Return to Virgin River (Virgin River #19) - Robyn Carr Page 0,38
She’s had it with an acting career that’s going nowhere. The joke’s on me; I can blame no one but myself. And I promise you I never saw it coming.”
“Well, you said you were married and it didn’t work out,” she reminded him.
“That was true. We merely kept in touch. I know divorced couples who have closer relationships than that.”
“And I know divorced couples who hate each other and fantasize about their death...”
“There are those,” he said. “I wish her nothing but the best, but—”
“You looked almost angry for a moment, when she showed up in your booth.”
“I was angry,” he said. “I’d told her it wasn’t a good time for her to visit, that I was all tied up with the fairs. I see her two or three times a year. If it fits into her schedule. If she needs something.”
“And if you were to divorce, would you continue to have these visits with your wife?” She lifted one brow and smoothed her hair over one ear. “Asking for a friend...”
He grinned at her. “You’re very funny, Kaylee. I like Laura,” he said. “She’s entertaining, smart and we have history. I’ve known her a long time by now. I was angry for a while. I was really pissed, actually. But when my dad died, that was the last thing to worry about.”
“It would be pretty convenient and not terribly troublesome, having an affair with someone you’re married to...”
“No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head. “We don’t sleep together; there is no affair. The first thing I noticed was that she wasn’t that interested and I suspected she might have...you know...”
“Other relationships?” she asked.
“I guess. So at some point after she’d been living in LA for a couple of years and came to San Francisco for a weekend, I told her I was starting to feel like a booty call and we were over. I told her I was going home to Virgin River and promised her she would hate it, but she was welcome to visit me here. It was a very smooth transition. She told me she loved me but we’re probably better as friends.”
“Sounds so grown-up,” she said.
“It is. I follow her career. I used to follow with resentment and then with curiosity and eventually I hoped her wish would come true. It stopped being about me a long time ago. Frankly, I think she’s a good actress. I’ve seen her in a lot of things and it’s not unusual for me to think she should’ve been the lead. The star. But I’m not in a relationship with her anymore. I haven’t been for a very long time. I think you were shocked and startled. I’m sorry about that.”
“Why?” she asked. “Why does how I feel or what I think matter?”
“We’re becoming good friends,” he said. “I look forward to sitting on the porch after a long day. I like it when we have dinner. I’ve had several tenants in this house—a few days, a few months. I’ve never had what I’d call a close friendship with any of them before. It’s a bad start to a nice friendship when you get caught lying.”
“But you weren’t lying.” She took a pull on her beer and made a face. “You just didn’t explain properly. Or thoroughly.”
“You lied about the beer,” he said, grinning. “You don’t drink that beer.”
“It’s awful. I bought it in case you came over. Want the rest of this?”
“You didn’t spit in it, did you?” he asked with a laugh, reaching for it.
She made a face and handed it to him. She went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. The bottle was open, after all. She went back to the couch and curled up in the corner. “I just don’t want to be a complication. This thing you have to work out is with your wife. I’m just a tenant.”
“It’s not a complication and it’s not about you, except for one thing,” he said. “I want to sit on the porch, have dinner, enjoy life. I don’t have any expectations beyond that right now. But I think we have potential. I think we like each other enough to have potential.”
“No expectations,” she said. “Me, either.” It was a total lie. She’d been having expectations like mad in the form of Caroline and Landon. They were morphing into a nearly perfect couple. The story was growing lush and sexy. She realized she wanted to become lush and sexy with Landry.