Body Double (41 page)

“I look forward to it,” Blake said with a smile. “Does she know you’re a Falcons fan?”

Sarah put a finger to her lips and winked before rolling the suitcase to the door. She bid them goodbye with a wave and closed the door behind her.

When the doorbell rang, Blake winked at his fiancée. “Showtime.”

Andrea kissed him lightly on the lips. “Good luck,” she said and went into the living room, out of sight. The plan was for her to listen to his conversation and come in on his cue.

He didn’t know why he was so nervous about this. It was finally time to clear the air, to put the truth on the table—most of it, anyway. Some things were better left secret.

Sam showed Gloria Thomas into the family room just off the breakfast nook, and Blake greeted his mother with a hug and kiss.

“I ran into Sarah as she was leaving. She looks thinner than she did a couple of days ago but happy. Much happier than a woman should who just lost her father.” Gloria used her disapproving voice, the one that used to make Blake cringe inside.

“She had some issues with Harold, you know that. He was a lousy father.” Blake gestured to the loveseat. “Have a seat.” Once Gloria had set her purse on the floor and settled comfortably in the cushions, Blake sat in a chair opposite her. Isabelle brought her a glass of chilled orange juice and set it on the coffee table in front of her.

“Thank you, dear,” Gloria said. “He might’ve been a lousy father, but he loved her. Your father wasn’t perfect either, you know. He made his share of mistakes. Big mistakes.”

“What parent hasn’t? I’m sure I’ll make my own mistakes, too, but neither of you ever alienated me by your behavior.”

“Maybe because we haven’t lived long enough yet. Blake, may I offer you one piece of advice for a happy marriage?”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. His parents had been happy together, so Blake would welcome any tips she might have on how to keep a marriage strong. “Please do.”

“Learn to forgive. Sarah’s going to make mistakes, and you will too. If you can forgive each other and refuse to let those mistakes frame your relationship, you can fix the underlying problems before everything falls apart.”

Blake wondered what mistakes his dad had made that Gloria forgave. He didn’t think she would ever forgive cheating. “That’s good advice, Mom. Some mistakes are deal-breakers, though, like physical violence.”

“Abuse isn’t a mistake, sweetheart. It’s a mental illness and a crime. I’m talking about the kinds of mistakes that plague otherwise loving couples.”

“Like spending more money than we make?”

“Among other things, yes. You’ve got to be tolerant, you’ve got to be flexible, and you’ve got to be willing to forgive. And it’s equally important to forgive yourself when you stumble. Don’t let guilt consume you and leave you vulnerable. Your father did, and it gave him all those ulcers.”

He remembered his father always having to see a doctor, always taking pills. One year, when Blake was sixteen, his dad had to have emergency surgery to close an ulcer that was hemorrhaging. “I didn’t realize Dad felt guilty about something. Do you know what it was?”

Gloria studied him for a moment as if to decide how much to reveal. “Yes, I do. I don’t want to sully your image of him, but it was a mistake he only made once, I forgave him, and our marriage grew stronger after that.” She took a sip of orange juice and stroked the stem of the glass absently. “He still let it bother him, though, and that was my fault.”

“How would it be your fault that he felt guilty for his mistake?”

“My fault for not telling him I forgave him. Forgiveness is a powerful thing, not just for the person forgiving but for the one being forgiven. I didn’t realize that until it was too late.”

Blake nodded, thinking of Sarah and her reaction to hearing that her father had forgiven her. After her initial shock and grief, she’d had the epiphany that opened the way to forgiving herself.

He wondered if Andrea could forgive Sean for what he’d done to her. Maybe now with a devoted fiancé by her side, one who’d married her once and was eager to do it again—for real—she could forgive him and finally heal the wound that festered inside her.

“Your father had an affair, Blake.”

His mouth dropped open in surprise. “You knew?”

Gloria’s did too. “
You
knew?”

“Dad told me right before he died. How long have you known?”

“I found out shortly after he got home from the trip to Boston, where it happened. I was so angry, I packed us up and went to stay with my mom for a while, to cool my head.”

“I remember that, but I didn’t know that was why we went.” They’d stayed with his grandmother for nearly three weeks that summer. He’d pouted and complained that he was missing football camp, certain all the other boys were getting valuable experience and training that, come fall, would get them on the field and leave him warming the bench. That hadn’t been the case, but his worrying about it had made that trip seem like the longest grandmother visit in the history of the world.

“Yes, I even considered divorcing him, but in the end, I decided to tough it out for your sake and keep an eye on your father after that. One more slip, one tiny smudge of lipstick on his collar, and I was done. It never happened again. He spent the rest of his life making it up to me, and from that point on, it was his mission to make me feel valued and cherished.”

Even while he was in the hospital bleeding on the inside from guilt.
Blake shook his head, still struggling to believe she’d known all this time. “Did he tell you, or did you figure it out?”

“I found a letter in his office that he’d written to the woman. Anna was her name. In the letter, he called their night together a mistake and apologized for his behavior and for letting her think there could ever be anything between them. He wrote that he loved his wife and son and would do anything to keep his family together. That meant reaffirming his marriage vows and dedicating himself to strengthening his marriage.”

Now Blake wished he’d read the letter Richard had given him before he burned it. He’d assumed it would be the opposite—lusty and unrepentant. “I take it you didn’t destroy the letter.”

“No, I let him send it, hoping this Anna woman wouldn’t pursue him. The point is that I forgave him, and I should have told him so. I’m telling you this with the hope that someday, when you or Sarah are angry enough to call it quits, you’ll remember that sometimes people make mistakes and they hurt us, even when they don’t mean to. During the toughest times, try to move toward each other instead of away, and I’m confident you’ll have a long and happy marriage.”

“Um, well, Mom, that’s why I asked you to come over.”

Her face fell. “What’s going on?”

“Sarah and I are having the marriage annulled.”

“Blake, no.” Her eyes welled with tears. “You’ve only just started. You’re right for each other. I was there. I saw it.” He tried to interject, but she wasn’t hearing him. “I saw how you kissed, I saw the love in your eyes when you got back from Hawaii and in all those pictures. Honey, what you have is special. Whatever happened—”

“Mom,” Blake said more firmly. “Mom, wait. Hear me out, and I think you’ll agree. Hear
us
out.” He stood. “Sweetheart, would you come out here?”

Andrea came into the room chewing her bottom lip and twisting her hands together. He went around behind the loveseat, put his arm around her, and guided her to stand next to the coffee table where Gloria could see her.

“Sarah, thank goodness,” Gloria said. “I’m so glad you came back. You two need to sit down and talk through your differences.”

“Mom, this isn’t Sarah. This is my fiancée, Andrea.”

Andrea tried on a smile, but it looked more guilty than salutational. Her right shoulder hunched up nearly to her ear, and she tilted her head in that shy but sexy way she had. “Hi, Gloria.”

Gloria looked from one to the other. “This is some kind of joke.”

“It’s not a joke,” Blake said. “Andrea was with me at the rehearsal dinner. Andrea was my gorgeous bride on the altar. Andrea went with me to Hawaii. If it looked like Sarah and I were in love, it’s because Andrea and I are in love.”

“My goodness. You’re twins?”

“No,” Andrea said, “we’re unrelated. Sarah and I met the week before the wedding. She hired me to play her part.”

“I don’t understand.” Gloria shook her head slowly. “Harold gave you away. Are you saying he didn’t know his own daughter?”

“He wasn’t paying much attention,” Andrea said, “and I was wearing green contact lenses and used make up to make me look more like Sarah.”

“Why would you do such a thing?”

“It’s a long story.” Blake gestured to the chair he’d vacated. When Andrea had taken a seat, he scooted the adjacent chair closer and sat down, then took her hand, his mind eased and his heart warmed by the engagement ring on her finger. “It all started twenty-some years ago when Dad had that fling with a woman named Anna. Anna Gentry.”

Gloria gasped. “Oh, my word.”

At the door, Gloria held Andrea in a tight embrace, rocking side to side. When she pulled back, she said, “I’m so glad you two worked it out so you could stay together.”

Andrea nodded her agreement. “We have Sarah to thank for agreeing to the annulment.”

“And Harold for suggesting it,” Blake said. He hugged his mother and kissed her cheek.

“Where do your parents live, Andrea? Have you told them?”

“They live in Phoenix now, and no.” She looked up at Blake. “I’d like to take a trip out there soon to introduce my fiancé. They’re going to love you.”

“Whenever you like. Book it for tomorrow if you want to. We can spend the weekend with them.”

“I can’t wait to meet them,” Gloria said. “Are you two going to have another wedding?”

Andrea and Blake looked at each other. “We haven’t talked about it,” Blake said, “but whatever she wants is fine with me. As long as she says ‘I do.’”

They said their good-byes, and Blake promised to call later to talk business. They watched her get into the back of her limousine, and when the car’s taillights disappeared down the curved driveway, they returned to the family room and sat together on the loveseat.

“That went well, I thought,” Andrea said. Gloria had been surprisingly understanding, though she’d admonished Blake harshly for marrying Sarah under duress.

“Yeah, but you didn’t get yelled at.”

She laughed. “Not yet. When my parents hear our story, I might.”

“I was serious about going out to Phoenix this weekend. I can’t wait to meet your parents. Does your dad watch football?”

Andrea snorted. That was pretty much all her parents ever did on the weekends during the fall. As a child, she would be awoken at six o’clock in the morning on Saturdays so that the family could get chores done and do the shopping before kickoff. It was one reason she’d turned to books. “All Saturday long, and most of the day Sunday. I’ll bet you’re dying to get caught up on the games you missed while we were in Hawaii.”

He shrugged, though she caught the twinkle in his eye. “Oh, I don’t care, really. Just thinking about something I could bond with him over.”

“Mom is the real football geek of the house, believe it or not. She’s always rattling off player stats and team records.”

“A woman after my own heart.”

“I can imagine the three of you, dressed in your jerseys and eye black, screaming at the TV all weekend. I’ll bring my ereader and curl up on the patio.”

Carol Carpenter’s soulful voice began to sing, “
The taste of whiskey on my tongue,
” on Andrea’s phone.

“Ugh,” she said. “Not again.”

“Who’s that?” Blake asked.

“
Dulls the taste of pain in my heart.”

Andrea looked at the screen, wondering how long he would keep interrupting her life before he gave up. He’d been persistent when they were dating, so she might have to break down sooner or later and talk to him. “Sean. He’s called three times since he saw me at the rehearsal. You’d think he would get the message by now. I don’t want to talk to you,” she said to the phone.