The Other Woman

Carter held up the new roller he meant to purchase. “Actually, I came to get a few supplies, too. Otherwise, I couldn’t make the improvements at the chocolate shop.”

Keith’s jaw dropped. “The what?”

“You heard me.” Carter suspected he was being too combative. He didn’t even know Keith. But since the numbness that set in after Laurel’s death had worn off, the darker emotions simmering beneath his skin sometimes got the best of him—especially when he found a target as deserving as a man who’d cheated and lied to the extent that Keith had done.

“Did Liz ask for your help?”

“The senator suggested it.”

Liz’s ex stepped closer, giving Carter the impression he wasn’t the type to back down from a fight. “Well, you can forget about it. She doesn’t need you. She’s got me.”

Carter eyed Keith’s hands, which had nearly doubled into fists. He waited to see if Keith would take a swing at him, but when Keith made no move, he said, “Evidently it’s not happening fast enough.”

“I’ll get to it.”

“No need,” Carter said. “The place will be painted before you can get off work.”

“That’s all you wanted to tell me? That you’re helping Liz—and that you can get it done quicker than I can?”

“No. There’s one more thing.”

Keith’s nostrils flared. “What’s that?”

“If you’re the person who ripped her sink from the wall, you’d better not try that shit again,” he said and stalked off.

“Who the hell do you think you are, you arrogant son of a bitch?” Keith called after him.

Carter didn’t respond. He’d already made his point. Besides, he wasn’t arrogant. He was angry.

CHAPTER FIVE

LIZ WRUNG HER HANDS TOGETHER as she stood at the door of Isaac’s classroom, barely able to resist the urge to barge in while he was teaching. She wasn’t sure what she expected him to do about their father’s unexpected arrival. But she wanted to warn him. Isaac hadn’t spoken to Gordon for years, hadn’t even bothered with a Christmas card. Liz had encouraged him to do what he could to improve the relationship, but Isaac had no patience for any talk of reconciliation. He couldn’t understand how Gordon could have allowed Luanna to do what she’d done to Liz.

To be honest, Liz couldn’t understand it, either. Her father had probably been lonely and in love, she told herself. He had needs, too. But Luanna had been downright cruel, at least to Liz. And Gordon hadn’t interfered.

At last, the class bell rang, tinny and loud enough to rattle Liz’s nerves. Taking a moment to regain her composure, she threaded her way through a crowd of high school students surging past her.

She spotted Isaac sitting on the edge of his desk, wearing a pair of chinos and a blue short-sleeved shirt. He was speaking with a female student. “You’re making it more difficult than it has to be,” he said calmly. “The number of electrons surrounding the nucleus of an atom is equal to the number of protons inside.”

The girl scrunched up her nose. “Always?”

“Always,” he replied. “And the number of the element on the periodic chart is the number of protons in that element’s nucleus.”

She smacked her forehead. “Now I get it.”

“It’s that easy.” Catching sight of Liz over the girl’s head, Isaac started to get up.

The student grabbed his forearm. “But what do I use to build my model?”

“Anything you want.” He gently extricated himself, as if he’d had ample practice slipping out of the clutches of overenthusiastic teenage girls. “That’s the fun of it. You can be creative.”

“I like this class.” The adoration in the student’s voice indicated she was far more interested in her handsome teacher than in the subject he taught.

Liz raised her eyebrows at her brother and Isaac blushed. The student’s crush obviously embarrassed him. “You’ll do fine,” he said as he shepherded her to the door. “Model’s due on Monday. Don’t forget.”

The girl cast a jealous glance at Liz before stepping outside. Clearly she wasn’t pleased she’d lost her audience with Isaac so soon. If not for her own preoccupation, Liz would’ve laughed. Isaac handled the attention he received so well. If Liz hadn’t witnessed this little scene firsthand, she knew he never would’ve mentioned it.

“Evidently you have another female admirer,” she said when the door clicked shut.

He shrugged as if he’d barely noticed. “The only female admirer I care about these days teaches next door.”

Although Isaac wasn’t the type to cheat on his wife, especially with a student, he was human and had more opportunity than most men. After what Keith, who’d once seemed equally devoted had done, Liz thought it was probably good Reenie worked so close.

“What’s up?” he asked, folding his arms and settling back onto the corner of his desk. “The last time you showed up here, you’d just quit your job and leased a thousand square feet of retail space. I’m almost afraid to hear what’s happening next.”

“This isn’t about the store.”

When she didn’t crack a smile, he grew serious. “Are Mica and Christopher okay?”

“They’re fine. It’s…” She cleared her throat “It’s Dad.”

Isaac stiffened slightly but showed no other emotion. “What about him?”

“He’s in town.”

He sat perfectly still for several long seconds, then sighed. “Did he call? Stop by? What?”

“I haven’t seen him yet. Keith bumped into him at the gas station a couple hours ago.”

“I guess it’s too much to hope that it was a chance meeting? That he was only passing through?”

“Probably.” Liz turned to examine the handmade rockets that covered one table. She didn’t want her brother to read the mixed emotions on her face. He was good at remaining aloof, at shutting off whatever he’d once felt for their father. Liz wished she could do the same, or channel her emotions into something simple and all-encompassing, like hate, but she wasn’t built that way. “Luanna has left him,” she said.

“No kidding.” When Isaac added a curse, Liz glanced up. “She would wait until now,” he explained. “She probably hung on for so long just to spite us.”

Liz toyed with the zipper on her sweatshirt. “What do you think we should do?”

“Ignore him until he goes away, I guess.”

“That’s not realistic.”

“Why not? He ignored us for years. Or he took Luanna’s side in every argument.”

“She was his wife, Isaac,” she said.

Her brother moved toward her. “I don’t care. She was in the wrong.”

Liz couldn’t argue with that. Luanna had constantly found fault with her, even in the beginning when Liz was still trying so hard to please. How long can it take to do a simple batch of dishes?…I swear you’d forget your head if not for your neck…. I don’t know what’s ever going to become of you…. Stupid girl…I’d be humiliated if you were my daughter….