Читать книгу In Confidence - Karen Young - Страница 12

Rachel had an eye out for Nick at Kendall’s soccer game, but he didn’t show, which was unusual. Since the beginning of the season, he’d made it a point to go to nearly every game because somehow Ted never could. Kendall always beamed after spotting Nick in the bleachers, and her teammates almost swooned with delight over her big brother. But today there was no sign of Nick.

The team won, anyway, and Rachel saw Kendall off in an SUV with Amy Milton’s mom driving, then headed over to see Dinah. As she got out of her car in her mother’s driveway, she glanced with new interest at the house next door, now that she knew it belonged to Cameron Ford. A rambling forties-style cottage, it was a soft shade of buttery yellow with elaborate gingerbread trim painted white. Clearly, it had been added on to more than once over the years and the result was charming, she had to admit. In the front yard, a huge oak with wide-spread limbs furnished deep shade and beauty that no amount of professional landscaping could match. Underneath the ancient tree was a white wrought-iron lawn set, a table and four chairs that would be the perfect place to enjoy morning coffee while reading the paper or to laze away a summer afternoon with a book and a glass of ice-cold lemonade.

She’d noticed the house a couple of years ago when she’d called on a student’s parents who lived nearby, never dreaming her mother would one day decide to move to the neighborhood. At the time, she seemed to recall this particular house showing dire signs of neglect. Cameron must have decided to restore it.

She saw movement of the lace curtain at the upstairs window and wondered if he was watching her now, probably thinking her visit to her mother was in response to his lecture about neglecting Dinah. Turning away, she hurried up the flagstone walk to her mother’s front door.

As soon as she got inside, Dinah called out from somewhere in the rear of the house. “I’m back here! Pour yourself some wine, Rachel. It’s six o’clock somewhere.”

Not a bad idea, Rachel thought. An opened bottle of a good cabernet sat breathing on the kitchen counter with one of Dinah’s unique wineglasses ready and waiting. She poured the wine and went in search of her mother.

“Hi,” she said, upon finding Dinah curled up on a chaise on her patio. Afternoon sun had taken the chill off the day, not unusual in this part of Texas in February. Rachel held up the wine. “Were you expecting someone?”

“You,” Dinah said. “Nick dropped by earlier.”

“Oh.”

“He’s mad as hell at Ted.”

“Well, that makes five of us, I guess.”

“Who’s the fifth?” Dinah ticked off on her fingers, “Me, Nick, Kendy, you and—”

“Marta.” Rachel sat down on the porch swing. “I should have guessed Nick would come straight to you. I hoped I would get over here before you heard it from one of the kids. And you’re right, he was very angry. It may be a long time before Ted can mend what was destroyed this morning. If ever.”

“Hmm.” Dinah took a sip of wine. “The only thing that surprised me was the fight with Walter. It’s hard to imagine Ted actually getting into a physical confrontation with anyone. Over anything. I wish I’d been there.”

“It wasn’t Ted’s doing, believe me.” Rachel rubbed her left temple and added in an unsteady voice, “And, trust me, Mom, you wouldn’t want to see it. I was already dreading having to tell the kids their father is having an affair and wants to move out, but to have them learn it that way made it even more traumatic. The whole thing still seems so unbelievable.” Tears started in her eyes and she abruptly leaned over and set her glass on a small wrought-iron table. “Ted with another woman,” she murmured, pressing her fingers to her lips. “I’m still in a state of shock.”

“Excuse me, ladies.”

Rachel looked around, startled to find Cameron Ford at the edge of the patio. She turned away, quickly swiping at both eyes as Dinah greeted him. How long had he been there, she wondered frantically. How much had he heard?

“Are you knocking off early today, Cam?” Dinah asked.

After a keen look at Rachel’s face, he replied to Dinah. “Just taking a break. I realized when I got home from the hospital that I had some personal items of yours. When they removed your watch and earrings, they gave them to me for safekeeping.” He handed her a small plastic bag.

“Thank you,” Dinah said, peeking into the bag. “I realized this morning that I’d left them at the hospital, so I would have wasted a trip going back for them.”

“I spotted you sitting out here from my kitchen window and didn’t realize that you weren’t alone. I can see my timing’s off.”

“Not at all,” Dinah spoke, stopping him as he turned to go. “There’s more wine. Rachel, go inside and pour a glass for Cam. Or there’s beer, if you’d prefer that.”

He looked directly at Rachel then. “No, thanks.” He seemed to hesitate, then he blew out a breath and squared his shoulders. “I suppose now’s as good a time as any to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Rachel knew traces of tears were still in her eyes and wished she had a tissue. Almost as the thought was born, he produced a neatly folded handkerchief.

“Here, looks like you’ve had some bad news.”

She hesitated briefly, then took the handkerchief, murmuring thanks before pressing it to her eyes. There was no hiding the fact that she’d been crying. “What are you apologizing for?”

“For being out of line at the hospital yesterday. It was the wrong time to jump you about something that’s none of my business.”

Dinah chuckled. “But you’ll reserve the right to jump her at another time, huh?”

A smile threatened before he bent down to pick up a leafy twig that had blown onto the flagstone surface. “Maybe if I count to ten, it’ll save me from sticking my foot in my mouth again,” he replied, settling his gaze again on Rachel.

“Just so you’ll know, Cam, Rachel makes more time for me than I deserve.” Dinah disregarded a murmured denial from Rachel. “And if I felt neglected, she knows I wouldn’t be shy about saying so.”

“Like I said, I was over the line.”

“Forget it,” Rachel said, wishing he’d go.

“One more thing,” Cam said, studying the twig in his hands before looking up into her eyes. “I’ve spit out the apology, so I might as well be in for a penny as in for a pound. I couldn’t help overhearing the reason you’re upset. For what it’s worth, if Ted has screwed around and messed up your life and his kids’, too, then he’s a bigger fool than I figured.”

Rachel stared, unsure how to respond to such a straight-on insult to Ted, even if she’d been in a mood to defend him. A more tactful person would have ignored what was clearly a personal conversation, wouldn’t he? While she was trying to think of a reply, he straightened, adding as he was half-turned to leave again, “Did it really come as a shock to you?”

“Yes. Of course.” And was instantly shocked that she’d answered. The subject was devastatingly personal and he was, after all, a virtual stranger. Frowning, she gave a confused shake of her head. “Do you know Ted? Have the two of you met?”

“It’s a small town. I’ve seen him on the golf course and…around here and there. He’s a jerk. Beats me what you saw in him to begin with, but with two kids and a pretty solid history together, he’s the loser in this, not you.”

“Why don’t you tell us what you really think?” Dinah put in dryly.

Rachel hardly noticed, she was so riveted by what he was telling her. Later, she’d probably figure out that he still felt so hostile toward her that it had been easy to speak with brutal honesty. Which gave her more information than she’d get from her friends, even if they’d known about Ted. “Since you’re into plain speaking about my husband,” she said stiffly, “I’d like to know if you were aware of other times when he…he…”

“Cheated?” Cam broke the twig in half and tossed it in the grass. “If I did, I wouldn’t tell you. What good would it do? You’d only feel worse than you do already.”

“My sentiments exactly,” Dinah said.

Again ignoring her mother, Rachel rose slowly from the swing. “Then you do know something?”

“What you need to do now,” he said, ignoring her question, “is to beat him to the punch in case my reading of his character holds. Go to the bank and make sure he doesn’t clean out your accounts, which would leave you in a financial bind just when you don’t need that kind of grief. And since he’s caused the upheaval in your life, you and your kids shouldn’t be forced to alter your lifestyle. Do you have a lawyer?”

“A lawyer?”

“Yeah, trust me. You need a lawyer.”

Her expression turned frosty. “I don’t see what concern—”

“It’s not my concern. I’m just telling you that your first step should be to call a lawyer. And not someone used to handling both your business affairs. Get someone new, and while you’re at it, get someone who’s good.”

“You should call Stephanie Roscoe, Rachel,” Dinah suggested.

“Wait—” Rachel pressed her fingers against both temples. “Enough, please. This is crazy. We—I—don’t know if any of this is necessary. Ted’s probably going through a midlife crisis. That’s usually a temporary thing. It’s common for men of his age.” She glanced at them and got only bland stares in return. “And even so, I don’t think Ted would take advantage that way. He—”

She was interrupted by her mother’s snort of disgust. “You just found out he’s been cheating on you for a year, honey. And until you saw it with your own eyes, you probably didn’t think he’d do something like that, did you?”

Rachel sat back down again. “This is insane,” she murmured.

Cam propped a foot on the edge of the patio. “It happens all the time.”

She looked up at that, hearing more than a trite cliché in his tone. “It happened to you?” It was a personal question, but he’d opened the door himself.

“Call it the voice of experience.” He shrugged, stepping back to leave. “And if I had it to do over again, I’d react differently. I wouldn’t waste time in denial. You sound as if you’re ready to defend Ted, but he’s not showing the same sensitivity to you or your kids, so forget him and think about the kids and…just in case…take some common-sense precautions, that’s all I’m saying.”

He brushed grit from his hands. “And since I’m so full of advice today, I’ll just make this one other suggestion. Don’t waste time wondering what you did or didn’t do that made him cheat. That’s mostly a road to nowhere when you need to be concentrating on what you and the kids’ll do with the rest of your life.” He then stepped off the patio and walked away as abruptly as he’d appeared.

“Whoa,” Dinah said softly as soon as he was out of earshot. “And here we thought he was surly and insensitive and had a deep-seated grudge against you.”

“I still think that,” Rachel said, watching him make his way across the lawn, setting a fast clip to cover the distance between her mother’s property and his. “Yesterday, he could barely be civil to me and today he’s doling out advice, but not in a very loving way. He’s probably getting some kind of sick satisfaction knowing my life is falling apart.” She gave a push on the swing with one foot and settled back while it swayed gently. “Whatever his motives, I don’t need his advice.”

“I wouldn’t dismiss it so lightly, hon. To hear him tell it, he’s been there, done that. Besides, it can’t hurt to call Stephanie and simply run the situation by her, just to hear what she might suggest.”

Rachel looked at her mother. “Mom, for Ted to do what Cameron said would be a betrayal as bad as his cheating in the first place. Do you really think he would be so…so low-down?”

“I’m hardly unbiased, but I’ve seen some pretty sneaky things done when couples begin talking divorce. You—”

“We haven’t decided to divorce! Ted’s moving to the lake cabin, but it’s more like a separation. He’ll come to his senses, I’m sure of it. The consequences of an affair with Francine are just too dire. For one thing—if we’re talking assets—Ted’s whole financial life is tied up in the practice and the affair jeopardizes his position there. He had a taste of Walter’s reaction this morning, for heaven’s sake. He can’t think Walter will simply stand aside while Ted steals his wife and yet expects to continue to work alongside him every day, can he?”

“Betcha a dollar to doughnuts that he’s telling himself he’ll figure a way to get around that sticky issue.”

“I grant you his behavior is pretty disgusting,” Rachel said as she bent forward and picked up her wineglass, “but he won’t just dismiss eighteen years of marriage and our two children like one of his used suits. You’ll see.”

“Just promise me you’ll call Stephanie.”

That lowlife, Cam thought as he made his way back across the lawn. And stupid to boot, screwing around with his partner’s wife. Although he didn’t know Ted Forrester beyond a few casual encounters at the golf course, he’d seen him a couple of months ago at a restaurant in Dallas with a woman and it wasn’t Rachel. With no connection to Rachel other than the few minutes he’d spent in her office five years before, he’d thought nothing of it. But now…somehow after overhearing her talking to her mother and knowing the boy’s concern, he couldn’t quite manage the detachment it took to stay clear of sticky situations.

Back inside his house now, he went to the fridge for a beer. Unscrewing the cap, he headed back onto the porch and stood squinting through the afternoon sun at Dinah’s patio where both women still sat talking. Ever since Nick’s surprise visit this morning, he’d been trying to figure what in hell was behind the boy’s request. Well, now he knew. With his father shirking his responsibilities as keeper of the Forrester cave, the son felt obliged to assume the man-of-the-house role. Apparently that included helping his mom manage things on the home front and seeing to the welfare of his little sister and his grandmother…even if it meant forgoing his pride and seeking help from someone who was a virtual stranger. A daunting task for a fifteen-year-old.

His beer forgotten, he stared at the two women as thoughts of Jack and his own desolated family rushed back. He’d spent five years wishing he could turn back the clock, wishing especially that he wasn’t haunted by that last telephone call from Jack.

It had been late at night and he’d been in the throes of his usual deadline angst, trying to work through a book that was giving him problems. He’d rewritten the dialogue of the killer at least four times, trying to get it right. It was a crucial scene, one that would shed a glimmer of understanding about a man who had murdered half a dozen teenagers in the local lover’s lane of a small town in California. The crime had actually happened, and only God—or the devil—knew for certain what the killer said or thought as he prepared his young victims for sexual torture and death. Cam’s extensive research into the case had provided a lot of facts, but little psychological insight. If he’d pulled the story out of his imagination, he could invent whatever drove a monster to kill. But his genre was true crime, and his evaluation of the killer’s psyche had to be solid. After three bestsellers, nothing less for his next book would satisfy his fans or Cam himself.

In the back of his mind, he’d heard his phone ringing but ignored it. Everyone knew to leave him alone when he was working to a deadline. The book had to be on his editor’s desk in two weeks, and even working fourteen-hour days, he’d have to push to get it done. It was on the fifth ring that the answering machine picked up.

“Hi, Dad. It’s me.”

Jack. Cam dropped his head and groaned. It was the third time this week that his son had called, and Cam was still clueless over the reason for the calls. Lately when Jack phoned, he seemed to have something on his mind besides playing ball and the latest movie or rock group. When Cam tried probing deeper, all he got was evasion or Jack suddenly had to hang up.

Now Cam turned to look at the answering machine, silent except for Jack’s breathing. It could simply be that Jack wanted to see Cam, whether in a visit to New York or in Texas, where he lived with his mother. He hadn’t come out and said so, but that had to be it. He knew it was not possible. It was the middle of the school year. Besides, he knew Cam was on deadline. Jack understood these things. Or he used to understand these things.

“Dad, will you pick up?” There was urgency in his tone now. “I need to talk to you.”

Maybe it was Cara. Now that Jack was in the full throes of adolescence, maybe they were at odds over some things. Girls. Sex. Algebra. But, hell, it would kill Cara if Jack actually pushed to come and live with Cam in New York and leave her.

“I know you’re on deadline, Dad, but—” Jack’s voice caught on something that sounded like a sob.

Cam picked up. “Hey, Jack. What’s up, son?”

“Not too much.” Cam heard a sniff, then in a muffled tone, Jack said, “I guess you’re working, huh?”

Cam looked at the blinking cursor on his monitor. “I’m trying to wrap this one up, yeah, but maybe taking a break’s a good thing. How’s it going with you, son?”

“We had a game tonight. I scored eighteen points.”

“Well, hey! Next year, you’ll make the varsity team in a cakewalk.”

“If I don’t break a leg or something.”

Cam smiled. “It’s hard to break a leg that’s only fifteen years old. Now, you take my legs—”

“Nah, Dad, thanks. You can keep both of ’em.” Jack laughed, but to Cam’s ears, it seemed shaky, not quite right.

“Is something wrong, Jack? Everything okay with your mom?”

“Mom’s okay. I think she’s serious about this guy Anthony.”

“You like him?”

“He’s cool, I guess.”

“How about school? Those grades went a little south last term. Are you having a problem?”

“It was my own fault, Dad. I just…f—ah, messed up and it got away from me. I’ll bring ’em around next term, okay?”

“I know you can do it, son.” Cam rubbed a hand over his face, knowing he should be the one helping Jack, but how the hell could he when they were separated by the breadth of the whole country? It had been a stupid idea for Cara to move back to Texas after the divorce. What the hell had she been thinking? Why had he let her do it?

“Dad…”

“Yeah?”

“I—ah, I mean, I wish we could—” Jack made a strangled sound. “When do you think you’ll finish your book?”

“Couple of weeks, Jack. I’ve run into some problems with this one, but I’ll work them out eventually. Soon as it’s done, I’m outta here and coming to see you.” Using the mouse, Cam idly scrolled back to the chapter he’d written the day before and scanned the text. After a second or two, inspiration struck. Suddenly he knew how to write the scene he’d been wrestling with.

“…some trouble with the guys on the team,” Jack was saying. “I was thinking maybe you could come down and—”

“Hold a second, Jack.” Cam clicked the mouse and wrote a couple of phrases before losing his thought. “Now, what’s that you were saying?”

“It’s—oh, nothing, Dad,” he replied in a deflated tone. “I guess you need to get back to work.”

“I can tell there’s something on your mind, son. The minute this book’s done, I’ll get on a plane and be there. We can talk it over.”

“You really think it won’t be too long, Dad?”

“Two weeks, maximum, Jack. I promise.”

“Well—”

“I’ll get this thing in the mail and we’ll spend some real time together. You know your grandparents’ house is empty now they’re gone, so I don’t see why I can’t arrange to stay for the summer. No reason why I have to be here in New York. How ’bout that?”

“It’s great, Dad.” Jack spoke quietly and Cam thought he heard a break in the boy’s voice again, but the line went dead before he had a chance to reply. And he was soon lost in the scene that had been giving him trouble.

It was three o’clock in the morning when his phone rang again. Groggy from a sixteen-hour marathon at his computer and disoriented, he didn’t pick up until it finally penetrated who was speaking on the answering machine.

“Cara, what in hell—”

His ex-wife’s reply was muffled with sobs. Cam sat up then and said in a voice sharp with alarm, “What’s wrong, Cara?”

“It’s—it’s Jack, Cam. Oh, my God, it’s Jack.” She made a small, despairing sound. “He’s gone. Oh God, oh God, oh God, I can’t bear it.”

“What do you mean, he’s gone? He’s run away?”

“C-Cam…”

“Come on, Cara. What about Jack?”

Her voice steadied slightly as she managed to pull herself together. She breathed in and said dully, “Jack is dead, Cam. He’s committed suicide.”

He realized he was still standing on the porch, still focused on the two women with the pain of losing Jack a deep, black hole inside him. His life had been forever changed with that phone call. And what he wouldn’t give to have what Forrester was idiotically jeopardizing. Still, it was none of his business and he’d already broken one of his hard-and-fast rules by even acknowledging Rachel’s situation. He hadn’t expected to find her sitting with her mother when he dropped off Dinah’s jewelry, otherwise he’d have put off returning it. Then he’d compounded his mistake by apologizing. But he’d been out of line attacking her at the ER and he’d been out of line offering advice. Another stupid error. He’d made every mistake in the book handling his divorce and its consequences, so what could he offer that her vast circle of friends and family couldn’t?

He raised the bottle to take another drink and looked thoughtfully across the lawn. He’d honor his promise to the kid to keep an eye on Dinah, he decided as he turned to go back inside, but that was as far as he would go.

When Rachel got home later that day, she found that Ted had moved out. In their bedroom, she stared in shocked disbelief at the empty racks in their closet. By seizing a moment when no one else was in the house, he’d avoided what was sure to be a difficult scene. And he’d left her with the task of dealing with Nick and Kendall when they came home and found their father had cleared out.

She stood with a torrent of emotion roiling in her chest. It was one thing for Ted to tire of her as a wife and to want to avoid all the sticky stuff that women dished out to cheating husbands, but it was sneaky and cowardly to walk out on Nick and Kendall without at least taking a moment to sit down and reassure them that they’d still have a father even though he was no longer in the house with them. By leaving this way, it looked like he was abandoning them along with their mother. That was sure to be the way the kids would feel.

Fury, like nothing she’d ever felt, rose in her. How dare he! Since Friday, when she’d caught him red-handed, she’d managed to keep her emotions under control. Except for a few bewildered tears and some agonizing self-examination, she’d tried to handle his infidelity without unraveling emotionally. She’d told herself that for the sake of the kids she couldn’t afford to fall apart.

But the kids weren’t here right now, she thought, stalking across the room. And she was tired of behaving like the only grown-up in this farce. Stopping at Ted’s armoire, she jerked the doors open. Empty. In the bathroom, she discovered he’d even cleaned out all his toiletries. Moving like a woman possessed, she dashed down the stairs, swept up her purse and car keys and stormed out to her car. It was an hour’s drive to the lake cabin. Chest heaving with rage, she backed out and, with a squeal of tires, drove off to confront him.

Forty minutes later, she was still fuming as she pulled up in front of the cabin. Parking behind the small Porsche she recognized as Francine’s, she got out of her car, deliberately blocking the Porsche. Unlike the scene at the restaurant, this time, if Francine wanted to escape an uncomfortable confrontation, she was out of luck. She couldn’t move her car until Rachel was finished. And if the door was locked, Rachel planned to use her keys and walk right in. She didn’t give a damn if she found them naked and having sex. In fact, she wished exactly that would happen. Catching them in an embarrassing situation would give her unholy satisfaction.

She took the four porch steps in two quick strides and, without knocking, tried the unlocked door and went inside. There was an immediate let-down when she didn’t see them right away in the great room, all of which was visible from the front door. The thought of barging into the bedroom where they might actually be having sex was suddenly too disgusting. But as she stood with some of her anger fading, she heard their voices. They were in the hot tub.

She was flooded with a fresh wave of fury. Ted hated the hot tub. It had been her idea to install it when they’d remodeled the cabin. Ted hadn’t wanted it, had argued against it. The lake was great for fishing and boating, and a swimming pool was impractical in the wooded location, but she’d finally persuaded him that a hot tub was relaxing, even therapeutic after the hours both spent in stressful occupations. It could also be romantic, she’d suggested. That had been around the time she’d sensed Ted’s interest in Wendy at the health club. The hot tub had been one of the little gambits she’d dreamed up to add some spice to their love life. It hadn’t worked for them, she thought, now moving through the cabin to the deck, but apparently it had worked for Ted and Francine.

They actually were naked.

Spotting Rachel, Francine shrieked. Ted turned. His jaw dropped, but surprise quickly changed to irritation. He stood up, scowling, and grabbed two robes lying within reach. Moving in front of Francine, he managed to shield her as she scrambled into it, giving Rachel only a glimpse of her in the buff. Then he climbed out without any obvious haste. Rachel avoided more than a glimpse of his shriveled penis by looking beyond him while he donned a robe. Francine hovered warily just behind him, looking as if she thought Rachel might be armed.

Later, in telling Marta about it, Rachel had found some humor in the situation, but she felt no inclination to laugh now. She knew suddenly with a sick, sad resignation that her marriage was truly over. It would not be possible to get beyond actually seeing Ted with Francine this way.

“What do you mean by barging in here like this, Rachel?” Thanks to Walter, his left eye was puffy and half closed, making his outrage seem almost comical. She could not tell if his nose was broken, but she could always hope.

“Isn’t it obvious, Ted? I’m mad as hell and you’re going to hear about it whether you like it or not.”

“For God’s sake!” he said in disgust. “What does it take to convince you? Didn’t you hear anything I said this morning? I’m in love with Francine. She loves me and we want to be together. We’re going to be together whether you like it or not. Go home and get a life.”

Rachel mastered an urge to leap over the hot tub and scratch his other eye out. “I’m not here because I want anything from you, you thoughtless bastard! I’m here because of the sneaky way you packed up and left. Why didn’t you wait until Nick and Kendall came home so you could at least try to reassure them? Don’t you give a damn about your kids anymore? Is…is this—” she threw her arm out to include the house, the deck, the hot tub, Francine “—all you care about now?”

He looked irritated and anything but repentant. “I was planning on calling them later tonight.”

Fresh from a romp in the hot tub, he was still too dazzled to feel any guilt, Rachel thought. “Are you sure you can spare the time?” she asked sarcastically.

“Give it a rest, Rachel.” He stuck his feet into rubber slides and reached for his Rolex. “I still love my kids and I’ll explain how this happened.”

“How exactly will you explain it, Ted?” she asked, seeing that she wasn’t getting through to him. “Like you explained it to me? One day you and Francine were friends and the next you were having sex together? I think they’ve got that part already, thanks to the scene in our home this morning. And Nick, for one, is mad as hell over it. Kendall is simply bewildered.”

“It’ll take some getting used to, but they’ll be okay with it,” he said, dismissing almost casually something that was going to turn his children’s lives upside down. “That is, unless you go behind my back and paint me as evil incarnate.”

“You know better than that, Ted.”

His face was tight, his eyes hard. “These things happen a lot, Rachel. Probably half Nick and Kendy’s friends are part of blended families.”

“Blended families,” she repeated. “That has such a benign sound, doesn’t it? But I know from dealing with those kids every day that there’s pain and depression and jealousy jockeying for position in ‘blended families.”’ She used her fingers to make quotation marks. “And you don’t have a clue, Ted. So, don’t try to spin the effect of what you’re doing to me. It’s going to be devastating for Nick and Kendy. Even the most amicable divorces do terrible damage to the children involved.”

Ted let out an exasperated breath. “You sound like you’re reading some kind of research paper, Rachel. You’re exaggerating, as usual. You see only the screwed-up kids in your job. Nick and Kendy will be fine.”

Was he really so obtuse? She stared at him, her husband of eighteen years. He seemed totally unaffected by her attempt to bring him to his senses. When had it happened that this man whom she’d known more intimately than any other had become a stranger? “And what if they aren’t, Ted?”

“Ted…” Francine finally spoke, touching his arm. “Any discussion about your kids is between you and Rachel. It doesn’t concern me. Why don’t I—”

“Excuse me?” Rachel gave her an incredulous look. “You claim to be in love with Ted and the two of you want to be together, but you have no concern about the future of his children?”

“I don’t know anything about kids,” Francine said, looking uncomfortable. “Walter and I chose not to have any.”

“Do you even like kids, Francine?”

She shrugged, said nothing.

“What about that, Ted?” Rachel asked.

“What about it?” he repeated with some resentment. “Francine and I haven’t decided on our own future yet, so all this talk about kids is premature.”

“Is it premature to ask you to find an hour away from your love nest to talk to Nick and Kendall?”

“I told you I’m planning on it.”

“Not on the phone. In person. It’s the least you can do.”

“All right, all right.” He reached for Francine and slipped his arm around her waist. “But the next time you get a wild idea to come charging out here, have the decency to knock first.”

Rachel was still furious as she drove away from the cabin. As much as she hated to admit it, Cameron Ford had been right. She needed a lawyer. Worse yet, she must have sounded like a naive twit defending Ted. Well, so be it. Since it was now obvious that she couldn’t protect them from Ted’s callousness, she could at least try to protect the lifestyle they were accustomed to. Knowing time was now of the essence, she picked up her cell phone, punched the information number and asked for a listing for Stephanie Roscoe.