“Do you care?” Joanna said, locking eyes with Addison.

“Of course, I care.”

“Funny...you didn’t seven months ago,” Joanna said, and turning on her heel, she walked out of the house and slammed the door.

Before she reached the car, Joanna was fighting the urge to run back into the house. She had tried for months to convince herself she no longer loved Addison, but it had all been lies. Lies to cover up the pain and the hurt, and lies to cover up desire so strong it took her breath away; she had lived them for months until the truth finally slapped her in the face one Saturday afternoon. Standing in the middle of a shop filled with nursery furniture, trying to decide what would go best in the room adjacent the master suite at The Oaks, Joanna suddenly realized the future she was planning still contained Addison. From the style of the furnishings to the colors of the room, Joanna had unconsciously chosen everything she knew Addison would like.

As George opened the door to the limo, Joanna looked back at the house, inhaling slowly as she took in all she could see. Behind the front door was the woman she would always love, and it took all the strength she had to climb into the back seat of the limousine, but Joanna’s future now contained more than Addison, and if Addison wanted to be a part of it, she’d have to prove it.

***

Evelyn winced when the door slammed, but then quickly turned her attention to Addison, who was standing motionless in the center of the foyer. “What are you waiting for?”

Addison looked at Evelyn. “What do you mean?”

Marching over to Addison, Evelyn placed her hands on her hips. “If you don’t go after her, you are by far the largest imbecile on this planet.”

“She hates me.”

“She hates what you did. She hates what you said, and she hates that you ran away and left her alone, but look around, Addison. Look around at this once gloomy, dreadful house. Can’t you see that Joanna has made it into a home? If she had any intention of walking out that door and never coming back, why would she have done all of this?”

“I don’t know,” Addison said in a breath as she shook her head.

“Damn it all to hell, stop being a stupid cow! You gave up your bloody company because you apparently cared about Robert a hell of a lot more than any of us imagined, but now you’re just going to let the love of your life leave without a fight?”

“I’m all fought out.”