Page 39 of First Date: Divorce (Wyoming Marriage Association #1)
It wasn’t a tragedy to take off those rings and go about their lives, like Mrs. Schmidt’s niece and her fiancé did.
K.D. returned to Cabot four days ago, after leaving — she mentally blocked his name, and substituted — Bardville .
Her departure caught the attention of several people on Main Street as she drove through.
If some swore they’d seen her crying, they couldn’t be absolutely sure.
Now, she was back to work while already fielding inquiries from the divorce lawyer. Cully was happy about that. And Eric … Eric was surely back to his normal life, with friends and clients and trips to that greenhouse where the clerk named Shar doted on him.
On impulse, she placed a call before her late shift.
“Mom, it’s K.D.”
“Is everything all right? Are you okay?”
“Yes, of course. I’m fine.”
And she was.
She’d put in a full shift each day and would again today, even though she wasn’t scheduled until next week. But she’d need time then to go see the lawyer, so might as well work extra shifts now.
The work was fine. A little boring, yes. But it filled the time.
Some of the time.
Not the nights.
“Are you sure nothing’s wrong? The last two times you called — once was that pneumonia, and then that driver who hit your police car.”
Was that true? Those were the last times she’d called her mother? That had to be, what? Two calls in almost two years?
“Nothing like that this time, Mom. I wanted to see how you are.”
“Me? I’m fine. Mark and I are boring as can be, same schedule day to day, year to year.”
That caught K.D. Not the words, but what she heard in the voice she’d known all her life.
Contentment. That’s what she heard. Was it new? Or had it been there all along and she’d missed it before? Had her assumption of boredom hidden it from her?
“That’s great, Mom.”
There was a long, unexpected pause.
She prompted, “Mom?”
“I … I’m surprised.” She heard a wobble in her mother’s voice. “You so often seem to be disappointed in me.”
“Disappointed in … you? No, Mom. No. I only want you to be happy.”
“I am.”
She’d said that before, but K.D. hadn’t accepted it. This time she listened.
“You like being Mark’s wife?”
“Of course I do. I love it, because I love him, and he loves me. I just wish…”
“I know. That I got along better with him. Maybe I’ll come out there soon, Mom. We can try a little harder.”
Her mother sniffed into the phone. “That would be lovely, K.D. Lovely.”
*
“Good news,” Cully’s voice announced over the phone.
“Oh?” Eric could use good news.
“Gail Bledsoe has taken the bait. She contacted K.D., and they’ve had their first appointment.”
K.D. hadn’t called him to tell him directly.
Oh, yeah. Great news.
“She and Tal think another appointment, maybe two and they’ll have enough to take this the next step.
Yeah, she and Tal are doing a great job together.
We all talked it over first and decided she should have a companion for any visits to the lawyer — an additional witness, so nothing came down to K.D. ’s word against the lawyer’s.”
“Uh-huh.”
“We’re satisfied it’s one person at Marriage-Save, not the whole operation, so the lease agreement will go through. Should all be wrapped up next week. Once we pin down Bledsoe, we can lift the cone of silence.”
“Good to hear.” He looked up and saw Pauline standing in the doorway between their offices.
“Yeah, you sound like it.”
“Gotta go, Cully. Talk to you later.”
“What’s happened?” Pauline demanded as soon as he clicked off the call.
He updated her.
Her eyes narrowed. “You could’ve been a lot happier — if not happy for your friend who’s brought this investigation to a successful conclusion, then for yourself. Not long now before everyone knows you’re eligible again. You can—”
“Get back to normal. That’s exactly what I’m celebrating. In my own way.”