Page 40 of Best Kept Vows

I downed half my drink and looked at my new colleaguesandfriends who were waiting expectantly to hear my sordid tale.

“Sebastian took over Boone Metals three years ago when his father had a stroke,” I began my sad story. “And since then, he’s been obsessed with the company and…he just checked out of being a father and husband.”

“So, this isn’t a ‘I just saw my husband with a skank’thing,” Luna noted and picked up her drink. “You’re sure he won’t cheat on you?”

I took a deep breath and thought about it. No matter how annoyed I was with Sebastian, I knew he wouldn’t commit adultery. That wasn’t who he was.

“He’s not capable of that kind of…well, he won’t be able to lie about it.”

“So, that’s good news,” Luna remarked.

I looked at her inquiringly.

“Hey, this kind of trust in a marriage israre. So, you have an awesome foundation. Your husband got sidetracked with work.” Luna raised her glass in a toast.

“He didn’t even come for my graduation ceremony,” I complained and told them about lunch at the Olde Pink House, and how Jane called him Seb.

“But the past weeks, he’s been better?” Aurora asked.

“Yes. He…he made up with the kids,andhe’s home.”

“But?” Luna prompted.

The truth was that for the four weeks I’d been working at Savannah Lace, my home life had been near perfect.

Sebastian and I were having fun again. It helped that we hadn’t gone for Sunday dinner—which pissed his mother off. She’d called me, but I ignored her calls and told Sebastian to handle it. She washismother, not mine. I had no idea where my courage to say and do these things was coming from—but I was done being the Boone family punching bag.

I’d also had to tell Abraham that I couldn’t come for Sunday lunch, but I was now having lunch with him onSaturdays, which he appreciated. In the past three years since his stroke, we’d become friends of sorts, since he saw so much of me—well, I was the only person he saw outside of the Sunday dinners, where his family ignored him.

Things with Sebastianweregood, but…yeah, unfortunately, there was abut….

“I feel like I’m being asked to just push away all my heartache and hurt. Just go with the flow. It makes me feel like a doormat, and I promised myself I wouldn’t be that again.”

Aurora and Luna gave me a scrutinizing glance.

“He hasn’t validated the pain that he caused,” Aurora summed up my feelings better than I ever could.

“Yes!” I exclaimed. “That’s it. I want him to…but more than acknowledging it, I want him to recognize what he did so he won’t do it again. I want to do better as well. I want to have my needs met, not just pretend everything is okay.”

I looked around and sighed. “I need to shut up before somebody hears me.”

“Let’s go to my place.” Luna finished her drink. “There, you can speak as loudly as you like.”

I’d left my car at the Savannah Lace parking lot so I could drink without worrying about driving home. We headed to Luna’s house with Aurora, and I felt terrible for dragging Aurora away from her family, but she said Betsy was watching her two daughters.

“Speaking of Betsy.” Aurora tucked her feet under her on a large, comfortable armchair on Luna’s porch. “She’s going to invite you to her next salon. And Ada. She wasimpressed with both of you. She has them on Sunday afternoons, right after church.”

“Betsy is the reason I got this job at Savannah Lace,” I admitted.

“No, the reason you did is because you gave a kickass speech at your commencement,” Aurora pointed out.

“Everyone good with burgers?” Luna asked as she got comfortable on a chair. “Armand said he’ll make it with blue cheese, and you’ll have to eat it whether you like it or not.”

“Who is Armand?” I asked.

“Armand is her chef,” Aurora teased. “Luna Steele comes from old Steele money, so?—”

“Please, you’re married into the Rhodes family, and you have Harrison, chef extraordinaire, so shut the hell up,” Luna threw at her.