to answer.
“Probably pay better,” he muttered, taking his leave.
“Probably would!” she called out after him, repressing the urge to add she’d be glad to send them his résumé.
Awful thought number one followed: she was in the same boat with Tim. They were both jealous! Awful thought number two: she’d talked to Annie less than an hour ago. Why hadn’t she said anything about going somewhere with Jack?
The answer was so obvious it hurt. She hadn’t wanted Clarice to know. So why? Because she hadn’t wanted her to think it was something it wasn’t? Or because it really was?
* * *
FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. J.D. thumped the steering wheel of his red Ferarri with the heel of his right hand. He hated L.A. traffic. He’d been out here a little over a year now, and he’d spent half that time sitting on one or the other of the city’s freeways.
Didn’t these people mind spending their lives lined up like ants waiting for a picnic? He threw a glance over his shoulder at the three lanes of cars beside him even though it was barely six o’clock in the morning. Nine out of ten drivers had a cell phone stuck to their ear.
A bad mood had hung over him like a stalled thunderstorm all morning. Ever since he’d picked up his mail and found a copy of the Langor County Times with a picture of his wife on the front page all cozied up with that born-with-a-silver-spoon-in-his-mouth Jack Corbin. They were at some sort of picnic at Corbin’s factory—the one he was apparently closing down.
And the kicker?
There was Tommy looking up at Corbin as if he was his father or something!
As if he was going to put up with another man making his son forget all about him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a blonde in a black BMW giving him a hey-baby stare. Chicks. This place was overrun with them. A guy could almost get his fill. And maybe he finally had. Cassie was about to drive him crazy. Certifiable.
He was getting sick of her near-daily manicure appointments and root touch-up sessions. And all she ever wanted to do was go out. This party or that club until J.D. forgot what it was like to actually eat dinner at home.
More than once in the past few days, he’d caught himself thinking about Annie and how their house had felt like a home. The house he shared with Cassie felt like a showroom where people only pretended to live. It left him with this gnawing emptiness inside that no matter how much he tried to ignore it never went away.
So maybe he’d liked the fast lane a little more than Annie had, but why couldn’t two people find something close to common ground? Some happy medium that worked for them both. Why couldn’t that be possible?
It could be. He was sure of it.
But J.D. had known Annie long enough to know there was only one way he would ever get her back.
He pulled his own cell phone from his shirt pocket, hit the directory button, scrolled down until he found the name he was searching for and pushed Send.
Four rings. “Russell, Wade.”
“Mike? It’s J.D. What’re you doing answering your own phone?”
“The receptionist is on a coffee run. Didn’t think we’d ever hear from you again since you moved west on us.” Mike Russell had played high-school football with J.D., and the two of them had kept in touch over the years. During his short return to Macon’s Point, they’d gotten together for pizza a few times. Mike had handled his divorce from Annie, so he knew the nuts and bolts of the marriage’s demise. He was a sharp guy, an Ivy League attorney who likely could have made an enviable career for himself in some big city, but had opted for moving back to his hometown. Go figure.
“So how is life in the world of make-believe?”
“Pretty good,” J.D. said.
“Been seeing you on TV. Things must be going well.”
“Can’t complain. You seen Annie lately?”
“Yeah. Saturday night, as a matter of fact. Out at Lugar’s.”
“Was Tommy with her?”
“Ah, no,” Mike said.
J.D. thought about Corbin. His face got hot. “She on a date?”
“I don’t know. Kinda looked like it.”
“Who with?”
“Jack Corbin. He’s about to close down the family business. Apparently Annie’s been trying to change his mind. Maybe she was just trying a new persuasion tactic. Looked like it might be working.” Mike laughed.
“Is that right?” J.D.’s voice was cool. The mental