Chapter Twenty One

Tara woke up the following morning feeling awkward about the evening before. Did she imagine it or was there that moment where it had felt like things were going beyond friendship between her and Dwayne? Tara sat up and sighed, rubbing her face. She didn't really need this complication right now. He was a married man and she had recently suffered a bereavement. The last thing Tara wanted was to get tangled up with a man – and a married one at that. Dwayne was her friend too. Tara wasn't sure she was prepared to risk ruining her friendship with him.

Dany didn't need to be a psychic to figure out something was bothering her husband. It also didn't take a genius to work out it was probably to do with Tara. Dwayne was sat at the kitchen table, looking lost in his own thoughts. She sat down in the chair nearest to him. It seemed as good a time as any to have that conversation. They had been ignoring the elephant in the room for too long.

"I think we need to talk," Dany began.

Dwayne didn't need much prompting to know where Dany was going with this. But rather than jump the gun, he allowed her to talk. Dany told him that she felt their relationship had fizzled out. But at the same time she wasn't upset or angry. She had accepted that they had, in recent years, become more like friends than man and wife.

"I think you also feel a lot more for Tara than you're letting on." Dwayne went to say something but Dany stopped him. "It's okay. I'm not mad. I think I figured out a while ago that you were in love with somebody else. I've just now come to terms with it. Honestly? I think I would rather you be with Tara and be happy; than to stay with me out of some misguided loyalty and make yourself unhappy. We would just end up hating each other."

Dwayne sighed. "I'm sorry it ended up this way. I still love you but I'm not in love with you any more..." He began.

"I know," Dany replied.

Their conversation was interrupted by their daughter, Simone, as she came running into the room. She was excited because she going to stay with her Grandparents – Dwayne's parents – for the weekend. Simone loved staying with them as she got spoiled rotten. Dany was going with her. Both she and Dwayne agreed they would talk about it more when she got back. But they both knew at that point it was the beginning of the end at that point. It was time to call it a day with their marriage and separate. Even though neither of them had foreseen this happening when they first married, they knew now it was for the best. Not just for themselves but for their child too. If they stayed together, things would probably become bitter and the last thing they wanted was to end up hating each other.

Dwayne didn't say anything to Tara for some time. Tara had enough on her plate, going back and forth between Miami and Tampa to see Teeny. The last thing she needed to be worried about was his impending divorce. So, the divorce went through quickly and quietly. It wasn't until it was announced officially in the press that Tara knew anything about it. At first she didn't know whether to be angry or upset – or a bit of both.

"You've had enough to deal with. Teeny is your priority right now," Dwayne told her, when Tara had brought it up one evening. "But I'm sorry you had to find out through the press. The right opportunity to tell you in person never seemed to come up."

Tara pouted slightly. "Okay, I'll let it go this time. But only because punching you would probably hurt me more than it would you. And Teeny wants me to stay in one piece for the birth."

"Really, I'm genuinely sorry, I feel like crap for not telling you myself."

Tara was going to be Teeny's birthing partner, which was a terrifying prospect for her. It seemed like Teeny's due date was getting closer and it was approaching far too quickly. Along with supporting Dwayne and Dany during their divorce – it just seemed that everything was happening at once. Tara pushed her feelings for Dwayne to one side for the time being. With everything else that way going on, she didn't want to be making things more complicated. For now, she would keep it on a friendship level. Maybe later she would think about where things were going.

The following May seemed to speed around all too quickly. Teeny's baby was due. Tara wasn't sure who was more nervous – Teeny or herself. Tara had no experience with babies or childbirth and she didn't know what to expect. It was a long thirty six hours before her daughter was finally born. Tara was overwhelmed with love for the child; this little girl who was the last connection to her older brother. She felt incredibly sad - Brian should have been there to meet his daughter. But Tara made herself promise that she would tell the child all about her father at every opportunity.

The biggest surprise came a few weeks later when the two women recieved a surprise visit from Tara's estranged parents. At first Tara didn't know how to react to their presence. They had been so cruel for so long that she had become numb towards them. They had heard that they were now grandparents and, with a lot of thought, they had realised that maybe they were being stubborn old fools who were letting their remaining child slip away from them. Her mother especially seemed very regretful at her behaviour in the past. Tara, though, wasn't so quick to forgive and forget. They had made her feel like crap her entire life and they turned their backs on her when she had needed them the most. She reminded them of the fact that they hadn't been there when she had broken her neck or when Brian had died.

"I was the one who found him. Have you got any idea what it's like to find a loved one dead, when the night before they had been alive and well?" She asked.