Tryst Read Online Free PDF

She looked around to make sure no one had heard. Like I was admitting to some contagious disease.
    “What do you want me to say, Jo-Jo?” I asked wearily. “I can put a bow on it and make it sound prettier, but it’s still the same.”
    “This is what I was afraid of,” she said, glancing at Jack. Their eyes met and they did that silent husband -wife communication thing.
    Blake and I never did that.
    “I’m sitting right here,” I reminded them.
    Joanna sat back and Jack leaned forward. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through?” he asked. “You’re under duress . You aren’t yourself. Maybe you should take some time and think.”
    And that was why Jack was here. Joanna wanted backup. She thought he might talk me out of a divorce.
    I looked him straight in the eye. “Have you ever cheated on my sister?”
    Joanna gasped and sat forward. Jack seemed unperturbed by the question. Damn lawyers always kept their cool.
    “Of course I haven’t.”
    “And if you did, would you expect Joanna to stay with you?”
    He cleared his throat, finally showing a little bit of unease.
    “This is absurd, Natalie,” she hissed, using my full name.
    “Would you?” I asked her. “Stay with him?”
    “We have children,” she said, as if that explained everything.
    I took that as a yes.
    I lost a little respect for my sister in that moment. Maybe it wasn’t fair of me to judge her, but wasn’t that what she was doing to me at this very moment?
    “Can I see the papers?” I turned to Jack.
    He reached below the table and pulled a black briefcase into his lap. The stack of papers was neat and tidy, all stapled together with a single staple. A stack of papers and a pen was all I needed to end my marriage. To change my life. It seemed that after I promised to love someone forever through the good and bad, it shouldn’t be so easy to undo all those promises.
    “Read through them . If you have any questions, just call me,” Jack said gently.
    “Do you have a pen?” I asked.
    “Talie,” Joanna said. “You will not sign those here. Please think about this. Signing them would be a mistake.”
    “You really think so?” I asked, sitting back while the waitress returned to fill all our glasses with icy water. Jack ordered an appetizer for the table , and she left us alone once more.
    “Talie,” Joanna said empathically. How is it that my older sister could always put the kind of emotion into her voice that only a sister could? It’s like my heart just automatically responded to that tone. Like it was a golden retriever trained to her command.
    “Blake is a good man. His father built a very successful construction company that has become the number one go-to builder in Raleigh. Blake is poised to take over that company. He is very smart and business savvy. He’s going places, places you will go if you stay together.”
    What kind of places was she talking about? Because the only place I could think about when I thought about staying with Blake was hell.
    “I thought you wanted a home and a family?” she asked.
    “I do.” It was what I wanted more than anything. I guess I was old -fashioned that way. It wasn’t the way a modern woman should be thinking. I certainly was all for women’s equality, but there was something wonderful (to me) about having children and watching them grow, about having a home that I loved where I could water my roses and bake cookies in the kitchen. Was it really so wrong to just want a husband to love me, to think I’m beautiful, and to be surrounded by my children and grandchildren?
    I thought I was going to have all that with Blake.
    “You can still have that.”
    “He cheated on me ,” I said, my voice hollow and raw.
    “It was a mistake. Surely by now he’s seen the error of his ways. He knows what it’s like to come home to a house without you in it. Have you even talked to him?”
    I shook my head.
    She sighed. “At least talk to him. See what he has to say. Maybe he wants