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“Okay.” Marley slid her arms around Carol’s waist and stood on tiptoe to kiss her cheek. “Love you. Thanks for letting me stay all night.”
“I love you, sweet girl. You can stay anytime.”
When Daisy and Marley were gone and the door had shut, Tara turned to face her mother-in-law. “Thank you for keeping her.”
“Of course. She asked if she could stay all night and I’ve missed having some girl time.”
Tara smoothed her sundress down and pulled in a deep breath. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I want to start working on that.”
Carol blinked and jerked back. “You’re divorcing my son. A man who did everything for you and your daughter, and when he had a rough patch, you kicked him out.”
“He needed to get help,” Tara replied, keeping her tone light. “We want to work on our family again.”
“Do you mean you need him in your life now that he’s not sick?”
Tara rubbed her forehead. She should’ve let Sam handle this. She really should’ve, but she’d figured she’d extend the proverbial olive branch. Unfortunately, she’d been smacked in the face with it.
“I’ve always cared for Sam,” Tara stated. “He needed help and he couldn’t do that by staying here. I won’t keep defending myself or my actions, but I wanted you to know that we were starting over.”
“And what about when Marley remembers that you kicked her father out? What will you tell her?”
Tara shrugged. “The truth. That two people loved each other and fought hard to make their marriage work.”
Carol pursed her lips and made some sound. Tara had no clue what that meant, but she couldn’t risk extending this conversation any longer. Marley could rush back in and overhear, which was the last thing she wanted.
“Okay, well, thanks for bringing her home,” Tara said as she moved to the door in her not-so-subtle way of getting Carol to leave. “I’ll have Sam call you.”
Carol didn’t say another word as she took her opinions and left. No doubt she’d be dialing up Sam before she pulled out of the driveway, but that was Sam’s issue to deal with. Tara had tried...which had been the story of their married life anyway. Obviously, Tara would never be good enough for Carol’s baby boy, but whatever.
The door slammed a mere second before the scraping of dog paws scurried over the floor. Daisy came up the hallway, as eager as always, and Marley came running in behind her.
“Where’s Daddy?” she asked.
Tara smoothed her hand over Marley’s bed head. “He went into the office this morning. What do you say we get ready and surprise him with lunch?”
Marley’s face lit up. “I’ll go fix my hair and put on a pretty dress.”
Up the stairs she flew with the massive dog on her heels. Tara simply laughed and headed up to get ready herself. She couldn’t wait to surprise Sam. She truly felt like this was going to work. He’d been clean for nearly a year and still reported to his sponsor and was on the right track.
Tara went into the master bath to check her appearance and spotted a note in the basket with her makeup. Smiling like a schoolgirl with a crush, Tara reached for the slip of paper and unfolded it.
To a new beginning...
Catching her reflection in the mirror, Tara clutched the note to her heart. They were going to make it after all.
Chapter Sixteen
Sam had been gone much longer than he’d intended. His mother had called on some rant about his getting wrapped in Tara’s web again...or some such lame analogy.
He’d been adamant that he and Tara were in love, that they were working on their marriage and that things would be better than ever. No matter how much he defended Tara, his mother had never thought the marriage was a good idea, so Sam was done for now.
After spending the majority of the day working on a surprise for Tara, he’d lost track of time and ended up doing more than he’d planned. But if everything panned out, he would have the ultimate gift for his wife and an amazing start to their new future.
As soon as he stepped in the door at home, Marley came running up to him. He’d barely braced himself before she launched herself into his arms. Daisy came running in, as well, and skidded to a stop...or tried to, but she ran into his legs.
