Stonehill series collect.., p.31
Stonehill Series Collection, page 31
Annie put a hand to her chest, barely hiding her mischievous grin. “What?”
“You told her about the baseball tournament.” He groaned when all three women started laughing again.
“Don’t be embarrassed.” Dianna lifted her glass as if to hide her smile. “It was a long time ago.”
“And yet my sister still tells the tale.”
“If you’d listened to me when I said you couldn’t borrow pants from someone two sizes larger than you—”
“Mine were dirty.”
“—they wouldn’t have fallen down and you wouldn’t have cost the team two runs and ultimately the game.”
“Thanks.” He walked to the table and snatched a cookie off a platter. “I can’t believe you’re telling her this.”
Dianna playfully glared at him. “That’s what you get for trying to throw me to the wolves.”
He stuffed a Christmas-tree-shaped cookie into his mouth. “I did no such thing.”
Paul glanced at his sister. The way she was smiling—with amusement and approval rather than the plastered-on, forced smile she’d always given him when Michelle was around—warmed his heart. He was far too old to be seeking the approval of his sister, but it felt good to see her genuinely smiling at him.
“Took you long enough to come check on her,” Annie said. “I could have chewed up your girl and spit her out ten times over.”
“I wasn’t worried. I knew you’d like her,” he said, as if Dianna wasn’t sitting right there.
“I’m sure.” Annie’s voice had softened from teasing to gentle. “Go tell everyone to wash up. Lunch is ready.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Paul called the family to the table, and when Dianna emerged from the kitchen carrying a dish, he took it. “So it went well?”
She put her hand on her hip and tried to look angry, but he could see she wasn’t. “You abandoned me.”
“You were laughing at me.”
She nodded. “Yes, we were.” Reaching out, she pulled a blond hair that matched that of his two young nieces from his sweater. “And what were you doing while I was winning over your protectors?”
“Having a tea party with the girls. I bet Donna and Annie were easier on you than those kids were on me. I didn’t lift my pinky. I was nearly banished.”
Di giggled. “You should have better table etiquette.”
“Obviously.”
He pulled out a chair for her as his family started piling into the room and the table filled with food. He sat next to her as conversations overlapped and people settled in for their annual dinner. It was the first holiday meal in years where he felt relaxed and welcomed instead of defensive. He didn’t feel the need to justify having this woman by his side.
“So, Paul.” Annie handed him a dish of green beans. “When I asked Dianna how you two met, she said I had to ask you.”
The other conversations stopped as everyone focused on Paul. He dropped a spoonful of beans onto his plate and looked at Dianna. “She tells you my most embarrassing moment ever, and you can’t even tell her how we met?”
“Oh, man,” Matt said, “Annie told you about the baseball game?”
“She did.” Dianna smiled brightly. “I’m really bummed there aren’t any photos, though.”
“Thanks.” Paul passed her the dish. “I appreciate the support.”
Dianna took the beans from him. “I do what I can. Anyway, I thought the tale of our paths crossing was better told by you. You were the one who sought me out.”
“Did you meet online or something?” Donna asked.
“It was much less orthodox than that,” Dianna said.
“Wait a second,” Matt said from across the table. “I didn’t make the connection before. Friedman? Dianna Friedman. The ex-wife.”
“There’s no ex about it,” Dianna said. “Not yet anyway.”
“What ex-wife?” Annie passed the dish of potatoes to Paul.
“The one who testified. At his hearing,” Matt clarified.
The weight of everyone’s stares pressed down on Paul, as well as a resurgence of the guilt he still felt over having asked Dianna to share with the court how she’d caught her husband having sex with Michelle.
Annie looked from Dianna to Paul and back again. “So you guys met when Paul asked you to testify?”
“After the hearing, we had coffee and spent a long time talking about our marriages and divorces and…bonded over our misery,” Paul offered.
“Now we all get to stare at you and make you really uncomfortable.” Matt clearly was trying to lighten the tension at the table.
Dianna laughed.
Paul tried, but he found it difficult. “Neither one of us was expecting our sudden changes in marital status. We both have some things that we weren’t prepared to handle, but we realized we can help each other with those. I helped her buy a car. She’s going to help me redecorate.”
“Thank God,” Annie muttered.
“I’d been a housewife for over twenty years. I never had to do things like negotiate a car sale. Paul has been so gracious in helping me take on all these new responsibilities. I owed him Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Well, you’ve paid your debt after today,” Annie said. “It’s a damned shame what they did to you two, but I’m glad you have each other to get through it. Now that we have that settled”—Annie nudged Paul—“we can get back to telling stories about you.”
Paul considered not answering the phone. If he didn’t, though, he would have to have this conversation face-to-face. He was actually surprised it took his sister this long to call him. He’d dropped Dianna off several hours ago. He had expected the inquisition to start much sooner.
“Hey, Annie,” he said, settling on the couch so he’d be comfortable as his sister analyzed his life.
“She’s nice.”
Paul chuckled. Not even a greeting, just right to the heart of the matter—Dianna. “Yes, she is.”
“Seems sincere.”
“I think so.”
“She’s funny.”
Paul rolled his head back, wishing Annie would just get to the point. “Yes.”
“It was considerate of her to help clean up.”
Ah, a jab at Michelle. “Dianna is very considerate.”
“I remember when you told me about the hearing. How bad you felt for her. I can see why. She doesn’t deserve what her husband did.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“You should bring her around more often.”
Paul lifted his head. Annie had never said that before, not about a single woman Paul had ever dated—and he wasn’t even dating Dianna. “We’re not in a relationship, Annie.”
“Yet.”
He sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Really?”
“What?”
“No woman you’ve ever met was good enough for me. Even Laurel—who, by the way, definitely got the short end of the stick on our marriage—was faulted beyond repair in your eyes. But this woman, whom I’m not even dating, is the one you want me to start bringing around more often?”
“Every other woman, Laurel included, looked at you with dollar signs in their eyes.”
“Come on, Annie. I’m not a millionaire.”
“No. But you do well for yourself, and it shows. I don’t want my little brother with a woman who is more attracted to his wallet than his heart.”
“How do you know Dianna isn’t? Hmm? You spent a few hours with her.”
“And in that short amount of time, I saw more genuine concern for you than I ever saw from either of your ex-wives.”
Paul considered her words, recalled the way Dianna constantly—albeit gently—steered the conversation in a new direction anytime Matt, Donna, or Annie tried to put Paul under their scrutiny. She’d been so clever at it, he’d hardly noticed.
“Well, I may have told her that I’m tired of you guys nitpicking my mistakes.”
“Nobody—” She cut herself off. It was an argument he suspected she didn’t want to have any more than he did. “We love you, Paul. We don’t like seeing you hurting. Today was the first time you looked happy in a very long time. You even laughed a few times. You may not have noticed, but we did. We all did. And it was obvious she did that for you. So. You should bring her around more often. Even if you aren’t dating. Yet.”
Paul opened his mouth, but Annie ended the call before he could respond. Dropping his cell phone onto the sofa, he picked up the remote and turned the television volume up. He didn’t hear Bruce Willis delivering sarcastic lines, however. His mind was wandering back over the afternoon spent with his family. Annie had said it was the first time he looked happy in a very long time, and he had to admit, after the initial uneasiness wore off, it probably was the first time he’d been happy in a long time. He’d been surrounded by his family, and they’d all been able to relax and enjoy each other. That hadn’t happened for years, it seemed.
Now that Michelle was out of the picture, things were returning to normal. He was happy to be around his family without them scrutinizing him. That’s all it was. His happiness had nothing to do with Dianna. He refused to let his happiness be about Dianna.
Chapter 8
Dianna was unloading a bag of groceries when her cell phone rang. She set a bag of apples aside as she pulled the phone from her pocket. She read her attorney’s name on the screen, and her heart plummeted to her stomach.
She held her breath as she connected the call. “Hello?”
“Dianna, it’s Derek Jenson. I hope this isn’t a bad time.”
She looked around the empty kitchen. “No, it’s fine.”
“I just wanted to call you and let you know the paperwork just hit my desk. I’ll send you a copy today, but it’s done. Your divorce is final.”
The wind left her, and she couldn’t seem to refill her lungs. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“If you need anything else—”
She hung up before he could finish. Finally, her body resumed function, and she inhaled sharply. Her mouth started to water as her stomach turned. The breakfast she’d eaten just an hour or so before, a bagel and two cups of coffee, surged violently, and the bitterness of bile burned its way up her throat. She darted into the bathroom, salivating as the need to throw up overcame her.
She slammed the door behind her and dropped to her knees in front of the toilet. Luckily her hair was pulled back in a bun so she didn’t dip it into the water or coat it with vomit as she lost control and retched violently. She vomited again, and then a third time, continuing until there was nothing left in her stomach and she was simply heaving.
Curling up, she hugged her legs and dropped her forehead to her knees as she took slow deep breaths, letting her mind wrap itself around the finality of her marriage. After a long time, she managed to pull herself from the floor to the sink, where she rinsed her mouth and splashed cool water on her face.
At some point, she collapsed on the sofa, where she alternated between feeling numb and wishing the world would stop spinning and her suffering could end.
“Mom?” Sam’s tone sounded concerned, as if he’d called out several times.
Dianna blinked and looked up at him.
“What’s wrong?”
She tried to smile, but tears fell from her eyes. Of all the horrible things she’d had to tell him the last six months—Dad left, Dad’s seeing someone else, Dad filed for divorce—this was probably the worst.
“It’s final,” she whispered. “We’re divorced.”
His face sank more and more with every word she said. When she finished, his mouth was hanging open, like she’d dealt him some reality he hadn’t been prepared to handle.
Dianna stifled down the emotions that were trying to erupt from her. She didn’t think she had any more in her. Her chest ached, her throat burned, and her head throbbed from the sobbing that had racked her body throughout the day. But here it was again, threatening to overwhelm her. She swallowed again, one more attempt to steady her voice before speaking. “I’m sorry, babe.”
“Don’t be. Dad’s a dick.” His voice was hard. “He always has been.”
“Sam.”
“No, Mom. Screw him. And his cunt fiancée.” He walked around the sofa and plopped down next to her. “You didn’t tell me not to say the C-word.”
She sighed. “No. I’ll let you call her that today. It’s fitting today.”
Sam stared at the pile of tissues on the coffee table. “When did you find out?”
“This morning.”
He was quiet. He always grew quiet when he was processing information. “Have you been sitting here like this all day?”
“I’m okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
She bit her lip when she saw tears sitting on his lower eyelids, threatening to run down his cheeks.
“Don’t lie to me, Mom. I can handle it.”
She ran her hand over the back of his head. “I know you can. But you shouldn’t have to.”
He looked down and wiped at his face, and Dianna’s heart broke all over again. A sob escaped her, which triggered one from Sam. Nothing was worse than seeing her boys cry, and as much as Sam tried to laugh life off, he was sensitive. This was hurting him, which made it even worse for her.
He took a breath. “Do you need something? Coffee? Something to eat?”
Fresh tears fell from her eyes as she considered how proud she was of him. He’d picked up more hours at work so he didn’t have to ask her for money, he’d started taking out the trash, and over summer, he’d mown the lawn without her pestering him about it. He’d stepped up and helped her in more ways than she could have ever foreseen.
And now, as his world was coming apart, he was asking if she needed something. It broke her heart and filled her with pride at the same time. He looked away when she sobbed again.
“I’m sorry, Sammy. I thought I would be stronger than this.”
“You are strong, Mom.” His deep voice cracked. “You always have been.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and looked away from her. “I suck at this stuff. I’m gonna call Kara.”
“No. Honey, I love Kara, but I don’t need her hovering right now. I just don’t.” She ruffled his hair and took a breath. “I’m all right. I’m having a bad day, but I’m okay. We’re going to be okay. You and me and Jason. We’re okay.”
“Have you told Jas yet?”
She shook her head. “No. I wanted him to get through all his classes first.”
“It’s almost five. He’s been done with classes for a while. I’m going to call him.”
Dianna tried not to let her surprise show. Almost five? She really had been sitting there all day. A sense of defeat started edging in on her depression. “Are you sure? I don’t know how he’ll take it.”
“He’ll be okay. Dad probably already called him anyway. He always tells Jason everything. Can I use your phone? My battery died.”
She handed him her phone and watched him leave. Leaning back on the couch, she exhaled slowly. She had told herself that she wasn’t going to cry, she wasn’t going to fall apart, and more than anything, she wasn’t going to admit how broken she was. She’d done all of the above.
“Damn it,” she breathed as another round of tears found her. She curled up on her side as exhaustion surrounded her. She’d gotten through the worst of it now that she’d told Sam, and if she were honest, she was glad he was telling Jason. She felt guilty letting him do it, but she was relieved, too. It was one less time she’d have to say the words.
Paul brushed Dianna’s hair back from her face. “Di,” he said softly when she barely stirred.
She drew a deep breath before her eyes fluttered open. Her face was pale except for the dark circles under her red and swollen eyes. His heart broke for her. He’d give anything to take the pain from her eyes and see her smiling like she had the day before at Annie’s house.
He pushed more of her hair back and forced a supportive smile to his face. “Hey, sweetie.”
“Paul?” Her voice was slurred and cracked.
“Hi.”
Her lip trembled, and she took a gasping breath. “I’m divorced,” she whispered, and tears instantly filled and then fell from her eyes.
“I know. Sam called me.”
She closed her eyes. “I told him I’m fine.”
“Well, I can see why he disagrees with you. You most definitely are not fine.”
Her shoulders shuddered, and a muted sob rolled from her. “He took it so hard.”
Paul frowned as he wiped a tear from her eye, just so another could fall. In that moment, he wanted to hunt Mitch Friedman down and beat the crap out of him.
Stretching onto the couch with Dianna, Paul tucked her body against his. Once he was situated—one arm curled under his head because there wasn’t any other place to put it and the other around her back—he kissed her head. “Sam is going to be okay.”
She buried her face in his chest. “I couldn’t even comfort him.”
“He didn’t want you to comfort him. He wanted to take care of you. He just didn’t know how.”
“Where is he?”
“I sent him out for some dinner.”
“Oh, God.” Her body rocked with another cry. “I didn’t even feed my son.”
Paul tightened his hold on her. “Stop. He’s fine. He’s doing okay. I may be in trouble, though,” he said, trying to lighten her mood. “I gave him cash and told him to get whatever he wanted and to bring something back for us.”
“He’ll probably come back with nothing but junk food.”
“That’d be okay, huh? At least for tonight.”
Dianna exhaled loudly before pushing her face deeper into Paul’s chest. “I fell apart. I completely fell apart.”
“It was a rough day.”
“It’s not like I didn’t know this was coming.”
“It’s still hard.”
“How can I not be married anymore? How can it all just be over?”
He hugged her closer. “Because he’s a goddamned fool.”
He held her close, brushing his hand over her hair until she finally stopped crying. When she was quiet for a few minutes, he whispered, “Sam should be back soon. Why don’t you clean up before he gets home? Show him you’re going to be okay.”
