He wiped his wet cheeks. “No, it wasn’t the first time.”
Even though I’d asked for it, the painful truth turned my stomach. I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw. Once I could speak, I asked, “How many times? How long?”
“I don’t know. A few months.”
I thought of how nice Nadine had been to me. “You had sex with Nadine?” I uncrossed my arms. “Why am I asking? Of course, you did.”
Rory nodded confirmation. He still held a hand to his face. It had to be stinging, not that I cared.
I pointed a finger at him. “Never again. Don’t even think about another woman.”
He raised his hand. “I would never. I swear on everything that I am.” At that point, everything he was didn’t amount to much as far as I was concerned.
Now was the time to drop the bomb. The final act in my play, the last goal in overtime. I said, “I found a bed-and-breakfast I want to buy. You will buy it for me. It’s part of the deal.”
Rory slowly processed this shocking news. He knew I had him right where I wanted him. He dipped his chin. “Where?”
“On the other side of town. Down Eastern Road.” I told him the price.
Rory nodded. “If it’s what you want.”
There it was! Margot goes in for the win and scores!
I reached across the counter and retrieved a stack of papers that I’d printed out. “I want to make an offer tonight. Erica and I saw the property. She sent these over. We’re ready to go.”
He took the papers and started eyeing them with a lawyer’s scrutiny.
“No,” I said, “we’re not doing all this. Sign them. Don’t read them. This is my thing.” I stuck a pen in his face. He was lucky I didn’t take out an eye for fun.
Rory looked at me and realized I wasn’t joking. I watched as he initialed and signed next to where I’d already made my mark.
Looking up, he asked, “Can we go see it?”
“Tomorrow.”
He set down the pen. “Can you tell me more? I’d love to hear about it.”
“Do you really care?” I asked.
He inclined his shoulders. “Yes, I really care.”
We were already getting somewhere. Of course, he was about to spend a ton of money and wanted to learn about his investment, but still, he asked like he cared. He did care. I knew he did. He was sincere. I can tell when he’s forcing it. A woman can tell when her lover is forcing it.
When I finished cooking dinner, I climbed the stairs to find Jasper. He answered the door with headphones on again. “Will you sit with us for dinner?”
“No, thanks,” he said, his hand on the doorknob. “You guys do your thing.”
“Can I bring you a plate?”
He shook his head. “I’m okay, Mom. Seriously. I might get hungry later.”
I didn’t want our future to be like this. I didn’t want Jasper to separate himself from us. I didn’t want to lose Jasper. I didn’t want him to pull away from me because he wanted to avoid his father. There had to be a way to reconcile this familial unwinding.
I touched his face for a moment. “Can I tell you secret?”
“Yeah.”
“We’re buying an inn. I’m going to open up a bed-and-breakfast.”
