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AFTER CARA TRIED TO PAY, and Roman actually paid, they headed out of the restaurant. He noticed that she had grabbed a flyer from the hostess stand about a kids’ cooking class.
Roman motioned toward the flyer. “You should do it.”
“It might be fun,” Cara said. “The waitress said that the kids love it.”
“Mia would want to be a part of it,” he said.
“She’d have to move here, then,” Cara quipped, nudging him. “Or come in for a long weekend and stay with me.”
Her words settled deep into his chest. How long did he imagine he’d stay in Wyoming? And was Cara permanently tied to California? “Mia would love that,” he said.
Cara flashed him a smile as he opened her car door. Then he walked around to climb into the passenger seat. He knew the time had come to open up to Cara about Liz, but nerves thrummed through him at that thought. His marriage hadn’t been pretty, and he was to blame for a lot of it. Had he learned lessons? Absolutely. Was he a better man now? He hoped so. But would Cara see it that way?
On the drive to the beach area, Roman remained quiet. He didn’t even check his phone when it buzzed with a couple of alerts. He sensed Cara’s curiosity, but she was also remarkably patient. She’d told him about her past relationships, while he’d only given her surface details.
Cara should know the truth. And if she wasn’t scared off, then eventually her family should know the truth, too—at least the bones of it.
She pulled up to a mostly empty beach parking lot. The cooler wind must be keeping the locals away, and the beach was too small to attract tourists.
“Haven’t been here in forever,” Roman commented.
“Another place you came with your mom?” Cara asked.
“With friends,” he said. “In high school, it was a popular thing to beach hop. Every weekend was a different beach hangout.”
He opened his door and walked around the car to open hers. She stepped out, then took off her cowboy boots. He grabbed her hand. He needed to be touching her, to know that she was solid and real, when he was telling her some hard things.
Things he hoped wouldn’t become a divide between them.
“You’ve got quite the grip there,” Cara commented, a light teasing in her tone.
Roman realized how tightly he’d been holding her hand. “Sorry about that.” He relaxed his grip, and Cara threaded their fingers together.
“Come on, let’s walk,” she said.
They headed toward the beach, where the wind was brisk but not freezing. “Are you warm enough?” he asked her.
“Yeah,” she said, taking the opportunity to wrap her other hand about his arm.
“The only one who knows the full story is my mom,” Roman said. “Well, she knows the most at least. Lila and Thayne, of course, know parts. And sometimes I think Lila knows more than she might admit.”
Cara only nodded, giving him plenty of leeway.
“Liz and I were seeing each other sporadically. I was working on a film project in Canada, and I’d come back to LA for my mom’s birthday. Liz worked in a boutique where I went to find a birthday present for my mom. She was funny, personable, and when she found out who I was, she kind of geeked out. I guess I was flattered because I thought she was pretty. I ended up getting her number the next day when I returned to the boutique.”
“What did your mom think about her?”
“That’s kind of the odd thing,” Roman said. “Mom was nice about her, but they didn’t really connect like I thought they might. Mom thought Liz was immature. But I didn’t see it that way. Liz was impulsive, and it was refreshing because when I had days off, I just wanted to sit at the beach or catch up on shows I’d missed—you know, to stay up on the industry.”
“Which is still kind of like working,” Cara mused.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Roman took another breath. “Here’s the thing. Liz got pregnant, and I told her I’d marry her. She accepted.”
“Oh, wow.”
He felt Cara’s surprised gaze on him, and he plowed ahead. “We really didn’t know each other. Our expectations were completely different. I thought she’d maybe travel with me, but it turned out she didn’t like to travel. She thought I could work mostly out of LA, but when I told her about the tax breaks we got in other locations, she wasn’t happy to hear that.”
“So I guess these were things you found out after you’d married?”
