An Invincible Summer (Wyndham Beach) by Mariah Stewart (e novels to read .TXT) 📕

“I just couldn’t face you. I was afraid you’d think I was flat-out stupid for the way I handled it. Mom, I pretended we were still together weeks after he moved out, but everyone knew we weren’t—but I didn’t know that—so I looked like a lying fool. And I did everything I could possibly think of to win him back. There was nothing I wouldn’t have done, like, I had no pride left whatsoever. When I found out everyone had known not only about him leaving, but about his relationship with Amber, I just wanted to die.” Grace grabbed a tissue from the box her mother offered her. “I was so hurt. I had to go in there every day and face him, with her. Everyone knew he’d dumped me for her.”

“I wish you’d talked to me.” Maggie rubbed Grace’s back to comfort her the way she had when Grace was a child.

“I don’t know what you could have done. And besides, running to my mom to fix it somehow would only have made things worse.”

“Well, he’s got to go, Gracie. He and his girlfriend. Both of them. Outta there.” Maggie’s temper was starting to build, but her voice remained calm. Grace knew that the angrier Maggie was, the lower her voice. “Believe me, if I’d known, she’d have been gone long before now.”

“We can’t out and out fire them. They haven’t done anything that fits the definition of the firm’s grounds for termination. Believe me, I’ve been waiting for them to screw up.”

“It’s inhuman to ask you to continue to work under those conditions. God, I had no idea he was such a bastard. And I am so, so very sorry that you didn’t feel you could talk to me.”

“I was too humiliated.” Grace started to cry again. “I’m still humiliated, just talking about it. But that’s why I started this blog. It was my safe place. The one place I didn’t have to pretend I wasn’t angry. It was a place where other women could unload their anger and their humiliation, too. Where we could encourage each other to move on and remind each other that our lives didn’t need to be defined by our divorce. Mom, some of these women were even more depressed and lonely than I was. We started doing movie nights and happy hours—all online—and after a while, it became more than just a place to bitch. Now . . .”

“Now you’re shutting it down. Get rid of it, preferably some way that no one can dig it up again.”

“I can delete it, Mom, but I think it can still appear on other people’s computers.”

“Talk to the IT guy at the office. Timothy? Maybe he knows some way to just make it disappear.”

“I’ll call him in the morning. I can’t talk to anyone right now. By tomorrow, this story will be everywhere. I don’t think I can take any more embarrassment. When it gets around that I was so pathetic I started a blog under an assumed name to rail about Zach . . .” Grace shook her head. “I don’t think I can face anyone ever again.”

“Grace, how could anyone have known it was you?” Maggie got up and went to the coffee machine. She dropped in a pod and hit the button after putting a mug in place.

“I have no idea. I swear I never told anyone—not even Natalie—that I’d set up that site. I didn’t even tell Nat about Zach’s affair with Amber.”

Maggie paced while the coffee dripped. “And you did all this on your laptop?”

“Mostly. I used my old desktop in the office a time or two.”

“Who would know that? That you used it?” She set a pitcher of cream and the sugar bowl on the table.

Grace shrugged. “I guess anyone who ever saw me working on it.”

“Zach?”

“Sure. He used to tease me about . . .” Grace’s eyes widened. “You don’t think he would . . .”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Maggie handed Grace the mug of coffee, then began to prepare one for herself.

Grace knew her mouth was hanging open, but it never had occurred to her that Zach would snoop on her computer.

“Maybe he thought he’d find something relative to the disposition of the firm,” Maggie said. “Maybe he thought there were emails between you and your dad spelling out when you might be taking over.”

“Maybe.” It didn’t feel right to Grace. “But he already knew where things stood. Dad’s will had made it clear. Remember, we were still together when Dad died. I told him everything. He had no reason to snoop.”

“How about Amber?”

“Do I think Amber would hack into my computer?” Grace laughed. “Duh.”

“So how would we find out?” Grace watched her mother’s wheels turning. Maggie took her phone from her pocket and speed-dialed a number.

To Grace, she said, “We’re not waiting until tomorrow.”

Then apparently the call had been connected. “Timothy? It’s Maggie Flynn. Are you still at the office? Good. I wonder if I could ask you to do a favor for me . . .”

Grace had spent the night at Maggie’s after an ill-advised check of the comments on Philly News and Views Online. She scanned the responses to the article, looking for her name. When she found it, she wanted to throw up.

Oh God.

—Is there anyone in Philadelphia who doesn’t know this is about Grace Flynn?

—Everyone knows Grace Flynn’s man left her for something better. But did she give up, bow out grace-fully? Nope. I know someone who works at Flynn Law and she said it was painful to watch how she pretended they hadn’t split up.

—She should have gotten an Oscar for the way she acted like she and her ex were still together.

—I checked out the blog. Be careful out there, guys. There are some really sad, desperate women.

—I’d kill myself before I humiliated myself the way this woman did. Shame on her. She should have just let him go and gotten on with her life.

—Would you want this lawyer handling