"Thanks."
While he appreciated the compliment, he wasn"t sure he"d earned it. Penny had told him to come clean with Dani and he planned to. Soon. But not today.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked.
She patted her jacket pocket. "Completely. I"m not paying some guy to serve Hugh the papers when I can do it myself. Plus I want to see the look in his eyes. He won"t be expecting me. Some small discomfort on his part isn"t a whole lot of reward, I know, but it"s all I"m going to get." She glanced at her watch. "He has office hours now. Maybe he"ll have students in with him. That would be exciting."
"I"m sorry," he said, not sure how to make things better for her.
"Don"t be. I don"t like how Hugh handled things with me, but I"m no longer questioning the divorce. Don"t get me wrong. I"m still furious. I gave him so much of my life and to have him tell me he outgrew me makes me want to back the car over all of his possessions. He practically sucked the life out of me and now he"s acting all n.o.ble. But the truth is I don"t love him. I haven"t for a while."
That was a relief. Bad enough Dani had to go through this. Had she been heartbroken, it would have been so much worse.
"Maybe you"ll like being single," he said.
"I"m kind of looking forward to it," she admitted. "I went from a college dorm to married. I"ve never had my own place."
"Do you know where you"re going to move?"
"No. Part of me wants to make Hugh move. After all, this was his idea. But handicap accessible apartments are hard to find." She turned right on the path. "But it really bugs me that this is all his idea and I"m the only one inconvenienced." She shook her head. "Let"s change the subject. The campus looks pretty."
Cal glanced around. Spring had arrived and there were tulips in bloom everywhere. The ground was wet from recent rain, but the sky was a bright blue.
"I have a lot of memories here," he said.
"I can imagine the parties-and the girls-you indulged in," Dani said. "I, of course, only studied."
He chuckled. "Yeah, right. I remember getting more than one call from you because you didn"t want to drive back to the dorm after a party."
"Hey, at least I didn"t try driving."
"Did I ever complain?"
"There was that one time. I distinctly remember a disgruntled female voice in the background. Hmm, could it have been Penny?"
"Maybe."
"She"s great, you know."
"I agree."
"You two are doing a terrific job at The Waterfront."
Cal glanced at her. "I"m sorry about that. Not the success, but that Gloria didn"t offer you the restaurant."
"No offense, but me, too. Still, it"s done. Once I get Hugh served and move out, I"m going to have a big sit-down with Gloria and lay it on the line. Either she gives me something more to do or I"m quitting."
He didn"t know what to say. "You would leave the company?"
"Watch me. Here it is."
She pointed at the flight of stairs, then led the way up to Hugh"s office on the second floor. Dani walked down the hall and stopped in front of one of the closed doors.
When she tried the handle, it didn"t turn.
"Locked," she said. "But it"s his office hours." She glanced at the card by the door to confirm the times Hugh was supposed to be there. "Weird."
She listened for a second, then knocked. "Hugh?"
There was a m.u.f.fled noise, then a b.u.mp. Dani looked at Cal. "Okay, I don"t like that."
Cal was with her on that one. He had a bad feeling. "Let"s come back."
Her mouth pulled straight as she dug into her purse. "I don"t think so. Dammit all to h.e.l.l, if that b.a.s.t.a.r.d..." She pulled out a key chain and searched through the keys. When she inserted one into the lock, Cal nearly pulled her back.
"You don"t want to know," he said, putting a hand on her arm. "Let"s go."
She shrugged him off. "Don"t you think I have a right?"
With that she pushed open the door. Hugh sat in his wheelchair, his shirt open. A young woman, probably a student, stood next to him. Her hair was mussed and she"d nearly finished b.u.t.toning her blouse.
"Dani." Hugh sounded surprised and wary. "I didn"t know you were going to come by."
"Obviously." She looked between Hugh and the woman. "So, you want a divorce because you"ve grown as a person? If this is your idea of personal growth, I"m not interested. I would think of it more as being small, petty and a cheater. But hey, I"m just in the restaurant business. I probably wouldn"t understand something this complex. I wonder what your department chair is going to say when she finds out you"ve been getting so close to your students?" She held out the papers. "Consider yourself served."
The student shifted uncomfortably. Her face was bright red, and she kept touching her hair. "I, ah-"
"Did you know he was married?" Dani asked, then shook her head. "Never mind. I have a piece of advice for you. I doubt you"ll take it, but here it is. If he"ll cheat with you, he"ll cheat on you." She turned back to Hugh. "I can"t tell you how sorry I am I wasted so much of my life on you. You weren"t worth it."
She walked out of the office. "Let"s go," she told Cal.
"I want to hit him."
"I appreciate that, but I think I"ll clobber him financially, instead. I was going to be fair and kind during the divorce. Not anymore."
He reached for her hand and felt her trembling. "I"m sorry."
"Me, too."
Hugh rolled into the hallway. "Dani, I"m sorry. I didn"t want you to find out this way."
She stopped and looked back at him. "How did you want me to find out, Hugh? What"s the best way to tell your wife that you want a divorce so you can screw someone else? You should have told me the truth. I would have been angry but I wouldn"t have thought you were such an a.s.shole."
She walked away.
"Dani! Come back."
She shook her head and kept walking.