Read Online Straight From The Heart by Janelle Taylor - Free Book Online
Authors: Janelle Taylor
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country girl in a denim sleeveless dress picking wildflowers and wearing a floppy hat, yet she had the sass of a waitress used to juggling overeager male patrons.
“Like I said, we were all for show.”
“How did you end up with Jason?” Kim asked in a small voice.
So, that was it. Given her own set of circumstances—and his involvement in them—she couldn’t understand how he’d managed to wrest Jason away from his mother. Pauleen, by virtue of being Jason’s mother, was good; ergo, Stephen was evil.
“Like I always get everything,” he said with a trace of bitterness, “by legal trickery and coercion. How could I possibly win any other way?”
She had the grace to blush. Bending her head, she wrinkled her nose in an entirely enticing way and whispered, “Sorry.”
And right then Stephen knew he had to stop protecting Pauleen. Regardless of the terms of their divorce and custody decision, Kim had a right to know the truth. Keeping the truth to himself hadn’t helped anyone: himself, Jason, or Pauleen.
“You think I had a storybook marriage, don’t you?” he asked, his mouth twisting.
“No . . . if it were storybook, it would have had a happy ending.”
“Pauleen and I got married for all the wrong reasons.” He stopped, wishing he hadn’t used the cliché.
“What were they?”
Kim turned to him, her eyes full of warmth and interest. It stopped Stephen for a moment. He wasn’t used to someone who was so open, so ready to listen.
“We were young and in love.”
Kim’s lips parted. “Those are the wrong reasons?”
“All right. That isn’t quite true. We were young, and we kept telling ourselves we were in love, and Pauleen was pregnant.”
“Oh.”
“Looking back, I realize I was ready to get married anyway, and that sort of made the decision. Then we had Jason. Pauleen didn’t want any more children, so that was it.”
Kim’s brows lifted. “Alan didn’t want any more after Bobby, either.”
“Maybe they should have gotten together,” Stephen suggested with a trace of humor, to which Kim smiled. “Anyway, we stayed married, but . . . there was always something missing. Another cliché, but there it is. I didn’t think about it anymore. I threw myself into my work—earned myself the reputation of ‘shark’—and just kept going.
“Pauleen was unhappy, too. Neither of us addressed it. When the core’s bad, you rot from the inside out. That’s what we did. I handled it my way, and Pauleen handled it hers.”
It was all he could do to keep himself from reaching over and dragging Kim to him. He wanted to hold someone. He wanted to assuage the pain of the past, and he wanted to love someone else. He couldn’t remember ever being so honest and insightful about his own feelings.
Kimberly chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. He could sense how much his words penetrated, and why not? They were coming straight from the heart. “I remember that barbecue at Betsy’s. You were so relaxed, but . . . ”
“Pauleen drank too much,” he finished for her, relieved that she’d stumbled on the truth. Or maybe Pauleen’s problem was more obvious than he knew. “That was how she coped. Eventually she checked herself into a treatment center for alcoholism, but it was only temporary help. I got Jason by virtue of being the more responsible parent, and if you want the bald truth, Pauleen was relieved. She fussed about it. Told everyone her ‘shark’ of a husband had stolen her son.”
Kimberly grimaced, remembering Alan’s denouncement of Stephen and recalling the way she’d jumped on the bandwagon when she’d heard similar rumors floating around after Pauleen’s badmouthing went public.
“But Pauleen couldn’t handle Jason. She could scarcely handle herself. So, when we divorced, I got Jason. We’re all happier now that it’s behind us.”
Kim inhaled deeply, expelling her breath on a long sigh. “I asked Betsy about you and Pauleen, but she wouldn’t
“Like I said, we were all for show.”
“How did you end up with Jason?” Kim asked in a small voice.
So, that was it. Given her own set of circumstances—and his involvement in them—she couldn’t understand how he’d managed to wrest Jason away from his mother. Pauleen, by virtue of being Jason’s mother, was good; ergo, Stephen was evil.
“Like I always get everything,” he said with a trace of bitterness, “by legal trickery and coercion. How could I possibly win any other way?”
She had the grace to blush. Bending her head, she wrinkled her nose in an entirely enticing way and whispered, “Sorry.”
And right then Stephen knew he had to stop protecting Pauleen. Regardless of the terms of their divorce and custody decision, Kim had a right to know the truth. Keeping the truth to himself hadn’t helped anyone: himself, Jason, or Pauleen.
“You think I had a storybook marriage, don’t you?” he asked, his mouth twisting.
“No . . . if it were storybook, it would have had a happy ending.”
“Pauleen and I got married for all the wrong reasons.” He stopped, wishing he hadn’t used the cliché.
“What were they?”
Kim turned to him, her eyes full of warmth and interest. It stopped Stephen for a moment. He wasn’t used to someone who was so open, so ready to listen.
“We were young and in love.”
Kim’s lips parted. “Those are the wrong reasons?”
“All right. That isn’t quite true. We were young, and we kept telling ourselves we were in love, and Pauleen was pregnant.”
“Oh.”
“Looking back, I realize I was ready to get married anyway, and that sort of made the decision. Then we had Jason. Pauleen didn’t want any more children, so that was it.”
Kim’s brows lifted. “Alan didn’t want any more after Bobby, either.”
“Maybe they should have gotten together,” Stephen suggested with a trace of humor, to which Kim smiled. “Anyway, we stayed married, but . . . there was always something missing. Another cliché, but there it is. I didn’t think about it anymore. I threw myself into my work—earned myself the reputation of ‘shark’—and just kept going.
“Pauleen was unhappy, too. Neither of us addressed it. When the core’s bad, you rot from the inside out. That’s what we did. I handled it my way, and Pauleen handled it hers.”
It was all he could do to keep himself from reaching over and dragging Kim to him. He wanted to hold someone. He wanted to assuage the pain of the past, and he wanted to love someone else. He couldn’t remember ever being so honest and insightful about his own feelings.
Kimberly chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip. He could sense how much his words penetrated, and why not? They were coming straight from the heart. “I remember that barbecue at Betsy’s. You were so relaxed, but . . . ”
“Pauleen drank too much,” he finished for her, relieved that she’d stumbled on the truth. Or maybe Pauleen’s problem was more obvious than he knew. “That was how she coped. Eventually she checked herself into a treatment center for alcoholism, but it was only temporary help. I got Jason by virtue of being the more responsible parent, and if you want the bald truth, Pauleen was relieved. She fussed about it. Told everyone her ‘shark’ of a husband had stolen her son.”
Kimberly grimaced, remembering Alan’s denouncement of Stephen and recalling the way she’d jumped on the bandwagon when she’d heard similar rumors floating around after Pauleen’s badmouthing went public.
“But Pauleen couldn’t handle Jason. She could scarcely handle herself. So, when we divorced, I got Jason. We’re all happier now that it’s behind us.”
Kim inhaled deeply, expelling her breath on a long sigh. “I asked Betsy about you and Pauleen, but she wouldn’t
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