Sandpiper Way (Cedar Cove #8)(49)

“You took on an extra job without talking to me…without telling me why?” Pain bled into each word.

“I didn’t want you to worry that we might lose the house,” he mumbled.

“You’d rather let me think you were with another woman?”

It hadn’t actually dawned on him that she’d make such an assumption. “I didn’t really think you’d notice. I thought you’d figure I was just working later than usual.” There were often committee meetings in the evenings, and he’d figured Emily would believe he’d skipped dinner and stayed late because of them.

“I did think that in the beginning,” she murmured softly. “But I started to notice how distracted you’d become. It wasn’t like you. Then…” She hesitated.

“Then what?” he prompted.

“It was a few weeks ago. You closed your office door, and after a while I picked up the phone and hit Redial.” She lowered her eyes. “A woman answered and asked if it was Davey.”

Dave nearly groaned. “That’s Maxine. She works as a guard, too. She needed to change schedules with me. She’d left a message on my cell and I called her back to arrange it. If you met her, you’d see that she’s sixty years old—and a grandmother. I’m not involved with her.”

“But…you were gone so often.”

Dave had to agree the extra hours had drained his energy to the point that when he arrived home, he was exhausted and out of sorts.

“We’ll sell the house,” Emily said. “You can’t continue like this.”

With that part, Dave agreed. He’d grown tired and impatient with those around him. Even Angel, his assistant, had commented. He hated the changes he saw in himself and yet seemed powerless to overcome them.

“We can’t sell.” They were trapped. This was the worst of what he had to tell her.

“Of course we can.”

“Emily, don’t you suppose I’ve thought of that?” he said. “In this market, the house is no longer worth what we paid for it. I got us into a huge financial hole.”

She sank down, sitting on her heels. “I’ll get a job,” she said, as if that would solve everything. “I’ve been volunteering at the school, and a position may be opening up there. I’ll apply….” She closed her eyes in concentration. “I can try The Quilted Giraffe, too. They all know me there.”

“We decided when we married,” Dave reminded her, “that you’d be a stay-at-home mother for our children.”

“I will be,” Emily said. “I’ll make sure it’s understood when I apply that my hours have to coincide with the boys’ schedule.”

Even then Dave didn’t really like it. “I hate the thought of you having to get a job. I should be the one to provide for our family.”

“Oh, honestly, Dave, get a grip. Join the twenty-first century. I appreciate that you’d like me to be at home and I enjoy it, but I want to make a financial contribution to our family. Besides, the boys are older now. And I need to help. In fact, I insist on it.”

It went against his pride to acknowledge his relief. “You really think the school or the fabric shop would agree to those hours?” This was a solution, although not one he would’ve asked Emily to consider.

His wife nodded enthusiastically. “The job at the school would be as a classroom aide. The principal already suggested I apply if they get permission to post it.”

“You didn’t say anything.” If she’d mentioned it earlier, he didn’t remember.

She grinned. “Well, no, because I was still thinking about it. I do have a few secrets of my own, you know.”

Dave felt almost dizzy with relief. “I should’ve said something sooner. I should’ve told you what was going on.”

“Yes, you should have.”

A huge weight had lifted from his shoulders. He was a pastor, a man of God, and yet he’d ignored a basic creed found in the Bible. The truth shall set you free. And he was free for the first time in months.

Emily moved closer to him and Dave slipped his arms around her. For a long moment all they did was hold each other. Emily had her arms around his neck. When she whispered something in his ear, he stiffened.

“The watch?” he repeated.

“You’d better explain that to me as well.”

Dave sagged onto the bed. He’d been sick with guilt over losing that watch. And yet its appearance at the judge’s house embarrassed him all the more.

“Dave,” Emily said. “Where did you get a gold watch?”

He sighed and then explained. “Before she died, Martha Evans gave it to me.”

His wife frowned as if she didn’t believe him. This was his biggest fear. “I know what you’re thinking,” he murmured. “That I should never have accepted a family heirloom, and you’re right.”

“That’s not what I was thinking…” Emily withdrew her arms and stared at him with such intensity that Dave wanted to cry out in anger and frustration.

“Do you seriously believe I’d steal Martha’s jewelry?” he asked. “What kind of man do you think I am?”

“I…I—”

“First you accuse me of having an affair and now you suspect I’m a thief.” His wife’s low opinion of him shocked Dave. Despite what she’d assumed was evidence, Emily was the one person he’d expected to stand by his side. Now it was clear his own wife doubted him. And if Emily did, so would everyone else. Thankfully he had proof of Martha Evans’s intentions.