“Can we talk?” Ian's voice broke into Katie's thoughts as she sat on the tailgate of David's truck and sipped on a red water bottle full of what tasted like vodka and orange juice.
“Nope. Go away.” Katie had made it all the way to the parking lot before she realized that Ian had the keys to their truck. She'd left her own keys at home because she hadn't wanted to worry about keeping track of a key ring during the festivities. “But leave your keys behind. I don't have mine.”
“Katie, I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I've made a horrible mistake.” Ian ran his fingers through his coppery hair. He still had smears of April Lynne's horrible orange-red lipstick all over his lips, jaw and neck. He kept shifting his weight nervously from one foot to the other.
Katie glanced over her shoulder, searching for David. He was standing near the front of the truck and he had murder in his dark green eyes as he glared at Ian. “You're only here apologizing to me because whatever David has threatened to do to you is probably worse than anything I can come up with,” Katie mused as she took another sip. She really was getting a bit too buzzed, but she didn't care. “Go away.”
“I love you,” Ian was crying now. “I love you and I love Hannah Mae. I need y'all in my life.”
“You just sucked face with my high school arch enemy at my best friend's wedding. It's like there's a really bad chick flick going on here, but the surprise joke on me is that it's not a movie. It's my stupid life with my cheating husband in this little town where nothing ever changes and no one ever grows up.”
Ian took several steps closer and then tried to give her a hug. She slid away from him and nearly fell off the tailgate of the truck. Not your smoothest move ever, she mocked herself.
“Don't be mad.”
“Mad?” She debated throwing the vodka at him. “I am so far past mad. I'm not even playing in the same ballpark as mad. I don't ever want to see you again.”
“You have to see me again. We're married.” Ian looked stricken, but Katie wasn't sure how genuine his emotions were anymore. Ian only stayed with you because you knew he'd murdered that girl. Now that the secret is out, he doesn't need you.
“Go away.”
“Katie, he really has seen the error of his ways,” David said.
Katie slipped down off the tailgate and turned around so that she could see David more clearly without having to crane her neck. “I'm sure you showed Ian the error of his ways in a fairly graphic fashion. Not that I don't appreciate you chewing his ass for me, but I don't necessarily feel like kissing and making up right now. Or ever. Back off, David. I love you like a brother, but this isn't your fight. Go enjoy the wedding. It's probably time to cut the cake by now. Addison gives horrible toasts, so you really do need to be in the reception when it's time for the groom's friends to give their speeches.”
“Addison's not even here,” David said, almost without thinking.
“He left?” Katie hadn't thought it was possible to feel any more betrayed than she already did, but she'd been wrong. She felt worse now than she had two seconds ago.
“I guess. Makinsley's all pissed off because he's gone.”
Katie was selfishly pleased by the news. “Good. I'm glad to hear her day sucks too. Now if only the miserable bitch would catch some incurable STD and die. Maybe that would make up for today. Maybe.”
David waved one hand in a casual wave. “I'm gone. Y'all need to talk this out between yourselves.”
“Bye,” Katie said.
“Katie, I love you and I don't want to lose you. I made a horrible mistake that I'll never make again as long as I live.” Ian grabbed Katie's hand and pulled it to his chest. He pressed her palm against his heart. “Don't leave me. Give me another chance. Please.”
“Why?” Katie asked. “You act like you hate me anymore. You say you hate all of our friends. Maybe I can make myself forgive you for cheating, but what's the point?”
“We're a family,” Ian said. “You always talked about how much you hated having divorced parents. You've always sworn you'd never make your kid go back and forth between two different houses and two different lives. Think of Hannah Mae and how much she'll suffer if you leave me.”
Katie felt some of the fight go out of her as she was reminded of the one promise she'd always made herself. The promise that she would get married once and only once. That her kids would all have the same mom, same dad and same last name. She did not want her daughter to grow up dealing with the reality of a broken home. Holidays spent separated from the people you loved the most because a 10 year old court order said you had to spend Christmas with Dad even though it was very likely that Grandma wouldn't make it through another holiday season. Thanksgiving spent in a car being driven from one house to the next to the next while Mom tried to appease everyone who was somehow related to one of her kids. Waking up on the morning of her birthday and knowing that Kristy wouldn't be at her party because it was her weekend to stay the night with her own biological Dad.
A chilling thought struck Katie. April Lynne had always wanted Ian. The other girl had been horrible to Katie ever since her very first day in Possum Creek. She spent most of high school put eye drops in Katie's drinks, Vaseline on the bottom of her cheer shoes and once she'd actually gone as far as slashing the tires on Katie's mother's car. Ian wasn't just cheating on Katie with some stranger. He was cheating on Katie with April Lynne.
How awful would Hannah Mae's life be if she wound up with April Lynne as a step-mother? Would April Lynne torture Hannah Mae the same way she had tried to torment Katie? It was the worst nightmare Katie could think of.
“I love you,” Ian said. “Please tell me we can work through this. I'll be a better man. I'll be a better father.”
Katie wasn't sure if she wanted to work out her relationship with Ian, but she nodded to him. “We can get through this,” she whispered, thinking only about her little girl and what life might be like for a child in a house where Ian was always out drinking with Lowery and Hannah Mae was left at April Lynne's mercy.
She felt sick as Ian smiled at her, his blue eyes shining with obvious relief. “Thank you,” he said. “I love you. I'll change. We'll be happy together. You'll see.”
As Ian reached to hug her, Katie broke down and began to bawl.