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“What could I possibly have to say at this point?”
She felt good there, in his embrace, and after a couple of minutes he forgot why he’d asked her to dance and enjoyed the simple pleasure of holding her.
“It was a beautiful wedding,” he said. His remark was merely a way to continue the conversation.
“It reminded me of our own.” As soon as Molly admitted that, he knew she regretted it. “The comparison is inevitable, really. The same church—and our reception was held here, too, remember? We also invited a lot of the same guests.”
“Don’t worry, I know what you’re saying.” Of course she’d noticed the things he had, felt the same brooding emotions.
Jordan wondered what she’d been thinking while Kati and Matt exchanged their wedding vows. He wondered if she remembered how his voice had shaken or how her eyes had filled with tears. Did the memory of how desperately they’d been in love come back to her, too?
The music stopped and he had a difficult time dropping his arms and stepping away from her.
“You’d better get back to Lesley,” she whispered.
Lesley. He’d nearly forgotten her. “Yeah. Your dance partner’s throwing daggers my way, as well.” It was a weak attempt at a joke. A weak attempt at getting the information he wanted about the other man.
Molly was kind enough to smile. “David’s not like that.”
“Who is he?” Jordan asked, hoping to sound casual and approving.
“David Stern. Dr. David Stern. He works at Sinai. We met last week.”
“He’s your date,” Jordan said, stunned by the realization. He hadn’t been aware of Stern at the church, but that was understandable. His gaze hadn’t moved past Molly in her cheery red suit and broad-rimmed white hat. It hadn’t occurred to him to notice the man who was standing next to her.
“Not really,” Molly was quick to tell him. “David’s a family friend of Matt’s. I didn’t realize he knew Matt, and David didn’t know Kati was my cousin. We’d both talked about attending a wedding on Saturday without realizing it was the same one.”
“I see,” Jordan said stiffly. He didn’t like Stern.Dr. Stern, he corrected.
“Lesley looks very nice,” Molly said, glancing behind him.
“Have you talked to your aunt Johanna lately?” Jordan said as they walked off the dance floor. He was making excuses to linger and knew it, although he didn’t understand why. Nor did he want to know.
“Apparently she wasn’t aware we’re getting a divorce,” Molly said, answering his unspoken question. “You needn’t worry. Word will get around fast now.Aunt Johanna is the family gossip. Everyone who’s even distantly related will hear the news by nightfall.” Her smile was forced, but only someone who knew Molly well would see that. “I hope she didn’t embarrass you.”
“No,” Jordan muttered. “What about you?”
“Not in the least. It’s better if people know as soon as possible, don’t you think?” She seemed eager to leave now, looking around as if she was trying to locate her precious David.
“I’d better get back to Lesley,” he said, making his own excuses. “It was good dancing with you again.”
“You, too.” How polite they sounded, as though they were little more than strangers. That was the way it would have to be, he told himself. They had no future, only a painful past.
Jordan watched as she moved across the dance floor. Instead of finding David Stern, she took the most direct route to her father’s side. Even from this distance he could see that she was irritated with Ian. His father-in-law didn’t seem upset by her chastisement, reaching for a glass of champagne halfway through her tirade.
Apparently there was some basis to Ian’s I-know-something-you-don’t smile. Jordan wondered what it was, but he supposed he’d find out soon enough.
* * *
Monday morning Jordan received a call from Michael Rife. “I just got the court docket, and the final hearing is set for Thursday afternoon.”
“That soon?”
“Count your blessings,” Rife went on to say. “IfMolly had wanted to, she could’ve tied you up in court for years.”
“But it hasn’t been the full sixty days.”
His lawyer hesitated. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
