Read Online Family Affair by Debbie Macomber - Free Book Online Page B

down. But it’s much more than that. The sense of betrayal is the worst emotional pain there is.”
    “You too?”
    Lacey nodded. “My husband—ex-husband, now—left me for another woman. Apparently they’d been lovers for months, but I didn’t have a clue. When Peter asked for a divorce, I thought I’d die.” Memories of that final confrontation filtered through Lacey’s mind. She found, somewhat to her surprise, that although they saddened her, she didn’t feel the crushing agony that had been with her for the last year and a half.
    “What . . . what did you do afterward?”
    Lacey reached for Sarah’s hand and squeezed her fingers. “After the divorce was final, I packed everything I owned and moved to San Francisco.”
    “Then it must not have been very long ago.”
    “The divorce was final last year about this time.”
    Sarah sipped her tea. “I was blind to what was happening. I trusted Mark, really trusted him. I nearly allowed him to destroy my love for my brother.”
    “Don’t blame yourself.”
    “But I do!” Sarah cried. “Looking back, I can’t believe I sided against Jack. He’s never lied to me, and yet I believed everything Mark was telling me about my brother being jealous and all that other garbage.”
    “I believed too,” Lacey said, “but when you love someone, the trust is automatic. Why should we suspect a man of cheating when such behavior would never occur to us? The very thought of being unfaithful to Peter was repugnant to me.”
    Sarah cradled the mug between her palms. “Do you think you’ll ever be able to trust a man again?”
    “Yes,” Lacey answered, after some length, “but not in the same blind way. I couldn’t bear to live my life being constantly suspicious. The burden of that would ruin any future relationships. I’m not the same woman I was eighteen months ago. Peter’s betrayal has marked me forever.” She hesitated, unsure of how much she should admit about the changes knowing Jack had brought into her life. “It wasn’t until recently that I felt I could say this, but I believe it changed me for the better.”
    “How do you mean?”
    “It was a long, painful ordeal. Only in the last month have I come to terms with what happened. For a long time I thought I hated Peter, but that wasn’t true. How could I hate him when I’d never stopped loving him?”
    “What do you feel for him now?”
    Lacey had to think over the question. “Mostly I don’t feel anything. I’ve forgiven him.”
    “You? He should be the one to beg your forgiveness.”
    Lacey smiled, knowing Peter as she did. “I could wait until hell freezes over, and that would never happen. Peter believes I was the one who failed him , and perhaps I did in some way. He needed an excuse to rationalize what he was doing.”
    “Mark blamed me too. How could you forgive Peter? I don’t understand.”
    “You’d be right to say he didn’t ask for my forgiveness. But I didn’t do it for him , I did it for me . Otherwise his betrayal would have destroyed me.”
    “I still don’t understand.”
    “In the beginning,” Lacey said, “I couldn’t deal with the pain so I pretended I wasn’t hurt. But in the last month, I’ve realized that I needed to let go of Peter and the failed marriage, and the only way to do it was to admit my own faults and forgive him. If I didn’t, I might never have let go of my bitterness.”
    Fresh tears brimmed in Sarah’s eyes. “I’ll never be as wise as you are.”
    Lacey laughed. “Oh, Sarah, if only you knew how very long it took me to reconcile myself to this divorce. I have Jack to thank, and my friend Jeanne. Even Cleo played a role.”
    “Jack’s wonderful,” Sarah admitted and bit her lower lip. “I’ve treated him abominably.”
    “That’s one thing about brothers, they’re forgiving. At least we can trust that Jack is. He’s a special man, Sarah, and I can’t believe you’ll have any more problems setting matters straight with