9. Heath #2
“Perhaps we should discuss this in private.”
“No. We’re going to discuss it right here, right now.
” I braced my hands on the table and leaned in close.
“You’ve been trying to drive Delphine away since the day I brought her home.
You have undermined her, insulted her, made her feel like an outsider in her own home for nine years.
And now you’ve convinced her that I’ve been unfaithful, which is a lie, Mother. A complete and total lie.”
“Heath.” Kendall’s voice was soft, wounded. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I was just trying to help.”
“Help?” I turned to look at her, at the bandage on her nose and the carefully crafted expression of innocence on her face.
“Help with what, exactly? Because from where I’m standing, you’ve been inserting yourself into my marriage since the day you arrived.
Touching me. Whispering with me. Sending me texts about building things together in Europe. ”
“Those were about business.” Kendall’s eyes went wide. “You know that was about business.”
“Say it again,” I said. “Say it slowly, and this time try to say it without smiling.”
She didn’t answer.
“You wrote us together. You wrote build something great. You didn’t write Paris and you didn’t write the branch and you didn’t write a single word that would have told her what it was, and you know it, because you sat up and chose every one of them.
” I leaned in. “You’re not stupid, Kendall.
That’s the whole problem. You’ve never once been stupid.
My wife thinks I’ve been sleeping with you, and you built that, and you built it on purpose, and then you came and ate her food. ”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?” I laughed, a harsh sound that made the women at the table shift uncomfortably.
“You want to talk about fair? My wife punched you in the face last night because of what you said to her. You provoked her in front of everyone we know, and now she’s gone.
She asked me for a divorce, Kendall. My wife wants a divorce because she thinks I’ve been sleeping with you. ”
The table went very still.
Montana’s expression flickered, what might have been satisfaction crossing her features before she smoothed it away.
“Well,” she said coolly, “perhaps that’s for the best. You were never going to be happy with someone so... unsuitable.”
“Unsuitable.” I straightened up, staring at my mother with a clarity I had never felt before. “You mean someone who wasn’t born into money. Someone who worked for everything she has. Someone who loved me for who I am, not for what I could give her.”
“Someone who just punched a guest at a Christmas gala.” Montana’s voice was sharp now, her polite mask slipping. “Someone who has embarrassed this family at every turn. Someone who’s never understood how to behave in proper society.”
“She punched Kendall because Kendall provoked her. She was humiliated because you spent weeks filling her head with lies. She left me because I was too much of a coward to tell her the truth and you were more than happy to fill the silence with poison.”
“I was protecting you,” Montana snapped. “I was protecting this family from a woman who was never going to fit in. You were supposed to marry someone like Kendall. Someone who understands our world. Someone who could give you the life you deserve.”
“I don’t want the life you think I deserve. I want Delphine.”
“Then you’re a fool.”
“Maybe I am.” I looked around the table at the women watching this scene unfold, their champagne forgotten, their eyes bright with the kind of hungry interest that passed for entertainment in these circles.
“Maybe I’ve been a fool for years. But I’m done now.
I’m done letting you interfere in my marriage.
I’m done letting Kendall hang around pretending she’s welcome. I’m done with all of it.”
I pointed at Kendall. “You need to find somewhere else to stay. Today. I don’t care where you go, but you’re not welcome at Fairhaven anymore.”
Kendall’s face crumpled. “Heath, please. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I just wanted to be close to you again. I missed what we had.”
“What we had ended when we were eighteen. I chose Delphine. I married Delphine. And if I have to spend the rest of my life making her believe that, I will.”
“You can’t throw me out,” Montana sputtered. “I invited her. That house belongs to this family.”
“And I’m the head of this family now. Father left it to me, Mother. Not to you. And I’m telling you that Kendall leaves today, and you leave with her.”
Montana’s face went red with fury. “You cannot be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.” I straightened my jacket, suddenly aware of how disheveled I must look, still in my tuxedo from the night before, unshaven, exhausted. I didn’t care. “I want you both out of my house by the time I get back. Pack your things and go.”
“And where exactly am I supposed to go?”
“I don’t care. A hotel. One of your friends’ guest houses.
Back to wherever you’ve been spending most of your time since Father died.
” I met her eyes, holding her gaze. “You’ve spent nine years trying to destroy my marriage.
You finally succeeded. Congratulations. But I’m going to fix this, and I’m going to do it without your interference. ”
“She’ll never take you back.” Montana’s voice was cold now, stripped of any pretense of maternal concern. “She’s too proud. Too stubborn. You’ve lost her, Heath, and all of your grand gestures won’t change that.”
“Maybe not. But at least I’ll know I tried. Which is more than I can say for the last three months.”
I turned and walked away, ignoring the whispers that erupted behind me, ignoring my mother’s voice calling after me. The anger was still there, burning in my chest, but beneath it now was a steadier heat. It felt like purpose.
Somewhere behind me a glass broke. I pushed through the restaurant doors and stepped out into the cold morning air. My breath fogged in front of me. My hands were shaking, from exhaustion or emotion or some combination of both.
I had been a fool. A blind, cowardly fool who had let his fear of confrontation destroy the most important thing in his life. I had spent three months trying to protect Delphine from a difficult conversation, and instead I had left her defenseless against the people who wanted to tear us apart.
But I was done hiding. Done staying silent. Done letting other people hurt my wife because I was too wrapped up in my own problems to protect her.
I was going to find Delphine. I was going to tell her the truth about everything, about the European branch, about my fears, about why I had been so distant. I was going to lay myself bare and beg her to give me another chance.
And if she refused, I would keep trying. I would keep showing up. I would keep proving to her that she was the only thing that mattered to me, that no amount of silence or distance or misunderstanding could change what I felt for her.
I pulled out my phone and dialed her number again. Voicemail. Of course.
“Del,” I said after the beep. “I’m coming for you.
I don’t know where you are, but I’m going to find you, and I’m going to explain everything.
Please just... please don’t give up on us yet.
I know I don’t deserve another chance. I know I’ve wrecked this beyond any right to ask.
But I love you. I’ve always loved you. And I’ll prove it for as long as you’ll let me. ”
I hung up and stared at the phone in my hand.
Whatever it took.