Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel (34 page)

Roy reached for the plans and appeared to be studying them before returning them to Mark. “You’re right about women being the root of most problems.”

“Don’t I know it,” Mark muttered. “They can make a man’s life a living hell.”

Like he would know!
Mark lived alone, and if he was ever married there was no evidence of it. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was speaking from experience, although it seemed unlikely.

“Are you using treated lumber for this?” Roy asked, abruptly changing the subject.

“Yes, it was more money than what I’d budgeted, but I figure it will save Jo Marie problems in the long run.”

Roy walked over to Mark’s truck. Apparently, I was far enough on the side of the house that neither man could see me, which was just as well. They wouldn’t be comfortable knowing I was listening in on their conversation.

“I’ve decided to divorce Maggie,” Roy announced.

Oh dear, no wonder she’d been upset.

“Sorry to hear that,” Mark returned casually, leaning against the tailgate. Both men stood there with their arms crossed. Neither seemed eager to talk, and I wondered if Roy would return to the house. I was somewhat surprised when he didn’t.

“It’s for the best,” Roy told him.

“So that’s why Maggie left?”

Roy shrugged. “You know how women get. She went all emotional and irrational on me and walked away. She took her suitcase with her and didn’t say a word about where she was headed. Seems she wants to find her own way back to Yakima, which is fine by me. I looked for her and couldn’t find her. I did what I could, right?”

“Right,” Mark concurred.

“Actually, it’s probably better this way so I don’t have to deal with her hysterics.”

“Yeah, it’s probably for the best.” Mark was more than agreeable.

I was about to intercede and tell them both they were dead wrong but stopped myself. Mark quickly changed the subject and asked Roy a couple construction questions. The conversation went on for about five minutes. I’d long since finished cutting the flowers I needed for the bouquet and was ready to head back into the house when Mark spoke again.

“I’m sorry to hear that Maggie is a bad mother. You have two boys, that’s what you said, right?”

“Right. Jaxon and Collin.”

“They’ll be better off without her,” Mark finished.

Roy straightened away from the truck. “Maggie’s a great mother. It’s the other stuff I can’t deal with.”

“Oh sorry, I must have misunderstood. I assumed you’d want custody of your sons.”

“No,” Roy said reluctantly, as if taking this into consideration for the first time. “It would be better if the boys stayed with their mother for the time being. They’re still young enough to need her. If I had them, it would mean they’d be stuck in day care all day, and we agreed before we had kids that Maggie would be a stay-at-home mother.”

“So Maggie doesn’t work outside the home?”

“No, we’re fortunate that way. She has her teaching certificate but put her career on hiatus in order to be with the boys.”

Mark nodded as though weighing this information against other concerns. “From what I’ve heard some women can be good mothers and lousy wives. A man has needs, you know, and their wives get so caught up in the mommy scene that they forget they’re married.”

I rolled my eyes. It was all I could do not to march out and demand
to know how he was such a know-it-all when it came to marital problems. My handyman sounded like a professional counselor. From the way he was talking, he could hold seminars on the subject.

“Maggie’s been a good wife,” Roy said, with some reluctance.

“Well, no worries, there are plenty of fish in the sea. You’ll find another woman in no time, and next time you’ll know what to look for.”

“Next time?”

“You aren’t going to let this experience sour you, are you?” Mark asked. “That would be a shame. Besides, your sons will be just as happy with a stepmother.”

Roy shook his head. “I’m not ready to think about remarrying.”

“Of course not,” Mark agreed, “it’s early days yet, but it gets lonely, and after a while you’ll be looking for companionship. It’s not right that you be alone, especially if you want the boys to stay with your ex-wife.”

“Maggie’s not my ex-wife.”

“Not yet she isn’t,” Mark agreed. “But she will be soon enough, right?”

“Right,” Roy said, conviction marking his words. “This isn’t what I wanted, but I don’t have any choice.”

“This isn’t what you wanted?” Mark repeated. “I thought you told me you’re the one’s decided to file.”

For just an instant Roy looked confused. “Yeah, I guess I did.”

Mark removed his hat and scratched the side of his head as if what Roy said made no sense.

“Maggie’s not the woman I thought I knew,” Roy explained. “She stepped way over the line, and now … now there are consequences. A man can overlook certain things, but not others, if you know what I mean.”

“Sure I do.” Mark was certainly agreeable. “A guy works his fingers to the bone in order to support his family only to have his
gut twisted by a no-good, cheating wife. We’re oblivious, gullible, and easily fooled because our focus is on taking care of those we love. It’s all work for us. Work, work, work.”

Roy walked away from the truck. “It wasn’t like that with Maggie.”

“Oh sorry, I assumed, you know, that she was running around on you behind your back.”

“Not really,” Roy murmured, and then seemed to gather his resolve, “but some things can be forgiven and others can’t. To be fair to Maggie, it wasn’t all one-sided …”

“You’re right again,” Mark said. “There are certain aspects to marriage vows that a man can’t easily overlook or forgive, even if he’s looked at another woman a time or two himself.”

“Don’t misunderstand me,” Roy said, his hands deep inside his pockets. “I’ve made my share of mistakes.”

“Of course you have, we all have, but nothing as bad as what Maggie did.”

“Right,” Roy returned, but without the same conviction he’d had earlier.

“The thing I’ve noticed with women,” Mark continued, speaking again as if he were an expert on the subject, “is that it isn’t in females to forgive. They might claim they have, but with every disagreement, every slight we’ve ever committed gets thrown back in our faces. A woman can drag up sins that are twenty years old. Forgiveness isn’t part of their emotional makeup.”

Roy looked away and then commented, “Maggie’s never been like that.”

“You’re joking?”

“No,” Roy murmured. He started to pace, although I realized he probably wasn’t aware of what he was doing.

“No problem, man,” Mark said. “Your mind is made up. You know what to do, so good for you. From what I read, statistics say it’s women who most often file for divorce, not the husbands. You’re
making a stand and you aren’t going to allow Maggie to push you around.”

“That’s not her way,” Roy murmured.

“Oh, she’s one of those subtle types, is she? You know, the passive-aggressive kind. She cooks you dinner, but it’s cold; does your wash and puts your underwear in with the colored clothes so they come out red.”

Roy looked up at Mark as though he’d spoken a foreign language.

“Let another man deal with her and all her baggage,” Mark suggested.

“Another man?” Roy repeated, as if this was something else he hadn’t considered.

“Well, sure. Like I said, there are a lot of fish in the sea. You’ll eventually remarry, and in every likelihood, so will Maggie.”

I watched as Roy abruptly stopped pacing as if the truth of what Mark said jolted him.

“If you’re going to let her keep custody of your sons, it will take some getting used to when there’s another man in the house. Not all stepdads make decent fathers.”

Roy started across the lawn, heading back to his vehicle.

“Where are you going?” Mark asked.

Roy shook his head as though he didn’t want to answer. He opened the car door and looked back over his shoulder. “I’m going to find Maggie,” he said. “I’m not fooled. I know what you’re doing. You’re making me look at the idea of getting a divorce in ways I didn’t want to see. You’re right, though. Maggie and I need to work this out. I don’t want to lose my wife, and I don’t want my sons being raised by another man.”

Mark joined him and gently slapped Roy across the back. “Some things are easier to forgive than others, just like you said, but it takes a big man to forgive a bigger offense. Find your wife, Roy, and do what you can to hold your marriage together.”

“That’s exactly what I plan to do.”

Once more Mark patted his back. Roy climbed into the car and drove off, and this time there was no spitting gravel.

I waited until Roy had disappeared from the driveway before I stepped out from the side of the house. Mark’s gaze met mine.

“You handled that well,” I told him.

He shrugged as if it was no big deal. “Sometimes all anyone needs is a little guidance.”

“Anyone do that for you?” I asked.

He sighed and slowly shook his head. “Are we back to that again?” he asked, as if growing impatient with me.

“Actually, no.”

“No?”

“No,” I repeated. “Roy isn’t the only one who took your advice. I did, too.”

Mark went still, and his gaze rushed back to me. “You read Paul’s letter?”

I nodded. “It was a beautiful love letter …” I found it impossible to add more. The things my husband had written were strictly for me and me alone. My throat started to close up. I wasn’t about to get emotional in front of Mark. “You don’t need to worry, I won’t be hounding you for any more of your secrets.”

“Good to know … not that I have any secrets.”

“Right,” I murmured mockingly.

Mark’s gaze went to the flowers in my wicker basket.

“For dinner with my family tomorrow afternoon. I thought I’d put together a bouquet for the centerpiece. The hydrangeas are really lovely this year.” I had both pink and purple blooms.

“If you want, I’ll fertilize them for you later in the season.”

“No need; I can do it.” My budget was limited, and I wasn’t willing to pay for anything I could do myself.

Mark seemed to read my mind. “I didn’t plan on charging you.”

“In other words, you’re willing to work in the yard out of the
goodness of your heart?” For a long time, I wasn’t convinced Mark had a heart.

“Not exactly.”

“Ah, the truth comes out,” I said, having trouble holding back a smile.

“I figure I owe you for all the cookies and meals you feed me.”

“Good point, in which case feel free to work in my yard anytime you want.” As far as I was concerned, it was a good deal all the way around.

I headed to the house and paused on the top step and turned back to Mark. He stood where he was, watching me. “Thanks again,” I said, “for talking sense into Roy.” And then I did the oddest thing.

I blew Mark a kiss.

Ellie’s heart beat so frantically it felt as if it had grown too big for her chest. Even now, as she parked in front of Tom’s house, she wasn’t sure coming to him was the right thing to do. Furthermore, she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready to forgive him, despite the excuses and justifications Scott had mentioned.

It was the look in her mother’s eyes that had convinced her she needed to do this. The message was familiar, and Ellie could read it easily: Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Only this time it wasn’t a warning not to trust men or to give her heart away. Instead, it was encouragement to be willing to do exactly the opposite, to fall in love, find joy, and be happy. To say Ellie was confused would be grossly understating the facts.

For a long time all she did was sit in the vehicle, nervous and unsure, toying with her options, the most appealing of which was to
start the engine and drive off. Even now she wasn’t sure what she would say to Tom. Thinking it was a lost cause, she inserted the key and started the car, intent on leaving, but then just as quickly changed her mind and turned it off.

Her hand remained on the keychain when she saw Tom. He must have noticed her car out front because he stepped onto the porch. He stood there with his hands tucked inside his back jeans pockets, elbows jutting out while he waited. His gaze seemed to focus directly on her.

If he hadn’t moved outside, Ellie might have given up and driven off. Confronting him wouldn’t be easy, but realizing that he’d seen her, she felt compelled to act, to do something. Filled with equal parts of dread and anticipation, she got out of the car and stood next to the driver’s side for several tense moments. Neither of them moved.

Tom continued to stand exactly where he was on the porch, all the while watching her. With her mother’s car as a barrier between them, Ellie felt more secure. She willed him to make the first move.

He didn’t.

The look he wore reminded her that she’d claimed she never wanted to see him again. The first move had to come from her. Ellie could be stubborn, too, but pride hadn’t helped her father or mother, and it wouldn’t solve matters for her, either.

“My dad … Scott came to the inn,” she said, slowly moving around the car while keeping her hand on the hood as if she needed it to guide her. “He and my mother are still there … they’re talking.”