Page 7 of When Morning Comes Around

“Of course; here, let me help.”

It didn’t take long to transfer her belongings to his Sequoia. When the minivan was empty, she locked it up.

“Are you ready to go?”

She gave him a sad smile. “I am, and thanks again.”

It was completely dark by the time they were back on the road. Sadie was quiet for a long time, and Dominic couldn’t resist glancing over to check on her every now and then.

He dimmed his headlights when a vehicle approached in the opposite direction. Its lights briefly illuminated the cab, and his heart sank when he checked on her and saw tears shining on her cheeks.

“Anything you want to talk about?” he asked quietly. He had no idea what her story was, but he knew from his own experience that having to share wasn’t always the best medicine, no matter how good people’s intentions might be.

She took a handkerchief from her purse and dabbed at her face. “I’m sorry. I was hoping that you wouldn’t notice.”

“We can pretend that I didn’t if you prefer.”

She let out a short laugh. “That works – I know how to do that.”

He frowned, feeling as though he’d messed up, although he didn’t know how.

She sniffed. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound so bitter. Don’t look so worried. All I meant is that for the last several years of my marriage, I was acutely aware that life ran more smoothly when I let him pretend – when we both pretended – that he didn’t notice how I felt about things.”

“Right.” Dominic didn’t know what else to say.

“It’s my own damn fault. I should have left him years ago, but I’ve never been a quitter. I pride myself on being able to fix things, to find solutions, you know?”

He nodded; he knew how that went. He’d describe himself the same way. In his case, he hadn’t been able to fix things for Polly. There’d been no solution to be found. Cancer was like that – just because you refused to quit didn’t mean that you came out the winner.

“I tried to fix things for the longest time. I should have admitted defeat. Instead, I started pretending, too. I pretended that I was okay with how things were going, even though I wasn’t.” She sighed again. “I think, now that the shock’s starting to wear off, I can admit that something had to give. I just… He’d been a little more attentive lately – I should have suspected something. I should have known when he encouraged me to go to that conference. I’d wanted to go for years, and he bitched about the expense every time, so I didn’t. This time, he encouraged me.”

He glanced over at her. She was staring, unseeing, through the windshield into the night. He kept quiet, knowing that she wasn’t really talking to him, she just needed to put words to what had happened to her. He understood that.

“If I hadn’t decided to stop by the office on my way to the airport, I’d be none the wiser even now. We work together – worked. We have – had – I guess nowhehas a plumbing and HVAC company. I run the office – used to run the office. I wonder how long it’ll take me to get used to saying it in the past tense. Anyway, I was supposed to go straight to the airport to fly to the conference. I got it into my head to stop by the office on my way – I wanted to thank him for finally understanding how much it meant to me.

“I guess he thought he was safe. When I got there, I walked into his office, to find him screwing a sales rep on his desk.” She shook her head. “So, anyway, yeah. Sorry to dump my crap all over you like this.”

He reached across and touched her arm. “Don’t apologize. I can’t imagine how you must have felt. I’m glad to be a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on – even though I wish you didn’t need them.”

“Thanks.”

She stayed quiet for a long time after that. It was only as they approached Hidden Valley that Dominic had to ask, “Want to give me directions to your dad’s place?”

“Sorry, yeah. Go all the way to the end of Main Street and it’s just up there on the right.”

“Okay.” He’d been to Hidden Valley a few times, and as far as he knew the only thing at the end of Main Street was the nursery and garden center; there must be some houses beyond that.

“Does your dad know why you’re here? What happened?”

“No. I’m not here because of what happened with Dale. My dad had a fall. He does too much by himself. I shouldn’t have left him alone all this time.”

As they approached the end of Main Street, she turned to him. “Listen, Dominic. I’m really sorry that I dumped my sad story on you like that.”

He shot her a smile. “Like I said, I’m glad to be a listening ear for you.” He frowned through the windshield. “Am I going the right way?”

“You are. This is it. The garden center.”

“Harvey’s your dad?”

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