Midnight Promises (41 page)

“Are you sure divorce is the only option?” she asked gently. “Knowing your convictions, maybe you should think it through a little longer.”

“Too late,” Adelia said. “Not only has he been cheating on me for a very long time, but he acted as if I had no right to be angry about it. He said it was just the way things were, that all men eventually cheat. He said I should be happy that he was providing a roof over our heads and taking care of our children. And he had the gall to introduce Selena to the current other woman.” Her temper visibly stirred. “She lives in the same neighborhood. Did I mention that?”

Karen winced. “Selena told Daisy, so I knew.”

“My poor child,” Adelia said sorrowfully. “She’s scared and confused and furious with me and with her father.”

“Why you?” Karen asked.

“She blames me for letting him get away with it. I think that’s when I finally realized I could no longer look the other way. I don’t want my son to think what their father is doing is acceptable, and I don’t want my daughters to think a woman has to take such disrespect.”

Karen was still trying to absorb the idea that Ernesto thought it was his right to have affairs and rub his wife’s nose in them. “I’m trying to come to grips with what you said a minute ago. He actually said that you should accept him cheating?”

“And more about how boring I am in bed,” she admitted. “Maybe it’s true. I don’t know. Whether it is or not, it was humiliating.”

“No wonder you want to kick him to the curb,” Karen said with feeling, horrified on Adelia’s behalf. “That’s unacceptable.”

Adelia met her gaze for the first time. “It really is, isn’t it? I don’t have to put up with it.”

“Of course, you don’t,” Karen said. “Now, tell me what Elliott and I can do. You have an appointment with Helen, so that’s under control. We all know what a barracuda she can be in these circumstances. Do you need a place to stay? It would be a tight fit, but you’d be welcome here with the kids.”

Adelia regarded her with amazement. “There you go again, catching me by surprise. Thank you for offering, but we’re okay. I’m not budging from the house. That was the first thing Helen told me when I called to make the appointment.”

“Well, why don’t you at least hang out here until it’s time to see her? I need to leave for work, or I could stay a little longer if you want to talk some more.”

“No, you should go,” Adelia said. “If you don’t mind, though, I will stay for just a little while. I can’t seem to think straight at my house. There are too many memories crowding in.”

“Stay here as long as you like,” Karen told her.

For the first time, Karen felt like a real member of the Cruz family. Even more important in many ways, she felt as if she was worthy of helping someone else after so many years of needing help herself.

There was another positive side effect of this bleak situation, as well. Listening to Adelia had reaffirmed just how lucky she was to have a man as solid and dependable as Elliott in her life. For all of their recent ups and downs, he was clearly a treasure she hadn’t appreciated half as much as she should have.

23

F
lo had two men vying for her attention as she played one of the slot machines lined up in the casino they’d chosen for that night’s action.

“Just look at her,” Liz said with a grin. “What is it about her that has men fawning all over her?”

“She lives her life every second and enjoys it,” Frances said. “I think all of us our age, men and women, like to be around that sort of energy and optimism.”

Liz laughed. “If only we could keep up with it.” Her expression sobered as she studied Frances. “Are you okay? You look a little tired.”

“The flashing lights and noise are starting to bother me a little,” Frances said. “I think I might head back to the room, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. I’ll come with you.”

“No need,” Frances said. “Stay here and have fun. I’ll get Karen to walk back with me. I don’t think she enjoys throwing money into these slot machines nearly as much as the rest of us do. She’ll be relieved to have an excuse to stop.”

“Okay, if you’re sure,” Liz said, though there was unmistakable worry in her eyes.

Frances squeezed her hand. “Very sure. Have fun.”

“Well, there is a machine over there that looks to me as if it’s due for a big payoff. I’ve had my eye on it for a while now.”

“Then get over there and claim it,” Frances encouraged. “Bring home a jackpot!”

Just then bells and whistles seemed to go wild nearby. Lights started flashing, followed by an incredulous whoop of excitement and laughter.

“That voice sounds familiar,” Frances said.

“Let’s look,” Liz said, leading the way toward the commotion. Even Flo left her gentlemen to trail along with them.

As they turned down the aisle, they spotted Karen in the middle of the Sweet Magnolias as a machine seemed to be in the throes of flashing mechanical ecstasy. Karen spotted Frances and ran toward her, her eyes alight with excitement.

“I won!” she said, catching Frances in a hug. “Can you believe it? I hit a jackpot! I actually hit a jackpot! It was my very last quarter, too. I’d promised myself I was going to stop.”

“How much did you win?” Flo asked excitedly.

Karen’s expression went blank. “I have no idea. A lot, I think.”

A casino employee joined them. “Ten thousand dollars,” he said, handing her a ticket to be cashed out.

Karen turned pale. “No way,” she murmured, looking shocked. She turned to Frances. “Did he just say ten thousand dollars?”

“He most certainly did,” Frances said, laughing at her delight. “And nobody in this group deserves it more.” She looked around at the others. “I’d say that makes this trip a rousing success.”

Even Helen looked pleased. “Want me to come with you to cash in the ticket? There are probably some forms you’ll have to fill out for taxes and so on.”

“Uh-huh,” Karen said, clearly dazed. “And then I want to call Elliott. He’s never in a million years going to believe this. We have a big chunk of our baby fund back.”

“So you can finally get started on your plan to add to your family,” Frances said happily. “How wonderful!”

The color in Karen’s cheeks deepened.

Helen gave her a slow, intuitive once-over. “You’re already pregnant!” she guessed. “That’s why you’ve turned down every margarita we’ve offered.”

Karen nodded sheepishly. “It was supposed to stay a secret a little longer.”

“But not from us,” Dana Sue said. “Sweet Magnolias should know everything before anyone else in town.”

Karen’s eyes widened. “You can’t put any of this in tomorrow’s radio report. Elliott will have a cow if his family finds out on the radio before we can tell them the news ourselves. Please, swear to me this is just between us.”

Flo looked especially disappointed. She’d been the self-appointed reporter who’d been talking to Sarah and Travis on the air live every morning. She told everyone she was the only one awake that early without a hangover.

“We are so never going to hear the end of this trip,” Helen had moaned the first time she’d heard her.

“Oh, stop it,” Flo teased. “You’re secretly loving every minute of this, and at least you get to go back to your room with a hunk every night. The rest of us are all flying solo.”

“Thank God for that,” Helen murmured. “I’ve seen some of those guys who’re hitting on you. Please tell me you know better than to invite any of them back to Serenity.”

Flo winked at the rest of them. “You never know.”

Helen frowned at the taunt. “You’re saying that just to make me crazy, right? They’re wearing polyester, Mother!”

“I’m sorry if they offend your sense of fashion. They’re all very nice men.”

Frances decided to step in. “Helen, weren’t you going with Karen to help her with her winning ticket?”

With obvious reluctance, Helen tore her gaze away from her mother and turned a fierce look toward Frances and then Liz. “Just keep her away from the Elvis impersonators and the wedding chapels, okay?”

Liz chuckled. “I think we can promise that much.” She linked her arm through Flo’s. “Come on. Stop tormenting your daughter and let’s go win some money. Hopefully Karen’s luck will have rubbed off on one of us.”

Frances went with Karen and Helen. As soon as they’d taken care of the paperwork and accepted a check for the winnings after taxes, Karen turned to Frances. “I’m ready to head back to the room. How about you?”

“I was planning to head back an hour ago, but I got caught up in all the excitement,” Frances admitted.

“I’ll see you both in the morning, then,” Helen said, giving them each a hug. “Don’t tell anyone else, but for all my complaining, I’m having a blast. I think I’m going to see if I can persuade my husband to go back to the room and do a little private strip show for me,” she confided.

Frances chuckled as Helen walked away. “I don’t think she’ll have any problem getting Erik to do whatever she wants, do you?”

“Not even a tiny hint of opposition,” Karen confirmed. She studied Frances as they walked the two blocks back to their own hotel. “Is this trip everything you wanted it to be?”

Frances thought about the fun and laughter that would linger for weeks in the retelling. She thought about the delight in Karen’s eyes at the jackpot that would provide some relief from her financial burdens.

“Everything,” she confirmed, smiling. “And then some!”

* * *

To Karen’s surprise, Adelia had managed to keep her plans for divorcing Ernesto a secret for a couple of weeks now. Even after Karen’s return from Las Vegas, the news still wasn’t out. She couldn’t very well blame her sister-in-law for wanting to put off the inevitable outcry.

“I know I’ll have to break the news soon,” Adelia had admitted the day after Karen got back. “Helen’s going to have Ernesto served with divorce papers this week and he’s not going to take it quietly.”

“Then maybe you should break it to them first,” Karen had advised her that morning. “Maybe you’re not giving them enough credit. Your mother, your sisters and Elliott love you. They all want you to be happy.”

Apparently Adelia had taken her advice, because when Karen got home from her shift at Sullivan’s that night, she found her house filled with members of the Cruz family. Their voices were raised so high, they didn’t even hear her when she entered. It was Elliott’s mother who saw her first.

“How dare you tell my daughter to get a divorce?” she shouted accusingly over the others.

At that, everyone fell silent and turned on Karen, apparently awaiting a reply. She looked toward Elliott for support, only to find that he looked as angry as everyone else. She scowled at the whole lot of them, refusing to be intimidated.

“Adelia came to see Elliott a while back,” she explained, avoiding her sister-in-law’s gaze. Adelia looked as if she were close to tears. “She was obviously distraught. I didn’t tell her to get a divorce. She’d already decided that it was what she needed to do. All I did was offer her support. If that’s a crime, then I’m guilty. Frankly, though, you’re her family, and it seems to me, her feelings should be your first priority, not yelling at me or blaming her when Ernesto gave her no alternative.”

Once more, noisy chaos erupted. She eased over to her husband. “Where are Daisy and Mack?”

“When people started turning up here in a frenzy, I called Frances. Flo brought her over, and they took them out for burgers and then to Frances’s place for the night.”

She nodded. “Good idea. They didn’t need to be in the middle of this.”

“And you?” he asked. “Did you need to be in the middle?”

She frowned at the accusatory note in his voice. “Was I supposed to turn your sister away? You know the situation as well as I do.” She leveled a look into his eyes. “Do you actually think she should stay with Ernesto?”

Rather than answering, he evaded. “You should have called me that day. I would have come home. Perhaps I could have calmed her down before she did anything rash. Divorce is a huge step, especially in this family.”

“Do you think I don’t understand that?” Karen said. “It’s a huge step for anyone. If it’s not, then they don’t understand what’s going on or what it’s likely to do to their family.”

Elliott looked momentarily taken aback by her fierce tone. “You think Adelia understands all of this?”

“And then some,” she said. “You need to talk to her and listen to what she says.”

He frowned. “I know about the cheating, but is there more?”

“Ask your sister,” she said. “You wanted me to get out of the middle, remember?”

He studied her intently, his expression grim. “Has he ever hurt her?”

“Physically? Not that I know of.”

“Well, that’s something at least.”

Karen stared at him incredulously. “Please don’t tell me that’s the bar for a divorce in your view. There are lots of ways for a marriage to be destroyed. If you ask me, repetitive cheating with no hint of remorse ranks right up there.”

Elliott closed his eyes at her implication. “Then this affair of his wasn’t something new, a one-time thing?”

“No. He’s shown her the most humiliating disrespect possible over and over again.”

“I see,” he said at last.

“If you do, then you need to settle your family down, make them see her side of this. She shouldn’t be made to feel guilty for standing up for herself. Look at her, Elliott. Your mother and sisters are battering her right now emotionally just the way Ernesto did. How is that fair?”

“They’re expressing their beliefs,” he said, still defending them. He drew in a deep breath, though, and nodded, “But you’re right, all the yelling isn’t getting us anywhere.”