My stomach chose that moment to remind me I’d had little more than sandwiches and beer in the last two weeks. Other than when I went to Dawson’s, I rarely had home-cooked food. Dad and I stocked the office, and I was hardly home in time for a meal. I accepted the food. Giving back the container would give me another excuse to stop by. “Thank you, Sharon.”

“Mm-hmm.” She turned away.

I caught Kate’s perplexed expression before she smoothed it over. She did that a lot. Hid what she was really thinking. From me. Did she do that with everyone else? Were her parents and brothers the only people she was comfortable being Kate McDonough around? Around me, my family, and the rest of town, she was Kate King.

I should’ve seen it. I came across it often enough in the boardroom, being told what someone thought I wanted to hear. I hadn’t expected to find it in my own house, with my wife. But now that I knew, I wouldn’t forget. All those hours in the office were going to be good for something.

Kate

I walked out of work, keys in my hand. The sun was sinking low. I’d only worked until five tonight, but the sun set early this time of year. I walked past my coworkers’ cars to mine. Movement by the back end caught my attention and my heart leapt, then fell. After Aiden had appeared at my parents’, I’d been looking for him everywhere over the last week.

Kendall gave me a tentative smile, looking young and sophisticated in a way I could never attain. Her hands were shoved into her long beige knit coat, which matched her wedge boots. Her hair was in a long, sleek ponytail. “I should’ve messaged you, but I wasn’t sure how much you hated us.”

“I don’t hate you.” I couldn’t deny the reverberating disappointment that’d been a constant companion with my loneliness and heartbreak. “But I’m hurt.”

“Want to grab a drink with me and talk?”

I didn’t really. I missed chatting with Kendall. She’d become a friend I didn’t get to see often enough, but the betrayal left behind after learning about the trust couldn’t be ignored. Avoiding it wasn’t going to do me any good though. “Sure. It’s been a long day. Can we go somewhere quiet?”

The Kings weren’t the only ones who could keep a secret. No one outside of my family knew about the divorce yet. But if I showed up at the Irish pub any more times this week, people were going to talk.

“We can grab a beer and burger down the road. It won’t be quiet, but less eavesdropping.” Kendall didn’t want anyone overhearing her business either.

“Meet you there.”