A Winter Wedding

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure which one you’d like.”


“Unfortunately, I like them all.” She was sad enough to eat them all, too. If she wasn’t careful, she’d gain so much weight while she was here that she wouldn’t fit into any of the clothes she wore when she performed.

A little something extra to worry about...

“Did you hear what I said about Owen’s Heating & Air?” he asked.

“I did. You’re telling me I won’t have heat until Monday.”

“I’m sorry. I could call a few other companies, but even those places will probably tell me it’ll be the first of the week before they can get a tech out here. I figure if that’s the case, we might as well wait for Owen. He should guarantee his work.” He bent his head to peer into her face. “I hope you’re not too upset...”

She’d probably lost the man she’d expected to spend the rest of her life with and, unless she could come up with a Hail Mary pass, she was looking at the demise of her career. Waiting a couple of days to have heat in her rental seemed like a fairly minor problem by comparison. “I’m not.” She felt him watching her while she tried the coffee. “This is good.”

“Glad you like it. No one has better coffee than Black Gold. So...what do you want to do? Again, I’m happy to pay for a bed-and-breakfast. But you’re perfectly welcome to stay here until I get the furnace working.”

She didn’t care to go anywhere else, wasn’t convinced—in her current state—that she’d be able to summon a brave smile for the strangers she might encounter. Besides, the prospect of hanging out at Kyle’s place a bit longer didn’t sound unpleasant. He had a clean, comfortable house with plenty of room. And, considering her situation with Derrick, it might actually be helpful to have the right kind of company. She didn’t want to break down and call Derrick. Last night, during their final conversation, she’d told him not to contact her again unless he passed Crystal on to some other manager. She was afraid she’d be more prone to give in if she was staying on her own. “It’s only for the weekend,” she said. “As long as you can put up with me, I should be fine.”

He seemed surprised. “You’d rather stay here?”

She nodded. “Having someone to talk to last night... That helped,” she said. “But don’t worry. I won’t keep crying on your shoulder.”

“Did you have the chance to work things out with Derrick?”

“No. But I did what I felt I had to do.”

He didn’t ask, although she could tell he was wondering, so she said, “I’ve put everything on hold for now, until he decides how he feels about Crystal.”

“He admitted being involved with her?”

“No. He’d never admit that. I didn’t want to tell you earlier, but...he cheated on his wife when he was married. With an intern who works at one of the major record labels.”

“He was married?”

“Yes, but it didn’t last long.” She’d believed him when he’d told her how demanding his wife had been, how he’d been so frustrated and unhappy and how things had unintentionally gotten out of control when that intern had started flirting with him. Now she felt like an idiot. Was it a onetime mistake, as he’d said? Or was he a serial cheater, more to blame for his divorce than he’d ever taken responsibility for?

Kyle had indicated that his marriage hadn’t lasted long, either, but he made no mention of that now. “Was it the cheating that broke them up?”

“Who can really say what goes on in a marriage? I only have his side. I can tell you that his ex is still bitter about it, though.”

“So you know he’s had at least one extramarital affair.”

“Yes, and I don’t care how many times he swears he’s a changed man, something is going on. I can feel the difference in him. So unless he’s willing to let go of Crystal completely, I can’t stay with him.”

“I admire you for taking a stand.”

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