s no excuse for what Chris and I did, but my marriage wasn’t always perfect. We struggled to have another baby, we worked too much and spent too much time apart. I’m not sure how it started, but Chris and I began spending more and more time together. One night, he confessed that he’d always been in love with me and that his biggest regret in life was not telling me when he had the chance.”
My jaw dropped.
“Your father and I were growing more distant, and you were a teenager developing your own life. I felt lonely, neglected, undesirable. And here was this man I’d known my entire adult life telling me everything I thought I needed to hear. I didn’t think about the consequences until it was too late.” Her eyes welled with tears, and she looked to the ceiling and furiously tried to blink them away.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was ashamed. We were ashamed. Once your father and I decided that our marriage was worth saving, we thought it was best if you never knew the truth. Janet didn’t want the embarrassment of a public scandal. We owed her that much.”
“How did you and Dad get past that?”
“It wasn’t easy. He was angry and hurt for a long time, but welove each other, and we fought for each other. He chose me over his anger and pain. I work every day to make sure he never regrets that choice.”
Once my mother left my room after dropping that thirteen-year bombshell in my lap, the first thing I wanted to do was call Derek and tell him everything. Not just because I loved him or because I thought it would change things between us, but because Derek was always the first person I wanted to share things with.
I thought about my mother’s words about fighting for relationships that were worth saving. Eleanor’s face immediately popped into my head. I missed her almost as much as I missed Derek and Tora.
After a breakfast of cold waffles and my remaining bacon, I took my first shower of the week. I stepped out of the bathroom completely prepared to get my life back on track, or at least to put on pants and leave my room.
I dragged my work bag to the dining room, intent on picking up where I’d left off in my Miller’s Cove research, except when I opened my file folder, all of the papers I’d copied from the library were missing.
Any hope I had of finding anything that could keep the town away from MasonCorp was in those papers, and there was only one way to get them, but after what I’d done, I wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to step foot in Miller’s Cove again.
After a run around Central Park and about three cups of coffee, I decided that I’d procrastinated long enough. My pride was less important than doing whatever I could to fix what I’d done. I held my breath as the phone rang.
“Jasmine?” The tone of Eleanor’s voice told me that I was the last person she’d expected to hear from. Oddly, she didn’t seem upset.
“Yes, hi,” I stammered and then went silent. I’d spent most of my time while running rehearsing this conversation, but almost all the scenarios I’d imagined involved shouting and insults. The rest involved getting hung up on. None of them involved this.
“How have you been?” She sounded concerned, and my confusion intensified. I decided to launch into my well-prepared speech.
“Eleanor, I’m so sorry I lied to you and betrayed your trust. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to make sure that MasonCorp doesn’t take any part of Miller’s Cove. Before I left, I went to the library and pulled every single legal document involving the town’s founding, and I know there’s something in there that can—”
“Jasmine.” I was rambling, and she cut me off. “If you’re sincere about what you’re saying, then I think you should come back to Miller’s Cove.”
“—help. I just need to come back so I can—What?”
“Why don’t you come back? We should talk.”
My hands shook for the entire flight to Miller’s Cove. My mother had surprised me again by not only encouraging me to go, but chartering a private plane for me, something that I couldn’t do for myself even if I weren’t unemployed.
There was no driver waiting for us this time, so I hailed one of the taxis idling at the airport. The last time I made this drive, I’d become a reluctant newlywed with a fifty-pound dog’s head in my lap. I absentmindedly rubbed at my bare left hand as I watched the trees speed past my window. The three weeks I’d spent in Miller’s Cove had been short, but they’d felt like a lifetime, a life I desperately missed.
