the receiver, she fumbled with the cell, turning it over in her hand to see that it was, indeed, dead.
“Logan?” she said as she punched the on button.
“Catherine. Finally.”
“Logan, where are you?” she asked.
“I’m in the car. Something came up.” A long silence descended over the line, and she heard him
suck in his breath. “About the trip, Catherine…”
Oh no. No, no, no. He wouldn’t.
“I’m afraid we’re going to have to postpone it. Rhys and I have to fly out. Why don’t you see if
you can reschedule it. We’ll go wherever you like as soon as we get back.”
Numb to her toes, she stood, hand gripped tight around the phone. She began to shake, and she
gulped back the sob in her throat.
“Catherine, are you there?”
“Y-yes. Of course. I’ll see what I can do.”
She thought she heard him sigh in relief. “I love you, baby. And I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to
you. Just a minute. Rhys wants to talk to you.”
She closed her eyes as Rhys’ deep voice came over the line.
“Cat?”
“I’m here,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. This deal has us by the balls. We’ll be back soon. I promise.”
She couldn’t even respond. She didn’t want to hear yet one more promise she now knew
wouldn’t be kept. She murmured something appropriate, and then he said he had to go.
She eased the phone from her ear, sliding her thumb over the off button. Then she let it fall with
a clank onto the table.
Not one word of their anniversary dinner that they’d blown off. They’d only called to cancel
their vacation. The two-week trip she’d painstakingly planned, so excited that they’d agreed to
go.
Her hands flew to her face, covering her eyes as tears seeped down her cheeks. Oh God, what
had happened to them? She sank to the floor, the expensive wood hard against her stocking-clad
knees.
It was time for her to face some hard facts. Her marriage was a mess. A disaster. And worse, she
couldn’t fix it. God knew she’d tried. The problem wasn’t her, or lack of effort on her part. The
problem was husbands who placed more importance on everything else in their lives but her.
Husbands who took her complacence for granted.
She dragged herself to her feet and stumbled shakily toward the bedroom. When her gaze
alighted on the trip itinerary on the nightstand, she closed her eyes and shook her head.
The trip was their last chance. One last effort on her part to put things right between them. To
somehow capture something long missing in their relationship. She wanted so desperately to go
back to the time when all that mattered was that they were together. In her mind, if she could just
get them away for a few days, they would see how far off course they’d gone. And maybe they’d
realize that they missed her as much as she missed them.
She went to the large walk-in closet and hauled out her packed suitcase, tossing it on the bed.
She blinked and stared down at it. What was she doing?
I’ll tell you what you’re doing. You’re going on that trip. Without Rhys and Logan. I doubt
they’ll even notice you’re gone.
She glanced again at the itinerary. Maybe some time away was exactly what she needed.
She stepped over to the nightstand and picked up the sheet of paper with her flight and hotel
reservations. With a sigh, she sank onto the bed, the words blurring in her vision.
She couldn’t do this anymore. Pretend that everything was okay. When a wife didn’t see her
husband more than a few hours a week, when that husband never remembered important dates,
cancelled every plan they had together, it was time to face the truth. Her marriage was over. It
had been for a very long time.
The paper shook in her hand. She wasn’t typically a hysterical ninny. She wasn’t prone to
overreaction. She’d spent the last five years sucking it up and smiling while on the inside she
ached. She’d played the understanding wife to the hilt.
Now looking back, she realized what a huge mistake she’d made. She had no one to blame but
herself. But damn it, that didn’t mean she had to suffer any longer for it.
Galvanized to action, she stood and tugged her suitcase. She’d spend tonight in an airport hotel
and catch her flight in the morning. Two weeks on a Jamaican beach sounded like a perfect
amount of time to figure out what the hell she was going to do with the rest of her life.
Chapter Two
Logan boarded his jet, a smug smile curving his lips. One disaster averted. And it had only taken