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He chose quickly. It wasn’t difficult: Andrea Waters. She was a household name, with her own prime-time news and talk show in America, on NBC. She was highly respected as a television journalist. And women loved her warmth and personal charm.
He glanced at his watch.
It would be two in the morning in New York City. He would have to wait several hours until he could call her producer back himself.
He made the first call to New York at two that afternoon. By seven that evening, everything was arranged.
Now, to tell his wife. He rose from his desk to go and find her.
And there was a tap at his office door.
At seven in the evening? Caroline wasn’t out there to screen visitors. He’d told her she could go more than an hour before.
He called, “It’s open. Come in.”
The door opened—and Sydney slipped through.
He stood there behind his desk and drank in the sight of her. His lady in red—a red skirt and silk blouse, wearing those pearls her grandmother had given her, her hair smooth on her shoulders, just as it had been that first day, when he saw her in the parking garage and couldn’t stop himself from following her inside. She looked tired, though. There were still shadows under her eyes.
“I’ve been waiting to talk to you,” she said. “I … couldn’t wait any longer. I came to find you.”
“It’s been a busy day. I’m finished here now, though.” He tried on a smile. “I was just coming to find you….”
Hesitantly, she returned his smile. “I hardly slept at all last night.”
“I know how that goes.” His voice sounded strange to his own ears—a little rusty, rougher than usual. “I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep, either.”
“I told you yesterday that I wasn’t there yet, I … hadn’t really forgiven you.”
“And I said I understood. I meant what I said.”
“Oh, but Rule …” Her smile widened. And all at once, her whole face had a glow about it. She hardly even seemed tired anymore. She had her hands folded in front of her. He thought she looked so young right then. A girl, an innocent. Looking at her now he would never have guessed that she’d given birth to his son, that she carried his second child under her heart. “Something happened,” she said. “Something wonderful.”
Something wonderful. His heart beat a swift tattoo beneath his ribs. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know. I … I was lying there, alone in our bed. It was almost one in the morning. I was thinking of how I missed you, beside me, in the dark. Thinking that I knew, I understood, why you had kept the truth from me. Objectively I could see how it must have been for you. Waiting too long to contact me, knowing you were up against the deadline of the marriage law. Telling yourself you were only waiting for the right moment to say the words. And then hearing about Ryan, about Peter. Fearing that if you told me the truth, I would suspect that you only wanted Trevor. And then, when you didn’t tell me, I could see how it only got harder for you, how every day the truth became more and more impossible for you to reveal.”
He shook his head. “None of which is any excuse.”
She put her hands to her cheeks, as if to cool the hectic color in them. “I just want you to know that I did understand … I do understand, intellectually.” She let her left hand drop to her side. Her right, she laid above her breast. “But my heart … my heart wanted you to trust in me. My heart wanted you to be bigger than your very realistic fears. My heart wanted you to give me the truth no matter the cost.”
“And I should have trusted you,” he said. “I was wrong. Very wrong. And I want you to stop torturing yourself because you can’t forgive me.”
She laughed then. A happy laugh, young and so free. And her eyes had that tear-shine, the same as the day before. She sniffed, swiped the tears away. “But that’s just it. I was lying there, thinking about everything, how wrong things had gotten between us, how I wanted to work it out but my heart wouldn’t let me. And all of a sudden, just like that … I saw you. I saw you, Rule. I … felt you, as though you were there, in our dark bedroom with me. And I saw that you love me and I love you and that’s what matters, that’s what makes it all worthwhile. And I didn’t even need to think about forgiveness anymore. It just … happened. I let my anger and my hurt and my resentment go. I realized I do believe in you. I believe in your goodness and your basic honesty. I believe that you love me as I love you. I want … our family back. I want us back.” She was crying again, the tears dribbling down her cheeks, over her chin.
“Sydney …” He was out from behind his desk and at her side in four long strides. “Sydney …”
She fell against him, sobbing. “Rule, oh, Rule …”
He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight. “Shh. Shh. It’s all right. It’s going to be all right …”
Finally, pressing herself close, she tipped her chin back and he met her shining, tear-wet eyes. “Rule. I love you, Rule.”
“And I love you, Sydney. With all of my heart. You are my heart. I looked for you for far too long. I’m so glad I finally found you. I’m so glad what we have together is stronger than my lies.” He lowered his head.
And he kissed her. A real kiss. A deep kiss. A kiss of love and tears and laughter. A kiss to reaffirm their life together. Again. At last …
That kiss went on forever. And still it wasn’t long enough.
