“I wasn’t completely honest.” She smirked as she shot the puck directly into the goal. “My dorm in college had a tournament every weekend. I won three-quarters of the ones I was able to play in.”
“That explains it.” He struck the puck and careened it her way. “I didn’t know you went to college.”
She blocked the puck and sent it his way. “I never graduated.”
“How far did you get?”
“I only had a semester left, but the kids came along and…”
“You should go back. I bet you could even finish online with all the options available now.” The table motor started making a grinding noise, a sign they’d played too long. One day soon he’d look at it or convince Addy it was time to upgrade.
“I’m happy here.” She set her striker aside and leaned against the long side of the table. “Maybe one day I’ll finish, but it’s not that time.”
“What was your major?”
“Business Administration. I had a scholarship and all.” Her expression went to a far-off place.
He moved beside her, leaving a foot between them. Crossing his arms, he allowed her to open up at her own pace.
“I met Kyle my freshman year, got pregnant with April the summer of my sophomore year, then Dex came two years later.” Her teeth grazed her bottom lip. “Today would have been Kyle’s birthday. It’s why I hate Valentine’s Day and wanted the distractions to keep my mind off it.”
Not expecting that, he sucked in a breath, let it out slowly. “I’m sorry.”
She turned, facing him, with her hip against the table. “Can I tell you something in confidence?”
“Of course.”
She inhaled deeply, stared at the ceiling while she exhaled. “I’m not a widow.”
“But Kyle?”
“We never married.” She hugged her arms to her chest. “His parents didn’t approve of me. His dad was a big shot lawyer, you’ve probably heard of him. He’s the one on all the personal injury billboards and commercials.”
“William Cohen?”
“That’s him.” Her jaw twitched. “Don’t let that smile fool you. He’s not a nice man, nor is his wife a pleasant woman. I’ll never understand how Kyle ended up so down-to earth.”
“Tell me about Kyle.” One thing he’d learned in prison is that people needed to talk about those they had lost, whether through death or because their actions had caused a dissolution of the relationship.
She sighed, and a faint smile appeared. “He was the life of the party. To know him, was to want to be friends with him. All he wanted was to make people smile and laugh. He never cared about my background, or anyone else’s. He accepted people for who they were.”
“Sounds like a good guy.”
“Yes, but he wasn’t without his flaws. I can see that now. He had no backbone. I let him string me along for years, believing one day we’d be married, and he’d make an honest woman out of me.” Her expression hardened and she let out a derisive snort. “All it took was his parents’ threat of disowning him to toss me and marry an heiress. Actually, he didn’t even want to get rid of me. He wanted to keep me on the side.”
Anger toward a man he’d never met and never would grew in him. “Sounds like you dodged a bullet.”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Deep in my heart, I know he loved me and the kids, but not enough to sacrifice for us.”
“True love sacrifices, Beth. You deserved better than a man who wouldn’t give you his all.”
“Too bad I didn’t realize that until it was too late.” She dropped her arms and pressed a hand against the table’s edge. “I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything so I can’t say I regret what happened, but I wish I’d been smarter.”
He formed multiple responses but found a reason not to voice each one. He had to say something though—she looked at him waiting for a response. “Love is blind, and you wanted to believe the best in him.”
“I sold myself to him. I let him convince me to drop out of school to take care of the kids. I let him set me up in a fancy apartment and pay for everything I needed.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Stupid. I was so stupid.”
“Hey now.” He gently touched her arm. “Erring in judgement doesn’t make you stupid. You got caught up in a situation that life experience hadn’t taught you to deal with.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Thanks for that. For the most part, I’ve worked past my shame, but some days it sneaks up and clobbers me over the head.”
“Don’t I know how that works.” His hand still touched her, and he moved it away. “Unlike you, I knew better than to drink and drive, but I just didn’t care.”
“The hardest learned lessons most often come from our biggest mistakes.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Curiosity got the better of him, and he had to ask. “Is Kyle involved with in the children’s lives?”
“He was.” A tear trickled down her cheek. “We weren’t married, but he did pass away. A few weeks before he was supposed to marry the heiress.”
“I’m so sorry.” All his troubles paled in comparison to what Beth had experienced. “That had to be unfathomably difficult.”
She gripped the table until her knuckles went white. “It was, and if it had ended there I might have survived.”
“What do you mean?”
“While Kyle was alive his parents wanted nothing to do with April and Dex. They refused to believe Kyle was the father and threw horrible accusations at me.”
“Fine folks,” he said, unable to hide his disgust.
“You haven’t heard the worst of it,” she muttered under her breath.
“What happened?”
“After Kyle’s death, they decided that yes, he was April and Dex’s father. They also made their own conclusions that I was an unfit mother.”
His jaw dropped. He’d only known Beth less than a year, but he couldn’t understand how anyone could claim she was a bad mother. She went above and beyond to give April and Dex a good life. “On what basis?”
“Depended on the day.” Anger flashed in her eyes. “First they attacked my character. They accused me of stealing from my former employer and tried to bribe my boss. Thank God he was a man of integrity and wouldn’t lie.”
“What in the world? Why would they do that?”
“April and Dex were all they had left of Kyle and they wanted custody.”
“That’s absurd.”
“You would think, but money talks. After two months of lies, being stalked by reporters, and investigations by child protective services I couldn’t take it anymore. My children had lost their father and they were terrified they would lose me as well.”
“I’m so sorry.” He rubbed a hand along his jaw. It seemed insufficient to continually tell her he was sorry, but what could he say? The thoughts running through his mind weren’t very Christian-like and if he told her what he’d like to do to Kyle’s parents, she’d probably run scared.
“Me too.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and drew in a long breath. “I spent two weeks planning my escape. I changed my last name to my paternal grandmother’s maiden name and cleaned out my bank account. The night before we left, I packed everything I could fit into my car, and we left the next day, never looking back.”