entering the restaurant, so she stepped back to take the call.
“Hello, darlin’. Is breakfast ready?”
“It’s noon here in Texas, Brett.” Her hands shook as she sat down on a bench right outside the door. Just hearing his voice always made her happy, but there was that feeling, just for a second, that he would be calling with bad news.
“Where are you? I hear traffic.”
“You’re never going to believe where I am right now.” She told him the same thing that Carmen had relayed to Eli earlier. “I figured Eli would’ve filled you in.”
“He did, but we decided Carmen was just shootin’ him a line of shit because she’s mad at him over this divorce,” Brett said. “I can’t believe you’re making this kind of move without discussing it with me.”
“There is a me outside of us, and I’ve had to rely on me a lot more than us our whole marriage, so it never occurred to me to ask your permission.” She was on the defensive and knew it, but there didn’t seem to be a damned thing she could do about it.
“Hey, don’t go getting radical on me,” Brett said. “I called to tell you I love you, not fight with you.”
“Okay, then, truce,” she said. “I love you, too.”
“How’s Carmen holdin’ up?” Brett asked.
“Not good, but then she got slammed with this thing. I imagine she feels a lot like she got a shotgun blast in the gut. Why’d Eli do this? Is it another woman?”
“I’m not sayin’ anything, but he’s determined, so Carmen might as well sign the papers and get it over with.” Brett’s brevity spoke volumes.
“Is it?” she pressured.
“I’ve got to go now. I’ll be glad when I can talk to Zoe again. I miss her so much,” he said.
Changing the subject to avoid the inevitable—that’s what Brett always did. And she always, always found out the truth eventually.
“Well, darlin’, if it is another woman, this is where I draw the line,” Joanie said. “I stood by when Gerald divorced Diana and even went to some family events when he brought his new woman. I felt guilty every time, but I won’t do this again, Brett. I’m not taking another woman into our home and treating her like a friend.”
“Eli and Gerald have been my teammates for almost twenty years,” Brett said. “I didn’t turn my back on Gerald, and I won’t on Eli.”
“Well, I’m damn sure not turning my back on Carmen,” Joanie said.
“I don’t expect you to,” Brett groaned.
“Stay safe and come home to me,” she whispered.
It was another woman. There was no doubt in her mind.
Joanie shoved the phone into her purse, plastered a smile on her face, and went into the café. She spotted her group at a table near the back, pointed toward the restroom sign, and headed that way. She sat on the toilet and leaned her face against the cool metal wall of the stall. Why did life have to be so damned complicated, and what had driven Eli into another woman’s arms?
“You okay in there?” Carmen’s voice sounded concerned. “Is everything all right with the team?”
“Everything is fine. He was calling to tell me that he loves me,” Joanie said.
Idiot! She doesn’t need to hear that. Eli calls to tell her that he’s determined to get a divorce, and you say something like that, the pesky voice in Joanie’s head fussed at her.
“Okay, then,” Carmen said. “I just came in to check on you and wash my hands. Got lemon juice on them when I squeezed it into my sweet tea. Hey, do you think Luke is kind of cute?”
“You already looking for a rebound feller?” Joanie asked.
“Nope, but Diana might be,” Carmen said.
“No way.” Joanie pushed out of the stall and went straight for the sink. “After Gerald, she swore off men.”
“I understand that completely, but she didn’t swear ‘on’ to ladies, either,” Carmen said. “I’ve decided that I’m not feeling sorry for myself anymore. I can do this. I could do it better if a rich old aunt would leave me her rundown house like in the story Tootsie gave me, but since I don’t have a single wealthy person in my family, I’ll have to make it on my own. I’m beginning to think I can.”
“Yes, you can.” And I hope that I’m wrong about another woman because that’ll knock you back into the Ice Age.
Chapter Four
They stopped at a lovely RV park that evening that had a gorgeous, albeit narrow, walking trail around