Page 62 of Cowboy Falling Hard

“I was hoping to speak with your wife, Katie.”

“Sorry. I’m on a business trip. Katie is at home with the children. You can call her cell phone number.” He hung up.

If she had wondered whether or not she would catch him in a lie, right there it was. His secretary said he was on vacation. He told a random caller he was on a business trip.

Why wasn’t she crying? Why wasn’t she sobbing on her friends’ shoulders?

Her eyes felt dry, her throat dry as well, and she didn’t feel like crying, or screaming, or doing anything. Except just sitting, curled up in a ball if necessary, and waiting until the pain turned to numbness.

What was her family going to think? She didn’t want to face them, because obviously there was something wrong with her because she couldn’t hold onto her husband. Because she couldn’t keep him from cheating. Because she wasn’t good enough.

Even though in some small part of her brain she understood that those thoughts were ridiculous, that there was a character flaw on his part where he couldn’t stay true, where, maybe she hadn’t been the best wife the world had ever known, but she shouldn’t have to have been in order to get her husband to stay faithful.

If he had a problem with their marriage, he should have said something about it. It wasn’t okay to cheat just because he wasn’t happy. Although, he had not said a word about not being happy. She would have worked to fix whatever it was.

She started to fight those thoughts in her head. Then she realized, that’s what her friends were there for. To tell her that this wasn’t hurtful. That no matter what Russell said, she had not given him an excuse to break his vows. She had not been such a terrible wife that he couldn’t stay true. And even if she had, a man who had integrity, would honor his word, would do what was right, didn’t take up with another woman and then lie about it.

“Guys. I need you to help me.” She laid her hands on the table, and automatically three other hands grasped hers. That was what real friendship was all about.

Chapter 21

Talk to each other. - Emy McCabe, Belmont, MA

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DWIGHT FINISHED PARINGan apple and sliced it in small pieces into the bowl on his lap.

That had been the thing that was the hardest to keep up with, keeping apples pared and sliced.

Two of Orchid’s sisters had come into the kitchen to help. They, along with Miss Charlene and Miss Kathy had made sure that the apples had gotten measured, seasoned with the spices, and that the dough had gotten made and rolled out.

The ovens had been going nonstop since they started, and still they were hard-pressed to stay ahead of the crowd, who seem to be buying apple turnovers at an alarming rate.

Dwight wasn’t super concerned about any of that though. And he didn’t mind being the only man in the kitchen, either. While cooking would probably never be his thing, and paring apples wasn’t his favorite job, he didn’t mind. It was for a good cause, and it was fun to be a part of something people love so much.

Still, his heart was heavy, because he heard the whispers, and knew where Orchid was.

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