It's Better This Way(10)
“Did something happen?”
“Not really…I shouldn’t say anything. I had coffee with a friend and rather enjoyed myself.”
“That’s nice.” Her daughter raised her finely shaped eyebrows in speculation. “Is this friend male or female?”
“Male, but don’t make more of it than there is.” Julia could almost see Hillary’s head spinning. Like Amanda and most of Julia’s friends, they assumed she needed a man to be happy. Nearly six years alone—the anniversary date of her divorce was only a month away—had proved otherwise. Yes, life as a single woman had been an adjustment, and yes, she was lonely at times. However, that wasn’t reason enough to compromise herself.
“Tell me about your friend. Divorced? How’d you meet?”
Julia answered her daughter’s questions, downplaying it as best she could. “We both agree we’re finished with dating.”
“What if he asks you out? Would you go?”
Her immediate response was that she would, but she didn’t admit it. “I might, I don’t know. I barely know him. I will say that we seem to be comfortable with each other; like me, he would want to keep this on a friends-only basis.”
“This is encouraging, Mom. Go for it.”
Her daughter’s words lingered in her mind as Julia left for her appointment with the masseuse. It’d only been since the divorce that she’d indulged in this luxury. Amanda had suggested a massage would help relieve her body of the tension of dealing with Eddie, following their separation. It helped, and she’d been hooked ever since, scheduling one every two weeks. As the masseuse worked on her, Julia closed her eyes and reviewed once again her conversation with Heath, and how good it had made her feel.
Her next stop was the hair salon, where she had a standing appointment every five weeks for a haircut.
“You’re in a good mood,” Terri, her hairdresser, said as she clipped away.
She was. Her step was lighter, and she had the almost irresistible desire to break into song. She giggled at the absurdity of the thought. She was losing it.
When Terri finished drying Julia’s new cut, she twisted the chair around and handed her a mirror for Julia to look and approve.
“Great as always,” she said.
As she returned to The Heritage, she found herself eager for the next morning, when she would see Heath again.
Chapter 4
Heath couldn’t stop thinking about Julia for the rest of the day. It had been a long time since he’d felt this at ease with a woman. For the last couple weeks, they’d exercised with each other and had barely spoken a word. When she first showed up, he’d resented the fact that his space and time had been invaded in the smallish room. He’d hoped her arrival was a one-off, and that she wouldn’t return. She had, and after a week, he felt obliged to introduce himself. After his negative dating experiences, he’d gone out of his way to avoid conversation with her or make any effort to become friends.
When he saw that she was at the Busy Bean, he’d surprised himself by asking her to join him. He realized she genuinely wanted to avoid her sister and he knew he could help. Because she sat with her back to the window, Julia didn’t know her sister had come out of The Heritage looking for her. She walked toward the Busy Bean, saw Julia with him, and then, just as he’d predicted, had walked away.
He noticed that Julia hadn’t mentioned one word about her divorce, which he found rare. It proved that she truly had moved forward. That was the exception, if his limited experience was anything to go by. Every divorced woman he had met to this point felt it was necessary to enlighten him to the horrors of her marriage and the unfairness of the divorce.
Heath preferred not to discuss his own disillusioned marriage. It stung that his wife had left him for another man. In many ways, he blamed himself. He’d been oblivious and hadn’t noticed the subtle changes in their relationship. Over the years, they’d fallen into a pattern, and without him being aware, they had grown apart.
He should have suspected something when Lee said she wanted to sleep in another bedroom, claiming his snoring kept her awake. It’d been months since they’d last made love, and her moving to another bedroom hadn’t upset him.
The day she asked for the divorce, he’d been stunned. At the time, he didn’t realize there was someone else. He could have fought the divorce harder, insisted they go to counseling and attempt to save what was left of their marriage. Lee wasn’t interested. If she didn’t want to find a way to save their marriage, then he felt he couldn’t do it alone.
His son was the one who enlightened him to the truth. Their mother was involved in an affair. The news that Lee had taken a lover shocked him. Once he learned she’d cheated, he was glad he hadn’t tried harder to resuscitate the marriage. As far as he was concerned, it was over. Way over. He was done.
He left the details to the two attorneys to sort out, and other than negotiating a couple points, he was happy to let her go, and twenty-six years of married life circled the drain. Of course, there were regrets and recrimination. He probably hadn’t been the best husband. Since Lee had sought out another, it made sense that he hadn’t met her emotional needs. He accepted responsibility for his part in the failure. Heath wasn’t looking to remarry, but, as Julia had mentioned, he was accustomed to being a couple, and single life challenged him. All he was looking for now was companionship.