The Promise of Change - By Rebecca Heflin Page 0,106

to have heard it from you than to have heard it from him. Do you mind telling me what his visit and that phone call were all about?”

“He came by because he was at the hospital and wanted to talk to me about . . . his wife.”

“Bloody hell. He doesn’t have any contact with you for almost two years, and he shows up on your doorstep to talk to you about his wife? I don’t buy it.”

“His wife is cheating on him, or at least he thought she was, and he came looking for advice—”

“From the ex-wife he cheated on? No. I’ll tell you what he came looking for, what he came hoping to find, a warm and sympathetic woman willing to repair his wounded self-esteem.”

She could feel the blood drain from her face. How did he do that? How did he cut through the noise to find the truth?

“I’m right, aren’t I?” He strode over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Did he . . .”

The blood that had previously drained from her face flooded her cheeks. “He . . . he kissed me—”

He dropped his hands from her shoulders as if they’d been burned. He was having an out-of-body experience. He knew his reaction was completely ridiculous, but he couldn’t get a grip on these alien emotions.

“But that’s it. I, I bit him before he could—”

“I’ll kill him.” Alex didn’t hear anything else she said. He paced and ranted.

She hadn’t seen him this angry since his brother all but called her a tart. She remembered the result and swallowed hard. Alex darted out the bedroom door and down the stairs, grabbing her keys off the table, before stalking to the front door.

“Where are you going?” She could barely get the words out over the congealed lump in her throat.

“To find Adrian.” He slammed the front door before she could stop him.

Sarah paced the floor, still wearing her robe, her wet hair dripping, wondering what she should do. Call the police? Call Adrian? Call Ann and Becca? Instead, she called Alex’s cell, and heard it ringing in the bedroom upstairs. Great.

She paced down the floor following the same path. Okay. She didn’t want to call the police. She didn’t want to get Alex picked up. But thinking about his altercation with his brother, she wondered if that wasn’t better than him getting arrested for assault and battery. Then she realized the police wouldn’t pick him up for just making a threat.

She paced up the floor again. She’d call Adrian. No. Why get him riled? Odds are Alex will never find Adrian in the first place. Even if he knew the city, Adrian’s address is unlisted. Adrian should be safe.

Shoving her hair out of her face, she paced the floor again. Maybe she should call Ann or Becca. She groaned. That wouldn’t help. The only thing that would accomplish is having two more people pacing the floor.

Maybe she should try looking for him? Since he doesn’t know the city, how far could he get? Then she remembered he had her car. “Ugh,” she huffed out in frustration.

She collapsed onto the bottom step. The best course of action was to wait, but for what? Alex’s call from the police station? She had to hope that Alex would calm down, that the drive would clear his head, and that he would have the presence of mind to pull over and call her when that happened.

It took Alex about half an hour to work off the mad, and another fifteen minutes to realize he was lost. What the hell had he been thinking? He had no idea where Adrian lived, no clue how to get around the city, and now no idea how to get back to Sarah’s. And, he just realized, no mobile. “Bloody hell.”

He pulled into a parking lot and shut off the car. Okay, he thought, I can do this. I have Sarah’s address, I can ask someone, or buy a map, or . . . something.

But first, he needed to figure out what had triggered such a colossal meltdown. He’d always prided himself on his ability to control his temper, except of course where his brother was concerned.

He’d become acquainted with the uncomfortable emotion of jealousy when he’d witnessed Michael’s attentions to Sarah. But his reaction today was the equivalent of jealousy on steroids. What was it about this situation that so enraged him?

He knew Sarah loved him. And of course he trusted her. He