“Don’t do it for me,” she said. “She has no reason to go after me.”
“Jealousy is...jealousy. It isn’t rational.”
“True, but there are no guarantees that going over there will help—especially since you can’t give her what she wants. I say we go on as if she doesn’t exist.” She gestured toward the living room, with the Christmas tree lit up in one corner. “It’s the holidays. Let’s forget anything and everything that’s upsetting and just enjoy the next few weeks.”
“What about that album you need to write?” he asked.
She gave him a hopeful smile. “I’ve started my first song, although progress is slow. I’ve lost so much confidence that nothing seems to be any good. But I’m hoping the process will get easier with time.”
“You just have to keep at it.”
“Exactly.”
He rested his hands on his hips. Maybe he’d be doing Noelle as much of a favor as he’d be doing himself if he quit trying to set a new standard for amicable exes and shut off all communication. Except that monthly check, of course, which he’d agreed to pay.
Actually, considering how much she’d borrowed, he didn’t owe her a check, not for six months or more. But if she’d mind her own business and leave him alone, he’d be happy to send it. Now that she’d lost one of her jobs, she was going to need that money more than ever—
Suddenly, he realized that he did have some leverage with Noelle.
“Don’t worry,” he told Lourdes. “Everything’ll be okay.”
*
It was after midnight when Kyle called Noelle. It had taken that long for Lourdes to go to bed. He didn’t want her overhearing the conversation, but he also didn’t want to let another night pass without trying to head off any future trouble. As much as Lourdes felt he shouldn’t do anything, Noelle wasn’t the type to back off on her own—not when she was as fixated as she’d been of late. Lourdes just happened to come to town at a bad time, during one of the many periods when Noelle wasn’t preoccupied with any other relationship and was making another run at him. She felt displaced and rejected, and Kyle guessed she’d make their lives miserable if she could.
As he paced on the back patio, waiting for her to pick up the phone, some of their worst arguments paraded through his mind. She’d often lost her temper and thrown things, broken things or come at him as if she was going to strike him. That was part of the reason he’d refused to buy her the big house and expensive jewelry, trips and clothes she’d demanded. He wasn’t going to be that foolish with his money. Just because business was good didn’t mean it would always be good. He had to prepare for the worst. But he also wasn’t interested in rewarding her behavior.
Fortunately, she’d never caught him at enough of a disadvantage that she’d seriously hurt him. Although there’d been times when he should’ve called the police, he’d had too much pride. He didn’t want his parents and friends—the whole town—to hear how terrible his marriage had turned out to be. So when she got confrontational, he’d hold her down, making it impossible for her to hit, kick or scratch. Or, more often, he’d leave. He’d spent many a night at his office, which Morgan knew; that was, no doubt, partly why she hated Noelle. Morgan was the one who’d arrive the next morning and find him on the air mattress he stored in the closet of his office. She’d probably told other people he wasn’t happy with Noelle, so it wasn’t as if he’d been able to keep his difficulties a secret. But at least no one knew his situation was quite as bad as it had been.