“It isn’t easy,” he said. “And you wouldn’t be happy without work, so balance the scales. Take some time to think about it. Walk on the beach. Talk to friends. Maybe get a little counseling or find a group for support. Or try church, if that’s your bent. Come up with a plan.”
“I have a little vacation...”
“Justine, take time off, forget vacation. We’ll hold your decision about your future job until you’ve at least reached a preliminary settlement with your soon-to-be ex. Then let’s talk again.”
“You know what makes this hardest?” she asked her boss. “One of the things I’ve been most proud of was my marriage. I thought it was strong. Solid. I thought it had stood the test of time.” Her voice caught. “I thought my husband loved me.”
“Did you ever suspect him of being unfaithful before?”
“Not really,” she answered.
Wayne touched her hand. “I have a feeling that when this is behind you, you’ll be glad it went the way it did. Painful, yes. But worth it? Probably.”
* * *
She took Wayne’s advice. Maybe not to the letter, but she considered her priorities and struggled to push the need to kill Scott way down to the bottom of her list. She went over their books, soaking up the details. She walked on the beach. She saw the kayak shack and got a glimpse of the woman. Cat. She didn’t get too close because she assumed Cat would be able to identify her, and right now her anonymity was important. Later, maybe, she’d let herself be seen.
She thought about her priorities, and Amber and Olivia remained at the top of the list. She barely slept, thinking of how to best provide for them. A picture of Wayne Holloway playing piano in a jazz band kept intruding, the image enough to make her smile if not giggle. He was a senior citizen now and should be thinking about his own retirement if being the CEO of a company constantly under siege didn’t kill him first.
Scott noticed she was not going to work, that she was dressed in her yoga pants day after day. He asked her what she was doing. “Thinking,” she said. “Trying to figure out what’s to become of us.” She assumed he wasn’t asking a lot of questions because he wasn’t quite ready to move out. And she was struggling with how to proceed.
Then it hit her. Putting her kids first wasn’t only about money. Sure, they were comfortable in their house and needed funds for college, but they also needed two parents. Scott might be off his rocker right now, but he’d always been an involved father. The big question was—what about the woman? Would she interfere in Scott’s ability to pay attention to the girls? Or even worse, would she try to win the girls over? Capture their affection?
How was she to know the true character of the woman who broke up their marriage?
She called Logan Danner again.
“As for her character, that’s questionable,” Logan said. “After all, this isn’t the first time she’s been the cause of a divorce. She twice met her next husband while he was married, and another time they lived together after he dumped his wife of many years. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, she might just be a sweet but stupid woman who keeps trying to better her lot in life by picking an upgraded man over the last man. As you know, she’s twice divorced and twice filed for bankruptcy. This is not a rocket scientist. And she has domestic abuse issues in the current marriage.”
“She must have some serious skills,” Justine said. “I always thought of Scott as a very smart man.”
“I think you can disabuse yourself of that notion,” Logan said.
“You think he’s not smart?” she asked, actually surprised.
“My opinion of him at the moment is not flattering,” Logan said. “I think he must be an idiot.”
“Will you please see if you can find anything...interesting?” she asked.
“Like?”
“Like—if she has a lot of debt, how did she pay for the new car?”