THE GREAT BETRAYAL (17 page)

“
She’s not my fucking wife, either,” he said. Almost to himself.

Leslie stared at him, stung.

Running his hand through his thick blond hair, he made for the door. “Let’s go. Now. Cancel your meeting. Katie needs you.”

No longer able to deal with the struggle going on within her, Leslie got her purse and followed Luke through the door.

As she passed Monica’s desk she said, “Call Jerry again…tell him to reschedule the meeting. My daughter’s in the hospital.”

By the time Kathryn was well enough to leave the hospital, Luke and Leslie had reached an agreement: They would never again argue in front of their daughter. They agreed not to allow their problems to encroach on Kate’s life, or adversely affect her in any way. She would not pick up the tab for
their
problems.

They had nearly come to blows just outside Kathryn’s room the morning Luke had gone to Leslie’s office.

It got so explosive that Dawn had pulled them both aside, down the hall, and admonished them for behaving so badly. Even the nurses had been shocked. Luke’s anger was becoming increasingly worse. It seemed the mere sight of Leslie sparked is fury.

And his love.

Because no matter how venomous his tone, no matter how scorching his words, it was clear to all who witnessed these arguments: He loved her.

Luke could never keep the
love
out of his eyes.

Chapter 33

Yet another day, and yet another struggle.

And yet another night without Luke.

The house felt so barren, so empty with him gone. Even with Kathryn and Dawn there, Leslie couldn’t shake the hollow void of Luke’s absence.

Late one evening, when she sat in her office pouring over resumes for a new benefits coordinator, her thoughts inevitably turned to her husband. To Luke.

It had been more than a month since he’d moved out.
More than a month
.

It had also been more than a month since her trip to meet Grace…and she still hadn’t heard from her daughter. Not a word. Both disappointments weighed heavily on Leslie. The separation from Luke had even begun taking a toll on her appearance. She was swimming in all her designer clothes. She must’ve lost ten pounds since he left.

As the weeks crawled by, she felt guilty about having Dawn stay at the house—practically mothering Leslie
and
Kate—when she had her own life to tend to. Even Lyle Burns had taken to dropping by on occasion. So she assured Dawn that she had stabilized; her friend really didn’t have to stay any longer.

Not fully convinced, Dawn continued to drop by when she left the office each evening, and helped Leslie with dinner on Evelyn’s days off. Sometimes instead of cooking, they’d pick up takeout and rent chick flicks from Blockbuster.

Eying the clock and deciding to cut out early, Leslie closed her employee database program and decided to quickly scan through the mountain of e-mails inundating her in-box.

Within seconds, she spotted the e-mail from
russcrowelover2000
.

Grace
!

Leslie’s pulse quickened with a jolt of excitement. She rushed to click it open and read.

To:
[email protected]

From:
Grace C. [
mailto:[email protected]
]

Subject:
Still too soon

Message:
Leslie,

I’m really sorry, but my mom’s
so
not ready for this. I can see how much pain it’s causing both her and my dad every time I bring you up, and I can’t do that to them. It’s not really what I want to do, but I think it’s the right thing for now not to be in contact with you, out of respect for them.

Yeah, I know technically my mom is my aunt, but she’ll always feel like Mom to me. I hope you can understand all this. I hope I’m saying it the way I mean it. I do want to get to know you better, and my sister and your husband, but this just isn’t the right time yet. Please understand where I’m coming from.

Thanks,

Grace

The excitement disappeared. Leslie clicked off the computer, no longer able to focus on the other e-mails.

Well? What had she been expecting? She didn’t have the right to
any
expectations where Grace was concerned.

She thought to reply and ask whether or not they could just keep in touch via e-mail, their little secret…

But no.

Her daughter was obviously a loyal child. Her feelings were clear: It would be a betrayal of the people who had raised her, and she was not willing to do that. It made Leslie yearn all the more for a relationship. A principled daughter. She would make any parent proud.

Leslie packed up and walked out of her office, an awful feeling knotting her stomach. She didn’t even bother calling Dawn’s office to see if she’d already left.

Bloomingdale’s. Yes. That would take the edge off. Besides, wasn’t it time she bought clothes that fit?

Leaving the C&C parking lot, Leslie drove directly to the Palm Beach Town Centre.

The saleswoman beamed as the classy-looking lady approached the desk, an armful of designer threads on hand.

“Will you need some help getting everything to your car, ma’am?”

“Um…” Leslie assessed her purchases as she laid them over the counter. “No, I think I’ll manage.”

She eyed the Godiva chocolates positioned ever so temptingly on the checkout counter.

Twenty minutes and five shopping bags later, as dusk fell over the Palm Beach sky, she was back out in the mall’s parking lot, stuffing the bags into the trunk of her Lexus. She drove home savoring a silky, delicious chocolate bar while listening to Streisand croon about being a woman in love.

Did she feel any better?

Not anymore.

When she got home, Dawn was already there.

And—to her surprise—so was Luke.

At the sight of their cars, she was sure to leave the mass of shopping bags in the trunk.

They were in the kitchen. Leslie could hear their voices as she approached.

“Hi,” she said, joining them. They were standing together near the sink, both showing marked signs of discomfort.

“Hi,” Dawn replied. “What happened? You left without me. I came down and you were gone.”

“Uh…I had a late dentist’s appointment,” she lied. “Lost a filling.”

“Oh. Well, I guess you won’t be eating anything tonight, then…at least not for a few hours.”

“Right,” said Leslie, getting ice and water from the fridge. “I’m wicked thirsty, though. Where’s Katie?”

Her husband remained silent. He simply stood with his arms folded, leaning against the sink, watching her.

“She’s doing her homework,” replied Dawn with an amused look. “I believe she ran up the minute she heard your car door slam.”

Leslie managed an uneasy chuckle.

“Well…uh…okay, then,” Dawn said, moving toward the door. “I think I’ll mosey on out of here and leave you two alone. I picked up Thai food tonight,” she added, indicating the take-out containers.

“Thanks so much, Dawn. You are
such
a lifesaver.”

Once Dawn was out of earshot, Leslie turned and looked back at Luke, hungry for time alone with him. Their eyes locked over the kitchen table.

“
Hi,” she said quietly. It was a plea. She was so glad to see him.

“So…” Luke’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Where did you
really
go tonight?”

Well, he obviously hadn’t bought her “filling at the dentist” story.

Leslie’s offensive kicked in. “Why are you here tonight, Luke? If you’re not here to tell me that you’re putting an end to this madness and coming back home, then please just go back to wherever you came from—and take your questions with you.”

“Do you
really
want me back home?”

Leslie frowned. “What kind of question is that? I didn’t ask you to leave.”

“I came to see Katie.”

She looked at him, her eyes pleading, begging him to soften. “Only Katie?”

He didn’t answer.

“Luke, I’m more than willing to beg your forgiveness. There are no more secrets. Can’t you at least
try
to understand why I couldn’t say anything all these years? I simply
couldn’t
. Too much time had passed. It was old, buried history.”

Slowly she approached him. God, but he was gorgeous.

Leslie wondered if this was how Jeff would’ve looked, aged fifteen years. Her eyes glazed over, as they did whenever her thoughts turned to Jeffrey.

She reached out, gently laying each of her palms on Luke’s chest. “Please forgive me?”

He was wearing a suit and tie. Armani. He must’ve had a client meeting or other such engagement today. He looked good. He
smelled
good.

She placed her hands inside his jacket and ran them over the taut muscles of his chest, caressing them. “I miss you so much. You know I do.” Tears filled her eyes. She was so tired of tears. Tired of coping. “Please stop this torture. Come back home where you belong. I need you.
Katie
needs you.”

He actually laughed. “That’s it? Just a few sweet apologies and a few quick rolls in the hay make the sins of the past go away?”

A hurt look crossed Leslie’s face. Her hands dropped to her sides. “You’re mocking my pain.” Shrinking in the face of his bitterness—she hadn’t the strength to withstand it—she turned to leave the kitchen. “I’m going to check on Kate. We’re not going to argue this with her in the house. You know the way out.”

With that, she quietly walked out of their kitchen, leaving him standing there, having only the strength to watch her go.

“
Hi, honey.”

“Hi, Mom,” said Kathryn.

Leslie entered her daughter’s bedroom and switched off the television. “How can you concentrate on your homework if Jimmy Neutron’s buzzing all over the place on the television screen?”

“It’s easy,” Kate said, tapping her pencil against the palm of her hand. She was sitting up in bed, Indian-style, with her notebook and science text opened in front of her.

“Hey, Mom, did you know ‘prepitation’ means the same thing as rain? And there’s, like, lots of different types of clouds up in the sky? I always thought they were just big white balls of cotton or something, but they all have a different name.” She then proceeded to show off her cloud knowledge—pronouncing the majority of them incorrectly, of course.

Leslie laughed. “That’s great, sweetheart. Is that what your homework’s about today?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, good girl,” she said, kissing her forehead. “You finish up and leave it on the desk so your dad and I…” She paused. “So I can check it when you’re done.”

“Did Daddy leave again? Without saying good-bye to me?”

“Um, yeah, I think he probably is gone by now, honey.” She smoothed Kate’s hair. “But you can always call him up tomorrow and yell at him.”

“Is he ever gonna come back and live with us again, Mom?”

Leslie didn’t know what to say. So she told the truth.

“
I don’t know, honey. I really don’t know.”

When her mom left the room, Kate Cavanaugh quickly tossed her books to one side and went to peer out her bedroom window.

Her dad’s Porsche was still sitting out in the driveway.

Smiling, Kate dutifully went back to her homework.

Chapter 34

Luke had not been able to drive away.

Shortly after Leslie walked out, he too had left the kitchen and gone out to his car. Angrily, he’d slid into the front seat, jammed the key into the ignition…

But he’d been unable to turn it. Unable to leave.

Damn her
.
Damn her straight to hell
!

Not knowing how to handle the onslaught of feelings coursing through him, he’d reached for his cell phone and called Evan.

“Well, you know what I think,” his brother had said for the umpteenth time. “Divorce her, Luke. There’s always been something a little off about that woman. Now we find out she has a kid no one ever knew existed…with a dead husband who could damn near pass for your twin brother. Not to mention what she did at the hospital the other day. I say get out while the getting’s good. Hell, get out while you’re still
sane
!”