Read an Excerpt of Staying True
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My prayers were brief but pointed: "Lord give me strength. Lord let Mark find you. Lord protect our boys." So many times, I had prayed for the patience to wait this out, or for understanding for him and for me. I felt the full weight of the day ahead on my shoulders. This time when I clasped my hands and shut my eyes, I prayed that the Lord would grant me the strength to protect our children in the ugly time ahead, and I prayed for Mark who was clearly lost.
The only one of the four boys at home that morning was thirteen-year-old Bolton, who was about to leave for a day of fishing with his uncle and cousin. As he gobbled down his breakfast, I pictured our dear friend and Mark's long-time aide, Chris Allen, picking up Mark at the Atlanta airport. A loyal young man who had recently tied his business goals to Mark's political future, Chris had driven through the night to be there when Mark landed. By now, they were on the road to Columbia. I wondered if Mark understood that the whole country, it seemed, wanted a full description of his "hiking the Appalachian Trail."
The phone rang. It was Mark calling from the car. "Hey, how are you?" he asked quietly.
"How am I? How do you think I am?" I sighed. "Jenny, be gentle with me," he said in a tired voice. "Gentle?" I asked incredulously. "Do you know what kind of a storm you are returning to? And where do we stand?"
"The good news is it's over now," he said of his affair, and then added, "I've already met a reporter at the airport and told her of my love of adventure travel and so on. I'll call you after I get to Columbia."
I asked again, "What about us?"
"I told you it's all behind us . . . everything's good."
Good?! What part of this did he think was good? I wondered. I had been anticipating this call, searching for the right way to respond, but everything about his manner caught me off guard, beginning with his blasé tone. I don't know what he could have said to soothe me, but at least I expected an apology and some expression of regret. I hadn't detected a note of that in his voice. He was riding down the highway with Chris arranging for a press conference later that morning and I was one of a number of things he was dealing with. By the time we hung up, I hoped it was slowly dawning on him that this story about his "adventure" wasn't going to hold.
The only one of the four boys at home that morning was thirteen-year-old Bolton, who was about to leave for a day of fishing with his uncle and cousin. As he gobbled down his breakfast, I pictured our dear friend and Mark's long-time aide, Chris Allen, picking up Mark at the Atlanta airport. A loyal young man who had recently tied his business goals to Mark's political future, Chris had driven through the night to be there when Mark landed. By now, they were on the road to Columbia. I wondered if Mark understood that the whole country, it seemed, wanted a full description of his "hiking the Appalachian Trail."
The phone rang. It was Mark calling from the car. "Hey, how are you?" he asked quietly.
"How am I? How do you think I am?" I sighed. "Jenny, be gentle with me," he said in a tired voice. "Gentle?" I asked incredulously. "Do you know what kind of a storm you are returning to? And where do we stand?"
"The good news is it's over now," he said of his affair, and then added, "I've already met a reporter at the airport and told her of my love of adventure travel and so on. I'll call you after I get to Columbia."
I asked again, "What about us?"
"I told you it's all behind us . . . everything's good."
Good?! What part of this did he think was good? I wondered. I had been anticipating this call, searching for the right way to respond, but everything about his manner caught me off guard, beginning with his blasé tone. I don't know what he could have said to soothe me, but at least I expected an apology and some expression of regret. I hadn't detected a note of that in his voice. He was riding down the highway with Chris arranging for a press conference later that morning and I was one of a number of things he was dealing with. By the time we hung up, I hoped it was slowly dawning on him that this story about his "adventure" wasn't going to hold.
Excerpted from Staying True by Jenny Sanford Copyright © 2010 by Jenny Sanford. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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