way he insists on trying to get us to meet her, the way he’s thrown himself into her business, the way the second you found out about her, he went for a divorce? It’s like he’s not the same man. This just isn’t the Dad I knew.”
Justine sighed. “I’ve thought that a thousand times,” she said. “The hardest part about all this is we might never know the real reasons why. We might never know what happened to him to make him change all his values. I remember when his buddy John got himself mixed up with a younger woman and went off the deep end. Said he’d never really been in love before—after twenty-five years of marriage. He was leaving his wife to move in with her, and your dad begged him to get his head examined. There hadn’t been any real evidence of marital problems. Oh, after the fact, John said he hadn’t been really happy in a long time, but I suspect a revision of history. You know, making an excuse for cheating. Your dad tried to get John to go to counseling or something, but John left his wife. Then a year later, after the younger woman dumped him, he went back to his wife, saying he’d made the biggest mistake of his life.”
“And maybe Daddy will do that.”
Justine smiled sadly. She put her hand against Livvie’s cheek. “I don’t think that will happen, honey. And if it did, I don’t think I’d take him back. See, he wanted to move on. Fantasies of a new woman, a new life, a chance to start over, maybe. But I did move on. I’m starting a whole new life. I wouldn’t have chosen it, but I’m growing to like it. Maybe like isn’t the word... Let’s just say, there are pluses and minuses.”
Chapter Twelve
In the days that followed Adele’s chance meeting with Hadley, she thought about little else. She was distracted, moody and unsure of herself. She found herself remembering the days and weeks of romance they had had. He was twelve years older; she was young and tender. He was something of a poet and managed to say all the right things. I want to give you everything; I want to hold you closely forever. Just your scent makes my head swim and I forget where I am and what I’m doing.
The entire time they were a couple was three months; they professed their love for each other in two weeks. Of course she believed he had an unhappy marriage since they spent so much time together. It could be nothing else.
The landline in the house rang early one evening. None of them used it much, and the line probably should have been disconnected. Adele had it only because of her mother’s ill health—911 on the landline brought instant medical help as the address and name popped up for the dispatcher. Since her mother’s death it seemed to only ring with surveys and robo calls. They rarely answered it and invariably hung up. Justine answered and said, “Sure, hold on.” Then she held the cordless phone toward Adele.
“Hello?” she said tentatively.
“There you are! It’s Hadley. It’s taken forever to find you. But you didn’t change your number after all!”
“Um, can I call you back?” she asked.
“Sure, but when?”
“In just a few minutes. I’d prefer to call you from my cell.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ll be waiting.”
Justine didn’t ask who it was and her nieces were off in their own space, one in the guest room and one curled up in the corner of the sofa. “Let me return this call and then I’ll be back to help clean up.”
“I’ve got it, Addie,” Justine said.
Addie sat cross-legged on her bed and stared at her phone. This was either wonderfully good or horribly awkward; she wasn’t sure which. But she wanted to know—was this what true love felt like or was this just an extension of an earlier mistake. The loving had been so fantastic, the breaking up so painful.