Page 76 of Ripple Effect

What, are we on our first date?The urge to throw back a scathing reply is on the tip of my tongue. Until the candlelight catches my wedding rings, sending a twinkle in my eye. I let it go. “It is. There’s a possibility of being featured in a few magazines.” I shrug it off as if the news is nothing major even though when the news came in, I sobbed because I wanted to share it with my husband.

But he was away. Again.

“That’s incredible, Libs.” He lifts his glass. I click mine against it. “We have more than just your birthday to celebrate tonight.”

“I suppose so.”

Cal pushes back from his chair. Coming around the table, he slips his fingers into his pocket of his suit jacket. Pulling out a solitaire choke chain, he clasps it around my neck before brushing his lips against the back of it.

Shivers I can’t control race through my body. “Cal, there was no need. All I want is you.” It’s the God’s honest truth. I just want to find that spark that’s been missing from my marriage.

“You have me, honey. I will always be yours. I just thought you deserved this. The way it lights up reminded me of you.” Another kiss to the curve of my shoulder, which I lean into.

“Thank you,” I tell him sincerely. And I mean it. I truly do. No matter what ripples our marriage might have to endure, this is the man I love.

My fingers play with the unfamiliar weight as he makes his way back to his seat. Gone is the solicitous husband; in his place is the sexy man I’ve never been able to resist. “I can’t wait to see you wearing just that later.”

And I can’t help but tease him, “If you’re lucky.”

He winks just as our appetizers arrive.

* * *

Later that night,Cal is sleeping next to me after thoroughly making love to me. True to his promise, I’m left wearing nothing but the gift he gave me as a belated birthday present.

I don’t know what makes me do it. Grabbing my cell phone, I pull up our joint credit card account. I just want to be wrong. Please.

But my stomach pitches when I see the purchase from earlier today. It’s to the infamous jeweler whose distinctive blue box Cal left in our closet so he could appear romantic when he slipped the choker around my neck.

He didn’t even get my gift until today. All this talk before he left was just that—talk. He had no plans. All of this was just an afterthought, just like I am.

Closing my phone and setting it to the side, I carefully unhook the delicate chain and lay it on my end table before extracting myself from Cal’s embrace and settling down onto my side of the bed the way I normally do.

Curled up and alone.

51

Present Day

Elizabeth

Dr. Powell flips over another page of notes. “You’re telling your story with a different perspective now which is understandable. Put yourself in the you of when you first got married. Was Cal right that you couldn’t have handled the day-to-day details of what his job entailed?”

“Unequivocally, no,” I say flatly.

“That’s certain.”

“Trust is supposed to be absolute. It’s the cornerstone of a marriage. Secrets do nothing but erode it.” I press my hand into my mouth because the emotions grip me so hard. “I had so much to forgive…”

“Do you think the attack escalated your forgiveness?”

“I wouldn’t say it escalated forgiving Cal. I will say my priorities shifted. When your life is on the precipice of ending, you never perceive it in the same way. The injustices that seemed to matter so much still matter, but their significance is reduced. I don’t know if I’m making sense.” I’m frustrated.

I always am when I get this question.

“Talk it out,” he encourages.

“The emotional weight of what I’d been through on theSea Forcedidn’t allow for me to handle what happened in my marriage. The lines that were crossed by Cal? Well, he had to deal with them as much as I did.”