Free Winter Wishes by Ruth Saberton Page B

might tell himself.
    “I’ll sleep at the marina while she’s here,” he was saying, almost to himself. “There’s no way I can be at Seaspray if Tara’s there too, but I won’t make a scene – for Morgan’s sake.”
    “Won’t Morgan expect you to be at Seaspray?”
    “I’ll get up early enough to be there when he wakes up. The last thing I’d ever do is upset Morgan. Tara knows that.”
    “But Seaspray is your home!” Jules hated to think of Danny camping out in the damp marina office. “You’ll have to come back at some point. Besides, Morgan’s smart and it’s only a matter of time before he notices you’re sleeping there and starts asking questions. He’ll want you to tell him why things can’t be the way they once were.”
    Danny laughed contemptuously. “That’s what Tara’s counting on. She thinks Morgan’s the key to worming her way back into the family. She knows I can’t tell him the truth, but I’m damned if I’m going to give her the satisfaction of playing her games. “
    Jules was confused. “What do you mean? What truth? What games?”
    “The kind she always plays,” Danny said wearily. “Emotional blackmail. Poor little me, I’m lonely. Morgan misses you. You name it, Tara can play it. Trust me on this one. I’m the world’s expert when it comes to her.”
    “Dan, I don’t think tonight was an act. Tara looked pretty desperate to me.”
    His top lip curled. “Don’t be so naïve, Jules. Surely you haven’t fallen for the poor and abandoned single mum act? That’s classic Tara. I have no idea who this Anthony was – the latest sucker, I suppose – but he obviously worked her out pretty fast and gave Tara her marching orders. Smarter guy than me, that’s for sure. I’m the stupid one who actually used to believe her.”
    Jules had never heard Danny’s voice so acidic with loathing. His entire face was twisted with it, too. That Tara could still have such an effect on him spoke volumes.
    What should she say? Jules wondered. How should she handle this? The fallible, human part of her wanted nothing more than to agree with him, to unite with him in a good old bitch about Tara and to keep him close for herself. The other part of Jules, the part that she hoped was better than that and who had been called to serve God as her true vocation, knew that this was unfair. Marriage was a sacred bond in the eyes of the church, and Jules was supposed to do everything in her power to help uphold it. A line from the wedding service flittered through her mind:
     
    Those whom God has joined together, let no one put asunder.
     
    She shivered. How many times had she spoken those words when marrying people? Now it was time to put her faith in them and stand by what she believed. She was not in a position to judge Tara or speak ill of her. Not when God had joined Tara to Danny in holy matrimony.
    “I don’t know if that’s fair, Danny,” she said quietly. “Throwing herself on the mercy of her estranged in-laws couldn’t have been much fun for Tara, and the huge slice of humble pie she’ll have to eat would be enough to give anyone indigestion for years. I think she needs your help, not your judgement. She hurt you, and I’m sorry for that, but maybe it’s time you were the bigger person and forgave her? If not for her or you, then maybe for Morgan?”
    Danny spun around and his hand grabbed her shoulder so tightly that Jules felt each finger bite into her skin even through her thick winter coat.
    “You don’t know anything about it,” he said fiercely. “Not the first thing! Do you hear me, Jules? You don’t have a bloody clue what that woman is capable of. You can say whatever you like, chuck God at me all day if you want to, but I’ll never forgive Tara for what she did, never. I’ll rot in hell before that ever happens! If you only knew just what she’s done—”
    He paused; words unsaid filled the darkness between them.
    “So tell me what she did!” Jules