The Devine Doughnut Shop(13)

She filled two cups with coffee so thin, she could see the bottoms of the disposable cups; put lids on them; and picked up a couple of Danish rolls. “Not as good as Devine Doughnuts, but this will hold me until Sunday dinner,” she muttered and thought about Grace’s pot roast that was probably already in the slow cooker.

Joel was still curled up, sleeping soundly, so she set his breakfast on the nightstand, and stumbled and spilled a little bit of her coffee on the carpet. She set the cup down and grabbed a fistful of tissues. She dropped down on her knees to clean up the mess and noticed a phone under the bed. Thinking it might be hers, she picked it up and stared at the picture that popped up on the screen. She tapped it and found a message that had arrived right after midnight: Happy Anniversary, my darling Joel. Your folks are keeping the kids for us this afternoon and tonight, and I’ve booked a room for us at our favorite hotel. We’ll have room service and spend the whole day in bed. Chocolate strawberries and champagne have already been ordered. It was signed with a heart emoji, from a contact labeled Camille.

This couldn’t be true. Sarah Dalton did not date married men; that was the first question she had asked Joel when he sat down beside her at the bar. He had said that he wasn’t, and never had been, but that someday he wanted a family. She looked at the picture again, and those three children looked just like Joel. She noticed that the woman was wearing the same heart necklace she was. She jerked the chain around her neck so hard that it broke. Anger boiled up like hot lava in her heart. She glared at Joel, amazed that the heat flowing from her didn’t turn him into nothing but a greasy spot on the sheets. She was way too mad to cry—both at him for duping her and at herself for not checking the man out before she fell in love with him. She glanced down at the broken necklace in her hand and thought about using the chain to strangle him. Jail for the rest of her life might be worth it, but she couldn’t leave three kids without a father—no matter how worthless the cheating son of a bitch was.

She couldn’t choke him or smother him, so she laid the broken necklace on her pillow, along with his phone. Then she pulled on her cowboy boots, picked up her purse, and walked out of the motel room.

She got into her truck and slapped the steering wheel until her hands turned red. Afterward, she just sat there, almost drowning in anger. “There’s no fool like an old fool—or one that’s ready to settle down, either,” she moaned. “At thirty-five, I should be smarter than this.”

Her mother’s voice popped into her head. Nothing to do now but get past it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Remember that and move on. He’s not worth fretting about.

“But I loved him . . .” Sarah blinked several times to keep the tears at bay and then folded her arms over the steering wheel and rested her forehead on them. The squeaking noise of a door opening and shutting made her sit up straight. If Joel had found the necklace and phone, and was coming with an excuse about his behavior, she didn’t want to hear it. But it wasn’t Joel. She blinked a few more times, but the couple practically having vertical sex right in front of her didn’t change.

“Sweet Jesus and all the angels in heaven,” she whispered. “That’s Darla Jo and Neal.”

There was no doubt about who they were when Darla Jo walked Neal to her little blue sports car, kissed him a couple more times right there not ten feet away from Sarah. Then the two of them got into the car and drove away. Sarah was stunned speechless and couldn’t even blink until she heard a vehicle come to a screeching halt and park in the spot that Darla Jo had just vacated.

A car door slammed, and a tall woman with blonde hair marched from the vehicle up to the motel door that Sarah had just come out of not five minutes ago. She pounded on it, but when Joel didn’t answer, she went back to her car, opened the trunk, and threw garbage bags toward the motel.

“I know you are in there with some hussy, and you promised me after the last one that you wouldn’t cheat anymore!” The woman’s screams pierced the air. “Don’t come home begging for another chance. You’ve had enough.”

Sarah slid down as far as she could in the pickup’s seat. She was peeking up over the dashboard and hoping the blonde wouldn’t find her when Joel opened the door.

“What’s going on out here?” he asked. “Have you gone stark ravin’ mad? And what’s all these garbage bags?”

“They’re your things,” the woman yelled. “I hope your mistress loves you enough to take your sorry cheating self into her place because you don’t have one at our home anymore.”

“Come on in, Camille.” Joel stood to one side and motioned her into the room. “No one is in here. We played poker in this room last night, and since the boys rented it, I slept here. Look in the bathroom and under the bed. I didn’t have a woman in here.”

“You lyin’ bastard,” Sarah whispered.

Camille brushed past him, but before he could even take a step, she was storming back out. “I found this on the pillow. It’s just like the one you gave me. I’m seeing a divorce lawyer tomorrow morning. We are finished.” She threw the broken necklace in his face and stomped over to her car, leaving him standing there with the chain hanging on his ear.

He’s all yours now, the voice in her head said loud and clear.

“What would I want with someone who cheats and doesn’t even think about the effect it will have on his family?” she asked as she started the engine and left the parking lot, glad that she hadn’t left her vehicle right in front of the room like she usually did.