She’d been thinking about him a lot since Katie’s visit. She didn’t like to think she’d been punishing Andy so she wouldn’t have to acknowledge that deep down there would always be a little corner of her heart that would remain broken. She and Earle had a good marriage until the day he died and she’d loved him, but she could never totally forget what he’d done. Rather than risk the good life they had together and with Katie, she’d channeled that lack of forgiveness toward Andy. And it wasn’t fair.
Before she could change her mind, Rose turned off the water she’d been running for dishes and dried her hands. Then she straightened her spine and walked out into the backyard.
He looked surprised to see her, but he didn’t say anything as she approached. Just set the saw down and pulled off his gloves.
She stopped a few feet in front of him. “I accept your apology.”
It looked as though he was going to smile, but thought better of it. “Thank you.”
“That’s all.” She turned to walk away.
“Are you sure?” He said it quietly, but she stopped and faced him again. “I don’t think that’s all and, if you’re going to accept my apology, I’d rather you get it all out so we can move on.”
“What if he hadn’t told me?” she asked, even though she hadn’t gone outside with the intention of doing anything but accepting his apology. “Would you have come into my house? Eaten my suppers? Would you have been able to look me in the eye?”
“I was young and stupid, Rose. I know that’s not an excuse and I’m not proud of it but, no, if Earle hadn’t told you, I wouldn’t have, either.”
“You disrespected me. You disrespected Katie. Hell, you disrespected Earle by putting him in that position in the first place. And I know you didn’t force him to do anything he didn’t want to do, but if you’d both just eaten your dinner and gone back to the motel, my husband wouldn’t have broken his wedding vows.”
“I know that. That’s why I let my friendship with him fall by the wayside, even though that hurt. You two were trying to save your marriage and me being around would have made it harder. I didn’t want you fighting about me on top of everything else.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him if that made him feel like some kind of noble hero, but she swallowed the bitterness. He was right. If she was going to accept his apology, she needed to let go of the anger and face the truth she’d been trying to deny for decades. “Blaming you made it easier to forgive my husband.”
This time he did smile, but it was a sad one. “Like I said, I was young and stupid but I did, after a few years, figure that much out.”
“And you never told anybody. I appreciate that.”
“I saw how hard you and Earle fought for your marriage. Having the whole town weighing in on the matter wasn’t going to help.”
He’d been a good friend to Earle, even after she drove them apart. And that’s why he wouldn’t have told her what happened if Earle hadn’t—not to be disrespectful to her, but to help his friend keep his family. She’d punished Andy by robbing him of one of his best friends just for being a stand-up guy. “I’ll be cooking dinner tonight. You’re welcome to stay.”
“Thank you, Rose.”
She went back inside and finished filling the sink to wash the breakfast dishes. Her hands were shaking a little, so she did the silverware before the glasses to calm herself. Even though the conversation had been hard on her nerves, she had to admit she felt better after setting down the decades’ worth of bitterness she’d been carrying.
Mitch walked into the kitchen, yanked open the refrigerator and pulled out the pitcher of lemonade. After slamming a glass on the counter so hard she was surprised it didn’t break, he filled it and then replaced the pitcher, slamming the fridge closed.
He’d been like that for two days now and she’d had just about enough. “You pull the door off that fridge, all the food will go bad.”
“What do you care? It’s not like you’re going to cook it, anyway.”
There was a line, and the tone crossed it. “Just who the hell do you think you’re talking to, Mitchell Kowalski?”
The fight went out of him and his shoulders dropped. “I’m sorry, Rosie. That was rude and really uncalled for.”
“What happened with Paige?” When he shrugged, she pointed to a chair and he sat. “Tell me.”
“She said it’s been fun and it’s time to move on. That’s all.”
That wasn’t all. Any idiot could see that. “Isn’t that the way you like to do things?”
“Yeah, it is. But…I guess I wasn’t expecting it quite yet.”
“So if she’d broken it off next week, you wouldn’t be like this?” If he was willing to talk, she was willing to listen, but she was going to keep him honest.
“She cried. She said it wasn’t just fun for her anymore and she wanted me to walk away before she got in any deeper, but I couldn’t. I just stood there, so she walked away from me.”
“Why do either of you have to walk away?”
He blew out a breath, shoving a hand through his hair. “We don’t want the same things in life, Rosie. Look what happened to Drew and Mallory.”