grinned. “It’s nice to see that you can compromise.”
“Is that what you call it?”
“Sure, darlin’. I have it on the best authority that compromise is very important in any relationship.”
Patsy didn’t know whether to cheer or turn tail and run at the mention of the word relationship. She and Justin weren’t having a relationship. It was impossible.
But, oh, how she wished it weren’t.
“Patsy?”
Startled, she glanced up and met Justin’s worried frown.
“Everything okay?”
“Sure,” she lied. “Just trying to remember how big a mess the house is in. I’d hate for you to walk in and wonder if a tornado blew through. After all, it is your sister’s place. I’d hate to have her evict me.”
“There’s no chance of that,” he assured her. “And don’t worry about the state of your housekeeping. With all the nieces and nephews running around in this family, no one knows the meaning of tidy anymore.”
“Not even you? You live alone and, as I recall, your place was spotless the one time I came over.”
“That’s because I’m never there. And it’s not tidy. It’s sterile. Give me chaos any day. It’s what makes the difference between a house and a home.”
“Maybe I should let Billy come and visit for an afternoon. The resulting mess ought to send you into raptures.”
“I’d love it,” he said, much to her amazement. “In the meantime, let’s get into town. Suddenly I’m starved for the first time in days.”
The gleam in his eyes was a reminder that food was not the only thing a man could be starved for. Patsy was drawn to that look, wanted desperately to respond to it, but decency prevented it.
She had the whole long drive into town to wonder how long she could allow this marital limbo to drag on. It was unfair to Billy and to her. Maybe even to Will. Most of all, though, it was unfair to Justin, because he didn’t even know what he was up against.
How was she going to resolve it? Could she simply file for divorce long-distance and pray that Will went along with it? Thinking he would was a foolish idea. He was a very possessive man. Even though she knew he no longer loved her—if he ever had—he would fight the divorce if only because he would fear the damage to his image if he let her go. He would demand custody of Billy for the same reason.
Her feet were dragging as she walked into the house, not just from exhaustion, but from despair. How could she ever truly move on with her life, build a real future for herself and her son, unless she resolved things with Will? She’d been crazy to think that simply running away would solve all of her problems. It had removed her and Billy from harm’s way, but it had created a whole new set of problems.
Still the thought of seeing Will again under any circumstances terrified her. She had weathered a lot in the past couple of months. She was far stronger than she’d been when she’d run from Oklahoma, but was she strong enough for the battle that was likely to ensue?
Before she could reach any conclusion at all about that, Billy came running toward her, arms held high, a piece of paper clutched in one tiny hand.
“Mama, Mama, Mama,” he chanted. “Me drew picture for you. See?”
She took the paper and looked at the colorful scribbles. They were meaningless to her, but clearly not to her son. She hunkered down beside him. “This is beautiful,” she said admiringly. “Tell me about it.”
“I drewed us. We’re a family. See?” He pointed to the littlest batch of swirls and lines. “That’s me. And that’s you.”
“Ah,” she said, seeing the relative difference in sizes, if not the identifying details. “And this?”
“That’s Daddy.” There was a mulish lift to his chin when he said it, then added, “Want to see Daddy.”
“Daddy’s far away,” she reminded him.
“Want to see him.”
“Maybe we can call him later.”
“Now,” Billy demanded. “Call now.”
Patsy sighed. She had promised him days ago that they would call his daddy, but there had never been time to take a trip to some out-of-the-way pay phone that couldn’t be traced. Obviously she would have to make the time.
“Tomorrow,” she promised. She would get one of the women who’d volunteered to help out at Dolan’s in Sharon Lynn’s absence to fill in long enough for her to take Billy to make the phone call. “Now why don’t we get you cleaned up? Justin’s coming