Coming Home (Jackson Falls Series) by Breton Laurie

Author:Breton, Laurie [Breton, Laurie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Published: 2012-07-11T07:00:00+00:00

***

Most of what was in the house belonged to Danny.

Casey spent a couple of hours packing her clothes and the few personal items that mattered to her. She loaded up her BMW, then went back inside and made herself a grilled cheese sandwich. It tasted like sawdust, but she forced it, by sheer will, to stay in her stomach. With mechanical motions, she loaded the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and then she opened the door to Katie’s room for the last time.

Katie’s pink ruffled pajamas still hung over the bed post, and her beloved Pooh bear lay alone in the center of the bed. Casey picked up the scruffy yellow bear and cradled him to her breast. She took a last look around, then raised her chin and marched to the door, resolutely shutting it behind her. She stuffed the Pooh bear, all she had left of her daughter, into her overnight bag, and sat down on the couch to wait for her husband.

It was nearly ten o’clock when he came home, moving cautiously, smelling of liquor. Even half drunk, he moved with graceful, sinuous elegance. At thirty-five, he was still the handsomest man she’d ever known. When he saw her sitting in the dark, he stopped and looked at her quizzically. “What’s all that stuff in the car?” he said.

She squared her jaw, her shoulders. “I’m leaving you,” she said.

He blinked, wobbled a little on unsteady feet. And snorted. “What in hell are you talking about?”

A swirl of emotions roiled around inside her. Love. Hatred. Grief. Fury. Bewilderment. “After everything I’ve been through,” she said, “I can’t believe you could do this to me.”

To his credit, he didn’t pretend to misunderstand. He snapped on a lamp, and in the sudden brightness, his face blurred. “I’d hoped,” he said, “that you wouldn’t find out.”

“The doctor’s office called,” she said curtly, “to reschedule your appointment. I don’t suppose it occurred to you that I might find it a bit odd, the inability to ever conceive again?”

He sighed deeply and sat on the arm of the couch. “Before you go off half-cocked,” he said, “just listen to me.”

Betrayal was a hard, sharp pain in her chest. “I don’t want to listen to you, Danny. I’m through listening to you.”

“I’ve gone through hell these last few months,” he said. “I’ve watched you go through hell. It’s all but destroyed our marriage.”

“No,” she said bitterly. “It’s you who’s destroyed our marriage.”

“For Christ’s sake, Casey, think about it.” He scooped the long hair back from his face with the fingers of both hands. “Do you want to go through something like this again? I can’t even bear to think about the possibility. It would kill both of us. Think about what it would be like, having another baby. The hell we’d go through every time he bumped his head or fell off his bike. Can’t you see that I did it to save us both from more pain? I did it because I love you.

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