Page 59 of Escape to Lighthouse Cove

“Why not?” she asked woodenly as Brad placed his hands on the tops of her arms, as if he would draw her toward him.

“Grace.” He smiled, his face full of appeal despite the broken veins across his nose, the puffy jawline. “Isn’t it obvious? Because I don’t want to get divorced, and I know you don’t, either. We’re a family, Grace. We belong together.” His hands tightened on her arms as he drew her toward him. And Grace started to go, out of instinct or maybe out of shock, she didn’t even know, but it took her a shaming second to resist and dig her heels in.

“Brad.No.” She shook her head, hard enough to make her ears ring, as she stepped back. She was not about to fall in with her ex-husband’s reconciliation plan, if that was actually what he wanted. She didn’t trust him, she knew that much. “That’s not what’s happening here.”

“Why not?” he asked, his voice low and persuasive. “We were good together, Grace.”

She shook her head again, numbly this time. “We really weren’t.”

“Don’t you remember how much fun we had? Thethreeof us. Taking Jacob to t-ball at the 92nd Street Y, and getting bagels after?—”

“That happened once.” And yet it had been a sweet memory, one she’d treasured and had made her stay for as long as she had.

“And it can happen again. I want to cut down my hours.” He started drawing her toward him again, and this time she took a stumbling step toward him, more because she was reeling too much to resist than wanting to be close to him.

She really hadn’t expected this.

“I want to be there for you,” Brad continued, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “And for Jacob. In a way I wasn’t before. Being alone all this time… it’s made me realize how much I messed up. I didn’t know how good I had it, Grace. How goodwehad it.” He smiled at her coaxingly, while Grace stared at him numbly.

Did he believe what he was saying?Did she?

“And the other women?” she asked after a moment, curious as to how he’d answer.

“Grace.” He closed his eyes briefly, as if in pain. “There weren’t any other women.”

Her mouth dropped open and she snapped it shut. “Brad, there were,” she managed after a moment.

He sighed, almost as if he were disappointed in her. “I mean, yes, there was astripper. But come on, Grace. I was entertaining clients. What was I supposed to do? It was a lap dance, that was all. And I didn’t even enjoy it.” He grinned, as if she’d appreciate that joke, and Grace stared at him, her mind both whirling and blank.

She was pretty sure it had been more than a lap dance. And even if it hadn’t… this man had put his hands around her throat. Could she forget that? Or his vindictive smear campaign?

“And all the stuff online?” she asked, once more curious as to how he would spin it. “All the accusations and innuendoes?” She had a flash of memory—a post on Facebook about her non-existent sex tape and the six hundred comments of strangers calling her a slut or whore or worse. “What was that about, Brad?”

For a second, he looked cornered, and then his expression ironed out and he smiled, squeezing her shoulders again. “Grace.That was… come on. After you left me, Justin—you know he’s the CEO of Sunshine Media?”

“Yes, I know,” Grace replied stonily. Sunshine Media, who had put a hell of a lot ofraininto her life.

“He was angry on my behalf, you know? And so he had a little fun with AI, a couple of bots.Come on, Grace.” He had the audacity to laugh, as if they could share this joke, find anything at all about it funny. “It wasn’t a big deal. No one believed that stuff. It was all ridiculous.”

“The internet believed it, Brad.” Grace stepped away from him, shrugging her way out of his grasp. “The moms at Jacob’s school believed it. They ignored me as soon as all that stuff was online. There were hundreds of comments on some of those posts. Did you actually think I would find itfunny?” She stared at him, daring him to answer truthfully.

He shrugged, embarrassed, maybe even a little annoyed. He wasn’t used to her confronting him, Grace realized, because she’d never done it before. Not until she’d left him.

“I don’t know, Grace. I didn’t look at it all, okay? I told Justin to cool it when I realized what was going on. I did my best.”

She let out a harsh laugh. “Well then, your best sucks.” Brad’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you really here?” Grace asked abruptly. “Do you really want to get back together?”

He looked aggrieved. “I do.”

Maybe he missed the creature comforts of having a pliant wife, Grace mused. Someone to hang on his arm and grace his home and give him sex. Brad had always liked his creature comforts, and he was forty-four now, maybe starting to feel his age. And she had been so very pliable and understanding for so long. He probably missed that version of her, rather than who she was now. Who she wanted to be.

Well, if he wanted that kind of wife, he could hire a blow-up doll. That’s basically what she had been.

“Well, I don’t miss you,” she stated bluntly. “In fact, the opposite. Living here, away from you, has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve finally woken up and realized what an absolute—” she struggled to find the word and then finished triumphantly, “assholeyou are. I can’t believe it took me twelve years, but don’t worry, I’m making up for lost time.”

Brad’s expression turned wounded, almost as if she’d genuinely hurt him, and maybe she had. “Grace… we had a nice life together,” he insisted. “I know we did.”

Staring at him, Grace realized he believed it. And in many ways, theyhadhad a nice life. Luxurious. Pleasant. Easy, in so many ways. She didn’t understand why he was trying to win her back, but maybe he really did miss her, or at least what she’d offered—comfort. Company. Sex. She wasn’t convinced he missed her as aperson.