Country Romance - Carolyne Aarsen Page 0,37

few more albums aside, now wondering if he still had the book. Then he saw it, tucked way in the back, sitting sideways behind a couple of coffee table books that Theresa had purchased to make their home look more elegant.

He pulled the book out and stood, flipping quickly through it.

"Did you find anything?" Adele was right behind him, obviously also curious.

Not that he blamed her. She had a lot at stake as well.

"I'll take this into the kitchen," he said, closing the book and turning toward her.

Her smile looked strained and he could see a sadness deep in her eyes.

Had she hoped the test would come back negative?

He walked into the kitchen, glancing once again at Dean. This time the boy looked up at him and smiled.

The sight sent a hook into his heart. He paused, then returned his smile. Dean looked away, back at the television, the moment passed.

Wyatt closed the door again and dropped the book onto the table. "This is a photo album from that trip Reuben and I took," he said, sitting down again.

Adele pulled up a chair right beside him, tucking her hair behind her ear. He caught a whiff of her perfume and felt a tiny clench in his gut. She looked sad.

He brushed his reaction off and opened the book, paging through it, checking out each picture. In the middle there was a full-page spread of a group they had spent some time with.

"Is that you?" Adele asked, pointing.

Wyatt stared more closely at it, struggling with a surge of shame. "Yeah, that's me."

His hair was a disaster, his eyes bleary, and he was holding up a glass of something. Hard liquor, he presumed. He wasn't much of a beer drinker.

"Not my best moment," he muttered. "Reuben asked me to come on the trip with him because I had just broken up with Theresa. It was an ugly situation." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Ugly with Theresa?" Adele asked.

"Yeah. We were on again, off again. Like we couldn't make up our minds." He tried to erase that time out of his head. "Actually, more like I couldn't decide. I would break up with her and then she'd beg me to come back and, fool that I was, I fell for it every time."

"And then you married her."

"Yeah. Still not sure how I got suckered into that. We eloped. Her idea. I think she wanted to make sure I didn't get away a fourth time." Wyatt sighed and looked over the picture, trying to see something. Anything.

"Who is this?" Adele pointed to a young, thin girl, bright blue eyes, her long blonde hair falling over her shoulders. She was standing beside Wyatt, a faint smirk on her face, her arm tucked in his.

Wyatt leaned in closer, as if to see better. He sorted back through his memories. "Can't remember her name," he said. Then as he looked, a few vague memories returned. He stared, tugging at the thoughts that surfaced. "I think she told me her name was Jane?"

And then it all came crashing back. "I just met her that night. She came on to me in a big way. I tried to brush her off but she wouldn't leave me alone. I was lonely and drunk..." He faltered, the shame of that night coming back. Hard. "That was no excuse. I know that. But she came up to my room. I can't remember much, I'm ashamed to say. But the next morning she was gone. I tried to find out where she was staying. Who she really was. I suspected Jane wasn't her real name, but I had no idea how to find her." He stopped, wondering why he felt the need to explain. Justify.

He knew it was because he didn't want Adele to think less of him. Wanted her to realize he wasn't the jerk the situation made him look like.

"You never found her?"

Wyatt shook his head, still looking at the book. "I didn't have a picture of her. Only a description. I spent the whole morning asking around. I talked to an employee at the resort who had just come on shift and remembered her from the night before. Jane wasn't staying at the resort, but he remembered her because she tipped him a lot of money. Apparently to keep me in drinks." He shook his head, still frustrated with how easily he'd been duped.

"Sounds like she had a plan to seduce you," Adele said softly.

Was that understanding he heard in her