HARVEY SMOOTHED A nervous hand down the front of his polo shirt and yanked open his front door, his heart lurching at the wonderful sight of Della on his doorstep. His pulse galloped so fast he worried he might pass out.
‘Della. You look...nice.’ Nice? Two weeks away from her, pining and picking up the phone to call her, and stalking her social media accounts to see if she was dating anyone, and nice was the best he could do?
Before he could reach for her and kiss her, she stepped over the threshold, holding out a bottle of red wine like a shield. ‘I brought you a lovely New Zealand Pinot Noir. If you don’t like it, you can serve it to Brody. He’ll drink anything,’ she said, breezing past him without so much as a proper glance.
She headed for the kitchen, where her family were already gathered, leaving Harvey stunned and confused. He closed the door, his stomach in his shoes and his legs threatening to collapse. That wasn’t the reunion he’d expected, the reunion he’d played out in his mind on a daily basis. The one where he kissed her, told her that friends wasn’t working for him, that missing her had made him realise for the first time in twenty years he wanted a real relationship, with her, and then kissed her once more. All it had taken to bring about this massive realisation was a bit of physical distance. Without her body asleep next to his, the bed felt too big. Without her smile, her laughter, the challenge in her eyes, beautiful Melbourne seemed drab. Without Della to bounce ideas off, even his work seemed...mundane.
But clearly Della was still set on the charade for her family, acting as if Fiji hadn’t happened. And Harvey could understand. He didn’t want to answer any questions about them until he’d had a chance to talk to Della alone.
Cursing the wisdom of hosting a barbecue for the Wiltons the night Della had arrived from Auckland, Harvey joined them in his kitchen. He should have met her at the airport, taken her out to dinner instead, kissed her until her eyes glazed with passion and made love to her all night long just to prove that they could never be just friends. That colleagues alone wouldn’t work either, because he wanted her more, not less, than when they’d been in Fiji. But what did Della want, and what if it wasn’t him?
Thinking back to their reserved farewell kiss in Nadi Airport, just before he’d boarded one plane to Melbourne and Della another to Auckland, Harvey glanced her way. He understood that she’d been protecting herself on that final night when he’d tried to push for more. He was a big risk for someone who wanted lifelong commitment. But was that enough reason for them to completely give up on something so good? If she’d only give him a chance, he’d show her that his feelings were genuine. That he was ready to let her in and try to be what she needed.
Brody kissed his sister on the cheek, refusing to take the bottle of wine Harvey set in front of him. ‘Not for me. I’m a changed man.’ He cast a nervous glance at his wife, who was conspicuously sipping a soft drink. ‘Now that Dells is here,’ Brody continued, ‘we may as well tell you all—Amy is pregnant again. Jack’s having a little sister!’
Jenny Wilton hugged her daughter-in-law, and Brody’s dad, Graham, shifted Jack in his arms to embrace his son. Congratulations flew. But while Harvey was happy for his friend, his eyes were glued to Della’s reaction.
She stood frozen, her eyes blinking rapidly as if she was fighting tears. Harvey’s heart jolted in his chest. He’d never seen Della cry. His arms ached to hold her, to whisper how much he’d missed her these endless two weeks, to kiss her and make her a hundred promises that might put a smile back on her face. But what if his promises weren’t enough? What if she stonewalled him again like she had in Fiji?
‘I’m so happy for you,’ she said bravely, snapping out of her trance to hug Amy and then Brody.
‘It’s early days,’ Amy said, laughing, ‘and we don’t know if it’s a sister or brother yet, but Brody seems to think he’s telepathic.’
To give himself something to do beyond clearing the house of the other Wiltons so he could be alone with Della, Harvey collected a bottle of fizz from the fridge and popped the cork. ‘Just a drop to celebrate,’ he said, handing a grinning Brody a glass.
Harvey offered Della a glass of champagne, trying to catch her eye, but she was avoiding looking at him. Instead she declined, putting her arm around Amy’s waist. ‘I’ll abstain in solidarity with Amy, seeing as Brody has no willpower.’
The excited chatter continued as the Wiltons drifted outside to the deck. Why wouldn’t she look at him? Yes, they’d agreed to a clean break—he’d done what she asked and not called—agreed to act normal in front of Della’s family. The last thing they needed were intrusive questions when their relationship was so...fragile. But how could she act as if that fortnight in Fiji had never happened, when a huge part of Harvey wanted to announce to the world that he wanted her in his life? Not as a friend or a colleague, but as a partner.
Harvey’s stomach twisted with doubt. Maybe Della wasn’t as sure about him as he was about her. Maybe she wanted more than she believed he could offer. Maybe if he pushed her again, he might ruin what they already had and lose her from his life. That wasn’t an option.
‘So, what did Harvey get up to in Fiji, sis?’ Brody asked, flicking Harvey a knowing look. ‘Any wild nights to report? Did he leave a trail of broken hearts scattered all over the islands?’
‘Don’t ask me,’ Della snapped, avoiding Harvey’s stare. ‘Ask him. He’s your friend.’
It was the kind of thing she might have said before Fiji, before they’d become lovers, before he’d opened up to her about his mother in a way he’d never done with anyone else. It was part of the act they’d agreed to, so why did Harvey feel as if she’d physically punched him in the gut?
‘Oh, I have asked him,’ Brody said playfully, completely missing the tension between Harvey and Della, ‘but he’s been uncharacteristically tight-lipped. There must have been someone, though. He hasn’t had so much as a coffee date since he’s been back. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’d met someone he actually cared about.’
Harvey’s entire body tensed as he willed Della to look his way. He had met someone he cared about—her. He wanted her to want him, to fight for him, not disown him. He wanted to matter to her enough that she chose him, here and now in front of her family, people he also considered his family. But what if her apparent coldness wasn’t an act? What if she’d easily reverted to her feelings of contempt now that their fling was done? What if everything he’d confided in her, everything they’d shared, meant nothing?
Feeling nauseous, Harvey shot Brody a warning a look. Normally he wouldn’t care about being the butt of his friend’s joke. But something seemed off with Della. Perhaps she was upset about her brother’s announcement.
‘Oh, I doubt it,’ Della said, finally glancing Harvey’s way. ‘You know what they say—a leopard never changes its spots.’ Her expression was another physical blow—confusion, anguish, a flicker of longing gone before Harvey could be certain of it. She turned back to Brody. ‘But I was there to work, not to catalogue your friend’s female cast-offs.’ Spinning on her heel, she joined her parents, who were sitting with Jack on the grass. On seeing his aunt, Jack held out his chubby fists. Della swung him up into her arms, her face beaming with the first genuine smile of the evening.
Harvey’s entire body sagged, his pulse thrumming with hunger. He wanted Della to look at him that way. He didn’t want to play it cool. He didn’t care about awkward questions. He’d rather announce to her family that he wanted her to move back to Melbourne so they could try and have a proper relationship.
Hearing how absurd and inadequate his solution sounded in his head, Harvey deflated. How could Della and he, of all men, work out when she was already way ahead of him, looking for love, a husband, a family of her own? She’d rejected his attempts to start a conversation about them back in Fiji, as good as telling him he wasn’t relationship material. He wasn’t good enough for her. Felling utterly powerless, he glanced at Brody and winced.
‘What on Earth did you do this time to upset Della?’ Brody asked sheepishly, as if at last he was finally picking up on the tension between them, the weird dynamic that didn’t quite ring true.
Harvey shrugged, his chest hollow, all the excitement of seeing Della again draining away. ‘Just existed, I think, mate. Same as usual.’
Only there was one additional thing that wasn’t usual—the way he felt inside, as if he’d explode unless he could convince Della to hear him out. With a sickening lurch of his stomach, Harvey realised he might already be falling in love with Della, and it wasn’t going to be anywhere near enough.
Della stacked the final plate into the dishwasher, her head all over the place and heart aching. Outside, happy conversations and laughter of her family swirled around. Tomorrow, Jack’s naming day would be a joyous occasion, but her smiles felt insincere, and she could barely look at Harvey, so strong was the desire to hurl herself into his arms and make him want her forever.
Della swallowed down the sense of panic. The past two weeks without him had been a living hell. She’d been wrong; the physical distance, the lack of contact, the clean break...nothing had helped her get over their fling. Nothing was back to normal. Her feelings, the ones she’d tried to deny and sweep under the rug in Fiji, were bigger than ever, especially now that she’d seen Harvey again. The hurt in his eyes when she’d tried to throw Brody off the scent had crushed her.
With a trembling hand, she closed the dishwasher and went in search of Harvey’s bathroom. She needed a moment to herself in case she broke down in front of both Harvey and her family and told them exactly what had happened in Fiji. She’d almost spluttered when Brody had asked about wild nights, because there had been plenty of those. As for broken hearts, she’d naively assumed hers was untouchable, but Harvey had found a way to get under her guard, to make her fall for him, until she’d become the cliché she’d mocked other women for: past her expiration date, but left wanting more. So much more.
She’d stupidly fallen in love with Harvey, a man who couldn’t love her back because he’d spent years shutting down his emotions and feeling unworthy of love. And that wasn’t all. That morning, before leaving Auckland for Melbourne, she’d taken a pregnancy test, discovering she was pregnant.
Locking herself in the bathroom now, Della rested her hand on her stomach, choked with happiness. She was finally achieving one of her dreams. A baby. Harvey’s baby. But it changed nothing. Of course she needed to tell him, and soon. How would he take the news? Would he be angry? Feel trapped? She had no doubt that he cared for Della and that, in time, he’d do right by their child. But that wasn’t how she’d envisioned having a family. She wanted to be in love and loved in return. She wanted to build a home with that love of her life. She wanted forever.
Della blinked away the sting in her eyes. Harvey had urged her to be uncompromising when it came to her dreams and desires, to reach for it all and never settle. Of course he couldn’t have known that he’d become tangled up in those dreams. That she’d want to spend the rest of her life with him, have his baby. But Della couldn’t make him feel something for her that he just wasn’t capable of. Better to take what was on offer, his friendship and respect. Better for them to focus on being parents, separate but united for their child. This time, it was better to strategically settle than to risk losing a chunk of her heart she wasn’t sure she’d survive without.
While she washed her hands, she splashed cold water on her face and avoided looking at her reflection in the mirror. She knew what she’d see. A woman in love. A woman who in fact, despite all her tough talk and Harvey’s encouragement, couldn’t have it all. A woman who’d made another mistake and fallen for a broken man incapable of loving her back. Because to Harvey, love was weakness. Powerlessness. A price too high.
Della emerged from the bathroom, reluctant to head back outside just yet. Distracted by the framed photographs lining the hallway, she took a closer look. She’d never really noticed them before, but they were pictures of Harvey with all the important people in his life. One of him and Brody in their twenties, dressed in tuxedos at some medic’s ball. One of Harvey and Bill dressed in hiking gear on the top of Victoria’s Mount Oberon. One of Christmas at the Wiltons’, everyone wearing paper hats as they raised a toast to the camera.
Her family was Harvey’s too. He loved them and they him. All the more reason for Della to tread with caution so neither of them lost what they valued. She spied herself in the last photo, struggling to identify which Christmas it was. But even then, all those years ago, some part of her had wanted Harvey, had been halfway in love with him. She would likely always have unresolved feelings for Harvey. But she’d survive that. What she wouldn’t survive was loving him with her whole heart when he didn’t love her back.
Della was just about to turn away, to head to the garden and tell her family she was calling it a night, when a pair of hands gripped her waist. ‘There you are. I’ve been trying to get you alone all night.’
His warm breath tickled the side of her neck and she shuddered, his touch sparking her body alive as if she’d been in a coma for two long weeks. Della turned, bracing herself against how handsome he was, how it physically hurt to look at him because he could never be hers. His eyes danced with the excitement she’d waited two endless weeks to see.
‘Come with me,’ he said. She meekly followed, clinging to his hand as he tugged her into a nearby room, which turned out to be his home office.
He shut the door and pulled her into his arms. The force of wanting him almost buckled her knees, but panic beat at her ribs.
‘Shouldn’t we head back outside before they come looking for us?’ she said feebly as he cupped her face and slid his fingers into her hair, tilting up her chin.
‘Brody’s taken Amy and Jack home,’ he breathed against her lips. ‘I think both your parents have dozed off sitting around the fire pit.’ Without another word, he pressed his lips to hers and just let them sit there for a handful of seconds as he breathed in deeply. Della sighed, sagged against him, her entire body melting as if she was finally home. But he couldn’t be her safe place. She needed to be strong for their baby and for her own stupid heart.
‘God, I’ve missed you,’ he said, pulling back to stare deep into her eyes.
Della saw longing and desire and euphoria in the depths of his eyes, but it still wasn’t enough. She wanted more of him. She wanted all of him—the good and the bad and the broken. She wanted impossible things.
‘Why didn’t you tell me when you were arriving?’ he said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders so her head rested on his chest. ‘I’d have picked you up from the airport.’
Della shrugged, her heart so sore she could barely breathe. ‘You were busy here, and how would we have explained that to the others?’
Harvey stiffened, rested his hands on her shoulders and peeled her away so he could look at her. ‘Is everything okay? You’ve been avoiding me all night. I’ve been going out of my mind. I wanted to kiss you so badly.’
‘I thought the plan was to play it cool,’ Della lied. She’d ignored him because to be close to him was torture. Because she’d almost snapped so many times tonight and confessed that she loved him. Because the part of her that yet again had realised too late she’d have to compromise her dreams wanted him anyway, as she’d known she would.
Della swallowed, stepping back but wishing she was still in his arms, where things made a twisted kind of sense. ‘We don’t need Brody and his intrusive questions. I swear Amy is a saint for putting up with my brother.’
‘Can you stay?’ he asked, reaching for her again. ‘Here. With me, tonight? After everyone else leaves.’
Della rested her hand on his chest, felt the rapid pound of his heart, wished that it beat with love for her. ‘I can’t... We agreed.’ Her throat ached with longing. Why had she ever thought she could be this man’s friend? She’d known it had been impossible the first time she’d met him. Now, twenty years later, when she knew him better than ever, there was no hope. She loved him. She craved him. She wanted him. Friends was for the runner-up.
‘Della... I’ve been thinking,’ he said when she stayed silent, because she was desperately trying not to cry. ‘I’ve missed you so badly since I arrived home.’
‘Me too,’ she said, her throat tight. She refused to cry. She didn’t want to blurt out her irrelevant feelings or her news about the baby. She’d planned it all on the flight. She’d tell him tomorrow, after Jack’s naming day party.
He smiled, and her heart cracked a little more. ‘I really want you to apply for the job in my department. Us working together has to be better than this—missing each other, waking up alone, not to mention the abstinence.’ He shot her a playful smile that two weeks ago she could have returned. But not now.
‘I... I’m not sure, Harvey.’ Della shook her head, looked down. She wanted more than sex. She wanted it all. She always had. The only change was that she wanted it with him—Harvey Ward.
‘I know it’s complicated,’ Harvey rushed on, ‘and I don’t have the first clue what I’m doing, but if you move back here, maybe we could, you know, try dating. Each other, I mean.’ He exhaled a sigh, as if speaking those words had left him exhausted.
Della’s chest ached. Of course he would struggle with dating, but she could see how hard he was trying. That he genuinely meant what he’d said. That the first tentative step towards a relationship was a huge step for Harvey. But they’d always been too different when it came to commitment, and that hadn’t changed. Della was miles ahead, a place where she was sure to get hurt. And what then? What about the baby?
‘You know I haven’t done this in a very long time,’ he continued, misinterpreting her hesitance. ‘I know I’m a risk, but it could work. We could work.’ Before she could reply, he hauled her close, bringing her lips up to his, sliding his tongue against hers, filling her body with love hormones. Della surrendered, luxuriating in his kisses, which, after two parched weeks in the desert, felt like heaven. But the high faltered, her head intruding. She’d have to turn him down. She’d have to tell him why.
Because she was too scared to part with her secret just yet, because she wanted him, one last time, in spite of how ridiculously out of sync they were when it came to relationships, Della allowed herself the indulgence of his strong arms, his frantic kisses, the hot possessive surge of his tongue against hers. Oh, how she’d missed him, the breadth of his smile and the playful glint in his eyes. The feel of his strong arms and the beat of his heart. The way he believed in her and the way he made her feel. She panted, preparing to stop this. To walk away before any more of her heart was eroded, but her fingers flexed in his shirt, her head falling back so he could ravage her neck, her moans encouraging.
‘That was the worst two weeks of my life,’ he said, hoisting her onto the desk. One of his thighs slotted between her legs as he pressed kisses over her face, her neck, the tops of her breasts and back to her lips. ‘Every day I wanted to call you. The only reason I didn’t call was to give you the space you wanted, to pretend that we could be friends. But it’s not working for me.’
As his lips parted hers once more, his hand cupped her breast through her dress. Pregnancy hormones had made her sensitive, but his touch set her alight, inflamed her from head to toe. She twisted his hair in her fingers and rubbed the hard length of him through his shorts. Just one more time... Then, at the end of the weekend, she’d tell him about the baby and fly back to Auckland, where she could patch up her bruised heart away from this temptation.
Reaching for his fly, she dragged her kiss-swollen lips from his. ‘Hurry,’ she said, ‘I want you.’ If this was the only part of him she could have, she’d take it and worry about the price later.
Harvey didn’t argue. While she undid his shorts and pushed them over his hips, taking him in her hand, he lifted her dress and shoved her underwear down her legs, his tongue in her mouth.
Della spread her thighs, making room for his hips, casting the closed office door a nervous glance. But she was too far gone to care about interruptions, too high on the decadence of Harvey’s touch to voice caution. Too lovesick to protect her battle-worn heart. She would love him with her body, silently say goodbye. Then she’d walk away from one dream and focus on being the best parent she could be.
Dragging his mouth from hers, Harvey dropped to his knees, shoving her dress up her thighs. ‘I locked the door,’ he said before covering her with his mouth.
Della closed her eyes against the intense wave of pleasure. Dizzy with it, she braced one hand on the desk behind her and tunnelled the other into Harvey’s hair, holding on for dear life.
‘Harvey,’ she gasped, looking down at him. His eyes were dark with desire and determination, his hands on her thighs, gripping her tight. Pleasure built and built, the sharp ache only a fraction of the pain she’d endured these two weeks without him. But she couldn’t keep him. She had to put the baby first. Put herself first.
Her moans grew. She released Harvey’s hair and covered her mouth, bit the back of her hand to hold them inside. As if he knew her body, knew how close she was, Harvey jerked to his feet, gripped her hips and slowly pushed inside her. Della clung to his shoulders, wrapped her legs around his hips and dragged his mouth down to hers. Harvey bucked into her, his pace as frantic as the beat of her heart, his kisses as deep as his possession of her body, his passion for her almost enough to make her change her mind. Almost.
Della wanted more than passion. More than really great sex. She wanted him to love her as desperately as she loved him. She wanted them to raise their baby together in that house with the clichéd white picket fence. She wanted him to feel the terrifying fear and powerlessness of love and want it anyway, with her. But those dreams belonged to Della, not to Harvey.
Her orgasm ripped through her, and she sobbed his name. Harvey crushed her in his arms and groaned, joining her, his fingers and his whispers in her hair.
‘I missed you,’ he said, his breath see-sawing in his chest. ‘I missed you so much.’
Della hid her face against his neck, blinking the sting of tears from her eyes. That had been a big mistake. ‘I’d better go before my parents come looking for one of us.’ She pushed him away, slid from the desk and scooped up her underwear from the floor. She needed to get away from him before she begged him to love her.
‘You’re leaving?’ he said, confusion clouding his handsome face as he tucked himself back into his shorts. ‘Just hang around until they leave. Stay the night. I’ll make you breakfast, and we can go to Jack’s thing together.’
‘I can’t, Harvey. I—’ she broke off, realisation dawning. She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to tell him now. He deserved to know about the baby, and her confession, the knowledge that he was going to be a father, would put everything back into perspective for him the way it had for Della that morning. She wanted him like oxygen, but this was no longer just about her desires.
‘Did you see the job’s been advertised?’ he pressed, a desperate look in his eyes. ‘You should apply. They need someone to start as soon as possible.’
‘Harvey, we need to talk.’ She straightened her dress and folded her arms across her waist, holding her fractured pieces together.
‘Okay, come and have a drink. Perhaps your parents have already left.’
Della shook her head. ‘No. I don’t want a drink. I just want you to listen.’ Just like they had when they’d left Fiji, it was better to make a clean break of it now. The sex was over, as great as it had been. Now there were bigger issues to work on than if they should be colleagues or whether or not they could make a relationship work.
‘Okay. I’m listening.’ He reached for her hand, and she paced away. If he touched her again, she’d mess this up, say the wrong things, beg him to love her or worse, settle for only a part of him, not the whole.
‘I didn’t want to tell you until tomorrow, after the party,’ she began, a chill spreading along her bare arms, ‘but I’m pregnant, Harvey.’ She looked up, saw the flash of disbelief in his eyes and rushed on. ‘We made a baby in Fiji. Probably that time in the waterfall.’
Confusion shifted in his stare. He opened his mouth to speak. Closed it again. Shook his head, as dumbfounded as she’d been that morning, seeing those two pink lines.
‘I know I reassured you that I was on the pill,’ she rushed on, ‘which I was. But obviously I must have missed one or something. And I know that you never wanted kids. I know this—’ she placed her hand on her stomach ‘—is my dream, not yours. But I want you to know that you don’t have to feel responsible. You don’t have to do anything or say anything or be anything you’re not ready to be. I understand.’
Poor Harvey. He’d only just decided that he might want a relationship, and now he was going to be a father. Talk about life in fast forward... At his bewilderment, she winced, hating herself for her lack of willpower. If she hadn’t slept with him again, maybe she could have kept her secret until a more appropriate time. ‘I know it’s a lot to take in. You’re probably angry and upset—’
‘I’m not angry,’ he said, his jaw clenched as he scrubbed a hand through his hair, glancing down at her flat stomach. ‘Are you...okay?’
Della nodded, brushing aside his concern. If he carried on being wonderful and thoughtful, she was going to cry. As it was, this baby would probably be born holding a box of tissues, she’d cried so much over Harvey this past fortnight.
‘Obviously this weekend is about Amy and Brody and baby Jack,’ she said, also reminding herself that she couldn’t be properly excited yet and tell anyone else. ‘I know we’ll need to explain about us eventually, but I think it’s best if we keep this to ourselves for now and figure everything else out later. I’ll, um...call you from Auckland, and we can talk everything through.’
Harvey’s frown deepened, his helpless expression hardening. ‘Wait,’ he said, stepping forward and reaching for her arm.
Della stepped back, ducked out of his reach. She couldn’t let him touch her again or she’d break down.
‘You’re going back to Auckland?’ he asked, incredulous, his stare carrying pain and accusation.
Nausea swirled in her stomach. ‘Of course, Harvey. I live there. My home is there. My job.’ She couldn’t just drop everything. She needed time to think.
‘So you’re not going to apply for the job here?’ He gripped the back of his neck and paced back and forth. ‘Where we could raise our baby together?’
A wild flutter of hope bloomed in her chest. Could she do that? Move home, work with Harvey, have his baby and hope that in time, he might fall in love with her? Could she settle for so little when she wanted it all? If it worked, it would be everything she’d ever dreamed. But if it failed, would she survive? Maybe if she hadn’t fallen in love with him, she could return and just see what happened. But it was too late for what-ifs.
‘I’m not sure yet,’ she whispered, fear and guilt and loathing forcing her stare from his. ‘I’ll certainly think about the job. But like you, I’m in shock. I only found out about the baby myself this morning, and now I have to think about things like maternity leave...’ Della swallowed hard, wishing dreams were that easy. She knew from experience that reaching for it all, pinning her hopes on a man who wasn’t sure what he wanted, could backfire. She couldn’t make that mistake again, not when there was their baby to consider. She needed to trust her instincts.
He came to a standstill and stared her way. ‘So, if you’re not sure about the job, you’re even less sure about me, about us having a relationship? And yet you let me prattle on about dating, knowing you were going to turn me down.’
Della pressed her lips together, her throat raw with emotion. ‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking straight.’ Had she selfishly used him again? ‘I just know that I need to put the baby first. We need to put the baby first. This isn’t about us anymore, and you and I still want different things.’ Dating wasn’t enough, not when she loved him so desperately. She’d overreached before, pushed for more and lost. It was better to forget about love and focus on the baby.
‘I get it.’ Harvey nodded, his stare bleak. ‘I’m fine as a sperm donor, I’m fine for sex, but I’m just not up to scratch when it comes to relationships.’
‘I didn’t say that,’ she said, looking away from the pain in his eyes. ‘I want us to do this, the baby, together. I just haven’t figured out all the details yet.’
‘It’s okay. I understand,’ Harvey said, heading for the door. ‘You’ll have my baby, but good old Harvey couldn’t possibly be anything serious, least of all a husband, right, not when there’s probably a better option out there somewhere?’
He left the room, left Della with the echo of his pain and resentment. Rather than face her parents, rather than hurt herself or Harvey any more tonight, Della slipped out of the front door and escaped.