Chapter 11 #2
Audrey nodded, reaching out to squeeze Penelope’s hand sympathetically. “Then you need to make the decision that will give you both a better future. If he’s not willing to work with you to change your marriage, then you get to take care of yourself and step away from it.”
Penelope nodded, the tears in her eyes slipping out and rolling down her cheeks. “I just didn’t expect him to refuse like this,” she said, inhaling shakily. “I don’t know if it’s going to be worth the pain and effort to battle him on this.”
“You can do it,” Harper assured her. “Just stay strong, and it will work out. You deserve to feel happy, and you deserve to have Robert respect your wishes to end the marriage if he’s not willing to help you repair it.”
“I agree,” Audrey said. “You can do this, Penelope. And remember, we’re here for you every step of the way.”
Penelope managed to smile through her tears. “I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.” She laughed breathlessly. “Your support means so much to me.” She turned to Audrey, wiping some of the tears off her cheeks. “Okay. Your turn. What’s been going on with you?”
Audrey grimaced. For a moment, her concern for Penelope had caused her to forget about her own troubles. “Well, we had an unexpected visitor at the hotel the other day,” she said slowly, wondering how to drop the bomb of the news of Clark’s sudden appearance.
“Yeah?” Harper asked, frowning. “Like a health inspector or something? Are they saying there are issues because of that leaky pipe?”
“Oh, I wish.” Audrey groaned. “No, as bad as an unexpected visit from a concerned health inspector would be, this was much worse. Clark showed up.”
Penelope gasped. “What?”
“Clark?” Harper repeated slowly. “As in, your ex-husband who didn’t have the decency to tell you that he was running away with someone else before he totally dropped off the face of the planet and let you be frantic with worry for like forty-eight hours? He just showed up at the hotel?”
Audrey nodded, and it was her turn for tears to fill her eyes. All of the emotions she’d felt when Clark came to The Birchwood House returned with a vengeance.
“How dare he?” Penelope growled. “After everything he put you through, he’s just going to waltz back into your life?”
“He’s not coming back into your life,” Harper said, her eyes flashing in a way that made her outrage clear. “He doesn’t deserve that privilege.”
“Why did he come to the hotel?” Penelope asked, shaking her head. “Does he want something?”
“Yes.” Audrey bit her lip. “That’s the worst part. He wants my grandfather clock—the one that belonged to my grandmother.”
“That beautiful clock sitting in the entryway of the hotel?” Harper asked.
Audrey nodded.
“But it’s yours,” Penelope said fiercely. “Is he out of his mind? No wait, I already know the answer to that. He left you, which means obviously he’s out of his mind.”
Audrey laughed. “Thanks, guys. I don’t know what I’m going to do.
I’m worried about whatever battle is going to ensue involving this clock—which I absolutely don’t want to give up—but the worst part is how I just feel so punched in the gut.
Seeing him felt awful. And apparently, he’s got his new girlfriend here in town with him. ”
Harper sucked in her breath, making a sound that was almost like a hiss, and Penelope shook her head.
“That man deserves a good kick in the pants—or worse,” she said, and she frowned in concentration as if she was scheming up all the ways she could make trouble for Clark while he was there in town.
“I’m so sorry this is happening, Audrey,” Harper said, “but you can’t let the fact that he’s here get to you. He doesn’t have power over you anymore. He’s a person from your past, but you’re living in the present. The life you’ve built for yourself here is amazing, and he has no part in that.”
“So true,” Penelope agreed warmly. “You’ve got The Birchwood House, and a mother and daughter who are amazing, and friends who have your back no matter what.
And you’ve got Evan! He’s a much better guy than Clark ever was.
Clark is the one who lost out. He made a stupid decision and now he doesn’t have you anymore.
Now you have a much better life than you ever had with him. ”
Audrey smiled, letting out a breath. She felt bolstered by their encouragement. “Thank you both. I feel a lot better.”
“Good.” Harper gave a satisfied nod.
“We’re here for you no matter what,” Penelope said, squeezing her hand.
Audrey smiled back at both of them, taking a deep breath and reflecting that she was incredibly lucky to have them in her life.
Penelope is right, my life is much better than ever, she thought. And as soon as this whole situation with Clark is over, I can’t wait to get back to it. But right now, I feel so uneasy, wondering when he will show up.
At the thought of Clark showing up unexpectedly, she glanced around the restaurant again, her stomach knotting.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he wasn’t in the restaurant, but she felt a twinge of fatigue as she reflected that he could still appear around any corner in Coral Sands without warning.
She shook herself, determined to have a good night with her friends.
If Clark did show up, she would handle it—and she knew her friends would defend her from him with a fierceness that would probably knock his socks off.
The thought made her smile, and she returned to the conversation that her friends were having with a lighter heart.