Ex Wife
To Have & To Hold, Book 7
Dominique thought she'd finally found peace after her marriage to Matthew ended. Three children, a quiet life, and no more heartbreak. Then Matthew unexpectedly arrives at the cabin she's inherited, all her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble.
What starts as reluctant cooperation on renovations becomes something neither of them can ignore. Stolen moments turn into passionate nights, and suddenly the pain that tore them apart feels less important than the connection pulling them back together. But this second chance comes with a terrible cost: the secrets and lies that destroyed their marriage are still waiting in the shadows.
Dominique and Matthew must decide whether they're brave enough to truly forgive each other, or if some betrayals run too deep to overcome. Because falling back in love is easy. Staying together when trust has been shattered? That's the real battle.
“What are you going to be doing while they’re gone? Apart from work, I mean.”
Ela chimed in before Dominique could answer. “Mom’s gonna fix the Christmas cabin, so we’ll have loads of fun when we go there for Thanksgiving.”
Matthew’s cool, inquiring gaze met hers. “Cabin?”
It struck her how much of her life he no longer knew about, since they were apart. Little things, like the fact that she’d gotten a tattoo on her thirty-third birthday a couple of months before, or that she was reading again after a twelve-year hiatus. It was strange to think these small pieces of herself were now unknown to him.
“Yes, it’s a two-bedroom cabin forty-six miles west from here,” Dominique explained. “Mrs. Jax left it to me after she passed away.”
“It’s the least she could do. You spent a lot of time running errands for the grouchy old crow, who rarely showed her gratitude.”
“Matthew,” his mom gasped, scandalized. “Not in front of the kids.”
Her mother was amused while the children echoed their father’s words. Dominique scolded him playfully, “You shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”
Dominique hid a smile because they didn’t know about Mrs. Jax’s youth as a Red Cross nurse and her grief at losing the only man she ever loved over in Korea. The afternoons spent with the older woman lent to her understanding of what contributed to Mrs. Jax’s prickly nature.
Matthew was suddenly serious again. “You’re going up there alone?”
“I’m bringing Smith and Wesson with me.” She winked at him, enjoying the way his brow furrowed slightly at the mention of the gun he’d gifted her years ago.
He stepped forward, close enough that she could smell his cologne and see the crow’s-feet by his eyes. “I don’t like the idea of you out there alone.”
She laughed, a little more harshly than she meant, slipping into the defensive humor that always seemed to bubble up around him. “Since when did you start worrying about me?”
Matthew’s gaze was steady on hers. The mirth had vanished from his face, replaced by the thoughtful look he got when he was deeply troubled by something. “I never stopped.”
