A Love So Strong Read online

  "Don't look now, but Mary Magdalene just walked in." Jase added, "With her bitchy sister."

  "Molly? Bitchy? I never thought that."

  "Yeah, well, we went a few rounds about the divorce when I called her trying to find Jill."

  Riley was about to comment when his wife came into his line of vision. Once again, he was stunned by what the sight of her did to him. Tonight she wore a pretty peach dress that hugged her curves and highlighted her complexion. You look so freakin' sexy in that color, he'd once told her. She'd gone out and bought the naughtiest underwear and nightgowns, all in varying shades of peach.

  Damn her. She wore that dress on purpose tonight.

  The women made their way down the bar. Riley wondered if Jill noticed the murmurs when she was spotted. She was treated like a pariah today by everybody working at Serenity House. No one but Mick would even eat lunch with her. They blamed her for almost destroying Riley.

  Interesting, nobody had blamed Rafe. Once he'd reconciled with his wife—apparently he'd confessed, too—it was business as usual for the man Jill cheated with.

  As she came toward them, Riley could see she looked tired. But her hair shone and the sun had lured out her freckles today. Again, he noticed she'd gained weight, all in the right places, which were showcased by the dress.

  "Hi, guys." Her casual tone didn't fool him. He heard the underlying tremulousness.

  "Jillian." He nodded to her sister, who'd always liked him, until he and Jill split. Then she'd lit into him…

  You know, you bear some responsibility here, too.

  Me? I didn't cheat.

  No, but you never really knew her. She's fragile.

  As a shark.

  That's what I mean. You don't know the real Jill.

  Well, lady, if I never knew her, it's because she didn't let me.

  You’d think in five years of marriage you could have figured out a way to breach her defenses…

  He said, "Hello, Molly."

  Molly's dark eyes burned angrily. "Riley." They spit fire when she turned them on his friend. "Jase."

  His buddy’s spit right back. "Molly."

  Riley set down his beer. "I'm going to go play pool." He looked at Jase. "Come on. I'll bet I can beat you by ten."

  At those words, his eyes locked with Jill's. He remembered a good time in their marriage. They'd just bought the pool table for their house.

  Come on, babe, let's play strip billiards. Every time I sink a ball, you have to take a piece of your clothes off.

  Rye, we're married. You don't have to think up excuses to get me naked.

  Yeah? Well, sweetheart, if I win, you gotta stay that way all weekend and be at my beck and call.

  By Monday, he could hardly walk. It had been a hell of a weekend.

  He tore his gaze away from her and stalked to the pool table, vowing not to remember the good times like this, not to feel bad for her. Even when he heard "She's a bitch" and "She's got nerve" from just about all the Hyde Associates he passed, his heart remained hardened.

  oOo

  Jill could take the cold stares. She could even take the snide comments she'd gotten all day. But she wasn't ready for seeing Rafe Santilli's wife as she came out of the stall in the restroom. Marietta stood there, as if she was waiting for her. "Hello, Jillian," the pretty mother of three said calmly.

  Nodding, Jill said, "Hello, Marietta."

  "I'm surprised to see you." Over the woman's head, Jill noticed a woman come out of another stall and go to the waiting area. It was the firm's receptionist—and the biggest gossip at Hyde Associates.

  Jill wanted to apologize, but she didn't want to hurt Marietta in the process. "I hope my showing up here doesn't make you too uncomfortable."

  Marietta watched her. "It doesn't. Rafe and I are doing fine."

  "I can't tell you how glad I am to hear that" She raised her chin. "I'm sorry for the grief I caused you."

  The woman cocked her head. "Fine. Apology accepted. Especially since we worked things out. Our marriage is stronger now."

  "I'm glad." Jill bit her lip. Another woman joined the receptionist in the waiting area, and they stood there, eavesdropping and not apologizing for it. "Can I ask you something?"

  "Yes."

  "How did Rafe convince you to forgive him?"

  “Is that why you came back to Hyde Point? To ask for Riley's forgiveness?"

  “I came back to Hyde Point because I want to stop the divorce."

  "I see." Marietta thought for a moment. “To answer your question, Rafe told me you were together only one time, you'd both had too much to drink, and were in bad places professionally and personally." Like her, Rafe had been passed over for the partnership. And he and Marietta had been fighting, too.

  Marietta smirked. "He also told me the sex wasn't even very good, and afterward, you both were sorry. That's when you decided to confess to your respective spouses and beg our forgiveness."

  "And you forgave him."

  “I didn't right away. It took a while. But we have three kids, and…" The woman's eyes clouded. "I love him."

  Jill felt her throat close up “I’m so sorry."

  "So you say." Marietta threw back her shoulders. "I no longer bear you ill will, Jill, but I really can't wish you the best in life." She turned around and caught sight of the women behind her, who promptly scurried out the door. "Oh, dear." She looked back at Jill. "I'm afraid this wasn't very private, but then the whole affair leaked out, so…"

  "It's okay." Word of her apology would get back to Riley. Maybe it would take away some of the sting of how she embarrassed him.

  After Marietta left, Jill sat down on the lounger to calm the shaking of her hands. When she garnered her courage, she left the restroom. It was an hour later, as she sat with Molly and tried not to watch Riley dance with other women, that he approached her. "Come outside with me. I want to talk to you." He didn't sound happy.

  He stalked ahead of her out the door to the parking lot, to his car. She'd surprised him with the sporty Miata as a thirty-fifth-birthday present.

  When they reached it, he rounded on her and grabbed her roughly by the forearms. His fingers bit into her. "What are you up to with all this shit?"

  "All what shit?"

  "Damn it, Jill. You had to know it would get back to me. Groveling to Marietta."

  "All right, I did know. I wanted to make up for embarrassing you in front of our colleagues."

  He shook her, his face lit with anger. "You can never make up for what you did to us."

  "Please, let me try."

  "No. Not even if you did confess your sins in front of the firm's receptionist, who's broadcasting the news from here to eternity."

  Jill closed her eyes. How could she change his mind?

  oOo

  Suddenly he pulled her to him. "And what did she mean, the sex was lousy? Didn't you enjoy having his hands on you?"

  That brought moisture to her eyes. "No, I didn't. The only man who ever made me shiver was you." She moved in closer. Aligned her body with his. Felt his respond. "I crave your touch now, Rye. Only yours."

  "Damn you." His mouth came down on hers.

  It was a punishing kiss. He was rough and angry. But then the tenor changed to desire. His arms banded around her, and his hands closed over her bottom. He grasped her tightly, and consumed her. His tongue was everywhere, staking claim to her mouth. He moaned, sunk deeper into her, ground his body into hers.

  Jill was lost, finally being in his arms again. She gripped his shoulders, whimpered when he took her mouth voraciously.

  Then, as suddenly as the kiss began, it was over. He yanked himself back and thrust her away from him. "I'm not going to do this."

  She just watched him. He raked a hand through his hair. The stars twinkled down on him, and the moon highlighted the dark gold strands and outlined every tense muscle in his body.

  "Is this what you planned? To seduce me into taking you back?"

  She faced him squa
rely. "I'll do anything to get you back."

  "It'd take a lot more than a few hot kisses and a couple of cheap feels to do that, sweetheart." When she continued to stare at him, he said silkily, "Surprised that you can't bring me to my knees like you used to?"

  "I don't want to bring you to your knees. I want to love you."

  His eyes widened and his hands fisted at his sides. "Go to hell, Jillian." Yanking the keys out of his pocket, he flung open the car door, and slid inside. Then he tore out of the parking lot.

  Jill raised her fingers to her mouth. Her lips were swollen from his kisses. She savored the feel and taste of her husband as she watched the taillights of his car disappear into the night.

  Mick's words in one of his last letters came to her. The hardest thing in the world is to watch what hurting the ones we love has done to them. It takes real courage, to face that.

  For the first time since she made her decision to return to Hyde Point, Jill wondered if she had the courage to see this through.

  oOo

  "Riley didn't come home last night." Jill sipped a cup of coffee and stared at the paintbrush in Mick's hand. On this bright and beautiful Sunday morning, she'd volunteered to help Riley's grandfather do the trim on the back portion of the house.

  "He didn't?"

  She shook her head. "He spent the night at Jase's. I heard them joking about how it was just like old times when they were roommates."

  "Can't let him avoid you if you want to break down his defenses."

  "I know. I didn't plan on him not staying with me." She raised sad eyes to Mick. "What if I can't change his mind, Mick?"

  The old man stood, put down his brush, and held out his arms. "Come here, girl."

  She went into his embrace, wishing just once her father would have given her this kind of comfort, this kind of support. Maybe she would have turned out a better person.

  Smoothing down her hair, Mick crooned to her. "You've got to give it your best shot. That's all you can do."

  "I know," she mumbled into his shirt.

  "What's going on back here?" Riley’s voice. His tone was gruff.

  "Nothing." Mick held her neck when she tried to draw back. "Jill here was just feeling a little light-headed."

  She managed to pull away and face Riley. If she was overwrought, he looked ravaged. He stared hard at her, then glanced at the ladder. "Then stay off that damned thing," he said and stalked away.

  Mick mumbled, "Mmm. Looks like he's not so immune. Maybe I can feed the fire."

  "Don't, Mick. He'll just get mad at you."

  "I love that boy. I'll be damned if I stand by and let him make the worst mistake of his life." He cleared his throat. "Now, let's get to work."

  Jill was on the top rung of the high ladder painting the high trim in the midafternoon sun when she did indeed feel light-headed. Time to stop. Mick had gone for something to drink and she was alone. She didn't want to break her neck. Placing the brush in the can, she gripped the rails of the ladder. For a minute, she rested her head on one of them.

  "Get the hell down from there. Mick's right. You're a stubborn broad."

  Drawing in a breath, she descended the ladder. When she got near the bottom, she felt strong hands grip her waist. And then she was lifted from the rungs and set on the ground. Riley held on to her while she still faced away. "What are you trying to prove?"

  "What do you mean?"

  His hands flexed on her waist. They felt good there. "Mick said you weren't feeling well. You shouldn't be up on that ladder."

  "I'm—" She was about to say she was fine, but his hands were still at her waist and so she decided to take advantage of his closeness. She leaned back. "I, um, I'm just tired. And not used to this heat."

  She could feel his muscles against her back. He was almost a foot taller than she, and his chest was big and safe. She'd given up so much. "Jill?"

  "I'm fine. I—" She pivoted and his arms seemed to automatically encircle her. She stared up at him. "I miss you so much, Riley. Especially when you're close like this."

  His blue eyes gave the sky competition. They were crystal clear today, but sad. "It's no use, Jill. Like I was telling Jase last night, even if I wanted to give our marriage another shot, I could never trust you. What kind of relationship would that be?"

  "Maybe—"

  "Rmmm. Rmmm."

  Startled, Riley looked up. Jill saw a little boy about five with two sticks in the shape of a cross come around the side of the house. Jase's son, Riley's godchild.

  "Hey, Tommy, where's your dad?" Riley asked. "You know he said to stay close."

  "Went to pee."

  Riley chuckled. He let go of Jill and crossed to the boy. Bending to one knee, Riley whispered something in his ear.

  The boy said, "Oops, sorry ma'am."

  Jill tried to smile, but the sight of her husband with the child robbed her of breath. They should have had a baby. Like Rafe and Marietta, maybe they wouldn't have given up so easily.

  Then Riley stood and looked at her, as if he'd read her mind. Tommy took off and he followed the boy without saying more.

  I could never trust you.

  Slowly, she crossed to a table to get some water. She poured a glass and sat down. She was thinking about how she would lose everything if she couldn't convince Riley she'd changed, when little Tommy zoomed back around the house. This time he carried two makeshift planes and was pretending to fly them. Leaning against the picnic table, she watched him. He was about ten feet away, farther back in Serenity House's yard, where they'd piled the leftover shingles from the roof.

  Tommy ran in circles, then veered off.

  Right toward one of the stacks.

  “Tommy, don't—" Her warning to stay away from the building materials hadn't even left her mouth when he ran toward the stacks at the same time they wobbled from a gust of wind.

  Tommy looked up…and Jill bolted to him. She heard a male shout just as she reached the boy and scooped him up and out of the way.

  Hard heavy shingles tumbled down behind her as she managed to dart clear of them. But momentum carried her too fast, right into bags of cement that were stacked off to the side for the new walkway. Turning her body, her right shoulder hit them, sending pain splintering down her arm. She and Tommy tumbled to the ground to the sound of a voice yelling, "Jill…"

  oOo

  Nora Nolan, the supervisor of Serenity House, stood in its kitchen with Dr. Paige Kendrick, a former resident of the home, as the doctor checked out Jill. Riley sat on a chair across from her, his heart still in his mouth.

  “I'm fine, Paige, really." Jill winced, though, as Paige probed her shoulder.

  "Gotta lift this shirt up, Jill."

  From where he sat, Riley could see Paige tug at Jill's T-shirt. She wore a pretty peach bra. Beneath the right strap a bruise fanned out to either side, discoloring quickly. "You got a hell of a black-and-blue mark." Gently, Paige probed the area. "But that and your leg look like the worst of it." She pulled down the shirt. "You're going to be sore. Really sore. You took quite a tumble, from what Riley said. Use ibuprofen for the pain."

  Jill glanced at him. He'd never forget the sight of her, racing to Tommy, scooping the little boy out of harm's way and heading for the pile of cement bags. They didn't have much give and she pivoted quickly to take the brunt of the contact.

  She'd willingly risked her own safety for Tommy.

  Nora frowned. "You should go home, dear. The day's work is almost over. I'd be glad to drive you. I think you're too woozy to be behind the wheel."

  "I'm headed back into town," Paige said. "I could take you."

  Riley stood. "I'll do it. She's staying at my place anyway."

  Nora and Paige exchanged quick looks. Hyde Point was small and it was common knowledge that Jill had cheated on him and he'd kicked her out. But today, with the images of her in physical danger imprinted on his mind, he didn't much care what anybody else thought. Not that Nora or Paige would gossip.

&nb
sp; Jill stood and winced again. She glanced at Riley. "I'd appreciate the ride."

  Paige snapped her bag shut. "Good to see you again, Jill, though not under these circumstances." She smiled. "Are you back from your leave of absence?" Jill had done some legal work for Paige's medical practice.

  "I don't know." She shook hands with Paige. "Thanks for checking me out."

  "I'm glad I decided to stop on my way back from the med school and see what was happening here."

  When Nora and Paige left, Jill and Riley stood alone in the kitchen. He watched her. "Thanks for what you did for Tommy."

  "Anybody would have done what I did."

  "You risked your own safety. Jase is grateful. He almost broke down when he found out what happened."

  "Maybe he won't hate me so much now."

  "I’m sure he’s very grateful."

  "Maybe you won't either."

  "I don't hate you, Jill."

  "No? Then prove it."

  His uh-oh detector went off. "How?"

  “Take me home."

  "I said I would."

  "Have a beer with me."

  "Okay."

  "And give me one last chance to change your mind. About us."

  He had a vision of her naked and under him. It was not at all unpleasant. "How?"

  "Let me tell you why I think I did what I did and explain what I've learned from the experience, how I've changed. If you still want the divorce after that, I'll sign the papers."

  "Jill, I—"

  "Is that too much to ask, Riley? Another hour of your time? We were together five years."

  "All right. But I warn you, I don't think talking about what happened will do any good."

  Her shoulders sagged; she wavered and gripped the end of the table. He was beside her in seconds, sliding an arm around her waist. "Come on, let's go home."

  oOo

  Jill leaned her head back against the Jacuzzi and let the steaming water ease the aches that had manifested everywhere. The huge bruises on her shoulder and leg had caused Riley to gasp when she came downstairs from changing. This hot tub was just what the doctor ordered, though it had had many uses in the past. They'd made love out here several times.

  The sliding doors hissed open. Riley hooked two bottles by their necks with one hand and closed the door with the other.