Page 16 of The Clover Chapel (Jamison Valley 2)
“Sorry,” he muttered. He looked me up and down. “Fuck, Emmy. Is that what you wear every day?”
I dropped my chin to inspect my clothing. What was wrong with this outfit?
I wore wide-leg black pants with patent nude pumps and a cream blouse with a mandarin collar. Because the blouse was sheer, underneath was a lace-trimmed camisole. At my wrist was the rose-gold, oversized Chanel watch my mother had given me for Christmas the previous year.
I wore this type of clothing almost every day. It was classy and professional, exactly the image I wanted to portray as a teacher. Nothing about my clothing was inappropriate for a kindergarten setting, though it may have been a bit dressy for rural Montana.
“What’s wrong with my outfit?”
“Nothing. You just look beautiful,” he said.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Please don’t say things like that to me.”
“I can’t give you a compliment?”
“No. Not anymore.”
“Emmy,” he said softly. “We need to talk about us.”
“Emmeline. And there is no us. Even if there were, we are not talking here,” I said and sat behind my desk.
I did everything I could to avert my eyes. It was too hard to look at him. First, I busied myself by organizing pens. Then I restacked the papers on top of my desk. Lastly, I grabbed my coffee mug and gave it a thorough inspection.
I was obsessed with clever mugs and over the years I had collected many. Today’s was a simple white mug that said “Oh for fox’s sake,” but instead of the word “fox” there was a cartoon fox wearing reading glasses.
“Emmy,” Nick said. “Will you fucking look at me?”
“No,” I told my mug.
Two hands slapped down on top of my desk. “We’re talking. Now.”
“No,” I snapped and shot out of my chair. “We are going to talk when I’m ready. This time around we’re going to do things my way. On my timeline. And right now, I need to get some lunch so I can be ready when my kids get back to class. I will not get into this with you. I need to speak to my attorney about our interactions, and depending on his advice, I will consider talking to you at a later date.”
“Your attorney?” he asked. “Why do you need to talk to your fucking attorney before having a conversation with me?”
“Stop cursing. You’re in a school full of impressionable children.”
“Answer the fucking question.”
I crossed both arms over my chest. “My attorney is getting the ball rolling on our divorce proceedings. I need to find out if he thinks we should limit our interactions to those supervised by legal counsel.” I had forgotten to ask Fred that this morning, mostly because I wasn’t sure which answer I wanted him to give me.
Nick leaned away from the desk and blinked a couple of times. “Divorce?”
How was this a surprise to him? What did he think would happen? “Yes. Absolutely. Now that I’ve located you, we can officially end our marriage. And when this disaster is finally over, there will be no reason for you to think we need to talk or ever see one another again.”
“No. No divorce. Abso-fucking-lutely not.” All of the shock on his face was instantly replaced with anger.
This time it was my turn to be shocked. “I hate that saying! And what do you mean ‘no’? I haven’t laid eyes on you in over nine years. You left me the night of our wedding after you spent hours lying through your teeth. I’ve been together with another man for five years. On what planet do you actually think our relationship resembles a marriage worth keeping? So yes. We are getting divorced. As soon as my attorney has a chance to draft the papers.”
“I never lied to you, Emmy,” he said gently.
“I asked you if we were going to make it work and you said we were. That was a lie. I deserve an explanation from you and you’re going to give it to me. But not right now. When I’m ready to talk, you’ll be the first to know. Then after I’ve gotten my answers, I’ll finally be free of you. Now, you can leave.”
“Dinner.”
“Excuse me?”
“Dinner. You want answers, you can have them over dinner. Tonight.”
