one another. Why donât you understand that? Do you think the guys at the club or at my firm are going to differentiate between her husband and her? They are both lying,thieving, pathetic excuses for human beings and she is not welcome in this house. What were you thinking when you told her she could stay?â he asked.
âI was thinking she was an old friend who needed help.â
âSheâs no friend of mine, and I told you that years ago. Why donât you start caring about what I want and about how you can help me? That should be your concern. Iâm your husband, Cara. Iâm your number one priority.â
âOkay. I donât want to fight about this anymore,â Cara said.
âGood. Iâm going to work. Itâs nine thirty in the morning, and Iâm already aggravated. Honestly, other men have no idea how lucky they are to be able to get out of the house without having to solve a million different problems first. I donât know why I canât be one of them. Also, donât forget itâs Friday. I want the sheets on my bed changed today. Donât think I didnât realize you didnât get around to doing it until Saturday last week. I hate starting the weekend with dirty sheets. You know that. And grab my shirts at the dry cleaner this afternoon, too. Theyâve been ready since Wednesday.â
âOkay,â Cara said quietly. She sounded defeated.
The Cara Jane remembered wouldnât have ever put up with this. The Cara she knew was so much stronger than this. The Cara she knew was someone different entirely.
June 1994
âWe shouldnât be here!â Meg whispered, even though there was no one around to hear her.
âThatâs why itâs fun. If we were allowed to be here, this wouldnât be worth doing!â Jane said as she pulled out a pair of bolt cutters sheâd managed to borrow from one of the maintenance men at schoolâneither Cara nor Meg wanted to know howâfrom the large duffel bag she had thrown over her shoulder.
âWhat if we get in trouble?â Meg asked again.
âWe graduate tomorrow. What are they going to do to us? Give us detention?â Jane answered. She was really going to miss Meg and her rule-abiding, scaredy-cat ways. She wondered if Meg would loosen up at all when she went to Vanderbilt in August or if she would spend the next four years of her life in college drinking sodas and turning papers in early. âBesides, Cara needs this.â
âI still donât know why weâre here!â Cara said. âIâm not much in the mood for a midnight stroll.â
âWhy?â Jane asked sarcastically. âBecause you just discovered that your boyfriend is cheating on you with a sophomore on the cheerleading team?â
âYes,â Cara said through gritted teeth. âThere are too many things wrong with that sentence to even count.â
âI canât believe him,â Meg said. âIf I ever see him again Iâm going to smack him.â
âThanks, Meg,â Cara said. âI seriously canât believe that I am only a few hours away from graduating high school at the ripe age of eighteen, and Iâve already been ditched for a younger girl with a set of pom-poms. Thinking about it makes me so mad I could hurt someone. Like I might lose my mind.â
Jane watched as Cara squeezed her hands into fists so tightly her thumbnail actually broke the skin and drew blood. âGood! Channel your anger. Thatâs exactly what I want you to do,â Jane cheered, despite the fact that there was nothing happy about this entire situation.
âWhy are we here, Jane? Seriously, tell me,â Cara ordered.
âWeâre here because I am a genius and I refuse to let your last memories of high school be of that asshole and the fact that he ruined the best thing that ever happened to him.â With one click, Jane used the bolt cutters to
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