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“It sure is.”
Cue moment of awkward silence.
“Was there another reason you called?” Jo finally asked.
“Jo, you and I have always gotten along well, right?” His words came out in a rush. “I’ve always been fond of you and I’ve always felt you were fond of me.”
Jo pinched the bridge of her nose as she forced back the snarky comments popping through her brain like kernels of corn. “I always considered you a good guy, David. But I can’t lie, you impregnating another woman did put a dent in that.”
“Deservedly so. What I did was wrong, very wrong, and I’ll regret hurting your sister for the rest of my life.”
“But?” Jo prompted.
“I’ve heard you talk about infidelity before, especially your father’s and Bob’s. About how it’s rarely one person’s fault when someone philanders.”
Jo shot a sideways glance at Arnett and said a silent prayer of thanks that she hadn’t put the call through the car’s speakerphone. About nine years before, Arnett had discovered his wife Laura was cheating on him. He loved her more than life itself, so when she asked him to go to counseling, he’d agreed. He also listened carefully to what she’d said there: that he’d been emotionally absent in their relationship for years thanks to the demands of his job, and she was lonely. Bob agreed to change that, and they’d managed to save their marriage. Jo’s parents’ story was the same, but with the opposite outcome, because her father had refused to hear her mother. David knew very well the implications of the scenarios he was invoking.
“Philanders,” Jo said. “That’s a quaint word for it.”
“Cheats, then. Has an affair. Fucks around.”
Jo flinched at the profanity. David rarely swore, and only in moments of very heightened emotion.
“Philandersworks fine,” she mumbled.
He seized onto her shift in tone. “You of all people know that Sophie isn’t the easiest person to live with.”
“So this is Sophie’s fault?”
“My choices are my own fault. What I’m trying to say is those choices didn’t spring from nowhere.”
Jo gritted her teeth. Her rampant, automatic ability to see things through other people’s eyes was part of the reason she was a good detective. But right now, it was a curse rather than a blessing because as much as she didn’t want to see his perspective, she couldn’t help it. For most of their lives she and Sophie had gotten along like cats in a burlap bag. Sophie resented that Jo’s dedication to her work left Sophie taking care of family obligations alone, and Jo rebelled against Sophie’s martyred barbs. Jo knew all too well the sort of arctic frostbite Sophie could inflict, she had to admit David had probably lost more than one toe to it. But there was also no way on God’s green earth she was ever going to admit that to him.
“I don’t know what went on inside your marriage, and I don’t really want to,” she said, hand tightening around the phone. “She’s my sister, and I’m on her side. Period.”
“And I wouldn’t expect anything else. But I know you want what’s best for her. Do you really think divorcing me is what’s best for her?”
Jo stared out at the trees lining the highway. “I have no idea what’s best for her.” As it was, she couldn’t even figure out what was best for herself, especially when it came to men.
“Look, I’m not trying to get you to think well of me. But I love your sister and I think the best thing is for us to be together. I made a mistake, but I learn from my mistakes. I truly believe we can come back even stronger for having gone through this.”
Jo sighed. “Tell that to her, David. Even if I was inclined to lobby on your behalf, she wouldn’t listen.”
“Whether she admits it or not, she values what you think. If you encourage her to consider reconciliation, she’ll consider it. But at the very least, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t sabotage whatever chance I might have with her.”
Jo bristled. “I would never sabotage you.”
“I’m relieved to hear that. Thank you.”
Somehow Jo felt she’d just been manipulated into agreeing to something she didn’t want to. “Anything else you needed to talk about?”
“Just that the faster we get this sorted out, the better. It’s not good for the girls.”
Jo bit back the response on the tip of her tongue:too bad you didn’t think about the girls before you jumped in bed with another woman.“Rushing Sophie isn’t a good idea. The girls are strong, and they’re not the first children to have to deal with divorce. They’ll be fine.”
She hung up the phone and sagged back against the car seat. “I can’t believe he had the nerve to call me.”
“Is your sister taking his calls?”
