Tell Me You're Sorry Read Online Free PDF Page B

appreciate her calling right now.
    He was having Thanksgiving with his family.
    It was an hour earlier in Portland. Still, they should have wrapped things up by now. Certainly he realized her first Thanksgiving since her sister’s death would be rough on her. He should have snuck away and called her on his cell. He’d done that last year—or had it been on Christmas?
    She’d been seeing Oregon Congressman Jim Dunning for over two years now. But practically no one knew about it.
    Rebecca used to say that on some subconscious level, Stephanie had paired up with a man who wasn’t really available to her. Maybe after the sudden deaths of their mom and dad, she’d been afraid to depend on anyone again. So it was safer to go after someone who would never fully belong to her.
    Perhaps her sister was right. At one time, she’d come to depend on Rebecca and Scott, too. But while she’d been attending college in Eugene, they’d up and moved from Portland to the other side of the country. If she was truly wary of becoming too reliant on someone, her sister and brother-in-law had sure contributed to that hang-up. But she’d never told Rebecca that.
    She’d met Jim Dunning during a rare “whitemare” snowstorm that had closed the Portland airport one night two Decembers ago. The airline had sent her home, but she’d missed the last shuttle downtown. Stephanie was shivering and wet from the thick snow that practically came down sideways. Towing her small suitcase on wheels, she’d been trying in vain to hail a taxi when a limousine pulled up to the Arrivals curb. The back window descended with a hum, and the passenger inside smiled out at her. He reminded her of Tom Hanks. When he asked if she needed a ride, he seemed more friendly than flirty. She liked how he got out and helped her with her suitcase—instead of letting his chauffeur take care of it.
    The drive to her house over icy roads was intense and scary. They passed several cars that had spun off the road, their hazard lights flashing in the snowy night. Once she’d told him she was a pilot, Stephanie had to act like the winter storm was no big deal. But after a while, she didn’t have to fake it. Something about Jim Dunning made her feel safe.
    He was honest with her from the start. On their first date, he told her that his wife had died eight months before, succumbing to a long battle with cancer. He had a ten-year-old daughter, Maura, who still struggled with the loss. He’d just been reelected to his congressional seat, thanks mostly to campaign funds from his deceased wife’s rich, influential parents. He had absolutely no business dating anyone at that point in time. Even if he and she ended up hitting it off, they’d have to keep their relationship hush-hush for a while. Stephanie remembered him saying he wouldn’t blame her if she refused to go out with him again.
    Two years later, she lamented over the phone to her sister that she had only herself to blame. She’d known the score when she’d started seeing Jim. He hadn’t deceived her at all.
    â€œYeah, well, he’s deceiving his constituents and his in-laws and his daughter,” Rebecca had pointed out. “As far as they’re concerned, you don’t exist. I don’t condone it, but I can understand why he kept you a secret for a few months after the election. His ‘handsome widower’ image won him the lonely housewife vote. All right, yeah, I get it. But it’s been going on way too long, Steffi. You need to tell him, ‘Either we go public or I go.’ ”
    Stephanie simply couldn’t issue that ultimatum to him. What if he told her to go?
    Jim had tried a few times to tell his daughter and in-laws that he wanted to start dating again. But apparently whenever the subject came up, his daughter would get teary and his in-laws turned cold with disapproval. At least, that was what he