The Good Wife(146)
Sarah didn’t answer.
Kit started climbing the stairs again. Sarah trailed after. They reached the top in silence, and as they walked to Grand Avenue, Sarah was thinking about everything Kit had said.
It would change everything if Boone was faithful.
It would mean she could relax. She could stop obsessing. She could just love him, and feel good about them again.
Kit picked up the pace. Sarah lengthened her stride to catch up. “I just wish I knew for sure,” she insisted. “It would change everything.”
“So let’s play prosecutor,” Kit said. “Let’s build a case against him. Tell me all your incriminating evidence, and what we know so we can convict him.”
“He cheated three years ago. Had an affair that lasted a couple of months.”
“Yes, we have that. And that was bad. He didn’t come clean willingly. You found out. He denied it. You did some research and confronted him with evidence, and then and only then did he confess and apologize.”
Sarah hated the facts. “That alone would influence a jury.”
“Yes, if that’s the only evidence presented. But now you’re the defense attorney. What would you say about Boone in his defense?”
Sarah sighed. “He’s a good father. For the most part a thoughtful husband. He is affectionate. Compliments me. Is great in bed. But that could work against him in a courtroom, too.”
“Is he reliable? Does he show up when he says he will, fulfill his commitments, support you and your family?”
“Yes. And yes and yes and yes.”
“Do you have any evidence at all that he’s been unfaithful these past few years?”
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing that couldn’t be explained. The receipts for breakfast that were for two, were actually for Boone and a team member. The waitress he likes turns out to be a teammate’s girlfriend.”
“So there is nothing in the past three years to make you doubt him? It’s just the past.”
“The past haunts me.”
“You’re still angry.”
“And hurt.”
“You haven’t forgiven him.”
“I don’t know how.”
“I think you could figure out how, Sarah, if you decided you wanted to forgive him. The real issue seems to be, do you want to forgive him?”
They’d turned onto Hollister.
“I’m not sure,” Sarah admitted.
Kit glanced at Sarah. “Maybe you should talk to Meg about that.”
“Why?”
“Jack couldn’t forgive her for what she did, and it broke her heart.”
“But Meg’s . . . Meg. She’s a really good person.”
Kit’s eyebrows arched. “And Boone’s not?”
* * *
Back at the house, Sarah showered and changed into a sundress, and then called her dad, who Brianna said was staying at the house with the kids so Boone could go to the park each night.
“Hi, Dad,” she said.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
“Okay.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry about missing your birthday.”
“You weren’t feeling so hot.”
“I was upset. Not sick.”
“You were heartsick. Worse than flu sick, babe.”
Her throat swelled shut. “You know Boone and I are . . . not . . .” Her voice faded. She couldn’t say “divorcing,” not to her dad. “Not . . . doing so good?”
“He told me that he was moving out of the house permanently before he leaves this weekend.”
Sarah didn’t even know what to say.
“Sarah, people make mistakes,” her dad said gruffly.
“I don’t want to be hurt like that ever again.”
“And I don’t want you hurt again. I don’t like my girls getting hurt. I don’t like my kids hurting. I don’t want anyone I love to hurt. But it’s part of life. To live . . . to love . . . you take risks. You have a child . . . there’s a risk. They walk across the street. Risk. They put pizza wrapped in foil in the microwave—”
“Boone told you.”
“Brennan told me. He thought that as a fireman, I should know.”
Sarah smiled faintly. “As Mom always said, there are no guarantees.”
“That’s right. There are no guarantees. And you, of all people, know that. You grew up playing every sport there was. You even played lacrosse before anyone here in the city had heard of it. And why did you play it? Because someone said that girls couldn’t play. So you begged for a stick and that was that.
“Sarah, you’re the competitor in the family. And yet you, who love your husband so passionately, have walked off the field in the middle of the game, claiming defeat. But the game’s not over. It’s not even the fourth quarter.”