Free BacktoLife by Emma Hillman Page A

her sensitive skin. She wiggled a little, then settled into his
embrace.
    Closing her eyes, she felt tears threaten
and hoped he wouldn’t notice. She had the right to be emotional though, right?
She’d taken her wedding band off, something she’d refused to do for so long,
people had even stopped asking her about it. But I did it.
    Jared tightened his hold on her, squeezing
her until it nearly hurt. She didn’t complain however. She was exactly where
she wanted to be.
    * * * * *
    “Are you sure, dear?”
    Sara looked up from her computer screen the
next day and smiled at old Mrs Willowsby. “Am I sure about what?”
    “About your new man. Mike was the good one
of the family, you know.”
    She blinked. “Excuse me?”
    “I know how much you loved your husband. He
really was a great catch and perfect for you, but his brother, dear… He’s not
cut out of the same cloth.”
    “What?” She couldn’t think of anything else
to say. She was that shocked.
    “Mike was the nicest man in town. He had
such perfect manners, even as a child. His brother, however, he’s been spoiled
too much. He makes a decent living, but there isn’t much upstairs, if you get
my meaning.”
    “He’s not stupid!”
    “No, of course not. I never said that. He’s
just not really clever, not like your husband, dear.”
    “My husband’s dead!”
    “Shh, shh, I know, sweetheart. And we miss
him every day, just like you do.” The elderly woman patted her hand and left
the doctor’s office, leaving Sara completely rankled.
    What the hell had that been? Oh, she’d
known Mike had been loved in town. He’d owned the only insurance agency in the
county, turning it into a successful venture, mostly thanks to his charm.
People saw him and thought, what a gentleman. He had the gab of a salesman and
the smooth manners that went with it. Only she had known that he also had a
hidden side, one he never showed outsiders.
    He was all smiles and sunshine with people,
but was often depressed when he was home. She’d had to fake her happiness for
so long she’d even started to believe it. He’d needed her so much, she’d become
this fantasy Sara, the one who was always cheerful, the one who didn’t complain
about anything just in case it sent her husband spiraling into an even darker
mood. She’d loved him so much, and yet not having to lie all the time had felt
good. Easier.
    She froze, her hands suddenly immobile on
her keyboard. Had she just thought her husband’s death was a good thing? Oh
God! She was a despicable person! And just hours after she’d taken his ring
off too…
    She bit her inside lip and felt tears
threaten. What was wrong with her? Was Mrs Willowsby right? Maybe being with
Jared was a bad idea. She’d been married for ten years. Mike’s memory should be
more important than that, and yet what was she doing? Spending her time having
sex with his younger brother as if she had every right to. “I suck,” she
murmured under her breath. She really did.
    Which was why an hour later, as soon as it
was time to go home, Sara went to the cemetery instead. The tears were already
dripping down her face as she climbed out of her car. She stumbled on the
gravel path, the black court shoes she wore to work pinching her toes.
    She’d forgotten her coat in her haste and
the wind whipped at her thin white blouse, goosebumps appearing across her
skin. She rubbed her forearms and strode forward, her attention only on the
second grave on the right after the fir tree. Just a few more yards and she’d
be there. She rounded the corner and stopped abruptly, a gasp lodging in her
throat.
    She could see Mike’s grave from here, but
someone was kneeling in front of it. She knew Shirley came often, but it wasn’t
her softly whispering, a hand on the smooth gray marble as if he needed
anchoring. No, it was Jared.
    His face was drawn, not unlike her own as
she remembered it from her last bathroom stop before she’d left the office. He
was talking