Last One Home Read online

  “Funny, isn’t it?” Leanne asked, although she didn’t really seem to want Nichole to answer.

  “Funny?” she repeated.

  “Even now I’m making excuses for Sean.” Leanne looked down at the wadded tissue in her hand.

  Nichole knew why Leanne had stopped by unexpectedly. After thirty years of marriage, she’d had enough. She was going to ask Sean for a divorce and she wanted her and Jake to know. “Leanne,” she said softly. “I hope you realize that whatever you decide in your marriage, Jake and I will support you.”

  Her mother-in-law turned to look at her for the first time since they’d started this conversation. “Whatever I decide?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

  “I thought … I’m sorry if I misunderstood. I thought you were here to tell me you’re about to ask Sean for a divorce.”

  Leanne gave a short, humorless laugh. “By all that is right, I should. I should have done it years ago when I was young. I might have had a chance of finding happiness with a man who understood the meaning of fidelity and commitment. A man who is honorable.”

  “Leanne,” Nichole protested. “You’re not old. You’re a beautiful woman.” She wasn’t just saying that, either. “You’re one of the warmest, most generous-hearted women I’ve ever known. I bless the day I married into this family. I wasn’t joking when I said that you’re like a mother to me.”

  Fresh tears moistened Leanne’s eyes and rained down her cheeks.

  Without either of them noticing, Owen had toddled away and returned with a box of tissues, looking up at her with big beautiful eyes, so like his father’s.

  The action was just the comic relief needed to break the tension. Both women laughed. Leanne reached for her grandson and lifted him onto her lap to kiss him again. Owen struggled, twisting away, and Leanne set him back down on the floor. He disappeared and returned with a wooden puzzle and sat down at Nichole’s feet, pulling out all the pieces and then promptly replacing them again, smiling up at her, awaiting her praise.

  “Good job, Owen,” she said.

  “You’re a good mother,” Leanne whispered, smiling down on her grandson.

  “Thank you.” Nichole realized she had her own mother to thank. Sandra Judson had set an amazing example as a homemaker and a wife.

  “You’re like the daughter I never had, which is why I felt I had to come to you,” Leanne said. The words trembled as they came from her lips. She grabbed hold of Nichole’s hand, her fingers gripping hers to the point it was almost painful.

  “I realize now what a terrible mistake I made,” she said, her voice gaining strength. “If I’d left Sean when I was young, perhaps it would be different for Jake, perhaps he would …” She hesitated and seemed unable to go on. “I’m doing this for Owen and for you, so that you don’t repeat the mistakes I made.”

  A chill ran down Nichole’s spine, one so cold and terrifying that she found it difficult to speak. Leanne couldn’t possibly be implying what Nichole thought she was. “Leanne, what are you saying?” she asked slowly, enunciating each word carefully so there would be no misunderstanding.

  “Jake came to the house to talk to his father last night. He didn’t know I was close enough to overhear their conversation. I didn’t intentionally eavesdrop, but I got the gist of what he was saying. I felt you had to know.”

  “Know what?” Nichole was almost afraid to ask, but it was as if she’d stumbled on a horrible car accident and couldn’t keep from gawking. She needed the truth.

  “This is going to deeply hurt you, Nichole. I would give anything to spare you this pain, but there’s nothing I can say or do that is going to help.”

  “I prefer to know,” she insisted. She squared her shoulders like a defiant soldier standing before a firing squad.

  “Jake has gotten another woman pregnant.”

  Nichole gasped and jerked violently. She couldn’t help it, the shock of it, the pain of it, nearly knocked her off her chair.

  Leanne gripped her hands with both of her own. “Jake came to ask for his father’s advice and help.”

  Tugging one hand free, Nichole covered her mouth, fearing she was about to scream. The only thing that prevented her from crying out was the thought of frightening Owen.

  “I would do anything to spare you this,” Leanne said, tears running down her cheeks. “The only reason I’m telling you is for Owen’s sake. I had no idea Jake was aware of his father’s infidelity … like father, like son. This has to end, and I’m determined to make sure it ends with Jake. He’s my son and I would gladly give my life for him, but I will not allow him to destroy you the way Sean has destroyed me. I absolutely refuse to let him teach his son to disrespect and dishonor his wife the way Sean has me.”

  Nichole gripped hold of her mother-in-law’s arm. She closed her eyes as the pain made its way through her heart. Her first reaction was intense anger, and then a nearly overwhelming desire to lash back and hurt Jake in return.

  All the nights he claimed to be working late. The gifts he brought her. It all made sense now. It wasn’t love. It was guilt, and perhaps fear.

  He would pay. Nichole was determined she’d get him where it hurt him most. Right away her head was filled with thoughts of retaliation, vengeance.

  “Nichole,” Leanne whispered. “I am so sorry.”

  “You did the right thing.” Her voice barely sounded like her own. Nichole’s mind was in turmoil.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Leanne continued, “if not now, later. You’ll be tempted to rationalize what Jake has done, blame yourself as if there was something lacking in you. That’s what I did. I was convinced if I was prettier, thinner, a better lover Sean wouldn’t need other women. I was a fool. Don’t believe any of it. The lack isn’t in you, it’s in Sean and in Jake. Do you understand me? Don’t fall into that trap.”

  “I won’t,” Nichole whispered.

  “There’s comfort in looking the other way and pretending, but I’m here to tell you the price is far too high. It will rob you of your self-worth, of your dignity, of your soul.”

  Nichole could see the truth of those words in her mother-in-law’s eyes. Her hands trembled as she tried to assimilate this news.

  “I … I don’t know what to do,” she whispered.

  “For now, do nothing. Think this through carefully before you act, and be smart. Make an appointment with an attorney and find out your rights. I heard Jake mention that he had a business trip coming up.”

  “He leaves in the morning.”

  “How long will he be away?”

  “Four days—no, five.” Nichole could barely think straight. What Leanne said hit home. She needed to be smart about this and carefully think this through. She would obviously talk to him and hear what he had to say, but she would go in knowing what her options were. “Thank you,” she whispered, struggling to keep her voice from wobbling. “I know this couldn’t have been easy for you.”

  Leanne reached over and hugged her. “You’re smart and you have your whole life ahead of you. You’ll do what’s best for you and Owen, I know you will.”

  Nichole sincerely hoped her mother-in-law was right.

  Chapter 34

  Karen and Cassie sat with Nichole in her living room. Hearing the pain in her sister’s voice was all it took for Cassie to drop everything and, with Amiee in tow, head to Portland. Thankfully, Steve had insisted she drive his car … the one Alicia had once owned. Karen, too, had left Spokane and rushed to her sister’s side.

  “I’m so grateful you were both able to come,” Nichole murmured, for what seemed like the hundredth time.

  Nichole had contacted Cassie the morning after the visit from her mother-in-law. She was so upset she had hardly been able to speak coherently. Jake had an out-of-town business trip, which gave Nichole five days to form a plan.

  “I can’t think straight,” she whispered.

  “You don’t need to make a decision this weekend,” Karen advised her.

  “Jak
e knows something is up. I did what I could to act normally, but I could barely stand to look at him.”

  “If he knows you know, then all the better,” Karen said. “That makes it easier.”

  “None of this is easy.”

  “It can’t be,” Cassie agreed.

  “How could I have been so blind?” Nichole demanded. “The evidence was right there in front of me and … and I didn’t see it. All those late nights, the excuses, the Saturdays he played two rounds of golf and didn’t seem the least bit tired. He was with … her.”

  “You trusted him,” Karen said, patting Nichole’s shoulder.

  “I definitely want a separation,” Nichole whispered. “He’s going to have to leave until I sort out what’s best for me and Owen.”

  “Don’t you move,” Karen advised. “Not yet, at any rate.”

  “That’s what Leanne said.”

  Nichole had mentioned her friend Audrey earlier. Nichole and Audrey had been college roommates. Audrey had continued on to law school and was currently working for one of the premiere Portland law firms. She’d immediately advised Nichole on how best to protect herself financially.

  “I just never thought something like this would happen to me and Jake. I could see that it about killed Leanne to tell me what she’d learned. She said she did it for Owen, so that he won’t grow up believing that it’s acceptable to cheat on one’s wife the way his grandfather and father did.”

  “She has a good point,” Karen said.

  Cassie leaned over and reached for Nichole’s hand, which was cold. Her sister trembled slightly. “Would you rather not know?” she asked gently.

  “Yes,” she cried, and then quickly changed her mind. “No. The thing is I don’t know what to do. Leanne has lived with a cheating husband all these years, but she also told me that the price she paid for looking the other way was far too high.”

  Cassie understood her sister’s waffling all too well. For years she convinced herself life with Duke wasn’t always miserable. There’d been good times, too. When it was good it was very good, and when it was bad, well, it was beyond miserable. She clung to the good times, convinced herself the bad days weren’t really that bad. As the years progressed, there were far fewer good times and far more bad days and nights. But if it hadn’t been for that night and Duke’s search for a knife, Cassie still had to wonder how long it would have taken for her to gather the courage to leave.

  It wasn’t easy to pick up the pieces of one’s life and quite literally start over. She knew exactly how difficult it could be.

  Amiee and Lily kept young Owen entertained while the three sisters sat together.

  “Whatever you decide, we’re here for you,” Cassie assured Nichole.

  “One hundred percent,” Karen added.

  “What if … what if we decide to stay married and go to couples counseling? Would you … do you think that would help? I have to believe that Jake loves me and Owen and that he would want to do whatever he could to save the marriage.”

  “That’s something you and Jake need to decide.”

  “You’d support me in that?”

  “Of course.” Both Karen and Cassie nodded.

  “Leanne …”

  “You aren’t your mother-in-law; you and Jake need to make your own decisions.”

  “Jake has a weakness. We all have flaws, right?”

  “Of course we do,” Karen reiterated.

  “Some are worse than others. Having him move out will shake him up enough to know I’m serious. Dead serious. I can’t and I won’t live with a cheating husband.”

  “As long as you make that clear and stick to your resolve, then you might have a chance of salvaging your marriage,” Karen said.

  Tears swam in Nichole’s eyes. “I love you both. I couldn’t be more grateful to call you both sisters.”

  Nichole hugged Cassie and Karen joined in. They clung to one another for several seconds, and then one of them started to laugh. Soon they were all laughing for no reason other than the fact that if they didn’t laugh they were sure to cry.

  A short thirty minutes later, Karen and Lily left in order to drive back to Spokane.

  “We need to head out, too,” Cassie said. Amiee continued to play with Owen. She was especially good with him, and the youngster had quickly taken to her.

  “Before you leave, there’s something I need to give you,” Nichole said, as she stood and disappeared down the long, narrow hallway that led to her bedroom.

  Cassie exchanged looks with her daughter. She couldn’t imagine what it could be.

  Nichole returned and set a wooden box on the coffee table in front of Cassie. The box was old and looked vaguely familiar. As soon as Cassie reached for the box, she remembered where and when she’d last seen this box, now weathered with age. Reverently, she picked it up and held it in her hand. The lump in her throat made it hard to breathe.

  “Do you know what it is?” Nichole asked.

  Cassie nodded and struggled not to openly weep. After she composed herself enough to speak, she said, “It’s the cameo.”

  “Dad always intended that you have it.”

  Cassie opened the box, but tears blurred her eyes and made it nearly impossible to view the cameo. The very one their grandfather had purchased as a wedding gift for the woman he loved. Their grandmother had worn it on her wedding day. And Cassie’s mother had worn it the day she married the man who was their father.

  “But …”

  Nichole closed Cassie’s hand over the box. “Dad wanted you to wear it at your wedding.”

  “But …”

  “If you’re half as smart as I think you are, then one day in the future you’ll marry Steve. And this time, Cassie, I want to be invited to the wedding.”

  Cassie choked down a sob and nodded. “You will be, both you and Karen.”

  “Mom,” Amiee said, sitting down on the sofa next to Cassie. “What is it?”

  “A family heirloom.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s a piece of my parents’ love being passed down to me.”

  Amiee looked down at the cameo. “Will I get to wear it on my wedding day when Macklemore decides he wants to marry me?”

  Cassie smiled. “Sure.”

  Cassie hugged her sister again.

  Nichole whispered, “Having you as my sister means the world to me. You have every reason to resent Karen and me for the way we treated you, and instead you patiently loved us. Your forgiving attitude is helping me decide how best to deal with the situation with Jake. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know that I have two incredible sisters who will support and love me no matter what I decide.”

  “And so do I,” Cassie whispered.

  She’d been the last one home, but she was here, having come full circle.

  Epilogue

  The day had finally arrived. After months of work—five hundred sweat-equity hours—Cassie’s house was finished. She had the required funds for one year’s home-insurance premium gaining interest in the bank. The keys to the house were about to be handed to her and Amiee.

  Unlike the Youngs, Cassie didn’t plan a big party to go along with the ceremony. Steve would be with her—Stan and Megan, along with Maureen and her children, too. All had been instrumental in bringing this project to fruition. She couldn’t have done it without their encouragement and support. Steve and Stan had delivered the furniture from Steve’s warehouse. The very first item to be placed inside the house had been her piano. Cassie had run her hand over the keyboard, grimaced; when she could afford it she’d make an appointment to have it tuned. The boxes of her parents’ other items had been left at the warehouse for Cassie to sort through later, but the rooms were all furnished.

  The pastor from the church she and Amiee attended had promised to do a short dedication prayer. Every time Cassie caught a glimpse of the house, she experienced an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment. She recalled the first day she’d walked on
the vacant lot. It’d seemed an impossible dream back then, and yet here it was, finished and furnished. Amiee had a real bedroom with closets and a study desk, the very one Cassie had used at her daughter’s age.

  Steve suggested he collect Cassie and Amiee and drive them to the house. It was a nice gesture and she appreciated it. After she officially accepted the keys, they’d return and load up the last of their things from the apartment. Not much remained—all the big items had already been transferred to the house, thanks to Steve, Stan, and George Young.

  Amiee chatted excitedly through the entire ride. “Our own house, and Steve, in case you didn’t know, there’s a KFC just one-point-three miles away. I clocked it in the car. That’s walking distance, but I don’t think either you or Mom would want me walking on a street with all that traffic. I’ll accept a ride if you insist.”

  Steve shared a smile with Cassie. “I think a KFC dinner once a week should be a bare minimum, seeing how close it is and all.”

  “I wish you’d hurry up and marry this man,” Amiee murmured under her breath.

  “All in good time,” Cassie promised.

  Steve reached over and squeezed her hand. They had given a great deal of thought to their ongoing relationship and decided to hold off discussing getting engaged for six months. But a wedding was definitely a possibility.

  “Aunt Karen and Aunt Nichole are coming this weekend,” Amiee told him. “They wanted to be here for the ceremony, but there was a scheduling conflict.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “You’ll like them,” Amiee said. “Aunt Karen’s a lot like Mom and, well, so is Aunt Nichole.” She lowered her voice. “Her and her husband have separated.”