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“Case.” Marc’s eyes widened at the sight of him and he uttered his name in a clipped tone. He stopped right in front of Case and eyed him warily.

Case nodded. “I thought you’d left Savannah.”

“I did. But I came back for family reasons. My father is ill. He needs me.” Marc shrugged. “I know you and Fancy won’t want to run into me, but I imagine the two of you have gotten past everything. I heard you two got married.”

Case resisted the urge to slu

g him. Fury almost blinded him. “What game are you playing at, Marc?”

A baffled expression came over Marc’s face. “What are you talking about?”

He glared at Marc. “Fancy and I most certainly didn’t get married. We broke up Marc, right after you hightailed it out of town.”

Marc let out an agonized sound. He raised his hand to his jaw. “Oh no. Case. I-I don’t know what to say. I’ve been traveling out of the country for the last two years. My family for obvious reasons didn’t bring up the subject. But, I promise you, someone did pass that on to me.”

“It’s probably best that you say nothing, considering what went down in the past.” He ground out the words as if they were dust in his mouth. Did Marc seriously think there was anything he could ever say to make things right?

“I was under the impression that the two of you were working through it,” Marc said.

“We didn’t. We couldn’t,” Case snapped. He wasn’t about to stand here and pour his heart out to Marc. As if he even cared about the mess he’d helped create. His words just sounded like lip service. If Marc had ever possessed a shred of honor, he wouldn’t have gone after his woman in the first place.

Please, God. Let me walk away from this without losing my cool. I’ve worked so hard to get past these feelings of anger, and now, it feels like I’m right back at square one. Give me the strength to not sink down to his level.

“I know you’re skeptical of me. And you have more reasons than not to feel that way, but I’m a changed man. I’ve done the work I need to do on myself. I’ve worked hard to be worthy of God’s forgiveness and His grace.” Marc’s features were creased with strain. “That might sound like a bunch of bull to you, but it’s true and honest.”

Case grunted. “Honest?” He shook his head. “What do you know about honesty?”

Marc bowed his head. “You have every right to bash me. The truth is, I had feelings for her. At the time they seemed so real. It felt so powerful. I know you could probably care less about what I was going through, but my fiancée had recently died of leukemia. That’s not an excuse. But I was lonely and reeling and trying to hold on to anything as a life preserver. I latched on to Fancy, who was connecting with me as an old friend from high school. I know now that my feelings for Fancy were just a band aid. And the point is, my feelings were my feelings. She didn’t feel the same way as I did.”

Case narrowed his gaze. “When we spoke before…why didn’t you tell me all of this?”

Marc shuddered. “Because I was being selfish. It’s taken me years to realize what I did. And to face it. I’ve grown in my faith since then, and I know truth is my only option. If I can’t tell my truths, then everything from this point will be tainted. I want a clean slate. I think I was vague before because I was holding on to the idea of Fancy running to me if the two of you broke up.”

Case bit down hard on his front teeth. “That’s low down. You had to know how broken up I felt about everything. Not to mention what Fancy was going through.”

“I know,” he said, bowing his head. “You can’t possibly make me feel any more ashamed than I already feel. But I won’t run away again. My family shouldn’t have to suffer for my sins.”

“Are you saying that you deliberately caused me to question Fancy’s version of events?” Case asked, his nerves on edge as he waited for Marc’s answer.

Marc sighed. “It’s not that simple. Did I get the feeling you thought she was into me? Yes. Did I make it clear she wasn’t? No.”

Case muttered angrily. He didn’t even trust himself to speak out loud.

“Night. I hope this conversation has cleared some things up,” Marc said. “And I know I’ve said it to you many times, but I really am sorry.” Marc walked past him down the hallways and back into the venue. For a brief moment Case could hear the lively tempo of the jazz band emanating from the other room as the door swung open.

Case felt as if a can opener was cutting up his insides. Marc had been manipulative, and out of his own anger and jealousy, he’d fallen for it hook, line and sinker. Fancy had been telling the truth about not having any romantic leanings toward Marc. It had been all one-sided. Marc had been trying to put a wedge between them in the hopes that he would end up with Fancy.

After getting a fresh utensil, Case made his way back to the table. He sank down into his chair as if the weight of the world sat on his shoulders. Suddenly, it seemed as if everything he’d thought was gray and cloudy now appeared to be stark white. He swallowed a mouthful of his entrée, but it tasted like sawdust.

Meryl reached out and grasped his wrist. “Case, what’s going on? You seem a million miles away. Once you came back to the table everything changed.”

Case sighed. He didn’t want Meryl to think he wasn’t enjoying the evening. He really had been having a pleasant time with her. But seeing Marc had been akin to opening Pandora’s box. What Marc had revealed was startling. And he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Had he treated Fancy badly by not believing her? Had he allowed his faith in her to be so shaken that he’d allowed Marc to manipulate him? And yet, Fancy had still betrayed him. No matter how many times he went over things, he couldn’t gloss over her behavior.

He reached over and patted Meryl’s hand. There was a look of strain etched on her face. She looked as if she might cry.

“I’m fine. Just ran into someone I’m not on good terms with. It was slightly awkward,” he explained. He didn’t need to give Meryl the nitty gritty details about running into Marc.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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