LITMIR.BIZ

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present you gave me. Don’t you remember? You said it was because I’m never on time.”

      “I doubt you’ll miss it since you never looked at it. You’re still never on time,” he said.

      “Why would one of them want that watch unless they knew how much it meant to me?” she asked, sounding close to tears.

      “None of them would take your watch, especially with your name engraved on it. I’m sure it will turn up. Your missing things always do.”

      “That’s because one of your daughters finally returns whatever she took.”

      He sighed loudly, sick of this and the other arguments they kept having.

      “It’s true,” she said, turning, hands on her hips. “You always take up for them.”

      “And you always blame them for everything.”

      His wife narrowed her gaze as she studied him. “You’ve been to see Sarah.”

      He should have known that Sarah would be next. If Angelina wasn’t complaining about his daughters, she was complaining about his former wife. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take.

      “Angelina, we just got home. I have barely gotten unpacked and I had a meeting this morning with some constituents.” He was doing his best not to lie. But if he told Angelina, they would have a huge row. If she had her way, he’d never see Sarah again.

      She was eyeing him suspiciously. “If you haven’t seen her, then how do you explain that hangdog look you always get after one of your secret rendezvous? Come to think of it, you’ve had that look pretty much since the last time we were home.” She stepped toward him. Her gaze was like a laser as she prodded at him. “What’s going on?”

      The woman was much more intuitive than he’d ever imagined. Sarah had also brought out a suspicious nature in Angelina that he’d never known existed. He knew she’d keep after him until he told her. He also knew how she’d take the news. That’s why he hadn’t told her about Sarah’s engagement to Russell Murdock.

      In truth, he was hoping that Sarah would change her mind. He’d been shocked when she’d told him and had had a terrible time hiding how upset he’d been ever since.

      His first love, Sarah still seemed like his wife. True, since her shocking return from the dead, he felt as if he had two wives. Legally, he had only one. But tell that to his heart.

      Now Angelina would be over the moon with joy when she found out Sarah would be getting married to Russell. Angelina wouldn’t have to be worried about the other woman in his life anymore. In the fifteen years they’d been married, the woman had never shown even the slightest bit of jealousy.

      That was until his first wife had returned. The worst part was that Angelina had every reason to be jealous. He’d thought he’d gotten over Sarah’s death and the anger he’d felt when he’d learned that it hadn’t been an accident. But the moment he saw her again, he knew he’d only been lying to himself. He still loved her. He’d never stopped loving her.

      “Well?” Angelina was impatiently waiting for an answer. Just the mention of Sarah always set her off. Hell, she’d even hired a private investigator to try to discover not only where Sarah had been the past twenty-two years but also to dig up dirt from even before Buck had met her.

      “Sarah has decided it’s time she gets on with her life,” he said carefully, knowing that if he showed his true feelings about this news, things would turn ugly.

      “Really?” Angelina asked suspiciously. “She told you this?” Her tone couldn’t have called Sarah a liar any clearer than if she’d said the word. “So she’s leaving Montana?”

      He braced himself. “No, she’s getting married. She and Russell Murdock will be announcing their engagement soon.”

      To his shock, Angelina’s face went taut with fury. Her blue eyes narrowed dangerously, and she let out a very un-First-Lady-like curse. “The conniving bitch. And you believed her?” She stormed over to the window, only to swing back around. “So that explains the way you’ve been acting. How long have you known this?”

      He thought he’d been hiding his feelings well. Apparently not. “For a couple of months.”

      “But you never said anything.”

      He simply stood there, looking guilty and wishing they didn’t have to ever talk about Sarah again.

      “You actually believed her. Of course you did. Just as she knew you would. Buckmaster, you can’t be that naive. Don’t you see what she’s trying to do? She’s playing you.”

      “I don’t see how marrying Russell—”

      “She’s never going to marry Russell Murdock,” she snapped with a wave of her arm.

      He hated the surge of hope he felt at her words. He quickly squashed it because it was only a matter of time before Sarah remarried. He couldn’t expect her to sit around waiting for him to...to what? Angelina was his wife now, his future, his only hope if he wanted to win this election.

      While it shouldn’t matter whether a candidate was married, single or divorced, or had a mistress, it did when it came to the voting public. So much had already been made of Sarah’s return from the grave. If he left Angelina for her...

      “She’s trying to force your hand,” Angelina said, sounding sad that he could be so easily fooled. “She wants you to choose her over me. Why else would she just happen to mention this before you left on the campaign? And let me guess, she’s waiting to announce it to the world, right? Giving you some time.”

      “Yes, but only because I asked her to wait,” he said with a sigh. “I’m afraid this is going to upset our daughters, so I asked her to wait until I came home again.”

      She cocked her head at him. “Why would it upset the girls? They don’t even know her. Why would they care who she marries? She was just giving you time to let it sink in, so you will try to stop her.”

      He shook his head. “You give her too much credit. She doesn’t sit around plotting like...”

      “Like me?”

      He raked a hand through his graying hair. Nothing he could say would make this situation better. Wasn’t that why he’d waited as long as he could before telling her?

      “Sarah wants to destroy you. Destroy your career.”

      “You’re wrong. She thinks marrying Russell will help me.”

      Angelina laughed. “So she’s really just doing this for you. Seriously, Buckmaster, you bought that?”

      “Away from me, the press will forget about her. All the focus will be on the campaign instead of the three of us. Sarah will be forgotten like any other former wife.”

      “What a martyr she is,” Angelina said, her words as tart as vinegar.

      “She cares about Russell. She trusts him, and I think he cares about her.”

      “Always the saint, that Sarah, huh?” She moved away as if trying to hide her anger, but her body had gone rigid with her rage.

      That’s why he was surprised when she turned back, and this time, he saw tears. She’d always been so strong, so self-assured. His daughters called her the Ice Queen. But since Sarah’s return... “Angelina,” he said, stepping toward her.

      She took a step back and shook her head. “If you choose her, you’ll lose the election.”

      He swore. “It isn’t always about the damned election.” He dropped his arms and started to turn away.

      “Don’t you think we should discuss this?” she demanded of his back.

      “I thought we just did,” he said and kept walking.

      * * *

      MAX

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