The Divorce Club (31 page)

Sam leans into me whispering, "I don't want a
tutor, Mum."

"We appreciate the offer," I say. "I'll have
to think about it."

"Of course, I understand." Chloe smiles and
takes a sip of her tea, her delicate brows furrowing for a moment.
My gaze moves to her ring finger and I realize she's not wearing
her wedding band either. Maybe Jamie's not the only one who wants
to move on. Chloe's voice jerks me out of my thoughts. "I'll be
frank here. Sam told me about your financial situation. You're
struggling. A tutor costs money. I'll do it for free."

"It's very kind of you." Why is she being so
insistent about offering her help? Suspicion creeps up on me. Does
she know about the club and the services I provide? She must have
ulterior motives. I've got to find out what her agenda is.

The doorbell rings. I excuse myself and jump
up to answer. Jamie's standing in the doorway, a grin playing on
his lips. As soon as I open the door, he pushes past me. For a
moment, I'm too flabbergasted to react. He doesn't seem to notice
as he plants a peck on my cheek.

"That guy's a nutcase." He hangs up his
jacket continuing, "Lucy's staying over, but in the long run
Shannon needs to consider getting a restraining order."

"Jamie," I hiss, regaining my composure.
"Your—"

"Hi, Sam," he yells, pushing the door to the
living room open.

"Hey, Jamie," my daughter shouts back and my
heart skips a beat. If Chloe didn't know her husband was here, now
she definitely won't be able to miss it.

I follow after him. His back's turned on me.
I catch the expression on Chloe's face. For a moment, surprise
crosses her features, followed by a lazy smile as though she's
meeting a friend she hasn't seen in months. Jamie's reaction
couldn't be more different.

"What are you doing here?" His voice is brisk
and accusing.

"Sam's my student," Chloe says. She seems
just as surprised by his manner as I am.

Jamie turns toward me, eyes glinting. "What
did she tell you?"

"Nothing." I let my words trail off. There's
suspicion in his eyes. He thinks I might've told her about the
club.

"Jamie?" Chloe walks over and puts a hand on
his shoulder. He jumps, brushing her off.

As usual, my daughter's brain's the only one
functioning the way it should be. "How do you two know each other?"
she asks. "Wait! Is she
that
Chloe?"

Jamie turns sharply, panic crossing his
face.

Chloe's eyes dart about the room, her mind
working as she seemingly struggles to make sense of the situation.
"He's my—"

"We're married," Jamie says, interrupting
her.

"What?" She laughs. "Are you mad?"

I step forward, sudden realization kicking
in. Something's not right. "Jamie?"

He sighs and starts massaging his temples.
For a moment, the silence seems oppressive.

"Why would you say that?" Chloe asks.

"Okay." Jamie takes a deep breath as his gaze
slowly locks with mine. "I haven't been honest with you. Chloe's my
sister."

My heart starts racing again. How could he
have betrayed my trust like that? Are all men cheating, lying
bastards? "What about the club?" I whisper. "Did you ever need my
services? Or did you just join to make fun of us? To score?" My
voice rises into a crescendo. "Spit it out!"

He shakes his head. "I thought I was joining
a massage parlor. By the time I realized what it really was, I
couldn't just leave."

"So it was all a joke to you." I'm so furious
my whole body's on fire. I clench my hands into fists and take a
menacing step forward even though he towers over me.

"No." He shakes his head with so much vigor,
it might snap off any minute, but I wouldn't mind. "You got it all
wrong."

"Get out," I shout. "Get out now. I don't
want to see you ever again." I'd push him out the door, but I fear
if I touch him I might just throw up. This should teach me a
lesson. Mel must have the intuition of a psychic because she was
right on this one as well. I just wish I had listened.

"Please, Sarah, give me a chance to explain,"
Jamie begs.

I take a deep breath and regard him coldly.
"Get out now, or I'll call the police. You're no longer welcome
here. I don't want to see you ever again."

Why do I always attract liars and creeps?
Have all the decent men been snatched up? Are there even any?

"There, there." Mel rubs my back as I bury my
face into her bosom, too mortified to peer at her, or myself. "You
couldn't have known he was a bastard."

Even though I'm not crying I pull my nose,
sulking. "You told me."

She sighs. I know what she's thinking, that I
should've listened to her rather than rely on my own twisted
perception of the dating world and my blind faith in a guy's words.
How could I've been so gullible?

I force myself into a sitting position as I
ask, "Why do you think he signed up?"

Mel shakes her head. "No idea, darling, but
we'd better prepare for the worst. He could be an undercover
journalist sensing his big break here."

That is a possibility I can't dismiss. My
temper flares up again at the prospect of bad publicity. Without
Jamie's membership fee I'm once again struggling to make ends meet,
but that seems to be the least of my worries. After the spat
yesterday, Sam hates me again and I don't expect her to see my
point any time soon.

"Do you want me to drive you to the club?"
Mel asks.

"I'll be fine." Sighing, I stand and grab my
bag. "Thanks for watching Sam for me. I can't wait to get out of
his house. The drama's too much for me."

Mel smiles. "Don't worry about it. Just do
your job while I spin my magic with her. By the time you get back,
she'll love you again."

I give her a peck on the cheek and head out,
ready to see my clients. With Jamie gone, it's going to be just us
gals. I doubt anyone will even notice Jamie's disappearance.

The ladies arrive minutes after me,
chattering as I pour us coffee and hand out scones. At six sharp, I
clap my hands to get everyone's attention. "Thanks for coming after
such a long night." I shoot Shannon a meaningful look.

She rolls her eyes. "The night was great. It
was the day that didn't turn out as expected. Luckily, Lucy's moved
in."

"Trust me, he won't bother you again," Lucy
says.

"You look good. The bruises are almost gone."
Mindy cocks a brow. "Where's Jamie? He sent over the photos from
last night and said he'd be here today."

"Maybe he's meeting his new lass," Lucy
says.

"I don't think so." Mindy shakes her head
regarding me intently. There's something in her eyes, suspicion,
knowledge. She must have seen the kiss.

"Jamie has quit." I lie because I want to
protect them. What's the point in telling them how the enemy
cheated his way into our hearts only to stab us in the back?

"Really?" Mindy asks. "That's weird."

"Can we get back to
us
?" Simone says.
"I have an announcement to make."

All eyes focus on her. For the first time
today, I realize she's glowing; her green eyes sparkle. Her top is
cut so low, the pink lace of her bra peeks from beneath. It seems
I'm not the only one because Lucy shouts out, "You're
pregnant."

Simone runs a hand through her glossy, red
hair, smiling. "No. Something much better has happened. Andy and I
are back together."

"Who's Andy?" Lucy asks.

"The husband. You know, the guy she usually
refers to as 'jerk'." I rub my temple to fight off the sudden onset
of a throbbing headache. Jamie's gone and now Simone will leave
very soon too. I knew no member would stay with me forever; seeing
them go in such a quick succession, however, makes me feel as
though everyone's taking off for college and I'm staying back, old
and lonely with nothing but a patch of lawn to care for.

Lucy clicks her tongue. "Lassie, that bootie
call messed up your brain."

"What's your take on this, Sarah?" Mindy
asks.

I hesitate as I gaze at Simone. Her cheeks
are flushed, her eyes shine. She's in love. "When you signed up,
you were so sure a divorce was the right step to take. What made
you change your mind?"

"Your personalized plan." Simone beams at me.
"I tried everything you said, not shaving my hair, no more cooking,
cleaning or ironing his clothes."

Mindy interrupts her, "He filed for divorce
and then you realized you want to keep him after all. Girl, don't
you see your self-esteem is knackered?"

Narrowing my gaze, I hold up a hand. "Please,
let her finish."

Simone shoots me a thankful smile, then
continues, "I thought he'd soon see there's no chemistry left, but
instead, Andy has started helping around the house. He even
admitted he'd been taking me for granted. Your little scheme has
solved all of our problems, Sarah, and now we want to give this
marriage another shot."

The room falls silent, all eyes turn on me.
Granted, I never figured my club would actually
save
a
marriage. I curl my lips into a smile because I'm happy for her.
Genuinely, utterly happy even though I'm losing her as a client.
"Maybe what you have is worth fighting for." I stand and envelop
her in a tight hug. "Andy seems like a wonderful person. I wish you
all the best."

The others join in, cooing over Simone, when
the shrill ring of the doorbell echoes through the house. Still
smiling, I stand and go to check out who it is. I open the door to
a female officer who shows me her badge.

"Did something happen?" I ask, my breath
catching in my throat as hundreds of possibilities race through my
mind, like my daughter being kidnapped or the house collapsing on
her.

"Sarah Davis?"

I nod. "Yes."

Brown eyes scan me up and down, a skeptic
look crosses her features before she says, "You've been accused of
prostitution and blackmailing. We need to take your statement."

"What's going on?" Mindy asks.

"I don't know," I whisper, "but you'd better
call Mel. There must be a misunderstanding."

"Just a second. I'm coming along." Mindy
grabs our jackets from the hooks and returns to the meeting
room.

My stomach twists, the cave of my mouth turns
dry. "Who would make such an accusation?" I croon. "Are you sure
you have the right Sarah Davis? I mean, there's hundreds of them in
the phonebook."

"I'm sorry," the officer says. "We were
informed we'd find you here. I don't know the specifics; I'm just
doing my job."

Mindy appears in the doorway and hands me my
jacket and handbag. "The calls are made. We're ready to go." For
such a young age, she seems to take charge naturally as though
she's used to dealing with situations like this on a daily basis.
I'm starting to see her potential both as a personal assistant and
as an agency owner.

We arrive at the local police station and get
out. I'm glad that I'm not wearing cuffs, so no one's staring.
Mindy disappears to make another phone call while I accompany the
officer to an interrogation room. A few minutes later, Mindy joins
us, hissing in my ear, "Don't say anything until your lawyer
arrives."

I gape at her. "My what?"

She rolls her eyes. "Your lawyer, silly.
Don't you watch TV?"

"Can we get started here?" The officer starts
flicking through her papers. "My supervisor's just handed me your
case since he seems to be under the impression I'm underworked. You
have been—"

"Sarah, don't say a word. I'm taking over
now."

I turn around in time to see Jamie's lawyer,
Keith, enter the interrogation room. Grinding my teeth, I poke
Mindy in the ribs. "You were supposed to call Mel."

She shrugs. "I did, right after calling Jamie
at the club."

"What did you tell him?" I hiss. The idea of
dragging my love interest into this is mortifying.

"That you've been accused of prostitution?"
She makes it sound like a question, so I know she probably said
much more than that.

"First of all, you know who I am, right?"
Keith drops his bag on the table and stares down at the officer.
I've no idea what his plan is, but it seems to be working because
the woman seems less confident than before. "I'm Keith Andrews.
You've surely heard of me. Who hasn't?" He laughs.

"Your client has been accused of prostitution
and blackmail, Mister Andrews," the officer says.

Keith starts scribbling on a notepad.
"Prostitution isn't illegal in Britain."

He's my lawyer, why isn't he denying the
allegations? "I'm not a prostitute, and I've never blackmailed
anyone in my life."

"Sarah!" His tone is sharp, scolding. I fall
silent immediately, dropping back into my seat, burying my hands in
my lap.

"He's good," Mindy whispers. I don't want to
point out that he hasn't done much yet.

"Who's the culprit? I demand to know," Keith
yells.

Whatever Jamie's paying this guy, it's
probably not worth the money. There's no way a police officer will
play along.

"A Patrick McDonaghue," she says.

"Who? Never heard of him." Shaking my head, I
turn to Mindy who's white as a ghost. And then it dawns on me. The
boss' husband's name is Patrick.

"That bitch," Mindy hisses.

I grab her arm and yank hissing, "Mindy, what
did you do? You said no one would ever see the pictures."

The officer starts looking through her file
again when Keith grabs it and turns it around, reading over the
rims of his glasses. "He claims my client demanded a million in
return for a few photos? That's ridiculous. What proof do you
have?"

"We're still investigating," the officer
says. "But these are very serious accusations."

Keith grins. "So you have no proof."

"You've got to set this right, Mindy." I
shoot her an imploring look.