Perfect Fit by Brenda Jackson Page A

happened in the first place.”
    “But it did, and I feel awful about it,” he said in a voice that was even softer than before.
    Sage actually flinched at his words. “Well, you should, since you broke your wedding vows to spend one night in a sleazy affair.”
    Charles Dunbar looked away for a few seconds, and when he looked back at Sage, the piece of herheart she had closed shut to him almost fell back open. She knew that this conversation, her hostile attitude, was defeating him, draining him of the dignity he always possessed, and was actually breaking him down. He had hurt her deeply and was no longer a hero in her eyes; he knew it and regretted it. And she could tell it was literally eating him up inside.
    But at that very moment, she didn’t care. A part of her refused to ease his pain and humiliation. There was another person she had to think about. “What about Mom?”
    He snatched his head up and met her gaze. “What about your mother?”
    “Are you going to tell her what you did?”
    She watched her father sadly shake his head. “There’s no need. During my thirty years of marriage, I was unfaithful to her only this one time. The woman and I had been working late.” He met her gaze and implored her to believe him. “Neither of us meant for this to happen. It just did.”
    Sage held her breath as a dozen or so questions popped into her head, and she quickly asked the first one. “Is she married, too?”
    “No, she’s divorced.”
    “But she knew you were married?”
    Her father hesitated briefly before answering. “Yes.”
    The slut
, Sage immediately thought. That was what she thought of any woman who willingly became involved with a married man. For the life of her she couldn’t understand why any woman would want to be the
other woman.
    “I disagree with you that there’s no need for Mom to know. I think she has every right to know you’ve been unfaithful to her.”
    She watched her father release a long, slow breath before saying, “Not telling your mother is my decision to make, Sage, and not yours.”
    Sage pulled back. His words had been like a slap to her face. “It’s not just your decision. I saw you. I know about it. Keeping it from Mom makes me feel disloyal.”
    “You shouldn’t feel that way since it doesn’t concern you. This is between me and your mother, and I should be the one to tell her about it.”
    “When will you tell her?” From across the room she could feel her father’s tension.
    “I’ll tell her one day.”
    Sage shook her head angrily. “One day! When she’s too old to care! There is something called AIDS, and I care about my mother’s health if you don’t.”
    She was taken aback by the furious expression that suddenly appeared on her father’s face. “Do you think I’d place your mother at a risk such as that! I took the necessary precautions! I love your mother!”
    Sage laughed. It was more in anger than humor. “You love Mom? Then, it’s a good thing I decided not to get married if committing adultery is the way a married man shows his love for his wife. Taking money out of my bank accounts without me knowing it was bad enough. I would hate to think that after we’d been married thirty years, the next best thing to expect was for Erol to engage in an affair … out of his love for me.”
    “Sage, you don’t understand …”
    “Yeah, Dad, you’re right, I don’t understand and doubt I ever will.”
    For the longest time there was total silence in the room. Then Charles Dunbar spoke. “Will youlet me be the one to tell your mother at what I feel is an appropriate time?” His voice was so soft it was barely a whisper.
    She sighed, not wanting to deal with anything any longer. A part of her wished she could leave Charlotte for a while. In fact, maybe it was a good idea if she did. The Denmark Corporation had several offices across the country, and maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for her to check in to the possibility of transferring to