He had unexpected skills. Once he’d gotten the barbecue running, he’d fixed a faucet in one of the bathrooms and a window that had refused to close. When he wasn’t jogging or puttering, he was working on his book, or joining them for meals. He was well traveled, funny and willing to share the spotlight. Unusual in a man, in her limited experience.
“You don’t approve of cheating,” he said.
“Never.” She closed her laptop. “I’ll ask the obvious. Did you ever cheat on your wife?”
“Not either of them. Or any woman.” He looked at her. “Why not just leave?”
“I know, right? That’s what I think. Cord cheated. The first time I found out, the kids were little. Harlow was five and Austin was one. I ran here. Leo and Lillian took me in and offered me a home, if I wanted to stay.”
“You didn’t.”
“No. Cord begged me to come back, and eventually I agreed.” She looked at him. “Judging?”
“Not at all. I have no idea of your circumstances or what you needed or wanted. I’m sure you made the best decision you could.”
Which was the kindest spin possible. “I still loved him, and I wanted to stay. Our marriage had been good until he messed up. I suppose a part of me wondered if he meant it when he said it had been a onetime thing, born of opportunity.”
“It wasn’t?”
“I have no idea. I think he was faithful for a while, but then he wasn’t.” She gave him a wry smile. “I got suspicious, so I searched his office. He’d rented an apartment, which certainly speaks to motive.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too. The thing that really gets to me is I’d been talking about going to college. The kids were older, and I had the time.”
Mason shook his head. “He told you it was too expensive.”
“How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.”
Because he understood people, she thought. “You’re right. He said it was an unnecessary expense. I didn’t need a degree. The money could be better spent elsewhere. I was such a fool.” She glanced at him. “And to answer the question you’re too polite to ask, I took him back, because Harlow had just gone through two years of treatment for cancer, and we were finally going to be a normal family again.”
He nodded slowly. “You didn’t want to give the kids one more trauma.”
“That was a lot of it. I also knew that while Harlow was sick, neither of us had paid attention to our marriage. He begged for yet another chance, and I gave it to him. I told myself we’d do better.”
“You loved him and trusted him. He’s the fool.”
“That’s very sweet. Thank you.”
“It’s true. Some men can’t see what they already have. They’re in it for the chase—the rush to acquire. They can’t be content. He did what he did because of himself, not because of you.”
“Thanks, but I could have been a terrible wife.”
“Not possible.”
“You can’t know that.”
His gaze locked with hers. “I’ll ignore the fact that you’re beautiful, smart and funny. You’ve been here a week. In that time you’ve checked out each cat’s health, you’ve talked to Lillian’s doctors and gone over her diet with Salvia. And that’s only the stuff I know about. You care, Robyn. I’m not saying you’re perfect, but there’s no way you’re a bad wife.”
His words stunned her. His obvious admiration should be unsettling but wasn’t. She admired Mason, and knowing he liked her made her feel good. Special.
“Thank you,” she said quietly. “You’re seeing the best version of me.”
“According to you, I’ve also seen you at your worst.”
She laughed. “Ah, yes, the night of my being bitchy. Not my proudest moment.”
“It wasn’t that scary.”
“So speaks the soldier.”
His life had been so different from hers, she thought. He was confident, comfortable with who he was.
“I gave up so much of myself to be married to Cord.” She held up a hand. “That’s on me, not him. I was young and in love and wanted to be with him. I was eighteen. We married in less than a year and started the business together. We had Harlow right away.”
She sighed. “She wasn’t planned. Austin came along four years later. I was a wife, mother and business partner. I’m not sure there was time for anything else, and after a while, I forgot to find out.”
“What about now?”
“I want to start thinking about what I want. Actually it’s not just a want. It’s a need.” She had to be responsible for herself and her future. Going along to get along was just plain dumb. “Harlow’s already on her own. Soon Austin will be ready to leave. I need to figure out my next act—a cliché but not a bad one.”
“Change is hard.”
“I know. And scary. Plus I worry about making a mistake. It’s so much easier to see what other people are doing wrong.”
“Like your friend Mindy?”
“Absolutely.”
“Some people can only learn by making the mistake and living with the consequences. Some people can’t be told.”
He was right about that. She’d never articulated the thought so clearly, but she knew it to be true. “Harlow can be told, but Austin has to do it himself,” she said. “Funny how they’re so different. Harlow is all drama, and Austin is the calm one, so I would think it would be the reverse.”
She looked at Mason. “Once again I’ve dominated the conversation.”
“You haven’t. I enjoy listening to you talk. You’re always interesting.”
She laughed. “I wish that were true. Tell me about yourself. Did you join the army right out of high school?”
He nodded.
“Okay, why?” She smiled. “Family tradition? You knew you’d look good in the uniform?”
That earned her a chuckle. “I grew up in West Virginia. There was the coal mine, the general store and not much else. The army offered opportunity.”
“You served twenty-five years?”
He nodded.
She thought about everything the country had been through in that time. He’d seen a lot.
“Did you regret leaving your hometown?” she asked.