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“Yeah, I’m fine. Come on, I hear there’s going to be a party and you need to be away from your house.” She wouldn’t allow herself to think about Reaper. Leaving Bethany with him was hard enough. He’d proven he wouldn’t hurt his own kid.
“I cannot believe you’re taking me to a clubhouse party. I’m a middle-aged woman and I feel like a rebel.”
“You don’t have to stop having fun, and you’re not that old. I wish you’d stop thinking you were, it’s weird. I’m going to be getting to your age and I don’t want anyone thinking I’m old.”
“Sweetheart, you have no idea what it’s like to be me.” Anne laughed. “As a mom, you’ve got to set responsibilities. Your kids look to you to be a role model. I’ve always put them first.”
“And they’re not going to see you. I don’t know why Elijah gets to walk around town, trashing your name and making people whisper shit behind your back, when you can’t have a little bit of fun. The clubhouse won’t talk and if your name gets brought up or any mention of what happens tonight, they’ll deal with it. They’re awesome like that.”
“Speaking of Elijah, I have a question. Why is my cheating asshole of a husband being so nice to me?”
“I think he’s realizing how special you are and how badly he’s treated you.” She pulled down the window blind to look at her reflection, applying some red lipstick. She’d never been one for much makeup but she wanted her lips to pop. “Would you go back to him?”
“I haven’t left him.”
“You’ve said you haven’t been with him intimately. If Elijah swore there were no more women and he’d changed his ways, would you go back to him?” Robin asked.
Anne seemed to think about it, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. “You know, there was a time I’d have said yes. I mean, I married him because I did love him. The first time I caught him, I forgave him. Obviously, I was upset, hurt and he did some serious groveling to earn back my affection and stuff. I thought I’d done the right thing. Saving my marriage, the choices I’d made. The second one was harder, there was more groveling on his part, and the pain was even more intense. By the time the third one came around, I don’t know. I guess he’d hurt me too much and I stopped worrying. By then I knew the signs and I don’t know, I just no longer cared. I stopped thinking about him and I guess I started to think about the kids. They will always come first. They have to.”
“And you have to forfeit your happiness?”
“My happiness means nothing if you think about it,” she said. “I’ve had my chance and I picked wrong. Elijah was all wrong. We were high school sweethearts and when we did marry, I saw the kids, the house. The love. I thought we were going to be the old couple everyone looked up to, you know? The ones who were together through thick and thin. Our love for one another getting us through the bad times, and strengthening through the good. Now, I see nothing but lies and mockery. Our marriage was never a good one. It wasn’t even worth the effort to get dressed up. Did you know he only ever tried for me when we were going to fancy restaurants? If we were going to the movies or hanging with friends, he always dressed like a complete and total slob. All of the other women get the smart businessman. He puts all the effort for them and I get nothing.” Anne shook her head. “Sorry, it pisses me off.”
“You have a right to be pissed.”
“Thank you.”
“And the kids still come first?”
“They have to. My situation is not yours, though, Robin. I had my children, and by the time everything was done, it was wrong of me to pull them away from their father. The life I’m living isn’t a bad one though.”
Robin sat back, thinking about Bethany and Reaper. He was so good with her. As he reminded her, he’d been taking care of her when she didn’t even remember she had a daughter.
What kind of mother didn’t remember she had a daughter?
“You better not be putting my opinion on your situation,” Anne said.
“I have a daughter with Reaper.”
“Sweetheart, your life and mine are totally different.”
“How so?”
“I married my high school sweetheart. You married the man who kidnapped you and used you in a plot for his revenge. That, my darling, is not grounds for you to stick around just because he’s given you a kid. Don’t ever compare the two.”
“He loves me and he’s good with Bethany.”
“And you can spend the next fifty-plus years with him when Bethany grows up, goes off to college, and has a man and a kid of her own. You and him alone together. Unless you have more kids as a reason to stay together but there will come a point when it’s just the two of you, no one else.”
“You’re sticking with Elijah and your kids will be leaving the nest as well.”
“Again, completely different. I can handle my situation. You don’t have to stay with a man you don’t love. Don’t
be miserable.” Anne pulled the car into the full parking lot of the clubhouse, turning off the engine.
“You’re all for team Preacher.”
“And so are you. Don’t pretend you’re not. You love him and you’re only worried about hurting someone else.” Anne touched her hand. “Let’s stop talking about men. You’ve brought me here to have a good time and that’s exactly what I hope to have. A good time. A very good time.”
