I’m breathless all over again, gasping for air because…is she for real? “Listen, save yourself the trouble. I’ve moved on and I’m living my best life.”
The funniest part is, I thought when we finally ran into each other, I’d be overcome with hurt or surprised. At the very least, fall into a fit of angry hiccupping spasms. But no. I’m calm. Almost scarily so.
Nora nods repeatedly. “I know you are, and I’m so happy for you.”
But she doesn’t leave. Instead, she stands on the edge of the ballroom, her face twisted with…is it fear or indecision? I don’t know. So I feel like I need to put her out of her misery.
“Again,” I say, slower because it doesn’t seem to be clicking, “I’m good.” I shrug, confused. “Listen, if this is part of someLuxe Ladiestwelve-step program, and you need to acknowledge the harm you’ve caused, or make amends, or whatever—”
“No, it’s just… I need to tell you the truth.” She takes a deep breath and steps farther into the room. Her fingers nervously twirl her purse strap as if she’s unsure where to start, but she needs to get something off her chest.
Hailey sighs and taps her diamond-encrusted wedding heel impatiently on the wooden floor, and I fear if I don’t save her from getting worked up on my behalf, the practice I-dos with Donovan may be a little too close to a seasoned marriage.
Without even looking at my watch, I flash Nora a deadpan look. “You’ve got three minutes,” I say.
She wastes no time.
“Okay, so when I met Julian, it was at that fundraiser two years ago. The Luxe Ladies introduced us, saying we were supposed to do a segment together about news anchors in Ellswood,” she starts, then goes on telling me the producers told her that Julian was legally separated from me, that we’d filed a separate maintenance motion.
“What?” I shoot her sharp, assessing look. “And you believed him?”
Hailey’s eyes narrow slightly.
“They showed me the document.” Nora’s voice shakes, but her gaze doesn’t waver. “It wasn’t until later that I learned it’d been rejected by the court. I had no idea about his gambling problem—”
Gambling problem?
“Wait.” I slice my hands through the air, then squeeze my eyes closed, taking a moment before I open them again. I glance at Hailey. “Can you—”
“Already on it,” she says, furiously tapping away on her phone, pulling up her browser to fact-check.
Over her shoulder, I follow along as she pulls up Georgia’s Superior Court website. After she searches Julian’s and my name together, there on the screen are two records. The separate maintenance filing and the rejection, dated two years ago.
Neither of which I knew about.
Wow, okaaay.
“Oh my goodness…” Hailey, clearly on the same page as me, toggles over to the filing requirements.
As the list populates, I skim overGeorgia residents,evidence of a validmarriage, andno divorce pending, straight to the part where Julian was supposed to arrange for me to be personally served with the petition.
“Those damn messy producers…” Hailey continues reading. “They sniffed out trouble in paradise and pounced for a chance at scandalous TV.”
Lord, tell me it wasn’t you, Zeek…
My gaze snaps to Nora. “So, the producers knew about this?”
She nods, her long, dark waves spilling over her slender shoulders. “Yeah, they knew about his gambling and his ‘marital problems.’ So, you see, I swear, I didn’t know. And by the time I found out, I was horrified but I—I was already…falling for him.” She looks down, guilt written all over her face.
“So, he needed money, and they were making him, what, your love interest or something?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
The mere thought of caring about Julian and Nora feels like a distant memory.
I chew the inside of my cheek, utterly indifferent, detaching from this chapter of my life—from being a Livingston.
“I know I can’t undo any of it, but I’m really sorry,” Nora says, her voice small. “I just thought you should know I never wanted to hurt you, and it’s over anyway. He told me back in May he’d be getting his finances together with the insurance money from the Ellswood Mill fire, but after that stunt Cornelia pulled onThe MorningTea, announcing our engagement…how he treated you and Hillary… I don’t want my baby to be part of that family.”
