Sweet Forgiveness by Lori Nelson Spielman Read Free Book Online

jaw and try to keep my tone neutral. “I thought he was seeing someone.”
    â€œNot anymore. He claims she was a sorry substitute for me.”
    â€œWhat’d you say?”
    â€œI said, ‘Oh, hell, no. I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to stop after one broken jaw.’”
    I laugh and slap her a high five. “Good for you! You stay strong.”
    She slows her stride. “So why do I feel so damn guilty? Marcus was—is—a great father. Devon adores him.”
    â€œLook, nothing’s preventing him from having a relationship with his son. He should be grateful you never told Devon, or pressed charges. If you had, he’d be out of Devon’s life and off the force.”
    â€œI know. But Devon doesn’t understand. He thinks I’m being mean to his daddy. It’s like I’m being tag-teamed with Devon’s pissy attitude and Marcus’s begging. He keeps reminding me of the fifteen good years we had. That I’d been riding his ass for not getting the brakes on the car fixed. He’d been in the middle of a tough case, working nights and weekends. He was sleep-deprived and . . .”
    I tune her out. I’ve heard Marcus’s tale of woe at least thirty times, and I can’t bear to hear it again. With the full support of her parents, she left Marcus last October, the very day he backhanded her, and filed for divorce the following week. Thank God she hasn’t wavered. So far.
    â€œI liked him, too, I really did. But what he did is inexcusable. You are not to blame, Jade. No man is allowed to hit a woman. Ever. End of story.”
    â€œI know. I know you’re right. I just . . . please don’t hate me for this, Hannabelle, but I miss him sometimes.”
    â€œIf only we could copy and paste the good parts.” I link arms with her. “I confess, I miss the good times with Jack sometimes, too. But I would never be able to trust him again. It’s the same with you and Marcus.”
    She turns to me. “How was your date with Michael? Did you tell him to get his ass in gear and buy you a diamond?”
    I give her the rundown of our conversation Saturday night. “So, if I were to move to Chicago, we’d actually spend more alone time together, not less.”
    She looks skeptical. “Really? He’d leave his precious city every month? You wouldn’t have to deal with Crabby?”
    I can’t help but smile at Jade’s nickname for Abby. “That’s what he says. Of course, now I really want this job.”
    â€œNo! You can’t leave,” she says. “I won’t let you.”
    The very reaction I’d hoped to hear from Michael.
    â€œDon’t worry. I’m sure they’ve got a huge pool of more qualified candidates. But I did send a pretty sweet proposal, if I do say so myself.” I tell her about the Forgiveness Stones craze and the proposal to host Fiona and my estranged mother.
    â€œWait—your mother? You told me you lost her.”
    I close my eyes and cringe. Did I really tell her that? “Not literally. Figuratively. We had a huge falling-out years ago.”
    â€œI never knew that.”
    â€œI’m sorry. I don’t like to talk about it. It’s complicated.”
    â€œWell, I’m impressed, Hannabelle. You’ve made peace, and you’re actually hosting your mother on television.”
    â€œOh, hell no!”
    â€œI should have known,” she says, and shakes her head. “Boundaries.”
    â€œThat’s right,” I say, ignoring the sarcasm in her voice. “It’s just a proposal. I made it up. My mother and I haven’t actually made peace.”
    â€œGotcha. So tell me more about these Forgiveness Stones. They’re kind of like a
get-out-of-jail-free
card?” Jade asks. “You confess some deep shameful secret, give the person a rock, and call it good?”
    â€œI know. Pretty