“Why do I get the feeling that you’re always lying to me, Jules? Then, now, I never get the whole story.”
Her eyes widened. She didn’t expect him to call her on it, he could tell. She sputtered a moment before finding her words again. “I-I’m not always lying to you. You know me too well for me to lie.”
“You’d think so, and yet you’ll look me in the eye and tell me we were just ‘having fun.’ We’ve had a lot of sex over the last few weeks, but that’s the only barrier I’ve broken through with you, Jules. You’re still keeping secrets.”
“You keep your secrets, too, Heath.”
“Like what?” he laughed.
“Like the reason why you really wanted a divorce.”
Heath had no clue what she was talking about. “And what exactly did I say that was a lie?”
“It may not have been a lie, but you have certainly kept your relationship with that other woman quiet while you were sleeping with me the last few weeks. Now you’re free to take her to the Caribbean, right?”
“What woman?”
“The so-called Sweetheart you were gushing at on the phone that day.”
“You mean my sixty-three-year-old secretary?” He chuckled, although it wasn’t so much out of amusement as annoyance. “I knew you were listening in on my phone call.”
“You laid it on pretty thick. Do you really expect me to believe your sweetheart is a woman older than Mom?”
“You should. She likes to be flirted with, so I call her all sorts of pet names. I told her if she held down the fort while I was gone that I would give her a bonus big enough to cover the vacation she wants to take to the beach with her grandkids. Without me,” he added. “Do you really think I would’ve pursued something with you while I had a woman on the side?”
Julianne’s defiant shoulders slumped a bit at his words. “Then why did you really want the divorce, Heath? You came in here demanding it out of nowhere. I thought for sure you had another woman in mind.”
“There’s no other woman, Jules. How could there be? I’m not about to get serious with any woman while I’m married to you. That’s not fair to her. Just like it wasn’t fair to your almost fiancé. You just play with men’s minds but you have no intention of ever giving as much as you take. You’re right. It’s a good thing this was just ‘fun’ to pass the time. It would be foolish of me to think otherwise and fall for your games twice.”
“How dare you!” she said. “You don’t know anything about my relationships. You don’t know anything about what I’ve gone through in my life.”
“You’re right,” he said. “Because you won’t tell me anything!”
“I have always been as honest as I could be with you, Heath.”
“Honest? Really. Then tell me the truth about what happened on our wedding night, Jules. The truth. Not some made-up story about you changing your mind. You were in love with me. You wanted me. The next minute everything changed. Why?”
Julianne stiffened, tears glazing her eyes. Her jaw tightened as though she was fighting to keep the flow of words inside. “Any question but that one,” she managed to say.
“That’s the only question I want answered. Eleven years I’ve spent wondering how you could love me one minute and run from me the next. Tell me why. I deserve to know.”
Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I can’t do that.”
“Then you’re right, Jules. We shouldn’t be married. I’m glad we’ve finally gotten that matrimonial monkey off our backs. Maybe now I can move on and find a woman who will let me into her life instead of just letting me be a spectator.”
“Heath, I—”
“You know,” he interrupted, “all I ever wanted from you was for you to let me in. Over the years, I’ve given you my heart, my soul. I’ve lied for you. Protected you. I would’ve gone to jail before I let anyone lay a finger on you. And hell, I still might if Sheriff Duke comes back around. I’d do it gladly. Even now, although I really don’t know why. I just don’t understand you, Jules. Why do you keep me at arm’s length? Even when we’re in bed together, you’ve kept your distance, kept your secrets. Is it me? Or do you treat all men this way?”
Julianne looked back up at him and this time, the tears were flowing freely. It made his chest ache, even as he fought with her, to see her cry that way. But he had to know. Why did she push him away?
“Just you,” she said. Then she turned and walked upstairs alone.
Eleven
Julianne sat on the edge of the bed staring at the bags she’d already packed. This morning, she would move back into the big house where she belonged. It broke her heart and made her cry every time she thought about it for too long, but she had to do it. They were divorced. No matter how much she loved him, Heath deserved to be happy. He deserved his freedom and a chance with a woman who could give
him everything he wanted.