Big Girls Don’t Cry (Dundee, Idaho #6)(33)
Author: Brenda Novak

Maybe she wasn’t building the idyllic dream she’d once imagined. But she was facing this challenge squarely. She wasn’t about to sit around and cry.

“Keith’s quit his job,” her mother ventured.

“I know.”

“He’s now managing the hardware store for Ollie.”

“I know that, too.” Keith had told her during one of his many phone calls. But Reenie had a hard time imagining her husband among all those tools and cans of paint. He’d always been fabulous on a computer and incredibly bright—but not very handy around the house. “So?”

“So he’s not traveling anymore. Chances are good nothing like this will ever happen again.”

Reenie wasn’t sure what part of that statement offended her most. Her mother’s cavalier attitude toward the existence of Keith’s other family? The way Celeste overlooked the fact that Elizabeth O’Connell and her children wouldn’t simply and conveniently disappear so that Reenie’s life could go back to the way it once was? Or the implication that it was all as simple as keeping a tighter rein on her straying husband?

“Chances are?” she echoed incredulously, but the attorney cleared his throat to warn them that he was entering the room. Reenie shot her mother a look that said they’d talk later.

“What can I do for you ladies today?” he asked, his expression a perfect model of professional interest.

The answer to that question was pretty obvious, since he was a divorce attorney and they’d made a formal appointment, but Reenie knew he was really asking which one of them wanted to end her marriage.

While he took his seat, she explained that she hoped to get a divorce as soon as possible.

“Most people suing for divorce would like the same thing, Mrs. O’Connell. But I need to be completely honest here. Divorces don’t happen overnight.”

The expensive-looking cut of Mr. Rosenbaum’s short, dark hair and tailored suit told Reenie he was successful in his work and probably knew what he was talking about. But he didn’t fully understand her situation. Yet. “This one will be uncontested.”

He offered her a patronizing smile. “Anger and greed can complicate the simplest issues. When a divorce turns adversarial, it can take several months to complete, sometimes as long as a year.”

“If it is strictly uncontested, how long will it take?” she pressed.

Reenie guessed he didn’t run into uncontested divorces very often, because he steepled his fingers on the desktop and answered somewhat reluctantly, “As little as a month.”

A month. She could dissolve what she’d thought was a lifelong commitment in four weeks. In a way, Rosenbaum’s answer was a relief but in another way, it was incredibly depressing to think she could so easily end vows she’d considered sacred.

“Do you have children, Mrs. O’Connell?”

“Yes. Three girls.”

He put on a pair of glasses and made a few notes on a pad embossed with his name. “Then there’ll be custody issues.” The tone of his voice seemed to add, See? The trouble’s already starting.

“I don’t think so.”

He stopped scribbling long enough to stare at her over the rim of his glasses. “Excuse me?”

“My husband will agree to give me full custody of the girls in exchange for the house and most of the furnishings. The piano that came from my parents, the photographs that were a gift from my sister-in-law, and the furniture my brother made will go with me, of course. And so will the dog. Keith gave Old Bailey to me for my birthday the year we married, so he’s been part of the family for a long time. My girls couldn’t manage without him right now.” Actually, she couldn’t manage without him, but she refused to admit that to anyone else. “Keith can have the rest,” she said. “As for the vehicles, he’ll take his SUV and his Jeep. I’ll take the van.”

Reenie was treated to another glance over the rim of Mr. Rosenbaum’s glasses. “He’s already agreed to these custody issues and division of property?”

“Not yet. But I have good reason to believe he will.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because it’s a very generous offer, for one. Two, he’s guilty of bigamy. If he doesn’t fully cooperate, I’ll turn him in to the police.”

Reenie’s mother gasped, but Mr. Rosenbaum acted as though he’d heard it all before. Taking off his glasses, he used a soft cloth from his desk drawer to wipe the lenses before setting them aside.

“Bigamy,” he said slowly, leaning back. “Is this a religious thing or…”

“No. This is an adulterous affair that my husband took to the next level.”

“So this second marriage is recent?”

She hated admitting the rest. “Actually, it’s lasted for nine of the eleven years we’ve been married. They have two children together. But—” she still couldn’t believe it “—I only recently found out.”

The human side of Mr. Rosenbaum finally presented itself. He shook his head and leaned forward, his eyes shining with curiosity. “How’d he keep this other family a secret from you for so long?”

“He’s a better liar than I ever imagined,” she said with a sigh.

“I see.”

“Keith’s really not as bad as this makes him sound,” Reenie’s mother piped up.

“And you’re…Keith’s mother?” he asked Celeste.

Reenie rolled her eyes. “No, she’s my mother. But every once in a while, she forgets where her loyalties lie.”

“I don’t forget, dear,” Celeste assured her. “I support you one-hundred percent. I just—”

“I know,” Reenie interrupted. “You feel terrible for everyone involved.”

“I do,” her mother said.

“Where does your husband’s other wife live?” Rosenbaum asked.

“In California. Which is why our paths never crossed. I guess you could say the distance between us served as a contributing factor to my ignorance.” She frowned. “My own innocence and gullibility did the rest.”

Rosenbaum rubbed a finger thoughtfully across one eyebrow while she explained the whole situation. When she finished, he scooted forward, reclaimed his glasses and made a few more notes. “I’m afraid I need to explain something to you, Mrs. O’Connell.”

Reenie was already raw inside. The gravity in his voice terrified her. “What’s that?”