Page 14 of Embracing the Change

“As taught to you by your mother, you gave no fucks about me our entire marriage, or at least that’s what you showed to the world, including me.”

In total shock, I stared at the seat back in front of me.

Roland was not in shock, nor was he finished delivering it to me.

“And then, in the midst of us building a family, you fell in love with him. For fuck’s sake, the tail of his acceptable mourning period had barely slipped by before you two were so all over each other, you practically crawled into each other’s skin.”

Unable to make it any louder, my voice was a whisper when I asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Those flowers, Nora, all those years ago. They weren’t about you helping Belinda Oakley through some bout of food poisoning. They were Jamie Oakley staking his claim.”

I continued to whisper when I stated, “You’ve gone mad.”

“I have?” he asked snidely. “Then why, when you filed for divorce, and Oakley was then married to Rosalind, did he still come to my office with a smirk on his face and that odious drawl in his voice, congratulating me for my utter stupidity at letting the best thing that could ever happen to me slip through my fingers?”

My throat closed.

Jamie did that?

I had no idea Jamie did that.

Roland’s tone again changed entirely when he went on, “Nora, please listen to me. I’m being very genuine when I tell you I’ve thought about it. I’ve had years to think about it, and I took that time. Doing so, I understand now, my darling. I understand why you had to turn to him. I understand the part I played in that. And now that it’s over between you two, we can both attempt to understand our behavior and find our way back to each other.”

“Jamie is on the yacht I should be boarding as we speak.”

This statement was greeted with Roland’s silence.

“As I said earlier,” I continued, “I can’t talk about this now.”

“Are you two reconciling?” he asked.

“That’s really none of your business,” I answered.

“Paloma said?—”

A whooshing in my head drowned out whatever he said next, and he was still speaking when, with acid dripping from my words, I queried, “You’re speaking to Paloma Friedrichsen about me?”

“No, the woman is a viper. We both learned that the hard way.”

Oh, we certainly did.

“She approached me about you,” he concluded.

I had a dawning understanding of what was going on with my ex-husband, precisely when it all started, and why, considering my arch-nemesis Paloma Friedrichsen was involved.

And, honestly, I couldn’t fathom how my ex-husband could say her name in my ear when she was one of the women he’d cheated on me with.

But as I saw Cadence make her way down the footbridge, a confused and borderline concerned look on her face, my repeated words to Roland came inescapably true.

I couldn’t do this now.

“I have to go,” I declared.

“Can we speak when you return?” Roland pushed.

Cadence was getting closer.

“Perhaps,” I muttered distractedly. “Goodbye, Roland.”

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