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“Not in the slightest.”
Her smile widens, and although she’s blushing, it suits her. It makes me want to kiss her more than ever.
She looks up, startled by something behind me, and her frown returns, her face paling at the same time. I turn, surprised by her reaction, and see Anita Knox coming into the restaurant, accompanied by a man I’ve never seen before. He’s young… probably closer to Zara’s age than mine, and as they make their way to their table, he rests his hand in the small of Anita’s back, in a very familiar way. Whoever this guy is, he’s not Anita’s husband. Angus Knox is at least forty-five years old and runs his business out of Boston. Still, I guess while the cat’s away…
I return my attention to Zara, to find she’s still frowning, and I put down my fork and reach for her hand. Her fingers feel a little cold, and I hold on to them, brushing my thumb over her knuckles.
“Is something wrong?” I ask.
“No. Except that woman who just came in might be a problem.”
“Who for?”
“Me.”
I hold her hand a little tighter. “How?”
“Her son is in my class, and he’s such a bully. He thinks he knows everything and even after one day, I’m afraid I have to say, I can’t bring myself to like him. As for his mother…” She rolls her eyes. “One of my colleagues said she was pushy, but I think it’s more than that. I think her son gets his bullying attitude directly from her.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. I went to school with her.”
She pulls her hand from mine, clamping it over her mouth, that blush returning to her cheeks, although for an entirely different reason.
“Oh, God,” she mutters, letting her hand fall into her lap. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize she was a friend of yours. It’s so…”
“She’s not a friend of mine,” I say, putting her out of her misery. “She’s a friend of Sabrina’s. It was Anita that my ex-wife went to stay with when she left, and there’s a strong feeling of mutual dislike between the two of us, believe me.”
“Oh, thank heavens for that.”
I chuckle, and Zara joins in, both of us picking up our silverware again, although I’d far rather hold her hand. Failing that, I lean in a little closer.
“I hate to gossip, but that man she’s with…”
“What about him?” Zara says, glancing over my shoulder toward where Anita and her young man are seated.
“He’s not her husband.”
“Oh. They’re… um… they’re holding hands and…” Her eyes widen. “He just kissed her.”
“Presumably in a way that was more intimate than friendly?”
“You could say that.”
I shake my head. “She and Sabrina are like two peas in a pod.”
Zara nods, and I wonder if she’s getting bored with hearing about my ex. Sabrina’s filled our conversation tonight, and although I don’t want to have any secrets from Zara, I think we should probably talk about something else.
“You never told me how long you and your wife were together?” she says, surprising me.
“Do you really wanna talk about this?” I ask, and she shrugs.
“I want to know everything about you. As long as you’re happy to tell me.”
When she puts it like that… “I’m more than happy, and the answer to your question is sixteen years. We started dating when we were fifteen.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. To be honest, I think that’s what made it so hard to understand how she could do what she did. She took all those years we’d had together and threw them away for the sake of sex.”
