Page 28 of A Man After Midnight

“I guess you don’t want to talk to me right now.”

“I don’t ever want to talk to you again!” she screamed at him before slamming the phone down.

After Winnie had left that night, Caroline had sat at the table, the anger building with every breath she took. She had wanted to cry, but hadn’t let the tears fall to release the burning depression deep within. So she turned the sadness inward and pushed the anger even higher. His total lack of respect for her was the ultimate betrayal.

Were all men the same?

She had vowed to herself that she would never be vulnerable again, so why did her juices run every time she thought of Wren? Why did her heart pound when he stepped into her line of vision? Why did her breath hitch when his beautiful eyes turned her way?

And then, as if her mind had conjured him up, he was there. Wren pulled up a chair on the other side of the table and sat down, quietly waiting for her to acknowledge him.

The music turned sultry, romantic, and with a jolt Caroline recognized it as Moonlight Serenade.

How appropriate.

“I had invited a friend over for dinner, a mutual friend of mine and Greg’s, because I was rather lonely in the house without him,” she said, her voice soft with the memories. “After I brought out the baked chicken, I asked this friend, Winnie, if she’d met Greg’s new girlfriend. We had been broken up just over a month before when Greg had personally told me about this new woman he started dating.” Caroline folded her hands together. “But then Winnie proceeded to tell me how they, Greg and his new girlfriend that is, had brought soup when Winnie had been sick.” She licked her dry lips. “A lovely bisque of roasted tomatoes and shrimp, she described. Of course, after I pointed out that Greg and I had broken up at the end of August and she had been sick at the beginning of the month, did she realize the mistake she had made by telling the secret she was keeping for Greg. He had been seeing this other woman for quite some time. I had always suspected,” Caroline shrugged. “She apologized, of course. Stated since we were both her friends she didn’t want to be caught in the middle, which she was, of course. So I asked her to leave and I’ve never talked to her again.”

“I’m sorry,” Wren said softly, reaching for her hands. He separated them and then intertwined their fingers.

“I had been angry for so long,” she said quietly. “Angry at him, angry at myself for ignoring my gut feeling. I can’t do that to another woman, Wren.”

“There is no other woman,” he said in a firm tone.

“Leslie told me you cheated on her. And I just can’t…”

“Was this before or after I caught her in bed with another man?”

Caroline fell silent. Her eyes widened as the air left her lungs in a whoosh.

“I hadn’t been very happy after Leslie and I became engaged. I had this feeling of dread every time she mentioned the wedding. So I decided to end it. I walked into our condo and there she was, in our bed, with the man I thought had been a friend.”

“Seems like we’ve both made terrible choices in friends.”

“And in life partners,” Wren conceded. “It was the only time I have ever been engaged.”

“Did you love her?”

“No,” he sighed and shook his head. “At the time I thought we both wanted the same things, but now, as I stand back and look closely at the relationship, I can see the flaws and the cracks. I discovered basing a marriage upon mutual goals and ideas doesn’t make a couple happy.”

“That’s funny,” she said. “I’ve discovered that love doesn’t necessarily make a couple happy.”

Wren reached with his free hand, using the pad of his thumb to ease the crease between her eyes. “You frown a lot,” he murmured.

Immediately, she relaxed those muscles and pulled her head away. “I guess I’d better stop or I’ll get wrinkles.”

“You’ll still be beautiful with wrinkles,” he assured.

“Wren…”

“Caroline, listen to me. I’m sorry for what your husband did to you, but I’m not him. Don’t use me as your excuse to hide from yourself. Our weekend doesn’t have to end like that.”

The word ‘end’ was like ice water in her veins, shocking her back into reality.

“I leave tomorrow,” she murmured, more for her own benefit than his, but he still responded.

“Yeah, I know,” he said quietly.

“I should be able to say fuck it, right? This is just a weekend fling, after all.”

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