Page 83 of Trust and Obey

“How does it feel to be a free man?” Bob, my lawyer, asked with a grin on his normally stoic face that suggested he’d already had his share of champagne.

I grinned back at him. “It feels great, Bob. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“It was my genuine pleasure,” he said. We shook hands.

Today had been the final court date. The last of the agreements signed, the settlement finalized in front of a judge, and my marriage to Lauren officially over.

As Bob had predicted, the sitting judge hadn’t been impressed by Lauren’s outrageous behavior; the obviously staged and leaked sex tape, the inappropriate contact with my lawyer’s firm, and the news articles meant to slander my name.

Bob had gone after Lauren with a viciousness only a lawyer who had been wronged could.

In the end, the judge agreed with several of the suggested penalties.

Not only was Lauren’s share of the settlement less than what I had originally asked for, but there was an airtight gag order in place. So now if any media companies approached Lauren to spill the beans, she couldn’t say a thing. And I certainly wasn’t about to talk.

But I could still hold a divorce party.

I moved on and had my hand shaken by friends, family, and coworkers. Most congratulated me on a new start, and a couple drunkenly confessed to knowing that Lauren wasn’t right for me the entire time.

I could almost hear Kendall’s wry comment in my mind: Thanks for the heads up, guys.

Funny how people always said that sort of thing after the relationship crashed and burned.

A few people, however, even dared to ask about my new relationship with Kendall.

Kendall had told me he would be okay with keeping our relationship a secret if I needed time to come out. He was a great guy—I still didn’t know how I got so lucky.

“I’m not ashamed of my feelings for you,” I had told him during that very serious conversation. “I want the world to know that we’re together, that we’re partners.” I had paused. “Is that okay with you?”

He smiled so wide, dimples stood out on either cheek. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

So now I was able to answer my friends’ questions openly and honestly. “Kendall is doing fine, settling in great. In fact, we just received the last shipment of luggage from overseas.”

“Man.” Bryce, a friend I had known from prep school shook his head ruefully and raised a glass in a toast. “I’ve been to that resort. He must seriously like you to consider leaving. Especially with winter coming on soon.”

Yes, I was a lucky man indeed.

We joked a little more, and I left the group to look for another. After the last hands were shaken and the last of the congratulations received, I looked around for Kendall.

I spotted him across the room, having a laughing conversation with my mother. Those two got along like a house on fire.

As if knowing I was looking for him, Kendall turned to beam at me and gesture me over. When I arrived, he stood up on tiptoe to plant a kiss on my cheek.

“Betsy has the greatest baby stories. Did you know that she somehow kept all of your home videos?”

I made an exaggerated wince. “Mother…”

My mom simply smiled over her fluted glass. “It’s too late. I’ve already promised to drag out a few albums for the holidays.”

I let out an exaggerated sigh and made a mental note to see about a vacation around that time. Kendall had no interest in going out of the country—after all, he’d had his fill of tropical and remote places— but there was plenty within the states to explore…

Who was I kidding? Come hell or high water, I was going to be roped into viewing old albums and watching family videos one way or another.

Quickly, I tried to change the subject. “Has Kendall told you about his new job?”

“No, he has not.” My mother turned to him. “Go on. Spill the news, dear.”

Kendall’s smile was broad and true, his eyes free of shadows. Moving back to the states and reconnecting with his own mother had been hard for him, considering all the emotional baggage. But it had been a cleansing pain and left him stronger than ever.

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