Page 9 of The Rancher's Wedding Betrayal
"You've gone mad," she whispered. "You know that, don't you?"
"On the contrary." Hunter's lips twisted in a sardonic smile. "It's only because I have to think...objectivelythat I'm asking this." And since there was no point dragging things out—
"Our parents have started dating again."
Hunter simply went straight for the jugular.
"And they're keeping it a secret because of you."
Chapter Three
FIVE MONTHS AFTER LEAVINGhome...
The Italian restaurant was too fancy for Eve’s liking, not to mention being too fancy for her wallet either. But this was her mother’s favorite, and she would be damned if she'd let Hunter think she couldn't afford spoiling her own mom like this.
"I...I have something to tell you."
Finally, Eve thought. June hadn't taken more than three bites in the last twenty minutes. Something was obviously wrong, but she also knew her mother well enough to know that there was no point getting her to speak until she was good and ready...like now.
"I know this might come as a shock, but..."
Eve's concern grew as she watched her mother reach for her water glass with a trembling hand. "You can tell me anything, Mom. I promise I won't—"
"Boris and I are over."
Get mad, she had been about to say, but now she was just plain...stunned.
"We're just waiting for the lawyers to do whatever it is to do," June said shakily, "and then we'll be—"
"Divorced?"
"Yes."
"I don't understand." And she truly didn't. "Did he—did he cheat on you?"
June's eyes widened. "What are you—no, no, honey, of course not."
"Then why?" Her mom and Boris had always looked so happy together.
"We're just too...different."
"In what way?"
June looked down at her plate. “In ways I can't explain."
Eve’s chest tightened. “Mom—”
“It’s fine, honey. Really.” June reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You don't have to worry about anything."
EVE SANK ONTO THE EDGEof the bed, her heart hurting as she thought back to that night.
I'm so, so stupid, God.
She was back in her old room, and everything was exactly as she had left it. Her posters from college. Her paperbacks. Her old riding trophies. None of it had been packed away, and the sight of it all should have brought her comfort. Maybe it would have...if not for Hunter's words making her realize how she had gotten everything wrong so, so badly.
I'm so sorry, God. I'm so sorry, Mom. I'm an idiot.
It just made her sick every time she thought about how she was so, so lost in her self-centeredness...that she had simply taken June for her word when her mother said her divorce was due to "irreconcilable" differences.
