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She looked at the sheet of daily specials attached to the front of the menu. “That’s because you were there, setting the right example.”
Preston leaned forward. “You’re giving me credit for his fidelity?”
“You were completely committed to Christy. Since he admired you, he followed suit. I should’ve thanked you.” She set the menu aside and rearranged the salt-and-pepper shakers, Sweet’n Low packets and creamers. “But I wasn’t too happy with you later on,” she added. “How’s Christy?”
“Better since she remarried.”
“Remarried?”
Preston hooked an arm over the back of the booth. “You didn’t know we broke up?”
“Vince and I haven’t kept in contact with anyone.”
“Why is that?”
“Vince didn’t want to look back, didn’t want to deal with all the negativity.”
“This was when you were living in Nevada?”
“How’d you know where we were living?”
“I’ve been looking for a long time.” He’d nearly caught Vince there, in Fallon, when Gordon said his name had turned up on a credit application. But there’d been no “Dr.” attached, and by the time Preston had exhausted all other leads and realized he had the right Vince Wendell, Vince and Joanie had already moved on. Without a trace. “But Vince never set up his practice.”
“He was rattled, nervous. He wasn’t ready yet.”
“You didn’t mind that he wasn’t working?”
She shrugged. “Not really. I could understand. It’d be hard to have your best friend accuse you of such a thing.”
The waitress refreshed his cup, and he slid his coffee back in front of him. “It’s even harder to have your best friend do what Vince did,” he said levelly, and was astonished when she didn’t fly into a defensive rage, as she would have two years ago.
“What happened between you and Christy?” she asked, changing the subject.
“Can’t you guess?”
“You let Dallas’s death tear you apart, right? I was so angry with you, I wanted that to happen. I had everything in Half Moon Bay. My husband had sworn off other women and was treating me right for the first time in our marriage. He seemed to be enjoying his practice. We had a big house, plenty of friends. And then…” She sighed.
“And then Vince ruined it for all of us,” Preston finished.
The waitress had put the coffeepot away and returned to take their order, but Preston couldn’t eat. He handed back his menu. “Nothing for me.”
“Me, neither,” Joanie said.
The waitress offered her coffee instead, but she snapped, “Don’t you know that caffeine causes birth defects?”
“I—I didn’t realize you were—” the waitress began helplessly, but Preston interrupted. “Bring her some orange juice, please.”
He watched the waitress scurry off. “God, you’re edgy,” he told Joanie.
“Yeah, well, I don’t have much patience these days with people who can still fit in their shoes.” She met his eyes. “And I’m not sure what I’m hoping to accomplish by meeting you.”
The conversation had already highlighted the dramatic changes in all their lives. It hardly seemed possible that one man had caused everything. The loss of a child. The loss of friendship. Two divorces. Would it end there? “I think you came because, deep down, you believe me.”
“I don’t. Or I would’ve come forward a long time ago.”
“Really? What about that big house and those good friends you were talking about? What about the life you didn’t want to give up? Are you sure you were looking at the situation objectively?”
She scowled and moved her water around in agitation, smearing the condensation that had rolled down the glass onto the varnished wood. “It doesn’t matter how objectively I look at it. It’s crazy to think the man I married could be capable of doing…what you said.”
“Sometimes the people we love can surprise us.”
She didn’t respond.
“Don’t you at least wonder if I could be right?” he asked.
“No.”
It was a lie. She obviously had doubts, or she wouldn’t have come today. “I don’t believe you.”
She turned her hands palms up. “Okay, so there’s been a time or two when he’s acted…a little odd, and maybe it raised a few questions in my mind. But most people act strange now and then. It doesn’t make them murderers.”
“That depends.”
She pursed her lips, and he knew she was wondering whether to continue this conversation.
“Are you still in love with him, Joanie?”
“No. I’m…well, look at me. I’m hurt, disappointed. Half the time, I don’t even know what I’m feeling, and I’m about to have a baby. I can’t cope with this, too.” She grabbed her purse and started to get up, but he caught her arm.
“How well will you cope if he does it again?”
That got her. Misery entered her eyes, and her shoulders slumped. Finally, she settled back and dropped her purse. “What do you want to know?”
“Why don’t you tell me what he did that was odd?”
“He came to me once. Told me he thought there was something wrong with him, that he wasn’t normal.”
“Did he explain?”
“He said he was tempted to do some strange things.”
A shiver of excitement shot down Preston’s spine. This sounded hopeful. Maybe, at long last…“Like…”
She rubbed her eyes, and he felt a twinge of sympathy as he realized how tired she was. “I didn’t want to hear any more. He was scaring me, and our marriage was already in trouble. I was trying to hold everything together, you know?”
“So what did you say?”
“I told him he was as normal as anyone I’d ever met, and he never approached me with it again.”
Preston’s heart sank. She’d almost had him. Vince had wanted to talk, and she’d told him she didn’t want to hear it. Shit! The frustration and helplessness nearly killed him. “You’ve never asked him about it since?” he asked.
She eyed him speculatively. “You look good, you know that? You’re a little thinner, a little rougher around the edges. But you were always handsome. I used to enjoy going out with you and Christy, just so I could watch you.” She chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t, you know, interested. I loved Vince. But…you’re certainly well above average.”
