Chapter Two

Two years before…

"She's down, what's so important we had to have an official family meeting?" Kate asked Sam with a cheeky grin. Their daughter was smart, but they could usually talk around her comprehension level for minor things. Sam's serious expression took her good cheer away.

"Sam?"

The look of devastation in his eyes was not what she expected. Was he ill? Did he have cancer?

"Sam, you're scaring me," she said desperately.

"I love you," he replied softly. "I've loved you since the first time I saw you."

Their relationship had been a whirlwind courtship. So many people didn't believe in love at first sight, but they were the unlucky ones. The moment Kate laid eyes on Sam, she knew he was the one.

"I love you too. Now stop torturing me and tell me what's up."

He took her hand and then released it.

"It's a woman I work with. I did something I can't take back."

The jumble of words flowing inside her brain didn't make sense.

"A woman?"

"She means nothing. I was stupid and I can't tell you how sorry I am. The guilt has been eating me alive."

He looked at her as if she should feel good about the guilt but she was still trying to make sense of what he'd said—A woman at work. He did something he can't take back. The growing knot in her stomach clenched tighter. Her vision darkened around the edges.

"You had sex with her?" It came out so soft because her throat choked up. This couldn't be happening.

"I'm sorry, I can't begin to tell you how much."

The anger began setting in and Kate's vision came back into focus. Her husband, the man she loved, the father of her child, the person she'd given her life to. Sam cheated. If a horse kicked her upside the head, she couldn't be more shocked.

"You need to understand that it meant nothing. It happened, it's over with, and I'm willing to do anything, even go to therapy."

"You slept with another woman and you're willing to go to therapy?"

"Yes, anything," he said and went to his knees in front of her and took her hands.

They were warm whereas hers were ice cold. Everything that made her happy had just collapsed. No, that wasn't true. They had a beautiful daughter. They. There was no they. Sam cheated.

"Why?" she asked, pulling her hands from his, his touch burning.

"It was stupid. A mistake. It meant no—." The look in Kate's eyes brought him up short.

"You slept with another woman and it meant nothing. Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Her voice had risen. Ryan, Kate couldn't forget she was sleeping down the hall. Her world had collapsed but she had to be sure her daughter was protected.

"Get out," she said to the man she'd loved for years.

"Kate. I'm sorry. I'll do anything."

"You'll get out. Go somewhere. A hotel. Or to that woman. Just leave."

"You don't mean that. I know you're angry—." Again the look she gave him made him stop speaking.

"I'll be in the guest room until you're gone," she said, rising. "Pack your things and leave."

She walked down the hall and closed the door behind her. She didn't cry though she knew that would come eventually. For now, she was numb, completely dead inside. As she stood there, the shock and disbelief faded and still she couldn't reconcile the reality of Sam's betrayal. He'd smashed the trust and love she thought they shared. The guest room was their joint home office. Kate went to the floor, crumbling beneath the weight of his deception. She curled into a tight ball and still there were no tears.

Her sadness was more like grief. She didn't just mourn the loss of their relationship, she mourned the loss of their future. Self-doubt surfaced, and she questioned everything about her life. Had Sam cheated because he was unfulfilled in their marriage?

Confusion took over. She was torn between the love she still felt and the pain of Sam's betrayal. The first tear fell.

◆◆◆

Four months later…

The meeting at work had gone longer than Kate expected. Sam had picked Ryan up from daycare, thank goodness. Kate pulled into traffic while thinking about what she would make Ryan for dinner. The child loved SpaghettiOs but she'd had it the night before and Kate knew it held little nutritional value.

Sam wanted to come home, but Kate wasn't ready. Working full-time and being a single mother kicked her butt and Sam knew it. He simply waited for her to cave so they could go back to a happy marriage. A marriage that she would never trust again.

The car beside her veered heavily to the left and Kate turned slightly just in time to see the semi-truck running the red light. The crunch of metal, pain, and the smell of gasoline was all she remembered days later when they brought her out of the drug-induced coma.

There was one other thing she remembered. Her husband betrayed her.