Love Lessons by Margaret Daley Read Free Book Online Page B

had to ask. She would be with the child most days for the next four months.
    Ian kneaded his nape, peering off into space. Thesound of a dog barking broke the silence that had descended between them. He stabbed her with a piercing look. “This isn’t something I usually talk about, but you have a point.” His hand rubbed even harder at the muscles in his neck.
    His tension flowed from him and enclosed about her. The urge to soothe his hurt inundated her.
    â€œThe only good part of the story is that my ex-wife, Tracy, left us on a day Madge worked, so when Jana came home from school, someone was here to let her in. Tracy left a message on my cell phone that she was leaving us. I had my office downtown then. I didn’t get the message until late, right before Madge was to go home. Jana was worried, pacing the living room. She didn’t understand where her mom was. They were supposed to go shopping after school for a project Jana had. Worried, Madge called my secretary. That’s when I went and checked my cell, then left work and came right home. That’s the first clue I had that my wife was having an affair. She ran off with a man she met online and had been secretly seeing the past few months.”
    â€œSo Jana’s afraid you’ll abandon her like her mother did?”
    â€œThat’s obvious and something we’re working through. We’re to the point where I don’t have to be in the therapist’s office with Jana for her sessions, and I can leave to run errands as long as she knows exactly where and when I’m going. She’ll stay with Madge or Kelly and now you. I made the mistake of not coming out to tell Jana I’d decided to go get burgers. I should have been gone only fifteen minutes. Instead, it was more like thirty.”
    â€œShe finished school last year. How?”
    â€œNot easily. She wasn’t doing great before her mother left. But afterward, her grades plummeted. Then summer came, and she got even clingier. Finally I quit my job andopened my own office here at home. I’ve cut back on my workload in order to be here for Jana.”
    â€œHow long has she been in therapy?”
    â€œSince the end of June, when I saw how difficult everything was becoming for Jana. I think she tried to hold it together and did for a while. In my confusion and the mess I was dealing with, I didn’t see how bad her struggle was. But finally she couldn’t keep up her front, and she went rapidly downhill. I’m having a hard time forgiving myself for that.”
    Although she couldn’t see his expression well in the dim lighting, frustration, pain and a touch of bewilderment marked his voice. All she wanted to do was comfort. She reached out and laid her hand on his arm. He peered down at her fingers on him then up into her face. The bond between them, as though they both understood what it was like to be abandoned by a loved one, strengthened.
    â€œKnowing how much you care for Jana, I’m sure you were doing the best you could.”
    He pulled his arm away, breaking the bond. “No, I wasn’t. I was licking my wounds. But I’ve learned one valuable lesson from what happened with Tracy. I won’t let something like that happen to me or to my daughter again. I will protect my daughter at all costs. Good night, Alexa.” He turned away and began striding toward the porch. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Not only would he protect Jana at all costs, but she was sure he wanted to protect himself, too. Although she didn’t see his shoulders slump, she sensed he’d felt weighted down. He was struggling with his emotions concerning his ex-wife’s abandonment of Jana, but also of himself. Anger bound him up in impotency as if he were running as fast as he could and not going anywhere.
    His expression reminded her of how she’d felt when herfather had told her if she walked out of his house never to come back.