a hand to wipe back her tears. “I’m listening.”
He heaved a breath, his shoulders sagging. “Jenny left without so much as a word. I didn’t even see it coming.”
“Then how—?”
“She left a note by the coffeepot in the kitchen. Going to Florence to find myself.”
“Oh!”
“Yeah, it wasn’t the nicest birthday gift I’d received.”
“She did that on your birthday?” Isabel asked, unable to believe the callousness of it.
“To be honest, I’m not sure she remembered what day it was. I guess all she was thinking about was leaving.”
Isabel stared at him, her heart softening. Of all the people to do that to, Robert surely hadn’t deserved it. Even if the marriage had been bad or things had started to sour between them, Isabel couldn’t imagine what would drive a woman to do something so cold. No matter how hard it had been hearing Robert’s confession, in her heart Isabel believed that he was speaking the truth. The pain was written in his eyes, just at the mention of what was bound to be an awful memory. “I’m sorry.”
“The worst part was, because she did things the way she did—leaving the country and all—this left me in a terrible predicament.”
“How long was she gone?”
Robert slowly shook his head. “She’s still gone.”
Another scenario occurred. “How do you know she’s okay? That maybe she didn’t get hurt?”
“We have mutual friends who’ve seen her around. Sipping cappuccino in a café in Venice… Out to dinner with a gaggle of girlfriends in Rome. Jenny’s apparently having the time of her life as an ex-pat and has absolutely no intention of coming home. I’ve tried contacting her over the years, having my lawyer send official correspondence. She’s ignored all of it.”
“Well then, how can you…” Isabel swallowed hard, hating to hear herself say it. “Get a divorce?”
“There’s a seven-year abandonment rule. That is, if you have some way to prove it.”
“The note by the coffeepot?”
“In court, that could prove ambiguous. She didn’t precisely say she wasn’t coming back.” He paused a moment for effect. “But in the postcard she did.”
“Postcard?”
“Two months after she’d gone, I got a postcard from Pisa. Having the time of my life. Decided to stay. You can keep condo and my cat.”
“Cat?” Isabel asked in shock.
“No worries. Her sister took it.”
“So this postcard…? It was proof?”
“Postmarked seven years ago today.”
The art deco clock in the atrium began to chime.
“What’s that?”
“Perelli’s clock,” she said. “The one in there.” Her gaze travelled to the next room, the truth slowly dawning.
Robert caught his breath. “Isabel, what time is it?”
“When my folks left, it was after eleven.”
The clock struck again, then again, and again.
“How many was that?” he asked.
“Ten, I think.”
“I can’t believe it.” Robert felt awash in relief. It was if he’d been drowning for seven long years and someone—at long last—had thrown him a life raft. “Isabel…” he said as the clock chimed eleven.
“Robert?” she asked, blue eyes wide.
And then, miracle of miracles, it happened. The clock chimed midnight. It was over.
He ran his hands through his hair, unable to absorb the moment. After all this time and the endless court battles… False starts and disappointments. At least three times before, Robert had believed himself on the brink of divorce. But each time, some unforeseen legal precedent had blocked it. Susan had assured him that abandonment was their big ticket. It might take longer to work through than the other strategies they’d tried, but according to her, it was the best thing they had. They’d win this battle for his freedom at last. After so long of holding on, Robert had almost lost faith in a hopeful outcome. Now, incredibly, it had arrived.
Isabel brought a hand to her heart. “What does this mean?”
“I’m a free man.”
Isabel steadied herself on shaky knees as the waves of these truths crashed over her. First he was married… Now he wasn’t?
“Are you okay?” he asked, walking to her. “You look a little pale.”
She stunned him by latching on to his coat lapels, and for a crazy instant, Robert feared she might tackle him to the ground just as her dad had. “So you’re saying…” She gripped tighter and pulled him toward her. “You’re…not…married? To anyone? Anymore?”
He vehemently shook his head. “That’s the good news,” he said with a squeak.
She narrowed her gaze, and his heart thumped in his chest. “And you didn’t tell me before because…?”
“I wasn’t sure how you would take it. Plus…”
She cinched his lapels in her hands and pulled him right up against her as she