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"So do I. If I had, you might have talked me out of calling him, and none of this would have happened."
"I cannot believe you," Amanda muttered. "This is so all your fault."
Berry had acknowledged as much, but she reacted defensively to Amanda's indictment. "I thought Oren would thank me for the call, and that would be the end of it. But apparently the only aspect of our conversation he heard was that Ben and I would be spending the day together. I'm terribly, terribly sorry."
"You've got a lot of reasons to be sorry."
"That's true, Amanda. But adultery isn't one of them. There's been not
hing except friendship between Ben and me for a very long time, since before he even met you."
"I've told her that," he said. "She believes me."
Berry digested that, then, holding the other woman's judgmental glare, she said, "But you don't believe me?"
"I believe that Ben was faithful to me and his marriage vows. But I don't trust that you sent for him with only the campaign in mind. You left Houston, your daily office routine, your work, which by all accounts you thrive on. You left your friends, your social life, and came here to the boondocks.
"Last week you got bored and restless, so you invented a reason for Ben to come here and spend the day, and then the night, with you. You knew he would come because that campaign is so important to both your careers. But I think that was just the bait you used to lure him here. You needed some amusement, a diversion, a break from the humdrum of rural life. You needed sex, and you chose my husband to provide it."
"You're wrong," Berry said with emphasis. "I didn't lure Ben to the lake house for any prurient purpose." She paused for several beats, then added, "But I might have a few months ago."
The admission shocked them. Berry was shocked by it herself, but she continued. "Before I came to Merritt, if I had deemed it professionally beneficial or expedient to sleep with Ben, more than likely I would have devised a way to do so."
Ben was still staring at her, slack-jawed. Amanda looked smug and wrathful at the same time. "So you admit it."
"I admit that my priorities were out of whack," Berry said. "In order to move up the ladder at Delray, I was doing things I didn't like. To the point where I could no longer stand myself. I got out of Houston to avoid Oren, yes. But I also came here to get a new perspective. I'm as ambitious as ever. I still want to reach the top of my trade. I'm just no longer willing to sell my soul for it."
She gave Ben a long, measured look, which he avoided by staring at the tent in the covers formed by his toes at the foot of the hospital bed.
Neither of the Loflands had accepted her apology, at least not out loud. They, especially Amanda, would probably continue to harbor resentment against her, and she couldn't really blame them. Ben had come close to losing his life.
However, short of groveling, she could do nothing more to make reparations, and she wouldn't further humble herself to these two, who were too ungracious to accept her apology.
"I'm going to Houston tonight, so I can be at the office the first thing in the morning to present the campaign on schedule."
Amanda's whole body jerked. "Without Ben?"
"He'll get equal credit."
"Oh, I'll bet."
"I'll see to it that he does, Amanda. I promise you."
The woman dismissed the value of Berry's promise with a haughty sniff.
Berry looked down at Ben. "I'll do right by you, Ben. You'll receive equal credit."
He bobbed his head. "Sure. Thanks."
Berry had hoped for a better outcome. She was disappointed with the note on which the visit was ending, but she'd said what she had come to say. The couple remained mute with animosity. Without another word, she left them.
Out in the corridor, a hospital worker wearing a hairnet and green scrubs was pushing a rattling metal cart stacked with lunch trays. She fell into step beside Berry. "You're Ms. Malone, aren't you?"
"That's right."
"Your friend is going to be fine."
"Yes. He seems to be improving."
