“I’ll take it in my office,” he said joyfully and rushed inside, shutting the door behind him. He snatched up the phone. “Letty? Is it the baby? Are you in labor?”
His wife’s voice sounded strangely flat. “No.”
“Mildred said it was urgent—”
“It is urgent. I’m leaving you. I’m filing for divorce.”
For a long moment he just gripped the phone, that foolish grin still on his face, as he tried to comprehend her words. Then the smile fell away.
“What are you talking about? Is this some kind of joke?”
“No.”
He took a deep breath. “I’ve read about pregnancy hormones...”
Anger suddenly swelled from the other end of the line.
“Pregnancy hormones? Pregnancy hormones? I’m divorcing you because you lied to me. You’ve been lying for months! My father is dying and you never told me!”
Darius’s heart was suddenly in his throat.
“How did you find out?” he whispered.
“Mrs. Pollifax couldn’t understand how I could be such a heartless daughter to just let my father die alone. Don’t worry. I’ve let her know that the heartless one is you.”
He looked up, past his desk to the window overlooking the southern tip of Manhattan, and the Atlantic beyond it. Outside, rain fell in the gray November morning.
He licked his lips and tried, “Letty, I don’t blame you for being upset—”
“Upset? No. I’m not upset.” She paused. “I’m happy.”
That was so obviously not true he had no idea how to react. “If you’ll just give me a chance to explain.”
“You already explained to me, long ago, that you wouldn’t love me. That love was for children. You told me. I just didn’t listen,” she said softly. “Now I really, truly get it. And I want you out of my life for good.”
“No—”
“I’ve brought my father to Fairholme.”
Gripping the phone, he nearly staggered back. “Howard Spencer—in my house?”
“Yes.” Her voice was ice-cold. “I’m not leaving him in the hospital, surrounded by strangers. He’s going to spend his last days surrounded by love, in the home where he was married to my mother.”
“It’s not just your decision. I bought that house and...” He stopped himself, realizing how pompous he sounded. But it was too late.
“Right.” Her voice was a sneer. “Because money makes the man. You think you can buy your way through life. That’s what you do, isn’t it? Buy things. You bought my virginity, and ever since, you’ve kept buying me. With marriage. With money. You didn’t realize it was never your money I wanted.” Her voice suddenly broke to a whisper. “It was you, Darius. My dream of you. The amazing boy you were.” She took a breath. “The man I actually thought you still were, deep down inside.”
“I’m still that man,” he said tightly. “I was going to tell you. I just didn’t want you upset...”
“Upset by my father dying!”
Darius flinched at the derision in her voice. “Perhaps I made a bad decision, but I was trying to look after you.”
“And you assumed I would forgive you.”
He felt shaken. “Forgiveness is what you do.”
She gave a hard laugh. “How convenient for you. Only the idiots who love you have to forgive. But since you never love anyone, you never have to worry about that. You’re free to hurt whomever you please.”