Ex’s and Oh’s Read online

  There was no ventilation in the attic; the air was so hot it was difficult to breathe. Having no reason to linger, she retraced her steps down two flights of stairs. At the bottom, she didn’t know where to turn.

  She went to the French doors in the living room. Had it only been three months since she’d stood in exactly this spot, searching for a way to tell Steven about the baby?

  Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if she’d gone first that day. Fate had stepped in. Looking out at the sky still gray after the past two days’ rain, Caroline had never been so relieved about anything in her life.

  Fate was an amazing thing.

  Besides, what good would have been served in telling Steven? She probably wouldn’t have left Chicago. She wouldn’t have discovered Karl. She wouldn’t have shared morning tea or heard all his snippets of poignant memories. She wouldn’t have met the girls, or leased space for her new law practice. She wouldn’t have met Shane, either. She hadn’t heard from him. In this case, no news was good news.

  Now that she had the new perspective of time and distance, she found that Harbor Woods wasn’t so different from Lake Forest. Lake Forest was by far larger, and its proximity to Chicago made it far more prime real estate. But the houses in both cities were old, stately and charming. And yet it seemed lifeless here.

  Caroline realized it wasn’t the city that was lifeless. It was that her life was no longer here.

  The final movers were due to arrive in an hour. She didn’t have any idea how to pass the time. There was no work in her briefcase, and literally no one to visit or call nearby.

  How could she have lived in Chicago for thirty-five years and know no one? Well, no one special. She could have rattled off the names of a hundred people she knew here. And yet there wasn’t one person she could call to while away an hour.

  Her stomach rumbled. That was certainly no surprise. She seemed to be hungry a lot lately. The cupboards and refrigerator were empty. It was the middle of the day, too early for dinner and too late for lunch. A craving came out of nowhere.

  Grabbing her purse and keys, she was off.

  Delights Ice Cream Parlor hadn’t changed in thirty-five years. Her grandfather used to bring her here after piano lessons and chess club. The parlor was old-fashioned, boasting glass-topped tables and wrought-iron chairs. It was Saturday, and it was crowded. Parents and their children claimed most of the tables, but one held a group of six women. Ordering a strawberry ice-cream cone, Caroline found herself studying them. They looked as different from each other as she, Nell, Elaine, Pattie and Tori probably looked to strangers. Their laughter, however, was the same.

  Sitting by herself at a table near the back of the room, she licked her ice-cream cone and tried to decide what flavors the girls would be ordering if they were here. Pattie would order something healthy, like frozen yogurt. Elaine would probably want some pragmatic flavor like vanilla. Nell would have to have double-mocha fudge. It was hard to know what Tori would be in the mood for. One day she might want mint chocolate-chip and the next she’d munch on celery instead.

  Suddenly a little boy and girl dressed alike dashed past her toward the open door. The frantic mother scooped up the little girl, but the boy slipped out of her reach. Without thinking, Caroline grabbed him up before he reached the door. He let out a screech as if this were a game, and Caroline found herself laughing, too.

  She’d never done that before. Until recently, she’d rarely noticed children. “Twins?” she asked, handing the child back to his mother.

  “Lord, yes. They’re almost three. Thank you.”

  “They’re both adorable.” Caroline smiled into the most chocolaty faces she’d ever seen.

  The commotion had drawn an audience. She was about to return to her seat and slip out of her shoes when she noticed someone watching her across the room. Something about the shape of his head and the silver in his hair drew her attention a second time.

  Steven.

  Sourness settled to the pit of her stomach. Two young boys and a petite woman with short blond hair stood in front of him, busily ordering their ice cream.

  Caroline could feel the color draining from her face, past the charm at her throat. It seemed to pool in the pit of her stomach. Before her discomfiture became obvious to everyone, she gave him a small smile, the kind she would have given any acquaintance, then returned to her seat.

  As soon as she could do so without it appearing cowardly, she walked straight out the door.

  There were roughly three million people living in greater Chicago. So of course it stood to reason she would run into the last person she wanted to see.

  He wouldn’t come here.

  Caroline paced from one end of her grandfather’s house to the other. Of course Steven wouldn’t come here. Her dress had been loose fitting. He probably hadn’t noticed what was underneath it. Besides, he’d been with Brenda and the boys. No, he wouldn’t show up at her door.

  What would she say to him if he did?

  She drew a complete blank.

  It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t come.

  The movers were due to arrive at three. As soon as they finished, she would leave.

  The doorbell chimed.

  Rather than hurrying to open it, she looked at her watch. It was fifteen to. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Movers were notoriously late, not early. She knew before she opened the door who it would be.

  Steven stood on the front stoop. He looked extremely polished and well dressed, urban, and he was also obviously shocked.

  “Steven. This is a surprise.”

  “Is it?”

  Of course it wasn’t. That wasn’t the point. No matter how much she’d reassured herself to the contrary, she’d known this moment would come the instant she saw him across that parlor. Steven Phillips wasn’t one to let a sleeping dog lie. Cringing, she looked past him to his car.

  “I’m alone. I dropped Brenda and the boys at the mall. May I come in?”

  No, she thought. “Certainly,” she said, stepping back. “I would offer you a seat, but as you can see, the place is fairly empty.”

  “Standing is fine with me.”

  Meeting his eyes levelly, she said, “What brings you to Lake Forest?”

  “Brenda and I are looking at houses in the area.”

  “You’re moving out of the city?”

  “Brenda has researched the suburbs. The school system here comes highly recommended.”

  “I can vouch for that. This house isn’t on the market yet, however.”

  “I’m not interested in purchasing your grandfather’s house, Caroline.”

  Silence.

  Nerves churned in her stomach. It had been a long day. A long week. Her feet hurt. The pale yellow dress was one of her favorites, but there was a chocolate smudge on the short sleeve from a child’s little hand. She probably looked a mess. She had a long drive ahead of her, and she wanted to go get out of Chicago before the traffic became unbearable.

  “I was surprised to see you at the ice-cream parlor,” he said. “I wasn’t aware you’d returned to Chicago.”

  Oh, no he didn’t. He wasn’t intimidating her with that piercing stare.

  “I only returned to put my grandfather’s estate in order. Brenda and the boys looked well.”

  “I don’t think she saw you.”

  Steven was a bull-dog in court. It was obvious who was in charge at home. Caroline couldn’t believe she’d ever been remotely attracted to him.

  She caught him looking at her bare ring finger, and then at her midsection. Finally, he looked her in the eye. “What’s going on, Caroline?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You take a leave of absence from the firm, leave Chicago on a whim, then resign from Hilliard, Ross and Whitley via long-distance. You’ve told no one you were going to have a child.”

  “I’ve told people, Steven.”

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  She knew what was com
ing. Before he accused her of anything, she said, “So. Now you assume it’s your child?”

  “Is it?”

  Neither of them had moved from the foyer, and their voices echoed in the nearly empty house. It occurred to her that this would be one of the last conversations she would have here. She wished it could have been a more pleasant one.

  “Tell me, Steven, what would Brenda say about that?” He wasn’t the only one who could be a bulldog.

  “Let’s leave Brenda out of this.”

  He was the one who mentioned her every few seconds. “You nearly missed me,” she said. “The movers will be here any minute to take the last of my grandfather’s things.”

  “I need to know, Caroline, for peace of mind, if nothing else.”

  Peace of mind. That rankled. “It isn’t like you to jump to conclusions, Steven.”

  “That’s right. It isn’t. This is the worst possible time this could have happened. It isn’t exactly the sort of thing conducive to saving my marriage. If it’s mine, you should have told me in the beginning. We could have discussed your options when we had still had options. What am I supposed to tell Brenda? What about the boys?”

  Caroline harbored no illusions about Steven, about his feelings for her or her baby, but if he didn’t stop being so damn considerate of Brenda and his boys, she was going to have to wrap her fingers around his skinny neck and choke him. “Don’t tell them anything.”

  “Do you want me to pretend I didn’t see you?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then you expect me to turn around and walk away with don’t tell them anything?” he asked, his tone growing more severe.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Then it isn’t mine?”

  For a moment, she hated him for sounding so damn hopeful.

  “Can you look me in the eye and say it, Caroline?”

  Struggling with her uncertainty, Caroline looked him in the eye. A sense of calm came over her, and she heard herself utter the last thing she’d expected to say.

  CHAPTER 13

  “You really looked him in the eye and said that?”

  “Yes, word for word,” Caroline said.

  While Caroline and Elaine spoke, church bells sounded in the distance.

  “You told him it isn’t his child?”

  “Yes. I told him it isn’t his child.” Caroline hadn’t intended to bring up the incident. In fact, she hadn’t planned to see the girls today. As expected, the movers had been late. By the time she left Chicago, everyone else seemed to be trying to leave, too. She hadn’t gotten back to Harbor Woods until the wee hours of the morning. After sleeping for a few hours, she’d showered and dressed and come here to try to decide how to best use the space.

  The details regarding how Elaine, Tori, Nell and Pattie had found her were still slightly sketchy, but when Caroline had heard the old-fashioned bell jangle over the door of her new office and discovered them standing on the other side of it, she decided to give them a quick tour, then bow out to visit Karl. Somewhere between the reception area and the offices she would use as her private suite, the entire sordid tale came tumbling out. Caroline couldn’t blame any of them for looking skeptical.

  “You lied?” Nell asked.

  “I told him what he wanted to hear,” Caroline said. “He knows it was a bold-faced lie.”

  “He does?” This time it was Tori who couldn’t seem to close her gaping mouth.

  Caroline sat on the edge of Karl’s old desk. Resting her palms on the smooth surface on either side of her legs, she said, “Steven has an uncanny ability to sniff out the smallest loophole, untruth, white lie or fabrication. It’s one of the qualities that makes him so good at what he does. It’s a reputation he relishes, and he’s earned it, along with a great deal of money for his clients, which in turn, has made him a very wealthy man, and one of the most sought after litigation consultants in Chicago.”

  “So he knew you were lying,” Tori said.

  “Yes.”

  “You’re sure.”

  “Absolutely,” Caroline said quite simply.

  “How can you know for sure?” Elaine asked, curious now.

  “I’ve seen him in action in court and out of it. He knows. And he knows I know he knows.”

  “This is scaring me,” Tori said. “Because that made sense to me.”

  “And he just walked away, relieved of all monetary obligation and moral responsibility,” Nell whispered.

  Caroline nodded again.

  “Good riddance,” Elaine insisted, the expression on her narrow face earnest and sincere.

  The other three all murmured some form of agreement. Caroline wasn’t accustomed to such loyalty, but she was learning to accept it, and appreciate it.

  During the long drive from Chicago, she’d thought about that confrontation with Steven. She had told him what he’d wanted to hear, and in doing so, in a sense it became true. This child was hers, and hers alone. Her baby hadn’t been conceived to break up a family, but to make one. A family of two.

  “In a way, you’re lucky,” Elaine said. “If you never marry, you’ll never have to worry about getting a divorce. Divorce is hell.”

  Nell and Tori seconded that.

  “When will you be ready to see clients?” Elaine asked.

  Caroline looked around the old suite of offices. The place was dull and dusty. The tin ceilings were original, the moldings and window casings wide. Each office was fitted with a door that contained etched glass intended to guard clients’ privacy. Caroline could easily picture Karl seeing clients here, but she planned to make a few updates in order to bring it into the current century.

  “I’ll hang my shingle as soon as I receive the paperwork from the Michigan State Bar Association. I expect to hear within the month. Why?”

  “I confronted Justin.”

  “Oh, Elaine,” Nell said.

  “How?” Tori asked.

  “When?” Pattie said.

  “And you waited until now to tell us?” Nell implored.

  “It happened just last night. He denied it, until I showed him my little Polaroids.”

  “Oh, honey,” Nell sympathized, her eyes pools of appeal in her pretty round face. “What did he say?”

  “He doesn’t want a divorce.”

  “He doesn’t?” Pattie said.

  “He assured me she isn’t someone he would ever leave me for. It seems she isn’t marriage material. As if that was some big compliment to me. Apparently he wants us both.”

  “Of course he does,” Tori said derisively. “A dutiful wife and a piece on the side. What slimeball wouldn’t want that?”

  “Elaine?” This time it was Caroline who spoke. “The question is, what do you want?”

  “She can have him,” Elaine said quietly. “All of him. I want you to find a loophole in that prenup. I want him to know how it feels to get royally screwed.”

  “Atta girl,” Pattie cut in.

  “Drop that agreement off at my summerhouse,” Caroline said. “I can start working on it before I’m officially open for business.”

  Caroline’s cell phone rang. After fishing the small device out of her purse, she placed it to her ear. She recognized Shane’s voice.

  “Are you back?”

  “I got in late last night.”

  “It’s about Karl, Caroline.”

  Foreboding crept over her. For one blinding instant, she wished she hadn’t taken the call. “Is he—”

  “Yes,” he said. “He’s gone.”

  “When?” she whispered.

  “I just received the call. When he didn’t come to breakfast, they went looking for him. Evidently he died in his sleep.”

  “Where are you?” she asked Shane.

  “On my boat.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Hanging up, desolation swept over her. She’d known this was coming. And yet she wasn’t prepared. The doctor had given Karl another two months. It had only been two weeks. It was to
o soon. There was so much Karl hadn’t told her, so much she couldn’t tell him.

  A hot tear rolled down her cheek. “I have to go.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “He died.”

  “Who, honey?” Nell asked gently.

  “My grandfather.”

  She picked up her purse by rote, and somehow managed to follow her friends out the door. After locking up, she started for her car.

  Behind her, she heard Elaine say, “I thought her grandfather died months ago.”

  Caroline was too far away to hear the rest. Pointing her car toward the marina, she felt an unsettling sense of déjà vu.

  Half the county turned out for Karl’s funeral service. Cars were lined up on both sides of the lane, stretching all the way from the No Trespassing sign at the gate of the lighthouse property to the county road.

  The private gravel lane had been scraped, the dust laid by a rain shower overnight. Karl Peterson had requested to be cremated, and he’d wanted a quiet service, and as little fuss as possible, but R. J. Clark was the county commissioner, and he and Karl went way back, and while R.J. couldn’t take credit for the rain, by God, he’d said, scraping the lane was the least the county could do.

  Karl’s wasn’t a typical funeral. There had been no three-day mourning period for the cantankerous old attorney. “When the time comes, get it over with,” he’d told Shane the year he’d turned eighty.

  So, the day after Shane had called to tell Caroline the sad news, she found herself sitting with hundreds of other people in makeshift rows of folding chairs that had been set up on the lawn near the lighthouse. There had been no formal viewing, although she and Shane had gone to his room at the manor one last time to say goodbye before he’d been taken to be cremated. The money most people spent on a casket and all the trimmings had been donated discreetly to a safe house for battered women. Of course, it was brought up at the service this afternoon.