A Little Secret between Friends
It's amazing how one decision could change your lifeBack in law school Sally Stowe and Colin Foster argued in and out of class. One night, after a study session in the library, Colin offered to drive Sally home. They ended up in his dorm room making love. The next day Sally discovered that her best friend, Beth, was really into this guy in Sally's class–Colin. Sally stepped aside and started seeing someone new.Sixteen years later Sally is a distinguished lawyer, up for a judicial appointment, and Colin is Beth's widower. As Sally and Colin spend more and more time together, a horrible suspicion takes hold. Could Sally's daughter be Colin's?
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Sally’s first instinct was to drive away
But Colin was already walking toward her car. He had on jeans and an old—a very old—University of Alberta sweatshirt. She’d probably seen him in that sweatshirt a hundred times.
Including, if memory served her correctly, that one, fateful night over sixteen years ago…
When Colin was close enough to touch her car, she lowered the passenger-side window.
For a moment they just looked at each other, and in his eyes she recognized the sorrow that she’d been feeling.
She also saw that he was concerned about her. But there was something else she couldn’t name. It was like a spark, alive and glowing. And it reminded her that despite how she felt at times, she was a woman with half her life still in front of her.
Dear Reader,
A difficult moral dilemma is at the heart of many stories I write. This story is no different.
Imagine you are a student in your last year of university. There’s this guy who has been in many of your classes…and something about him really gets to you. He’s good-looking, charming and way too smart for his own good. You keep wanting to show him up. Then one night you’re at the library late at night together and he offers you a ride home. Sparks fly, and before you know it, this guy you thought you couldn’t stand is someone you just can’t resist.
The next morning you check in with your roommate and best friend. Before you can tell her what happened last night, she tells you about this guy she really likes—and it’s your guy!
Do you tell her to back off? Or do you leave the field clear for your friend?
In the story you're about to read, Sally Stowe faced just this situation. Sally decided to date someone else and leave the guy for her friend…and the repercussions of that decision still live with her—and her daughter—sixteen years later.
I hope you enjoy this story. If you would like to write or send e-mail, I would be delighted to hear from you through my Web site at www.cjcarmichael.com. Or send mail to the following Canadian address: #1754-246 Stewart Green S.W., Calgary, Alberta, T3H 3C8, Canada.
Sincerely,
C.J. Carmichael
For sharing her knowledge of family law
and the challenges of juggling a career with motherhood, I thank Sandra J. Hildebrand, barrister and solicitor.
Thanks also to Joe Nolan, retired RCMP officer,
and Terry Evenson, Executive Director of the Canadian Bar Association of Alberta (and also a lovely aunt!).
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER ONE
“BE CAREFUL with that knife, Sal. You wouldn’t want to hurt yourself.”
Sally Stowe froze. The unexpected sound of her ex-husband’s voice had a similar effect to a steel blade running lightly down her spine.
Keeping her back to him, she resumed chopping the red pepper with precise, measured slices. She took a beat to catch her breath, then said coolly, “We have this custom in North America, Neil. It’s called knocking before you enter a home that isn’t your own.”
Though her exterior was unruffled—she hoped!—her mind raced. Why was Neil here? He knew Lara was on a birthday sleepover party tonight. Sally had learned long ago to get his permission for every single thing Lara did. If she so much as booked a dentist appointment without his approval, Neil would turn ballistic.
“The door was unlocked.”
As if that were an excuse. Still, it was a good reminder to be more careful. Sally crouched to reassure the six-month-old puppy whining anxiously at her feet—the cause of the unlocked door. He needed to go out so often she’d become lazy with the dead bolt, which would only engage if you aligned the door just shy of fully closed.
“It’s okay, Armani.” She gave the mutt a scratch behind his ears, then patted him on the side gently.
Strangers—and Neil—made the poor thing nervous.
In his most scornful voice, Neil said, “Armani? Who calls a dog after a fashion designer, for God’s sake?”
Still avoiding eye contact with him, Sally did her best to answer calmly. “Your daughter.” And he, of all people, ought to know why. He was the one who had fostered Lara’s taste for expensive, designer clothing—although even Neil drew the line at Armani, fortunately.
“Well, the dog’s black, at least.”
Yes. And with the patch of white on his chest, he looked a little like he was wearing a tux. But Sally didn’t share that piece of trivia with Neil. She shared nothing with her ex-husband that wasn’t required in their joint-custody agreement.
An agreement that she, as a lawyer, understood inside and out. Neil, also a lawyer, knew the agreement equally well, since he had drafted it.
As Sally went to the sink to rinse her hands, she glanced out the window at the thawing April landscape. The grass was still brown, but there would be pussy willows soon. Chunks of ice were breaking up in the river that bordered the western edge of her property.
