Susan Mallery Page 0,86
room.”
A ludicrous excuse but the best one she could come up with in the moment. She offered him a tight smile, turned and ran from his office. When she reached her room, she closed the door and leaned against it.
Disaster, she thought grimly. That had been a total disaster. For someone who was supposed to be an expert at handling embarrassing or difficult situations, she’d just screwed up that one. Instead of being amused or casual or the least bit sophisticated, she’d taken off like a teenage girl who had accidentally walked into the boys’ locker room.
How was she supposed to face him after that? How was she supposed to face herself? She groaned, then sank to the floor and pulled her legs to her chest. She rested her head on her knees and told herself that one day she would be smooth, classy and cultured, but until then, she was only herself and for the most part, that really sucked.
Chapter Eighteen
Sunshine finished applying a top coat to her toenails. She didn’t usually bother to paint them but she’d been in the mood. She walked out of her bathroom, balancing on her heels, the toe spacers making her walk funny. After checking on Connor, who was both watching his ant farm and reading a book, she made her way to the kitchen. She would do a little veggie chopping for dinner while her toes dried.
She rounded the corner and nearly collided with Declan. She was off balance already, and coming to a stop so quickly had her stumbling to maintain her balance. Declan grabbed her upper arms to steady her, then quickly let her go. He smiled and started to speak, then dropped his gaze to her feet.
In an instant his expression shifted from happy to stricken. The transformation was so abrupt, Sunshine felt as if she’d been sideswiped by something cold and dark.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He did his best to recover, shaking his head and giving her the worst fake smile ever. “Nothing. Are you all right? You nearly fell.”
“Declan, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s obviously not nothing.”
He looked away. “Just Iris.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t quite put the pieces—“I did my toes and it’s such a girl thing. Of course. I’m sorry.”
He studied her for a second. “Sure. That’s it.”
With that, he walked past her and went into his office. She stared after him. What was going on? It was like he’d totally blown her off.
She went after him, closing his office door behind her.
“Declan, what’s wrong?”
He sat behind his desk, avoiding her gaze. “Iris painted her toes, too. Just not at first. In fact, not until the end. She was a sensible kind of person.” He looked at her. “That all changed when Iris had an affair.”
Sunshine sank onto the chair in front of his desk. An affair? How could she? “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Almost no one does. It happened several months before she got sick. I had no idea until she told me. I knew things weren’t great, but to do that? To risk everything? I couldn’t understand.”
“Did you split up?” Connor had never said anything, but maybe the trauma of his mother’s death had pushed it from his mind.
“No. I thought about leaving, but I wasn’t sure. Mostly because of Connor. I moved out of the bedroom and slept here.” He motioned to the worn sofa in his office. “We pretended, all the while she continued seeing the other guy.”
“She didn’t end things when she told you?”
“No.”
“Then why tell you?”
“I honestly have no idea. Maybe she wanted to have me be the one to end things. She talked about how charming he was, how passionate things were between them.”
Sunshine so didn’t want to hear any of this. She ached for what Declan had gone through. How could his wife have done that to him? He was such a great guy and terrific father. How could she have wanted anyone else?
“When I finally reached the point where I couldn’t do it anymore and told her we either had to fix things or be done, she begged me for time. I agreed. What I didn’t know then was she’d been diagnosed with cancer. She never said a word. It was supposed to be the easy kind, if there is such a thing. I guess she thought she’d have a few rounds of chemo and be fine. Only she wasn’t.”
He looked at her. “She told the other guy. Mr. Wonderful. She told him she was really sick and he dumped