Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) by Charliann Roberts Page B

you.” He poured a cup of coffee and handed it to him.
    “Thanks. What’s up?”
    Before he returned to his desk,
he closed the office door. “There are a few things I need to tell you. I want
you to listen, no interruptions.”
    “Ranch problems?”
    “No.” He moved over to his side
of the desk, then sat and took a sip of his coffee. He set the cup down and
picked up a pencil, turned it around and looked at the eraser. Thinking deeply
of what he was about to say, he tried to come up with the best words to use.
    “I don’t know of a good way to
break this to you, Jake. It’s regarding your wife.”
    “What? Did something happen? I
haven’t received a phone call.”
    “No. Please don’t interrupt as I
try to explain. On Saturday, Mariah and Sarah took the twins for a walk in the park
next to the Pine Cone Café. When Sarah visited the restroom, she overheard a
conversation outside of the exit door. She said the woman was on her cell
phone. Apparently, she was speaking to her boyfriend.”
    Nick pulled the note from his
pocket and read it to him: ‘Maybe I should come clean. I’m sure he knows
something already. I’m getting tired of this game, honey. I know we planned our
future well ahead of time, and conspired very carefully, but I miss you so
much. I want to come back home with you. When will this be over?’
    “That was all Sara was able to
hear.” He looked at Jake.
    “What’s this got to do with me?”
    “Sarah noticed a wedding band on
her left hand. She went back to where Mariah was waiting and told her about the
conversation she overheard. When Mariah turned and looked at the woman, she saw
that it was Anya.”
    “That’s not true. Anya let me
know that she was going to spend the day at the mall in Huntington. She has new
clothes to prove it.”
    “Jake, she hadn’t been at the
park very long. Evidently she went into town first and on her way home she
stopped there to eat her lunch and make the phone call where she thought she’d
be in private.”
    “No way in hell. I don’t believe
you. She loves me. She’d never do such a thing.”
    “Okay, listen. You go home and
have a long talk with her. I’ll give you the day off with pay. You need to find
out what’s going on.
    “Oh, and one more thing,” he
said. He opened the bottom desk drawer and pulled out the information he found
on the Internet about this type of mail-order brides. He placed them in his
hand. “Read these papers over. It tells of the actions of other women who
wanted to come to our country to live.”
    Jake glanced through them and
shook his head. “Anya isn’t like these women.”
    “Read through them anyway. There
are several listed who have done the same things Anya has. I really am sorry,
Jake. You didn’t deserve this.”
    Jake again shook his head in
anger and abruptly left the office, closing the door behind him with a bit more
force than needed.
    * * *
    When Jake entered the house, he
found Anya in his office. She was on the computer, which was all she seemed to
do these days, between that and spend money. He stood in the doorway and
watched her for a moment. She was so involved with whatever she was doing, that
she didn’t even notice him.
    “Hi honey,” he said. She jumped
at the sound of his voice.
    “Oh! You scared me,” she
answered, then quickly deleted whatever was on the computer screen. She stood
from her chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What are you doing home
already?”
    “I decided to take the day off to
be with my beautiful wife. Would you like to go for a walk at the park while
Zak is still in school?”
    “That sounds like fun,” she
smiled and went to get her purse.
    When they arrived at the park,
they walked all the way around the pond and then sat down in the grass to rest.
    “This park is beautiful, isn’t
it?” he asked her.
    “Yes, very nice.”
    “Many people come here to eat
their lunch, enjoy the pond and watch the loons. Have you ever been