“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 him two days to accomplish it. Two endless, excruciating days of meetings, phone calls and conference calls with Rhys and Montford. But it was over. The deal was sealed, and he and Rhys were poised to land the biggest contract their company had ever netted.He wanted to call Catherine and share in the joy with her, but a quick check of his watch told him it was after midnight Eastern Time. Instead he flipped open his phone and called Paige.
Her sleepy voice came over the line a moment later, and he cringed guiltily. He didn’t want to wake his wife, but he had no compunction about waking his assistant. A raise. She definitely deserved a raise.
“Paige, I’m on my way back. Rhys is flying in as well.”
“Do you need your driver at the airport?” she asked.
“No, we’ll take a cab to the apartment.” He paused for a moment. “Did you talk to Catherine?”
There was a long silence. “I wasn’t able to reach her either at home or her cell.”