She watched silently as he adjusted his seat and the mirrors, but her mind was all over the place. Part of her was disappointed that they had to leave without doing what he’d said he was going to. But the other part of her brain was straight-up relieved. While she knew he would have shown her great pleasure, and hopefully this time with the actual happy ending, the images that his words had sent floating around inside her head hadn’t been pretty ones. Oh, he had been pretty enough in them, but Mary had no delusions about herself. He might be older than her, but she looked older than him . . . and with an older woman’s body. And he could say he liked it all he wanted, but it wouldn’t change the fact that she didn’t like it. At least, she didn’t like it next to his young, fit-looking body.
Sighing, she turned her gaze out the window as Dante shifted into gear and steered the RV out of their pull-thru parking spot.
“Should I stop at the office so you can let them know we are leaving?” Dante asked, as they approached the main building.
“No,” Mary murmured, glancing to the building. “They have my credit-card number. I’ll just call them later to let them know something came up.”
Dante nodded, and steered past the building to approach the gate and Mary turned her face away from the offices, knowing she’d probably e-mail rather than call. She also would never come back here, whether Carol and Dave sold the campground or not. She liked Carol and still considered her a friend, but she’d learned too much to want to ever spend time around Dave again. He was, as Dante had said, a dog. Just as her Joe had been, she acknowledged. But Joe had changed, or she’d thought he had, while Dave obviously hadn’t. She didn’t think she could bear being around the man, always worrying he’d make that pass at her Dante had said he’d planned, and she didn’t think that if he did, she could keep herself from telling Carol. She just didn’t want to be in the middle of that. She’d dealt with her own husband long ago, and thought they’d sorted everything out, but Carol had never confronted Dave that she knew of.
“What are you thinking?”
Mary glanced to Dante and hesitated briefly, but then admitted, “About the Bigelows, and my husband and my life with him.”
“Tell me about your life with your Joe?” he asked softly.
Mary turned her face forward and stared at the passing scenery for a moment. “I was six months pregnant the first time Joe cheated on me,” she said slowly, and then grimaced and added, “At least the first time I knew he was cheating on me and I think it really was the first time he did cheat on me.”
“I’m sorry,” Dante said quietly.
Mary waved the words away. She didn’t want sympathy. She wanted him to understand why she would stay with Joe when he did that. Clearing her throat, she said, “He was working late a lot, and came home smelling of perfume sometimes. I started to suspect he was . . . well, doing what he was doing,” she admitted wryly. “But of course I didn’t want to believe it. Still, I hired a private detective to follow him.”
She felt him glance at her, but didn’t turn to see what his expression was and continued. “Well, it wasn’t long before Joe was working late again one night and the private detective called and gave me an address and a room number. It was a cheap little motel on the outskirts of the city. I went there, and—they hadn’t even bothered to close the curtains. He was there with his secretary.”
Mary heard the bitterness in her own voice, and paused to take a breath. “I—well, I guess I lost it. I started pounding on the door and shouting.” She smiled wryly. “I think every door in that motel opened but the one I was pounding on. I cursed him, and said I was going to divorce him, and yelled that he was cowardly scum that wouldn’t even face the music and his secretary was a slut, then I jumped in the car and squealed out of there and crashed into a semi.”
The RV swerved slightly and Dante cursed and started to pull over, but Mary stared straight ahead and said, “If you stop, I’ll stop talking. Please just drive.”
He hesitated, the RV still slowing, and then put his foot back on the gas.
Mary let her breath out, but waited another moment. Even after all these years the memories hurt and she was afraid her voice would crack if she didn’t get herself under control before she continued. But it was harder than she expected and Mary cursed and undid her seat belt.
“Do you want a coffee?” she asked, getting out of her seat.
Dante nodded and glanced at her, and the sadness in his eyes was nearly her undoing. Turning abruptly, she moved back to the coffee machine and switched the inverter on. As she waited for the machine to heat up, Mary took the time to compose herself. By the time she’d made two coffees she felt more like her old self and even managed a smile when he thanked her for the coffee she set in his cup holder.