It had taken nearly three hours of talking—with tears from both of them—before Jean fully realized that he was breaking up with her.
In the end, she held on to her anger. Whereas she’d dumped a lot of men, she’d never had anyone say no to her. But tears, anger, none of it made Colin change from his decision. Even when Jean said she’d refuse the new job and keep the old one, he didn’t relent.
Neither of them ever considered that she’d move to Edilean.
They parted with more animosity than Colin wanted, and it took him a long time to put her out of his mind. He missed her a lot, and often came close to calling her to tell her about something that had happened.
He did his best to bury himself in his work. He went to the county sheriff, Tom Wilderson, and talked to him at length. Since Edilean didn’t have its own sheriff, the best the man could do was deputize Colin and keep him in a station in Edilean.
“But the county can’t afford—” Tom began.
“I’ll pay for it,” Colin said. “All expenses are mine.”
When Tom was able to close his mouth from shock, he agreed to Colin’s proposal, as he liked the young man. But he also knew that Colin’s family was rich, so Tom figured Colin would quit after a few months. Who wanted to settle domestic disputes inste
ad of sitting by the pool?
Colin didn’t quit, and over the years, Tom had found Colin’s intelligence and calm demeanor invaluable. In the first year, there’d been an incident that Colin had handled well. Two brothers were fishing in the wilderness area around Edilean when they got in a fight, and one of them shot the other. In remorse and grief, the surviving brother had threatened to shoot a family that was having a picnic. Colin had talked the man out of the idea.
But as well as Colin’s professional life had gone, the personal side had suffered.
For years after he split with Jean, they’d not seen each other. He’d dated a few women—none of them from Edilean—but it had never worked out. One woman hated his job as deputy sheriff in Edilean. He realized it was her own sense of prestige that concerned her, meaning that she’d wanted a doctor or lawyer. What had really horrified him was that after just four dates she was assuming they’d get married.
Another young woman was like that dreadful Isla, whom his mother had nearly hired. She’d been stunned when she’d seen the Frazier estate. Her greed for the place had made her dizzy. Colin dropped her the next day.
After years of these failed relationships, Jean had returned to his life.
About a year ago, he’d been in the county courthouse going through some old files when he’d looked up and seen Jean. He’d forgotten how beautiful she was and how put together she always appeared. Since he’d lived with her, he well knew the time and effort that went into her looks, but at the moment he saw her again, he forgot all that.
Minutes later, they were having lunch together, and she told him that she’d returned to her old law firm in Richmond. “I decided I’d rather be a big fish,” she said. “In D.C. there were too many people like me.”
An hour later they were in a hotel room.
His first impression of her was that she’d changed. She seemed less intense, less driven to win over everyone on her way to the top.
“I found out what’s really important in life,” she said as she sipped her glass of wine. “And you! It’s like you’ve finally grown up.”
Jean had the ability to make insults seem like compliments.
“I’ve been through a lot in the last years,” he said.
“I hope I didn’t cause you any pain when I broke up with you.”
Colin didn’t correct her. If her ego needed to think that, let her.
He still wasn’t sure how it happened, but within weeks they were again going out together. Jean did her best to make him think she was now willing to compromise and make a life together. “I’ve missed you so very much,” she said. “I didn’t know I could miss anyone so much.”
They went to bed a few more times, but it wasn’t the same. Colin was no longer the unhappy young man he had been. And he was no longer dazzled by Jean or her job or even her beauty.
She’d been correct when she’d said that he’d at last grown up.
He’d known in his heart that he should break it off completely with Jean, but he couldn’t do it. When she wasn’t after something, she was fun and interesting. Her clients gave her tickets to plays and concerts, and he enjoyed them. And his family adored her. She and Lanny teased each other in a raunchy way, and Jean went shopping with Mrs. Frazier. The two women had decorated the guesthouse together. Jean bought art books for Shamus, and found out-of-print books on automotive history for Mr. Frazier.
Colin didn’t want to take these things away from his family, but he’d had more than enough of being alone. Besides, there was no one else in his life.
For his own sanity, he cut out sex with Jean. She was willing, but he knew he didn’t love her anymore, and he didn’t want her to have the wrong idea about where their relationship was going.
About three months ago, Tom said he’d seen Jean in Richmond with a man she’d introduced as her brother. “Good-looking young man named Elliot.”