A long sigh. “Look, I’m not going to tell you this unless I can be completely fair. He’s a good man. He shares your love of travel. You hold his hand at dinner parties. For years you guys would have won couple of the year.”
“And then?”
“A woman.”
“A slip.”
He met her eyes.
“Does he leave me?” she asked, slightly ill.
“No,” he said sadly. “Though I wish he would.”
“Like my father, then?”
“Kate, I watched you fold in on yourself. I watched the Kate who set the room on fire everywhere she went just go out, like someone shot out a porch light with a twenty-two. It was like an eclipse, Kate. The spark was gone.”
She refused to believe she could let that happen. She refused to believe she’d have invested so much in a man like her father. All her life had been about feeling strong and empowered. “How do we know I can’t change it? How do we know?”
“I have to be honest, Kate. I don’t know. I hope itispossible to change things. After all, that’s the reason I’m here.”
She looked at P.J., trading quips with Mark. “I can’t believe the Mark I’ve met would do that, and Ireallycan’t believe I’d be attracted to that kind of man.”
“People change, Kate. I told you.”
“Did you?” She wondered what his story was.
“No.”
“Did you marry?
“Yes, once. For six years. But it was mistake.”
“Why?”
He turned his head. “The usual reasons.”
“Why?”
“Kate.”
“Why, Patrick?”
He led her into an unexpected turn. “I was in love with someone else.”
Her eyes came to rest on P.J., who was looking straight at her. When their gazes met, he pivoted and took a long swallow from his beer. She wondered what else she had missed tonight.
“I’m sorry,” she said honestly. “I didn’t know.”
Patrick shrugged good-naturedly.
“Am I nicer to you in the future than I am tonight?”
He laughed. “Yes. Much.”
“I’m glad.” She looked into those grey eyes. “Do I love you then?”
A flash of pain crossed his face. “Er, not that way, no.”
