Luke hung his head. “Don’t take this out on Connor, Sadi. I was the one who hurt you.”
“You both hurt me! You’re both liars and cheaters as far as I’m concerned. What about Christine? You said at dinner that you loved her! Did you tell her everything? Did you beg her for forgiveness like you just did me?” Sadi knew that Luke hadn’t. She knew that he had had no contact with Christine at all. “When you do decide to work it out with her…. don’t be so stupid Luke. She deserves a hell of a lot better than that. Oh and tell my husband that I’m sure as hell not coming back here now.”
“Sadi…” Luke reached for her arm but she pulled away fiercely.
“Tell him, Luke. Tell him you both screwed up big time.”
Sadi stalked out of her house. The house that wasn’t really hers after all because it wasn’t Connor’s either. God, what wasn’t falling apart in her life right now? Even the SUV she climbed into was registered under Luke’s name.
She felt guilty about driving it away, but she had no idea what she was going to do without a vehicle. The only thing she could think of doing was getting away, and getting back to her children. She craved the milky smell of Katelyn, the soft warm body of her son, eager as ever to see his mother. She loved her children more than anything in the world. Sadi had no idea how she was supposed to protect them from what was happening when she couldn’t even protect herself.
Chapter 12
Luke had shown up at Christine’s shortly after Sadi had driven back. Sadi cursed herself for not having the forethought to park her SUV down the street. Now both brothers knew where she was. Christine had refused to open the door. Finally Luke had called Christine’s cell and Sadi heard her calmly tell Luke that he and Connor would have to undo the mess they made of everything before there was any chance she would speak to him again.
Sadi envied Christie’s poise. Sadi had told her everything upon arriving home and Christine just rolled her eyes.
“It sounds like Luke is completely adrift. He took what he had for granted before the bombing and now he sees a life that he can’t have. A life that was supposed to be his. I think he’s totally confused. I don’t think that either Connor or Luke or meant to hurt you, but it really sounds like they are both totally floundering in their own lies and guilt right now.”
“But Luke is supposed to love you Christine. They’ve wronged both of us.”
Christine nodded. “I’m not worried about myself, Sadi. If Luke loves me, then we’ll work things out.”
Sadi had burst into tears. Christine was also wronged by Luke. The Luke who was supposed to love her, yet Christine was perfectly composed. She didn’t seem angry or hurt at all. Sadi wished she could react that way. She wished the anger that was buried deep with her would just let go of its tenacious hold, that the tears constantly spilling forth would dry up. She wished she could be rational and calm and act like it didn’t matter to her that her life was in shambles, but she couldn’t.
Sadi had put on a brave face for the children, who had huge smiles when they saw her. She tried to pretend she wasn’t upset after Luke’s visit, but it was a long day.
Sadi was relieved when she put the children to bed and she could finally have time alone to sort out her thoughts.
She joined Christine for tea again.
“I’m sorry you had to take days off work for this,” Sadi said. “I’ll pay you back, I promise.”
Christine waved a hand like it was nothing. Like she would do it all over again, even though she had all but just met Sadi.
“I’m going to have to contact Connor. Although hopefully Luke’s given him his phone back since he texted me and called me from it earlier. I just want to talk to him, and to sort this all out. I’m so angry and I’m so hurt, and I have no idea how to move forward…”
Christine nodded with compassion. “I know, Sadi. I think that you’re right though. You do need to talk to Connor and hear what he has to say. I’m sure that he’s beyond sorry. He loves you and he loves his children. For their sakes, I think you at least need to go and hear him out. Soon.”
Sadi excused herself after a cup of tea. She went into the living room and turned her phone on. There were no missed calls and no new texts. She took a deep breath and dialled Connor’s number.
***
Connor looked contrite in a way Sadi had never seen before. When she arrived at his hotel room she was wasn’t sure how she felt about seeing the black circles under his eyes, the sorrow that seemed to line his face and make him look older than he had only a couple days ago.