and started singing. Reagan’s huge smile said she was super thrilled to have pulled it all off.
They shared a sweet kiss before they walked to the table where there were a few gifts and a large cake.
Preston was happy for his friend but maybe a little on the jealous side as well.
Both of them had struggled after Shane’s death, but Andrew hadn’t gotten sucked into the bottomless pit of alcohol.
Still, he’d lost his marriage.
Maybe not over that exactly, but he had, and now he had found a good woman in Reagan, and they were beautifully in love.
Unfortunately, split marriages often left hurts, and Preston was pretty sure Andrew missed his boys tonight, since they weren’t there.
Wrong decisions always had consequences.
Preston thought about reaping what he sowed and sowing a new crop.
He wanted to sow a new crop, hoped he was doing it now. Hoped every day he woke up and didn’t drink but tried to be a father and a friend and a productive worker and, God willing, a husband.
That hope was dashed a little when he saw Athena walk through the door following a cute little blonde with a huge black eye.
Her eye was almost swollen shut and massively discolored.
Preston’s heart dropped to his feet and landed with a splat.
That was probably about the worst thing that could happen to Athena right now. She hadn’t seemed to object when he said he was going to kiss her. In fact, maybe he was wrong, but she looked happy about it.
He felt like he was taking a chance. Because he hadn’t been sure exactly how she would feel.
But now...now that she’d been reminded exactly how terrible life with an alcoholic could be...
He swallowed and looked away.
There were still people waiting to get cake, and he hadn’t gotten a piece, wanting to wait for Athena although not wanting to push in if she had planned to sit with someone else.
Still, he walked over as soon as he saw her. Like he just couldn’t stay away.
“Hey,” he said, his chin jerking a hello at the blonde before his eyes landed on Athena’s golden ones.
She stirred all the deep and perfect feelings in his chest, always had.
There was just a rightness he felt when he was with her that he didn’t feel with anyone else.
“Hey. Sorry I didn’t call. I just asked Mrs. Hudson to relay my message.”
“She did.” His eyes dropped back to Nicole. “I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Preston.” He held his hand out.
The blonde took it, shaking it and saying, “I’m Nicole. And I do remember you.” She turned to Athena. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to walk over to the restroom.”
Athena’s eyes narrowed slightly, like she wanted to say something, but then she nodded.
After she walked away, Preston said, “She okay?”
“She is.”
“Her husband?”
Athena nodded.
“Are you okay?” he asked, not wanting to breach Nicole’s privacy.
Athena nodded. “Her husband’s an alcoholic.” Her eyes went to his, saying so much more than the words that came out of her mouth.
“I know. Mrs. Hudson told me.” He wanted to rub his hands together, pick something up, or just do something, but he stood still in front of her. He couldn’t convince her to keep trying or to take a chance on him if she’d changed her mind.
It was probably the smart decision for her to make anyway.
“He’s never hit her before.”
“She’s leaving him.” He assumed so.
Athena shook her head. “She claims to love him anyway. It’s frustrating to see, but there’s nothing I can do. She wouldn’t even let me call the police and report him. She won’t prosecute him. She doesn’t want him to have a record.” She pursed her lips in agitation. “He doesn’t deserve her.”
Her voice shook with anger and conviction.
Preston couldn’t argue with her. She was right.
“With the alcoholism aside, there are so many marriages that I know of where one partner seems to do all the giving and one partner seems to do all the taking. You could say the same about that one partner—they don’t deserve the other one. I wonder why that often seems to be the way it is.”
Athena, her eyes scanning over the room, although probably not seeing anything, shook her head. “Life just doesn’t make sense sometimes. People don’t make sense. The things we do don’t make sense. I don’t understand that, but I’ve seen it. You’re right.” She grunted. “Or in my work, I see a couple who are so madly in love with each other, and one of