Vivian by Bernadette Marie Page B

chuckled. “Very.”
    “ You’re going to marry her, aren’t you?”
    He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do with that question. Her voice was solid, but how did he tell this woman that yes, in fact, he’d thought about it a lot.
    He set the teapot on the stove and turned to face her.
    “ I don’t know what to do with the thoughts I have on that. Linda has been gone for two years. Her husband has only been gone for four months.”
    Dorothy nodded. “She told me her husband had married three women.”
    “ You two got a lot of talking in earlier.”
    “ I don’t beat around the bush. I never have.”
    He smiled. No, Dorothy had always been straight forward.
    “ Yes. He married two other women. They both have already become engaged to other men.”
    She rubbed her hands together. “So quickly?”
    The teapot behind him whistled and he removed it from the heat. Pouring himself a mug full and filling Dorothy’s, he said, “Lots of circumstances.”
    “ Tell me.”
    He set the pot back on the stove, grabbed tea bags, and sat down with her at the table.
    “ Vivian hadn’t really seen him since Ava was born.”
    “ She has to be two years old.”
    “ She is.” He dipped his tea bag into the water. “And in fairness, because of this stuff going on with her mother-in-law, he’d asked for a divorce to marry Amelia.”
    “ She didn’t give him one?”
    He shook his head. “She didn’t know he’d asked.” He went on to explain about the box of letters they’d found in the attic of the old house. “He assumed she’d given up on him.”
    “ That’s horrible.”
    “ Anyway, he married Amelia and two years later she found out about Vivian and she asked for a divorce.”
    “ Good for her.”
    “ So really, Amelia had moved on a long time ago.”
    “ And the other?”
    “ Penelope. She married Adam in April and then he was deployed. She’s due to have a baby in December.”
    Dorothy reached her hand to Clayton’s. “That’s very sad.”
    “ It is, but Adam had only met her. They dated two weeks before they ran off and married.”
    “ He was a stranger to her.”
    “ He was. Then when he was dying he asked the soldier who was holding him to find her. Well, he did and they’ve fallen in love.”
    Dorothy placed her hand on her chest. “That is very sweet.”
    “ He had a lot of respect for Adam and he wants the baby to know all about him. They’ve already decided the baby will carry on his name in some way.”
    “ I’m moved.”
    He could see she was. Her eyes were misting.
    Clayton sipped his tea to test the strength before pulling the bag out and setting it on a napkin.
    “ When you consider that Adam and Vivian haven’t seen each other since Ava was born, and only then when they conceived her…” He lifted his mug to his lips and swallowed his tea hard enough he coughed. “Well, he’s been gone from her for a long time.”
    Dorothy reached her hand out to him and placed it on his arm. “Are you afraid you’re being unfaithful to Linda or to Adam?”
    Clayton clenched his jaw. “Yes. How could I not feel that way, especially with you here?”
    She nodded as if she understood he’d feel that way. “I miss her more than anything. There are days I can’t breathe.”
    He knew that feeling well enough.
    “ Clayton, you have a second chance. Do you know how happy I am for you? If it could be Linda all over again, I’d wish for Linda. But we both have to keep living and keep her memory alive for those girls. And those girls will be better off if you’re happy and can keep her memory a happy one.”
    Clayton wasn’t such a man he wouldn’t cry. He could feel the tears sting and catch in his throat. “I love her Dorothy. I love Vivian.”
    “ I know you do. And what the hell does it matter if you’ve only known her a short while? You could know her forever and still never be sure.” She smiled and it calmed him.
    “ I want to take her away from here for a few nights. She’s