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“Yes, it was.”
“I know you’ve dated.”
“I have,” he said simply.
“We aren’t the same people.”
“Our lifestyles and professions may have evolved, but we are very much the same, I think.”
“No. Everything has changed,” she said. “I’ve changed.”
“Have you? I still see the same loving, dedicated daughter, sister, and friend you were before you left.”
“My life is no longer here. I’m leaving again. I have a job.”
“Yes, you do. Temporary morning anchor.”
“It’s a toe in the door.”
“It is,” he agreed with a nod. “But what about Rayna Jo?”
Like she could read minds? Predict the future? “You’re the one who said no matter what happened, her friends would be there to support her.”
“Friends can’t replace children.”
Which was exactly what she’d told herself a million times since all of this had begun.
She shoved herself to her feet and turned to glare down at him. “Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Pulling a guilt trip on me. I have a life. Dara has a life. We can’t just rearrange everything because my father couldn’t keep it in his pants and my mother was too co-dependent to divorce him years ago.”
She turned on her heel and stalked off toward the pier, determined to get away as quickly as possible even though she knew she’d see him in a few hours’ time at the service and the gathering afterwards at the house.
But Oz’s words had struck a nerve deep within her. After watching her mother collapse beneath the weight of her father’s indiscretions, she wondered how long it would be before her mother was strong enough to venture back into the world again.
Back to work?
It wasn’t a matter of money. She knew there were insurance policies in place that would provide in the interim, but like Oz had said, her mother needed emotional support.
But with the clock ticking on her time left in Carolina Cove, she knew she either had to return to New York or give up the three-month anchor position. As well as risk never getting another like it again due to what would be seen as a lack of dedication to her career.
But how could she leave with her mother in the state she was in? Dara lived in Wilmington but was currently assigned to a job in Chicago.
Devon jogged up the stairs leading over the dunes and hurried down the wooden planks, every step faster than the one before it.
No one had ever said life would be easy, but why did it have to be so complicated?
Rayna Jo took one last look in her floor-length mirror but didn’t see herself. The woman staring back looked pale and dark-eyed, the small bit of makeup she’d smeared on doing nothing to hide the shadows and bags beneath her eyes.
No wonder her husband had strayed. Found younger and prettier women to boost his ego. At the moment, she felt ninety-three, not sixty-three. Looked it, too.
Vows are vows.
That they were. And despite the indiscretions, she’d never stopped loving him. But even she knew how strange that was.
“Mama? You ready?” Devon asked.
