rest?”
“The rest of what? My husband cheated on me, we went through a long year of a contentious divorce and the phone call I got was to tell me it had been going on for two years, not just the one time that I knew of. What else is there?”
“Well, I know Logan didn’t come home last night, and he was in an awful mood this morning. I saw how you both watched each other last night at dinner. When you ran out, I told him to go after you to make sure you were okay, but he was already running out the door after you. I’ve known Logan a long time, Abby. He wants you, and he’s miserable about it.”
Despite the cold temperature, Abby felt a warmth inside of her at Kassey’s words, but it turned to ice in the next moment as she thought about the way Logan had treated her this morning; impersonal and irritated, as if he couldn’t take the time to talk to her. She looked at Kassey again, and relented. She did need someone to talk to, after all.
“Nothing really happened last night. We kissed, and then we both felt embarrassed and guilty. Then we got drunk and spent the night talking, but that was it. I want him, that’s for sure. But I also need to figure out if I’m going back to Boston, to try to work rebuild my life there, and I don’t really need to get involved with someone. I had a life in Boston.”
Kassey snorted, then nudged her horse into a walk. Abby frowned, nudging Ellie to follow behind Kassey.
“Why’d you snort? What’s so funny?”
“Why would you even consider going back?”
“I know I don’t know you, or Ben, but you seem to have a good marriage. If Ben cheated on you, and you divorced, would you leave here, just because of that?”
Kassey let out a bark of laughter.
“Honey, I’ve been in your shoes. That’s how I met Ben.”
Abby was shocked. The way Ben and Kassey had been at dinner, she would’ve thought they had been together forever. They were easy with one another, nothing like the cold politeness that was the basis of her marriage to Steve. When Abby didn’t say anything more, Kassey went on.
“I was married to my childhood sweetheart. Right out of high school, we got married. We had dated since freshman year, and we moved up to Missoula. About a year after we got married, I saw him going into the local hotel with Susan Hanks, the prom queen our senior year. Idjit didn’t even think to go to the next town over. I was hurt, and humiliated, but I stayed. Confronted him about it, made a lot of noise about leaving him, but he swore he would never do it again and broke it off with Susan. Six months later I saw him again, this time going into her house. I left him a note on the dining room table, and moved back down here with my parents. I didn’t want to go back to Missoula; there was nothing there for me but heartache. Everywhere I went, I would remember us together going to that diner, or that grocery store. I met Ben in a bar two weeks later, and have been with him ever since.”
She let Abby digest it, saw her mulling it over in her mind. They walked the horses in the silence, watched the snow falling, then Abby spoke.
“I just don’t know. I’m not a quitter, but I don’t know if I even love him anymore. Not just because of this, but I think it’s been leaving me for a while now. I doubt that he loved me, or if he ever did. If I didn’t still love him, wouldn’t all this mess I just went through hurt less? ”
“A man can do this to a woman, especially one like you, he doesn’t need to be loved. And of course it was gonna hurt; you had built a life together, and after all, you weren’t the one who cheated. You’ll probably love him for a long time, or at least remember the love you had for him.”
Abby grinned over this, what was sure Kassey’s first complement to her.
“Well, it’s a moot point. Logan may feel attraction for me, but I think he has a strong sense of honor, and that won’t let him approach me. He has this idea in his head that I
“The rest of what? My husband cheated on me, we went through a long year of a contentious divorce and the phone call I got was to tell me it had been going on for two years, not just the one time that I knew of. What else is there?”
“Well, I know Logan didn’t come home last night, and he was in an awful mood this morning. I saw how you both watched each other last night at dinner. When you ran out, I told him to go after you to make sure you were okay, but he was already running out the door after you. I’ve known Logan a long time, Abby. He wants you, and he’s miserable about it.”
Despite the cold temperature, Abby felt a warmth inside of her at Kassey’s words, but it turned to ice in the next moment as she thought about the way Logan had treated her this morning; impersonal and irritated, as if he couldn’t take the time to talk to her. She looked at Kassey again, and relented. She did need someone to talk to, after all.
“Nothing really happened last night. We kissed, and then we both felt embarrassed and guilty. Then we got drunk and spent the night talking, but that was it. I want him, that’s for sure. But I also need to figure out if I’m going back to Boston, to try to work rebuild my life there, and I don’t really need to get involved with someone. I had a life in Boston.”
Kassey snorted, then nudged her horse into a walk. Abby frowned, nudging Ellie to follow behind Kassey.
“Why’d you snort? What’s so funny?”
“Why would you even consider going back?”
“I know I don’t know you, or Ben, but you seem to have a good marriage. If Ben cheated on you, and you divorced, would you leave here, just because of that?”
Kassey let out a bark of laughter.
“Honey, I’ve been in your shoes. That’s how I met Ben.”
Abby was shocked. The way Ben and Kassey had been at dinner, she would’ve thought they had been together forever. They were easy with one another, nothing like the cold politeness that was the basis of her marriage to Steve. When Abby didn’t say anything more, Kassey went on.
“I was married to my childhood sweetheart. Right out of high school, we got married. We had dated since freshman year, and we moved up to Missoula. About a year after we got married, I saw him going into the local hotel with Susan Hanks, the prom queen our senior year. Idjit didn’t even think to go to the next town over. I was hurt, and humiliated, but I stayed. Confronted him about it, made a lot of noise about leaving him, but he swore he would never do it again and broke it off with Susan. Six months later I saw him again, this time going into her house. I left him a note on the dining room table, and moved back down here with my parents. I didn’t want to go back to Missoula; there was nothing there for me but heartache. Everywhere I went, I would remember us together going to that diner, or that grocery store. I met Ben in a bar two weeks later, and have been with him ever since.”
She let Abby digest it, saw her mulling it over in her mind. They walked the horses in the silence, watched the snow falling, then Abby spoke.
“I just don’t know. I’m not a quitter, but I don’t know if I even love him anymore. Not just because of this, but I think it’s been leaving me for a while now. I doubt that he loved me, or if he ever did. If I didn’t still love him, wouldn’t all this mess I just went through hurt less? ”
“A man can do this to a woman, especially one like you, he doesn’t need to be loved. And of course it was gonna hurt; you had built a life together, and after all, you weren’t the one who cheated. You’ll probably love him for a long time, or at least remember the love you had for him.”
Abby grinned over this, what was sure Kassey’s first complement to her.
“Well, it’s a moot point. Logan may feel attraction for me, but I think he has a strong sense of honor, and that won’t let him approach me. He has this idea in his head that I
Similar Books
