Page 85 of Ripple Effect
His brow arches when the word “authorization” comes out. “Fine.” But the hostility on his face isn’t easing.
I turn away from my brother-in-law and nod to the two people in the corner. They put down the papers they were reading. Iris, in a disguise her own mother wouldn’t recognize her in, slides into the booth next to Josh. Snuggling up next to him, she says in her own voice, “Hey, cousin.”
Sam plops himself down next to me, a ball cap and wig disguising his features enough that it takes Josh a moment to realize it’s him. “What the hell?” Josh manages to get out.
It’s Sam who answers. “Right or wrong, the lies he told her all these years was his stupid-ass attempt to protect her. He never cheated on her, Josh.”
Iris snorts. “As if Cal’s ever looked at another woman since he set eyes on your sister. Every mission we’ve been on for years—”
Josh interrupts her. “Mission?”
I take a deep breath. “Alliance isn’t just a government contractor.” Before I can say any more, Josh scrubs his hands up and down his face. When he’s done, the anger has drained out, and what’s left is the fatigue.
“I think all of you better start from the beginning.” Pinning me with a glare that would do Admiral Yarborough proud, he orders, “Starting with you.”
Over the next few hours, with Sam and Iris’s help, we loop Josh in as much as we can. We’re only interrupted as the waitress refills our coffee at sporadic intervals.
At the end, Josh looks worse than he did when he came in.
I have even less hope when he says, “God, Cal, all you needed to do was tell her the truth. All she asked from you was your honesty and your love. You wouldn’t have had to change for her to still love you, but this?” Shaking his head, his next words include Sam and Iris. “While I’m proud of you, all of you, for what you’ve done, do you understand that in the end you sacrificed Libby’s dignity to do it? Is what any of you did better than what Kyle and Krysta did to her?” Just hearing Josh compare us to the asshole who cheated on my wife all those years ago makes my stomach churn up all the coffee I’ve drank. He continues. “You have no idea of how you devastated her. It’s been weeks since this all happened. And in that time, she’s just finally—finally—realized she won’t be crushed again.” Tapping a tearful Iris on the shoulder, he motions for her to slide out of the booth.
Tossing down a couple of bills, Josh leaves us with this. “You may not be able to change her mind, Cal, but you will always have her heart. She may try to love you less every day, but that’s impossible for her. The effect you have on her is too great. But she needs time.”
Just as he’s about to turn to go, Sam calls out, “Josh?” The other man stills. Sam presses, “Will you help us?”
He shakes his head, and my heart withers in my chest. “But I’ll help her.”
Sam slumps in relief. Iris begins crying in earnest.
And me? I think the beating of my heart may indicate I’m having a heart attack because maybe I’ll have another chance to hold my wife in my arms and bring her flowers for no reason. I’ll get to tease her about her sass, while she rolls her eyes at me. And God, maybe I’ll get to touch her sweet lips with mine.
“There’s still a chance, Cal,” Iris whispers. Sam murmurs his agreement as he reaches for her hand.
I nod, because I can’t speak. I just know as long as there’s breath in both our bodies, there’s always a chance. It’s then I press the heels of my hands into my burning eyes to release some of the pent-up emotion by letting my tears flow with two people who are feeling my pain right alongside of me.
58
Elizabeth
Year Six - Five Years Ago from Present Day
“What the hell is that?” I know damn well what the squirming ball of fur in Josh’s arms is, but the inane question escapes my lips anyway.
“It’s another gift from Cal.” Josh shrugs.
My lips part in shock. “You’re kidding me.”
“Listen, the thing has peed on me twice—there’s no way I’m kidding. Cal is just asking for an ass whooping with this one.”
A small smile breaks through the mask of stoicism I’ve worn for the last two months. “Why would he get me a puppy? I mean, first of all, the obvious. We’re getting a divorce.”
“Which he’s been fighting at every step,” Josh interjects. “Like the cards, the flowers”—he gestures to the bouquets of sunflowers over my shoulder—“and the gifts”—he nods at the album I’d been looking through right before he arrived—“isn’t an indicator of him trying to win you back.”
I give him the point. “True. That doesn’t mean I can just forget.” And just like that, the image of him and Iris slides into my head, which hardens my heart. “Give him to Sydney,” I say firmly, turning my back on the whimpering ball of fur I want to reach out to with all my might.
“No.”
I whirl on him. “I can’t keep it!”
