Amelia by Bernadette Marie Page B

wasn’t some one night stand for either of us. I thought I’d married a soldier with decent morals. I was wrong. You were wrong. Only Penelope knew what kind of man he was and she still fell in love with him.”
    “What does that mean? Kind of man ? She knew he was married?”
    “No, she knew he was picking up women at bars.”
    Sam saw the flash in Vivian’s eyes and then the retraction. “Oh.”
    “It never was just the three of us. We were the three he kept. This seems to have been a game to him.”
    Vivian lowered herself into her chair. “I never thought about that.” Her shoulders dropped and Sam eased back into his seat as Amelia sat down in her chair as well. Vivian covered her mouth with her hand and then looked at Amelia. “How long were you married to Adam?”
    “Two years.”
    Vivian batted her eyes fighting back tears which Sam could see forming. She swallowed hard. “When?”
    “April—why?”
    The first tears rolled and Vivian wiped them clean with the back of her hand. “Did you go on a honeymoon?”
    “Quick trip to Florida.”
    Vivian nodded. “Lots of sun there.”
    “It was very warm. What does this have to do with any of this?”
    Vivian blew out a breath. “When Emma was born four years ago, Adam was in Iraq. They did a live feed and he saw her be born.”
    “That’s precious,” Penelope finally spoke.
    Vivian nodded. “When Ava was born, my sister was there with me. I hadn’t been able to get a hold of Adam. I didn’t even know where he’d been deployed—until now.”
    Sam saw the color leave Amelia’s cheeks. “Florida?”
    “When he came back two weeks later he had a really nice tan.” There was a bite to her words.
    “Oh, Vivian…” Amelia covered her mouth with her hand. “I didn’t…”
    “I know. You didn’t know. I see that now.”
    Vivian’s cheeks were red, but the tears had stopped. Anger had taken over and Sam wondered what had begun to brew in that head of hers.
    “Would you ladies like to take a break?” he offered.
    Vivian shook her head. “No. Just…no.” She took a deep breath and let it out. Folding her hands on the table before her she lifted her head and looked at him.
    “What does Amelia have in mind?”
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
    Amelia reached into the bag which hung from her chair and pulled out a legal pad Sam had given her.
    “I made a few notes. But I’m not the one making the decisions. First I think we should look into our backgrounds. What do each of us do?”
    Penelope looked between Amelia and Vivian. “I’ve worked in coffee shops, clothing stores, a movie theater.” She thought for a moment. “I’ve washed cars, sacked groceries,” her eyes opened wide, “oh, and I worked at a day care center when I was seventeen. I only worked one summer, but I was really good with the kids.”
    Vivian shook her head as if she were disgusted by Penelope.
    Amelia shifted in her seat and gave Vivian a glance. “What are your qualifications?”
    Vivian’s eyes went dark. “I have an associate’s degree in early childhood development.”
    Amelia made some notes on the pad.
    “What about you?” Vivian asked. “What skills do you have?”
    “I could have broken Adam into a million pieces and no one would have known where I buried him.”
    She’d said it matter-of-fact, but it had brought out the strained smile Vivian had been hiding.
    “It would be an interesting advertisement for any kind of business we put together,” Vivian smirked.
    “Might be big money.”
    This time Penelope laughed, then quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
    Amelia looked at her very short list. “So the only thing we have in common is child care.”
    “The only thing Penelope and I have in common is child care. And children. You don’t seem to fit into this picture.”
    Amelia nodded slowly. “I just own the accounts.”
    She watched as Vivian sat back in her seat crossing her arms over her chest.
    Amelia looked at the list. One of Vivian’s