But I came home with an armload of leftovers, ready to tell Kara I was sorry for the distance. I was prepared to step up, to be the one to mend the holes in our relationship.
“We took vows,” Kara goes on. “I broke mine, and I will forever be sorry for that.” Her bottom lip quivers. “It’s asking a lot, I know, but I can’t live with myself if I don’t try.” She wipes away more tears, smearing her makeup across her cheeks. “We were family once. Can we be family again?”
“Kara,” I start, heart pounding. I miss what we had, but I don’t miss her.
I miss being married.
I miss having someone in my bed every night.
I miss thinking about starting a family…only we never quite got there.
But there’s no going back. No starting over. It’s too late now…isn’t it?
“I have to go to work,” I repeat. “Figure out somewhere to go and then go.”
“Is the garage code your birthday?” She smiles and I hate that we have all this history together and she knows me.
“Yes. Don’t be here when I get home. There is nothing left to say. We’re over, Kara.”Chapter 34RoryThe smile hasn’t left my face since my shift ended. I called Dean on my way to my car but got his voicemail. He told me he was going to be on a job site this morning, and after a quick stop home to feed Figaro and change, I’m on my way back to Dean’s.
He told me last night to come over after work, using the garage code to get in if I got here before he did. The dozen roses he sent me at work are still on my passenger seat, and in hindsight I should have taken then into my apartment and put them in water.
Now I get to bring them in with me, admiring them and thanking Dean—with my body, of course—a dozen times over. There’s a car parked on the street in front of his house, and I pull up behind it. I’m pretty sure Dean took the truck today, but I don’t want to block the wrong spot of the garage just in case he didn’t. I gather up the roses, hike my purse up over my shoulder, and hurry to the garage. It’s warmed up a bit today, but it’s super windy and I’m afraid the wind is going to blow the petals right off the roses.
I punch in the garage code and dodge inside once the door is up. Shivering, I hurry in, hit the button to close the big door, and watch it go down before opening the door that leads into the mud room.
“Hello?” a female calls from inside the house.
I freeze, mouth opening but words escaping me. If someone was breaking and entering, they wouldn’t yell out hello, would they?
“Dean?” the same voice calls. Okay…so I doubt it’s a burglar if they’re calling out Dean’s name. It’s not one of his sisters-in-law, is it? The voice isn’t familiar. “Dean, is that you?”
“No,” I say, voice thin. “It’s not.”
“Oh.” A woman appears in the hallway, stopping short when she sees me. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay,” I say, not moving. Is it okay? Should I throw the roses at her and make a run for it? “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be home.”
“I came over unannounced,” she says, forcing a half-smile. “Are you his girlfriend?”
“We haven’t really discussed titles yet, but yeah. I am. How do you know Dean?”
“I’m his ex-wife.”
I blink and almost drop the roses. His ex-wife—who cheated on him? What the fuck?
“Oh. He, uh, he didn’t mention you were here.”
“I don’t blame him.” She blinks back tears, and I can tell she’s been crying. I swallow hard and don’t know what to do. This is awkward as fuck, and I’m not entirely convinced this woman isn’t here to try to murder me.
“Why are you here?” I ask slowly and set the roses down on the bench of the hall tree, not taking my eyes off this woman. Mason would be proud.
“I wanted to talk to Dean,” she says, voice thinning. “Fucking up my marriage will always be the biggest regret of my life. I came back to see if Dean would try and work things out.”
The fuck? Is this why he hasn’t spoken to me all day? I’m a reasonable person. I know he can’t control when his ex-wife pops up in town. I can’t get mad at him for her giving it her all, begging and pleading for him to take her back.
But not telling me what’s going on and not even answering the phone…it makes my stomach flip flop.
“I’m sorry. I know that’s the last thing you want hear since you two are together now. Or are you? You said you haven’t discussed titles yet?” She pushes her light brown hair back. “That’s so unlike him. He’s a relationship kind of person. He asked me out less than twelve hours after meeting me.”