by Dawn Brower
On that point Phil couldn’t agree more. He didn’t bother to reply to her, just headed into the court room and took a seat at his side of the room. He glanced over as Addison did the same. There was a time he’d never have imagined he’d be where he was at that moment. About to end his marriage to the woman he had believed he’d loved more than anything in the world. And he had when he married her, but he hadn’t known her like he believed he had. Everything changed after the wedding and, in truth, their marriage had been all but over years ago. They’d stopped truly living as husband and wife almost immediately. He couldn’t even remember the last time they’d made love. They should have divorced a long time ago. It had seemed easier and less embarrassing to pretend it was as perfect as everyone believed.
Until it hadn’t…
He hadn’t counted on falling in love with Carly. It had happened slowly until one day he opened his eyes and realized how much she meant to him. Carly didn’t hold anything back. She was as real as any person could be. There wasn’t a person alive he trusted more than her. But he couldn’t act on those feelings. What right did he have to her when he wasn’t truly free to love her? So he asked Addison for a divorce. It had been easy enough to give her a reason why. She’d been eager to end their farce and hadn’t questioned him too much. His soon to be ex-wife didn’t need to know that he’d fallen in love with his partner. That was his secret for now and when the time was right he’d tell Carly. For now, he’d settle with finally bringing his marriage to a close.
Carly paced her office frustrated at her impatience. Phil had left her a message letting her know he’d fed Spike and would be late returning. She needed him back and didn’t understand what was so important he had to make a pit stop for it. She glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed for the hundredth time. Damn it.
She walked over to her desk and grabbed her phone and listened to his message again. “Carly, Spike’s eating like a champ. Be back later, something I have to do. Don’t work too hard.” As if she needed to be reminded of something so silly.
There were no clues in the message indicating where he was going or what was so damned important. How was she going to get anything done if she kept pacing her office worrying about him? Sometimes loving another person just plain sucked. She slammed her phone on her desk and cringed. That was a little too hard—she picked it up and made sure she hadn’t cracked the screen. There didn’t appear to be any damage…
A knock echoed through the room and she turned at the sound. Phil stood in the doorway looking as right as could be. No, that wasn’t entirely true. There was a little strain around his mouth. He’d tried to hide it but the muscles in his cheek twitched and there was a slight wrinkle in his forehead.
“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he replied. “Checking in with you to see how the meeting went.”
“It didn’t,” she said. “They’re all a bunch of bureaucratic assholes.”
She’d wanted to keep Logan’s case open a little bit longer. The leads weren’t there to argue it though and, in the end, they’d told her to add it to the cold-case files. It wasn’t officially closed, but it was no longer a priority. She hated that she hadn’t found the person responsible for Logan’s death.
“I’m sure you’ll find the answers you need someday.”
“But not today. Blah blah blah,” she said as she waved her hand in the air. “I don’t need to hear it from you too.”
God she hated when people were condescending to her. As if being female made her more prone to melodrama. She was capable of making sound decisions and didn’t fly off on tangents for no apparent reason. Something about Logan’s case wasn’t right… She’d figure it out eventually. In the meantime, she could harass Phil a little bit.
“Now tell me what is really going on with you. What was so important you had to take a sabbatical for the afternoon?”
“I believe I said it isn’t anything you have to worry over. It didn’t require your assistance.” His lips formed a thin white line.
My, my, someone is a bit testy… She narrowed her eyes and said, “Now I have to know.”
“I wish you wouldn’t push,” he said. “I don’t particularly want to discuss it.”
Carly frowned. What could have possibly happened that had him so upset. She didn’t like it one bit. Phil was usually more—congenial. He wanted to help others and didn’t do anything outright mean. He was no nonsense and she loved him for it, or maybe it was in spite of it. She wasn’t entirely sure but that didn’t matter. What did was his apparent distress. Phil never was like that.
“Maybe you would be better if you went home. Talk to Addison if you can’t talk to me.” It irritated her to say that. She wanted him to confide in her. “If you’re going to be so crabby—you’re no use to me.”
“I am not talking with Addison about a damn thing,” he grunted out. “She’s the last person I want to see right now.”
Carly paused and stared at him. What the hell was that about? Was there trouble in paradise? Was it sad that actually made her happy? She shouldn’t wish any kind of distress in his marriage, but she didn’t like Addison. She’d tried to like her, truly she had. Addison was just—not friendly. It boggled her mind that two people as different as Phil and Addison had married in the first place.
“Are you and Addison fighting?” she asked gently, regret pooling in her gut as if she had eaten something rotten. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have needled you.”
“It’s not that…” Phil stepped back and brought his hand to his mouth. He turned his back to her and bowed his head.
What wasn’t she getting? None of it made sense. There hadn’t ever been a time that Phil couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her something. Hell, he knew all of her secrets—save one. Maybe one day she’d tell him that she loved him, but now was not that time.
He didn’t bother to face her as he spoke, “If you want to know where I was…”
“Only if you want to tell me,” Carly interrupted. “It’s none of my business if it was something personal.”
He glanced over his shoulder and glared. “Will you let me get a word in?”
“I’m sorry,” she replied remorsefully. “Please continue.”
“I was in court.” He sighed and turned fully around and met her gaze. “I finalized my divorce today.”
She could not have heard him correctly. “Say what?”
Carly hadn’t even realized there was any sort of discord in his relationship with Addison. Why in the hell would they have gotten a divorce? What had she missed?
“My marriage has been over for a while,” Phil said without an ounce of emotion. “Despite appearances to the contrary.”
That was…amazing. Leaping for joy was probably a very bad idea. She shouldn’t be happy, but oh God was she. But for now she’d be the good friend and say the right things. “I’m sorry, so so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?”
He shook his head. “I’m fine. Like I said, it’s been over for a while.”
With those words, he spun on his heels and stormed out of her office. He had left her with a lot to think about. The question was, what would her next move be?
ORDER HERE
https://books2read.com/ThereYoullBe