Whispering Rock (Virgin River #3)(65)

It took her a second to absorb that. Then she gave a short huff of laughter and said, “I don’t know what you expect me to say. I’m sorry?”

He reached for her hands, but managed to snag only one. “Brie, I was a fool. I made a terrible mistake. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m a screwup. But I still love you. I never stopped loving you.”

She pulled her hand away, and the look on her face was one of incredulity. “You’re not serious.”

He reached again, but she pulled back. “I know—it’s crazy. We split up months ago, but for months before that, we weren’t getting along at all. We tried to keep it together, if for no other reason than we’d put our spouses, our families through so much. Brie, it was never the answer, but I didn’t see it for a while. God, I’m so sorry.”

Her face held the shock of what he’d just said—more than he even realized he’d said. Put our spouses through so much…? “She wasn’t divorced when it started,” Brie said softly. “She wasn’t, was she?”

“I don’t know,” he answered. “Not really, no. You know they were having trouble anyway. They weren’t going to make it. Glenn didn’t know about us,” he said with a shrug. “There wasn’t much to know. Really, there was all that other stuff.”

“Christine and Glenn split up because of you!” she said. She stood up and backed away from him. “It was more than a year,” she said. “God, you took your best friend’s wife! And he doesn’t even know?” She turned sharply, presenting her back.

He approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. “No, it wasn’t exactly like that,” he said. “There were feelings, maybe. Temptations, I guess. A kiss or two. But I told you the truth about when we got involved. Physically…sexually… I just didn’t go all the way back to the beginning because honest to God, I didn’t know where the beginning was, or where it was going. Jesus, Brie—”

She turned around and faced him. “You left me a year ago. You were sleeping with her for a year before that. But you were fooling around with her for even longer, lying to me with every kiss good-night, every touch….”

“There was something physical…I can’t describe it…. It was like I couldn’t stop myself.”

“Something physical?” She laughed. “Oh, God! You were sleeping with both of us! At least she threw Glenn out, but not you! You had two women! Two women who loved you, wanted you!” She laughed at him, a cynical and mean laugh. “You must have been in heaven! You think that’s something I’m going to get over?”

“I’m sorry. There’s no good explanation. I was an idiot.”

“I’ve been paying you alimony. Even while I’ve been unemployed.”

“I have it all. It’s not spent.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “I never thought this could get worse.”

He took another step toward her. “If you’ll give me a chance, I’d just like a chance to show you that I— I’m sorry, Brie. Can’t we—? Can’t we try again? See each other? See if we can rekindle some of what we had? I know it’ll take time…. If we can’t, I have no one to blame but myself, but can we just—”

She gave a huff of laughter. “Poor Brad,” she said. “You went from two women who couldn’t get enough of you to no one. You’re not getting laid, are you? You’re pathetic!”

“I know you’re angry—you should be. I’ll make it up to you somehow. Just give me time, give us time—”

“No!” she yelled at him. “No!” And then she started to laugh again. “God, you don’t know how long I waited to hear you say that! Even while I was hating you, I might have taken you back!” She shook her head in disbelief. “Jesus! Thank God you didn’t pull this sooner.”

“Brie—”

“For God’s sake, do I want anything to do with a man who can cheat on his wife because there’s some kind of physical thing? Something you can’t even explain? Forgive me, but I thought we had something physical!”

“We did. We will again.”

“No. No. Go. Get out of here. You left me for my best friend and now you’d like to see if we can rekindle something? Oh, you are such a fool. What did I ever see in you? Why didn’t I know this about you? Go!”

“No, Brie, there’s more.”

“I can’t take any more,” she said.

“They found him.”

She was stunned for a second. She couldn’t breathe. “What?” she asked. “What did you say?”

He took a deep breath. “They found him—Jerome Powell. He’s in Florida. They have him in custody there. They’re working on the extradition. I think you’ll get a call tomorrow from the D.A. I heard it at work.”

She took a step toward him. “Why didn’t you tell me this first?” she asked in a furious whisper.

“Because I wanted you to know that I love you. I’d like to be with you through this. With you when they bring him back. I want to take care of you.”

“Oh, my God,” she said in a breath. “You thought I’d take you back out of fear? Helplessness? You’re an idiot, that’s what you are! A big, stupid, goddamn idiot!”