Page 26 of A Powerful Attraction
“They’ve both been good about coming to see her regularly. They’re her only visitors. I don’t think she has anyone else. Frankly, if I had two good-looking men like that coming to see me almost every day, I would stick around, too.” Helen laughed softly and nudged Sherry.
“You’re terrible, but I know what you mean. So her husband’s a looker, too?”
“Oh yes, honey.” Helen fanned herself with one hand. “He’s beautiful, from somewhere in South America. Colombia, I think. Yes, that’s it. He’s Colombian.”
Sherry went still. “Her husband is Colombian?” That wasn’t so crazy that her husband could be Colombian, like Alex, could it? Sherry’s pulse ticked higher as she waited for the reply.
“Yes, and he’s quite the looker. With thick, dark hair and hazel eyes.Ooh. He doesn’t smile too often, because you can tell he’s upset about seeing his wife in this condition. But when he does, it’s like the sun comes out.” She sighed and looked heavenward. “I pray I find a man like that for myself. Actually, I’ll take either one of those fine men. The Black one or the Spanish one. They’re both delicious.”
Sherry’s thumping pulse slowly transformed into a full-blown panic attack. Helen couldn’t be right. “Are you sure that the Colombian is her husband?”
“I’m very sure. He’s in here almost every day. Well, in the past couple of weeks, not as much as he used to be, but still fairly often.”
“There must be some mistake,” Sherry said softly. Dismay seeped into her veins like poison.
The nurse watched her strangely. “There’s no mistake. That’s her husband. We all know because he’s very devoted to her. They both are. But especially him.”
Sherry cast a glance inside the room once again and stared at the sleeping woman. Heather was Alex’s wife, not his friend? He and Heather weremarried? She suddenly felt dizzy and reached out a steadying hand to the wall.
“Sweetie, are you okay?”
Sherry swallowed hard. She was going to be sick. She was going to be violently ill and throw up the contents of her stomach all over the hospital floor.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she said in a shaky voice. “I…I didn’t realize they were married.” She swallowed hard again.
Helen’s eyes turned sympathetic, as if she’d guessed the reason for Sherry’s odd response. “Yes, I’m afraid so. They’re married,” she said quietly.
“Thank you for the information.” Sherry backed away. “I…I need to go.”
She darted down the hall on legs as stable as soft rubber. When she reached the elevator, she jabbed the down button and the cabin came right away. Two doctors nodded at her as she walked through the open doors, but she didn’t acknowledge the greetings. Instead, she went to stand at the back and rested her shoulder against the wall.
Oh god, oh god. She closed her eyes and pressed a hand to her throbbing temple. No wonder Alex had fought so hard to keep their affair a secret.
All this time, he’d been playing her for a fool.
12
Just do it.
Sherry sat on the sofa in Alex’s living room, stiff as an iron rod and contemplating her next move. After leaving the hospital, she had run errands and stopped at home to change into jeans and a blouse. The entire time, she’d simply been going through the motions, numbed by the revelation that Alex was married.
During the past few hours, she’d wondered if the nurse could have been wrong. Surely there was a misunderstanding. But Helen had been so certain, and then there was the fact that Alex was very devoted to Heather. Sherry had initially thought his frequent visits demonstrated what a good and devoted friend he was, but now she had to reconsider everything she’d believed about their relationship.
The pain in her head had only magnified on the way over to Alex’s condo, and when she saw him, she hadn’t known what to say or do. She’d kissed and hugged him as usual, perhaps clinging a bit too much as fear of loss gripped her. Fortunately, he didn’t notice, but she paid close attention to him. She’d studied him as he talked, wondering how she couldn’t have seen who he really was.
He’d certainly changed from the time they started this relationship. The grim exterior had been replaced with a more affable personality, closer to the man she’d met when she started working at Newmark Investors a couple of years ago. Otherwise, he seemed the same.
Yet she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d seen only what she wanted to see because she was so desperate for a relationship. Had she been blinded by her attraction to him?
“Would you like some wine?” Alex called from the kitchen.
He was in the process of making dinner, and the scent of spices filled the air. Normally, the aromas would tempt her appetite, but eating was so far from her mind that she questioned if she could ever tolerate food again. They planned to go to a movie later, an indie film, and one of the rare moments they both agreed because their tastes were so different. She preferred comedies and he preferred dramas. She didn’t look forward to the movie, either.
“No, thanks.”
Sherry couldn’t see him from here, but she heard movement in the kitchen, utensils banging against pots and every now and again the sound of the faucet running as he washed his hands or vegetables. She looked at the room, beautifully decorated in warm tones, with splashes of color in the chair cushions and fake flowers in the middle of the glass coffee table.
Did Heather have a hand in decorating this place? Of course she did.
