Page 45

A few days, that’s all it was until the surgery. Was it weird to feel so excited about the prospect of a doctor cutting into you? Maybe, but Lydia didn’t care at this point.

“Oh, bugger.” Clark was across the street, and the last thing she wanted was a showdown with Fe’s ex.

Dipping her head, Lydia hoped he hadn’t spotted her, but she wasn’t so lucky. “Lydia!”

Slowing to a stop, Lydia turned to face the weasel. “Clark.”

“She’s filed for sole custody. What the bloody fuck?” Okay, this was going to be fun.

“That’s something you need to take up with Fe.”

“Oh, come on. You can’t think this is right.”

“It’s not for me to judge, Clark. This is entirely between you and Fe.”

“But they’re my kids.”

“Yup. As I said, talk to your wife.”

“I didn’t want this, you know?”

That was a puzzling thing to hear. “You didn’t want to shag Janey, and then leave your wife and children to make a life with her? Weird.”

“Everything got out of control.” Clark raked his hands through his short hair. “I was drowning, Lydia. I just needed an outlet.”

“And Janey was that outlet?” Ew, that sounded gross.

“I didn’t set out to cheat on Fe. Janey provided support for me when I was stressed. It sort of developed from that.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I know I hurt Fe—”

“And the kids.”

“Has she told them?” Clark’s voice rose in volume. People passing by cast Lydia a questioning glance. Laying her hand on Clark’s forearm, she hoped to calm the situation down.

“No, she hasn’t said a bad word against you. But they’re intuitive and know something’s up. Even before you left, they were picking up on the tension.”

“I wanted to take them with me.”

“But you didn’t. You told Fe to keep the kids. I think you’ve answered your own question regarding the sole custody thing.”

“I love my kids, Lydia.”

“Of course you do. Fe isn’t unreasonable, but she’s not going to let you waltz in and out of their lives, Clark. Plus, she’s fucking hurt.”

“I didn’t mean for this.” His tone was almost pleading.

“Then what did you mean? Because you left, Clark. I can honestly say I never thought this would happen. You guys were solid. What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know! It was all the little things. The kids, the house, bills. I just felt suffocated.”

“Then you should have talked to Fe! But you banged your secretary instead. I’m not sure what you want to hear from me, Clark. Fe’s hurting and so are the kids. You chose to start a life with Janey.”

“I want my life back!”

“What does that mean?” Lydia was growing more frustrated by the second.