“Softscape pays him double to work on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. We usually need the money, so he often takes advantage of it. But he doesn’t work all three in the same year. He mixes it up, so he gets to be with us for at least one or two of them.”
Isaac was willing to bet he was with Elizabeth, Mica and Christopher for the others. Swallowing a sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Is something wrong?” Reenie asked.
Isaac met her gaze. He had to tell her. He couldn’t go on taking advantage of her friendliness and innocence. She wasn’t a woman who’d knowingly tempted a married man into an adulterous affair. She was as innocent as Elizabeth—a good mother, a devoted wife. “I’m afraid I have some bad—”
“Here you go.” Judy approached with their dinners, and Isaac clamped his mouth shut.
The waitress put their plates in front of them, gave him the steak sauce she’d been carrying in one of her apron pockets and asked if they wanted anything else. When they assured her they were all set, she moved on to another table.
“What were you about to say?” Reenie asked as she cut into her chicken.
Isaac stared down at his food. He wanted to get the truth out in the open. But now wasn’t the time. He needed to be more prepared to counter the devastation he was about to unleash. Besides, he owed it to Elizabeth to speak to her first. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Maybe you wanted to move on to how folks in this town clean their toilets,” she teased.
For a moment, he was tempted to give in to her levity and simply enjoy their meal. She was attractive, easy to be around. But knowing what lay in store for her chased all good feelings away.
“Why not tell me a little about your philosophy on divorce,” he said.
She washed her food down with a drink of soda. “Simply put, I don’t believe in it.”
“Sometimes it’s unavoidable,” he pointed out.
“That’s true. But if you’ve got kids, you can’t give up too easily.”
He’d dressed his baked potato. Now he pushed it around his plate.
“That means if Keith did something wrong, you’d probably forgive him?”
“If I could.”
He cursed to himself. Elizabeth would probably answer the same way.
“You’re not eating,” she said, pointing her fork toward his plate. “Is your steak too rare?”
“Actually, it’s perfect. I just…I think I feel a migraine coming on.”
“Oh boy.” Her eyes filled with concern. “Do you have any medication with you?”
“No, but—”
“Then you’d better come back to the house with me. Keith gets migraines all the time. I know how to get rid of them. But it’s important to catch it early.”
“That’s okay,” he said. He had a headache, but it wasn’t really a migraine. And he’d already learned what he wanted to know. Now he felt guilty for having lied in order to obtain the information. He hadn’t expected to admire Reenie so much, to genuinely like her. When he’d appeared at her door, he’d been acting in defense of his sister. “I think I’ll go over to the motel, maybe try and get some sleep.”
“You won’t be able to sleep once the pain really hits.”
“I’ll live.”
She looked as though she might argue with him, but Judy interrupted. “Reenie, your babysitter called. She wants you to call her back.”
Worry creased Reenie’s forehead. “Is everything okay?”
“She said to tell you the kids are fine. She just needs to talk to you.”
Isaac offered to let her use his cell phone, but she shook her head and slid out of the booth. “We don’t get good service up here.”
Because he’d lost his appetite, Isaac fiddled with his cell phone while she was gone. He’d been so preoccupied with Reenie he hadn’t tried to call anyone since arriving in Dundee. He saw now that she was right. He didn’t have service, probably because of the mountains.
She returned a few minutes later and started gathering her coat and purse. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My babysitter has to go home. Her mother isn’t feeling well and needs her to watch her younger siblings.”
“Is her mother so sick that you can’t finish your dinner?”
“I didn’t ask. But it’s okay. I’ll take it with me.”
“Of course.” He waved for Judy to bring her a container.
“Here.” She wrote her number and e-mail address on the back of a napkin. “If you have any more questions on your book, let me know.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“I’ll give you a great deal on the Jeep if you want to make an offer,” she added, and tossed him another smile as she hurried out of the diner.
Isaac watched her through the window as she climbed into her minivan. Reenie was something special. No doubt about that. But he was sort of relieved to have her gone. He felt too guilty knowing what he did, too uncomfortable anticipating her pain.
Fortunately, he wouldn’t be around to witness her devastation. That thought brought a small measure of relief. Having a front-row seat to Elizabeth’s suffering would be bad enough.
Judy came by with his check. He stood, tossed a ten-dollar bill on the table for her tip and paid at the register.
He was about to step outside when Judy intercepted him. “You’re not heading out Reenie’s way, are you?” she asked.
He hesitated. “No, why?”
She frowned as she held up a brown leather wallet. “I found this on the ground near your table.”
“Are you sure it belongs to her?”
She flipped it open to show him Reenie’s driver’s license.
Isaac kept his hand on the door. He wasn’t about to assume responsibility for returning Reenie’s wallet. He’d just congratulated himself on the fact that their paths would never cross again. She could come back and pick it up later.
But she had the little kids, who were probably already in bed, and no babysitter.
Certainly he could run it out to her. How long could a quick knock at the door and a simple “Here you go” take?
“Okay, I can drop it by, if you like,” he told Judy.
She pressed the wallet into his hand with a grateful smile. “Thanks. I wouldn’t want to tempt some of the short-order cooks by leaving it lying around here.”