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on.”
    “Dad,” I addressed him slowly. “I don’t really know how to tell you this.” I suddenly became very self-conscious with two pairs of eyes glued to me.
    “Out with it, Olivia.”
    “Well, I’ve ended things with Bill.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Bill. It’s over. I ended things.”
    “What did that son of a bitch do?”
    “No, nothing,” I said quickly. For the first time in days, tears threatened. “It was me. All me.”
    “I see. Why?”
    “I – well, it’s just that . . . I wasn’t happy,” I said.
    “You weren’t happy?” he repeated.
    I exhaled a heavy sigh. “No, it’s not that. I cheated on him.”
    There was tense silence on the line as I waited for his reaction. “And he kicked you out?”
    “No, I – I left. For someone else. I am leaving him for someone else. The man I was unfaithful with,” I explained idiotically.
    “Who?”
    “Um, well, he’s an architect and, um, a friend of Lucy’s, but that doesn’t matter right now.”
    “The hell it doesn’t. What kind of man steals another man’s wife?”
    “It wasn’t him. It was me, all me. I’m to blame. I ruined the marriage alone.”
    David took my free hand in his lap and squeezed it. I looked at him, and he shook his head.
    “I want you to come home,” my dad said. “We need to talk about this.”
    “I can’t right now, I have work.”
    “Come next weekend then. I’ll buy the ticket and whatever else you need. Where are you staying? Do you need a hotel?”
    “No. I’m staying with Gretchen until I find a place.”
    David’s hand tightened around mine.
    “Get a hotel until you can get here,” Dad said. “I will pay for it. And bring this guy; I want to meet him.”
    “I’d like you to meet him, too. I will find a time for us to come out. I do need to talk to you about the divorce and all that. I have no idea what I’m doing, Dad.”
    “I’m sure you don’t, baby. It won’t be pretty. You’re sure this is what you want?”
    “Yes,” I said, but my voice was meek.
    “We’ll handle it. Put the ticket on my card, and come as soon as you can. Bring him.”
    “Thank you for being supportive.”
    “I love you, sugar. Say hi to Gretchen for me. Olivia?”
    “Yes?”
    “Don’t make any moves until I meet this guy. I want to know that he’s not screwing around.”
    I smiled. “Yes, Dad. Bye.” I sighed and hit ‘End.’ “He didn’t seem that upset, but he wants to meet you, David. Frankly, I don’t think he can wait. He also wants me to get a hotel for the week.”
    “We’ll go next weekend,” David said.
    I smiled at him appreciatively. “Thanks.”
    “But you’re not getting a hotel.”
    “I’m not?”
    “No. In fact, what was that about looking for an apartment?”
    “She’s getting her own place,” Gretchen answered for me.
    David gave a short laugh just as I slow-blinked my irritation at Gretchen. “Thanks,” I told her. “I think we can take it from here.”
    She shrugged. “Just trying to help.”
    David stood and looked between the two of us. “We’ll finish this in the car.” It sounded like a threat, but he held out his hand to me.
    Gretchen’s eyes widened, and she mouthed, Sorry.
    “Holding hands in public,” he noted as we exited the restaurant.
    I laced my fingers through his. Bill and I had held hands plenty of times, but I didn’t realize until this moment how nice it could be. “I love your hands,” I said softly, because I did. They were big, they engulfed mine, and they were capable of making me feel so many things. Protected. Loved. Aroused.
    “Okay, gross,” Gretchen said, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “Go bang it out, and I’ll see you two tonight, k?”
    We hugged good-bye on the sidewalk, and David carried my duffel bag as he walked me to his car. “I am definitely sending her a fruit basket,” I said.
    “You and your fruit.”
    Before I could open the door to the Porsche, he maneuvered me up against it. He placed his arms on