followed.
He tried to live his life that way, but things hadn’t worked out like they should. He’d given Lara everything…but it hadn’t been enough.
A blowing gust of wind caught his attention, snow scratching over his windshield. If he didn’t leave the damn truck soon he might be stuck in it for good. He jumped out with his hand on his cell phone and hurried down the street, the wind cutting through his sweater as if it didn’t exist. He’d been stupid to leave the house without a coat, but staying warm hadn’t seemed important at the time. He’d only wanted to get away from Lara’s accusing stare and hurtful words.
He’d been waiting, holding his breath for months, it seemed, but when she’d finally said what he’d been expecting, the reality had shocked him. He’d wanted to grab her and force her to take back the request, shake her until the words no longer existed. But he couldn’t. She had every right to ask for a divorce and even though it felt as if she’d yanked his heart straight from his chest, he had to acknowledge her prerogative to do just that.
He hurried to the corner, then ducked his head and started across the street. The last few years had been tough ones, he’d be the first to admit, but the most recent couple of months had been even worse. Keeping her unaware of what was going on had been damn near impossible. It sounded crazy, even to him, but Conley could not let Lara find out about his problem. She handled situations similar to this all the time and for that very reason—as illogical as it sounded—he didn’t want her involved. He didn’t want to be just another case for her.
Without any warning, a stunningly cold sweep of wind hit him from the side, searing his face and stripping away his breath. His excuses went with it, planting a blow he couldn’t dodge. Who in the hell was he trying to kid? He didn’t want Lara involved with this mess, yeah, but the truth was, he didn’t think she’d even want to be involved.
Their marriage had been on the skids for a very long time. At some indeterminable point, they’d started drifting apart and neither of them had had the energy or time to do anything about it. Like so many couples everyone knew, they’d stopped listening to each other, stopped giving each other the time that every marriage needed.
They were both guilty, but he was the primary offender; he put everything before their marriage. His work. His company. His self. The painful realization stung, but he had to admit it.
He was almost on the other side of the street, and another burning gust of wind brought his head up—or maybe it was something else, he thought later—some kind of sixth sense, a warning he didn’t consciously consider. Whatever it was that made him look, it didn’t really matter.
The car was coming too fast.
Before he could react, Conley realized he didn’t have a chance. The front bumper of the speeding coupe caught him at the knee and pitched him sideways, into the air. It took forever for him to come down and hit the drift of snow.
He thought of Lara as the whole world went quiet.
CHAPTER TWO
DESPITE HER throbbing foot, Lara was on the StairMaster when the doorbell rang. She’d halfheartedly swept the kitchen then jumped on the machine to try to clear her mind with some hard physical activity. The plan had been a good one, but it wasn’t working.
The bell sounded again, and she ignored it again. By the time she got downstairs, whoever was waiting would be gone. She didn’t even care anyway. She didn’t want to see anyone right now. She was too upset.
Lifting a hand to wipe her forehead, she closed her eyes and tried to block out the chimes, but the noise persisted. With a curse, she finally gave up and made her way to the front door. When she reached the entry, Lara could see her neighbor and friend, Sandy Oakley staring inside, her hands cupped around her eyes to peer through one of the sidelights.
Lara moaned out loud. How could she have forgotten? She and Sandy had made a date last week to have breakfast this morning. She’d promised to pick Sandy up more than an hour ago! She hurried to the front door and threw it open, apologizing before Sandy could even get inside and shake off the snow.
“God, Sandy! I’m sorry! I completely forgot about our breakfast—”
“No problem, it’s okay. Really. My car’s in the shop again so I just trudged up the sidewalk in a snowstorm, that’s all. I’m up to it.”
She waved toward the street, and Lara followed her movement. Footsteps proved Sandy’s point. She looked back at her friend. “Why did you walk, for heaven’s sake? Couldn’t Matthew have given you a ride?”
Sandy’s husband, Matthew Oakley, was Conley’s right-hand man and former college roommate. Conley depended a lot on the brilliant hardware designer.
“He had to go in early. Something about some chip or something…” Sandy patted her bulging stomach. “The baby didn’t mind. He likes cold weather. Really…”
Lara rolled her eyes at Sandy’s elaborate exaggeration. Friendly and outgoing, Sandy was the exact opposite of her quiet and intense husband, although just as smart. She and Lara had developed a close friendship over the years, mainly because Sandy was one of those people who never missed an opportunity to announce how she felt about anything. She kept Lara honest.
Shaking out of her coat, Sandy turned around to add to her litany of woes, then she saw Lara’s face. “Oh, my God. You told him, didn’t you?”
Lara nodded, her eyes filling. Sandy enveloped her in a hug; then, with her arm around Lara’s shoulder, she guided them both back to Lara’s kitchen. “Sit down,” she said. “I’ll fix us some tea.” Sandy got out the mugs and tea bags, and within seconds, the smell of lemon and honey filled the kitchen.
“Tell me.” She placed the steaming cups on the kitchen table and sat down in the chair Conley had vacated a scarce half hour before. “What’d he say?”
Lara shook her head. “It didn’t go well. He…he wasn’t thrilled.”
“Did you expect him to be?”
“I thought he was ready.”
“But he’s not.”
Lara sipped her tea and grimaced. Sandy always made it too sweet. “He threw a mug into the sink, then stormed out. It wasn’t like him at all.” She looked up. “You know how he is. Mr. Strong and Silent.”
Sandy waited a heartbeat, then she said just what Lara expected, her reaction sharp and to the point. “You’re an idiot, Lara. A total, complete idiot.”
Outside the back door, the wind suddenly picked up. Snow swirled and the fir tree beside the window tapped a staccato beat against the glass as if it agreed with Sandy’s pronouncement.
“I had to do it,” Lara said stubbornly, not meeting her friend’s eyes. “And you know why.”
“I know why you think you had to do it, but I refuse to believe your suspicions. Conley isn’t that kind of man. You don’t really think that anyway. It’s an excuse, that’s all.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Lara spoke quietly, sadness coloring her words. “There’s an emptiness between us that I can’t fill by myself. We aren’t the couple we used to be. We aren’t close. We aren’t
