The problem was, she couldn’t stand the thought of one more night in the confines of that little house, nor the thought of looking Byron in the eye, knowing what he’d been up to behind her back. Knowing that he didn’t need or want her, either one.

To make matters worse, she was drunk. As she paced the streets of Pine Rapids, more than once she knelt by the curb, ready to vomit. She would wait for the urge to pass, then rise again, unsteady on her feet, and continue on, grateful for the shroud of darkness. If the Ladies Aid saw her now, she’d be ruined for sure.

Though she had to acknowledge it probable that she was ruined already.

Hugging herself to keep her bare arms warm, she made so many turns and traced the four corners of so many blocks that finally she wasn’t sure where she was. It really didn’t matter, anyway. Even if she knew where she was, she still wouldn’t know what to do. She’d been such a fool, chasing satisfaction at the Mickelson house to the exclusion of her husband, and she’d gotten what she deserved, she supposed—yet, the enormity of Byron’s betrayal was impossible to swallow. And she couldn’t even conceive of what had happened with JJ. Had he really implied—?

She just could not think of it.

But what was she going to do? Everything she had ever read about infidelity said that when a husband cheated it was the wife’s fault, and she should woo him back afterward—but Dolly couldn’t help but think that was a bunch of crap. Besides, did she really want to make such efforts to entrap herself again in such an obviously disastrous marriage?

But she couldn’t leave Byron—could she? What would her family say? Where would she go? For everyone to know what a fool she’d been would be a nightmare.

She had always thought Byron would be the only man for her, and all the new evidence to the contrary—the sight of him with that woman, the pleasant feel of JJ’s hands on her—seemed entirely too much to adjust to, all at once.

She really might have to leave Byron. As Wilma had left John!

No, she could not take any more blows to her sensibility, not on this night. So, when she was too chilled and exhausted to walk any longer, she got her bearings and dragged her feet to the bungalow.

To her surprise, when she got there, all the lights were burning. She stood for a moment to collect herself, then she walked up the front steps and pulled open the door.