then it was too late. The feisty café owner was going to have her say first.
“I’m pretty sure there is no one in this town that would speak an ill word about Joe, for the most part,” she began. “He is always quick to lend a hand. He’s reliable. Lord knows he’s easy on the eyes. The quality of his work is second to none. And he never cheats anyone…except maybe the women in his life. And please note that I used the plural version intentionally.”
Confusion was evident on Marti’s face from her scrunched up brows and wrinkled forehead to the serious line her mouth formed. “And what does that have to do with me?” She asked, feeling for reasons she couldn’t explain…a bit hurt.
“Joe is adorable, but he’s not for you.” And with that, Laurel stood and headed back toward the kitchen. “I’m just going to lock up the back. Are you about done?”
Nodding, she gathered her paperwork, stood, tucked in her chair and headed out the door before Laurel had even returned from the kitchen. She wouldn’t have known what to say to her anyway. It didn’t matter. His personal life had nothing to do with her. She had her own life to contend with. And it was reassuring to hear that he was as skilled as she had hoped when it came to working on her dream project.
She drove back to Hope House feeling incredibly morose. She told herself it was because of the text message that Blaine had left her. She imagined that the stress of the last few days was simply taking a toll. Only…there was a part of her mind that kept slipping back to Joey. She remembered the look of pain that flashed across his face from his own text message. Something in her had wanted to make him forget that hurt. And some part of her being was still in denial as to how she intended to make that happen.
Though her mind was other places, she managed to make it into Hope House without a problem and up to her room without running into Keely. Once she had the door closed behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. And for the first time since she’d been a guest, she locked the door. She knew what she had to do with this moment of quiet. All day, the text message had been weighing on her. All day she struggled with what to say to Blaine, when was the best time for her to call. Finally, it was time. She couldn’t wait any longer.
The phone rang several times before Blaine answered. His very breathing already announced his annoyance. “What, Martha?” He asked.
“I don’t get a proper greeting even?” She asked trying to make light of the situation. “And what was up with that text message today? That was a funny way to start the New Year.” She was trying to make light of things. In her mind, she knew the truth. In her heart, she suddenly feared that she might always be alone. And at the moment, she still believed life with Blaine was a better sentence than a solitary life.
“It wasn’t meant to be funny,” he said seriously. “I’m not moving. I want a divorce.”
At first she didn’t know what to say. Her throat hurt suddenly and she kept swallowing like she was struggling to keep something down. “Why would you let me move down here by myself? Why would you have me buy a house? Why would you let me think we were going to have this…this life?” She was pacing around the room now. She looked down at her left hand, saw how the engagement ring rolled on her hand like it had already given up. Disgusted, she pulled it off, threw it in her toiletry bag on the bathroom sink and waited for his response.
“Did you really think I was going to move away from here, from this life? It took me a long time to build this. I finally have the right people working under me to make this practice highly successful.” He all but sneered as he spoke. She could hear it in his voice.
“Like Suzette?” She asked angrily. “You like having her work under you?” She knew from the sharp intake of breath that she had guessed right. She sank onto the bed and leaned her head up against one of the cool mahogany posts. “So where do we go from here?” She asked quietly.
“I told