AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So, you’re loving small-town life, huh? Any progress with finding a location for the spa?” I asked as I sipped my cocktail.
“Yeah, I just wish you’d consider doing it with me, and not just financially. Don’t you remember that dream of ours?” she teased. Her dark hair was cut blunt at her shoulders. She was effortlessly stylish and naturally gorgeous.
“Um… I remember. We’d had it all figured out back then, didn’t we?”
“Yep. We were going to be business partners, and you were going to tell your parents to fuck off because you didn’t really want to go to law school or be a lawyer. You were going to marry Cage Reynolds, and I’d marry some bad boy who rode into town on a white horse. We’d raise our kids together and have a little nursery at the spa for all our beautiful, well-behaved, genius children.” She set her glass down and fell back against the couch. “The good ole days.”
“Please. That was a fantasy. Clearly, bad boys don’t ride on white horses.” I tipped my head back and finished the rest of my drink. “My mother already resented me for not being a pageant queen; she wasn’t going to let me be the first family member not to attend Harvard, too.” No, Presley Duncan was groomed to be an intellectual. All through school, I’d had tutors on the side to give me a ‘step up’, as my mother would say. Dad wanted me on the rodeo circuit. I was his champion jumper, and my mother eventually embraced my competitions, but only after I started winning.
Lola pushed to her feet and made her way back to the counter, where she poured us two more drinks. “Barbie Duncan does not play around. She’s such a freaking powerhouse, too, and she has a gift for making others feel like they’ve failed comparatively.”
“It’s her superpower.” I chuckled.
“And your poor dad has had two major medical emergencies in his life, and the timing has been horrible. Although, there probably is never a good time for a medical emergency, right?”
“Yeah, very true. Maybe it’s my life that’s the problem.” I shrugged. “First, he gets into a skiing accident and spends eight months in rehab. His so-called motivation to recover was to help his baby girl move into her new place to start law school in Cambridge, his alma mater. As if my parents would ever help me move anyway. They hired movers. But, boy, did my mom lay it on thick while he was recovering.” Fortunately, his broken bones healed nicely without any complications, and they did show up when I moved in to take me to dinner.
“And then…” My best friend settles on the couch and hands me my filled-to-the-rim glass. “What are the chances that your dad has a stroke now with all that’s happening?”
“Sadly, I don’t think you get to choose your time for something like that.” I still vividly remember getting the call from my mom and the complete panic that I felt. This was the most severe illness my father had ever encountered. “Wait, are you referring tonowas the time when my husband decided to knock up his assistant, who then went and took the story public? Is that the now you’re referring to?”
Yes, I’d married Wes Wellington, the famous music producer who was ten years my senior, and to say that life had not gone as planned would be a massive understatement.
“Are you really that shocked?” Lola asked as she studied me.
She knew everything about me. She knew my marriage was a total fraud. Wes and I hadn’t been in love in years, and I couldn’t say for certain that I ever was in love with the man that I’d spent the last five years with. I didn’t fully blame him for the demise of our marriage, but he sure took us out with a bang.
Literally and figuratively.
But I had a hand in this mess. Wes had been the one to fill a void when my heart was shattered into a million pieces, but he’d never been the love of my life, not in any way, shape, or form.
He’d known it on our wedding day, and one of the biggest gripes he’d had was that there wasn’t room in our marriage for him, because he’d known that my heart already belonged to another man.
We’d spent a lot of time apart, as he traveled often, and I’d wondered if he’d strayed, yet he’d denied it vehemently. I’d always assumed it was just a coping mechanism for me to expect the worst.
But now, I really questioned if his dalliance with Corona was the first time he’d strayed.
Yes, his mistress was named after my favorite beer. Go figure.
I’d threatened to divorce him a year ago, but he’d insisted I was being paranoid, and honestly, it was embarrassing to admit. But Wes and I hadn’t even been willing to take the time to end our marriage the way we should have a long time ago.
I worked crazy hours, and he traveled all over the world with clients.
We’d been living separate lives for the last few years.
Sure, we’d make public appearances together and present a united front when he was home, because that was important to him. Wes had become more like a friend than a spouse, but it wasn’t like I wanted to go out and date someone else.
I’d given up on finding love a long time ago.
I’d found it once, and it had burned me bad enough to never want to go there again.
So, I’d settled.
And this is where you land when you settle.
“Am I shocked that he cheated? Not really. But a part of me believed that I was being paranoid for thinking it all those times. I mean, I wasn’t happy either, but I sure as hell wasn’t out there sleeping around.” I shrugged.
“He’s a selfish asshole,” Lola hissed and shook her head with disgust. “And to get her pregnant and let you find out with the rest of the world? He didn’t even have the decency to tell you privately.”
