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still furious with me, isn’t he?”
    “Can you blame him?” she replied, incapable of dealing with Bill’s injured feelings.
    “Of course not, especially with you feeding his resentment every chance you get,” he responded.
    “I do not do that,” Maddie said heatedly. “As much as it pains me, I’ve done everything I can to keep them from hating you or seeing how badly you hurt me. Unfortunately, Ty and Kyle are old enough to reach their own conclusions and to see through whatever charade I put on.”
    Bill immediately backed down. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ve tried. It’s just so frustrating. The kids and I used to be so close, but now Katie’s the only one who acts as if nothing’s changed.”
    “Katie adores you,” Maddie said. “She’s six. Even after all these months, she doesn’t fully understand that you’re never coming back here to live. The boys know exactly what’s going on and that their lives will never be the same. Katie just cries herself to sleep every night when you’re not here to read her a story and kiss her good night. Not a day goes by when she doesn’t ask me what she did wrong and how we can fix it and when you’re coming back for good.”
    She thought she caught a hint of guilt on Bill’s face, but then the polite mask she’d gotten used to seeing lately returned. She tried to remember the last time his eyes had lit up at the sight of her, the last time he’d actually met her gaze at all. Sadly, she couldn’t. She suspected it was long before he’d announced he was leaving her, most likely in the early days of his affair with Noreen. How had she not noticed such a dramatic change?
    “Would you sit down, Maddie?” he said irritably. “I can’t get into this with you looming over me.”
    “Into what? Surely there can’t be more bad news. Breaking up our marriage and our family pretty much covered all the bases, didn’t it?”
    “You know, Madelyn, sarcasm doesn’t become you.”
    “Well, pardon me all to hell!” she snapped, blaming the margaritas for her lack of inhibition. “Sarcasm is pretty much all I have left.”
    His gaze narrowed. “You never used to swear.”
    “Until recently, I never had anything to swear about,” she told him. “Would you just say whatever’s on your mind and leave? As I understand it, this is no longer your home, so I’d appreciate it if you’d call before coming by again.”
    He gave her a defeated look and for an instant, she almost felt sorry for him. He’d made his choice, he was getting everything he wanted, but he didn’t seem all that happy about it. Before she could allow herself to remember the way she’d once loved him, she steeled herself and sat on the edge of a chair opposite him.
    “I didn’t want things to turn out like this,” he said, meeting her gaze for the first time in weeks. “I really didn’t.”
    Maddie sighed. “I know. Things happen.”
    “If it weren’t for the baby…” His voice trailed off.
    Maddie’s temper stirred. “Don’t you dare say that you’dhave stayed with me if it weren’t for Noreen getting pregnant. That demeans her and me.”
    He stared at her blankly. “How? I’m just trying to be honest.”
    “It suggests you’re only with her because of the baby and it says you think I’d take you back after you cheated on me if there weren’t a baby to consider. You had an affair, Bill. I’m not sure I could have forgiven that.”
    “Maybe not right away, but we might have fought harder to get back on track, to keep our family intact.”
    “Okay,” she agreed reluctantly. “Maybe we would have, but that ship has pretty much sailed.”
    “Can you at least promise me you’ll do what you can to help me fix things with the kids? I miss them, Maddie. I thought after all these months things would be better, but they’re not. I’m running out of ideas.”
    “What you’re running out of is patience,” she retorted. “You wanted everything to fall neatly into