Page 123 of For the Love of Art

I nodded. “Yeah, I remember it too. The car ride from New York to Arizona with your brother and his wife was awful.”

“It wasn’t long after the road trip they divorced.”

He pulled out another photo of us dressed up, holding champagne flutes. I was laughing, and Don was looking at me lovingly.

“Your sister’s wedding,” I said softly. “She was a beautiful bride.”

“Not as beautiful as you. I couldn’t take my eyes off you on our wedding day,” he said fondly. “I was so enchanted by you.”

I hummed.

“I still am.”

“Don–”

“Isla, there is time to fix this.”

“You have a baby coming,” I reminded him like he didn’t know.

“There are couples who raise children who are biologically only one of theirs,” Don argued.

“When the baby they’re raising is the product of an affair?” I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s super common.”

“We have a history. Are you really ready to sign those papers and say goodbye to it?”

“Yes.”

Don seemed taken aback. He had not expected that answer.

“Come on,” I said. “You can’t think I’ve been pining for you all these months.”

“I know you haven’t,’ Don muttered.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen the magazines,” he replied. “You’re with him, aren’t you? Nathan.”

Realization dawned on me. “You–” My face tingled as tears burned my eyes. “I’ve been so stupid. You don’t love me; you just don’t want me to move on.”

“That’s not true,” he said. “I do love you.”

I shook my head. “No, you don’t. If you thought I was still single right now, you wouldn’t be here.”

“Isla, don’t tell me what my feelings are. I know how I feel, and I love you. I never stopped,” Don said definitively.

“Don, I don’t love you.”

It was blunt, but it was honest.

Don looked hurt in a way I’d never seen, and I wanted to take it back. I also knew that it wouldn’t be fair of me to. We’d be back to living a marriage that was based on a lie.

“Can you at least take the weekend to think about it?” he asked. “Let’s not sign the papers and just take the weekend.”

I knew no amount of time would change my feelings. No matter what, I couldn’t imagine giving Don the level of intimacy a marriage needed after he threw me away. On the flip side, it wasn’t like Nathan wanted me either, so one more weekend of unsigned divorce papers wouldn’t do any more damage.

“Sure,” I said. “After the weekend, if my feelings haven’t changed, we finalize the divorce.”

He nodded. “It’s a deal.”