by Linda Kage
"He told me he had a business trip." Amanda snorted, ignoring his question and beginning her own rant. "But I knew he was lying."
"Mandy," he ground out.
"I had the kids with me, Drew. I couldn’t do anything then. But I can’t take this anymore. I really need you to come stay with my children while I go get my husband. I can’t just sit here, doing nothing, knowing he’s over there … with her."
Drew blew out a breath. "Listen to me, Mandy. Don’t go over there. I don’t want you to see anything that’s going to—"
"Drew—"
"If you’re sure he’s there, I’ll get him. Okay? I will get him. Do not go over there."
He would, but he prayed his sister came to her senses and let this go for the night. What was done was done. Jeff was at Mia’s house. She’d lied to him and Jeff had lied to Amanda and—
"You will?" Amanda asked in a hopeful voice. "Oh, thank you, Drew. I don’t want him over there a second longer. I can’t stand it."
He winced, realizing this was going to happen. "Of course I will," he answered, though he didn’t want to go anywhere near Mia.
Had she purposely called earlier to mislead him because she knew Jeff was there? Had she finagled such a grand scheme because Jeff was seeing her … not Piper?
His throat burned as he pushed off his sheets and hurried out of bed. Jeff was at 410 South Elm, and he was either sleeping in Piper’s bed or Mia’s. In less than twenty minutes, he was going to find out the truth.
Anger, resentment, and hurt rushed through him as he stumbled toward the exit, gripping his keys and praying Mia hadn’t purposely lied to him.
Chapter Thirteen
Mia had no idea how long someone had been knocking on her front door. She’d been dreaming of Lexie again, learning to walk.
Gasping awake, Mia sat up in bed and jumped when the hammering came again. She stumbled, hitting her knee on the bedpost as she fumbled for a robe, tying it around her waist. She could’ve sworn she’d woken earlier to Piper coming home, but that memory was like a foggy dream.
Her roommate had probably forgotten her house keys … again. Wiping her tired eyes and yawning, Mia hurried from the room, barefoot and not bothering to turn on a light as she felt her way through the dark to the front door.
Ready to berate Piper for forgetting her keys and waking her from her favorite dream, she threw open the door. "You really need to—Drew!" She blinked and stumbled a startled step back. "What’re you doing here?"
Though it was dark and she could barely make him out from the streetlights, she could tell his jaw was hard and his eyes glacial. "I need to talk to Jeff," he bit out.
She blinked, still foggy from sleep, certain she’d just misheard him. "Excuse me?"
"My brother-in-law," he clarified with a growl, his voice growing louder with each word. "Jeffrey Alan Wright. His car is sitting right there in your driveway, Mia. So, either he’s in here with your roommate, or he’s in here with you. Either way, I’m going to talk to him."
Unable to stop herself, Mia leaned out to check the driveway. When she saw the foreign Charger sitting behind her Nissan, she gasped. "But it can’t be. Piper said—"
"Then Piper lied." Drew didn’t seem fazed by her shock. Continuing with his agenda, he stepped into the house and made to move around her.
She quickly dodged in front of him and set her hand against his chest. "What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just go back there and–"
"Oh, yes I can. My sister is sitting at home alone in her kitchen right now, bawling her eyes out. And it’s his fault. His fault."
When she could only gape at him, he let out a sigh of frustration, his patience wearing out.
"Jeff," he bellowed, making Mia jolt.
"Drew!" she whispered in horrified alarm, already imagining the lights coming on in every house down the block with neighbors pouring from their front doors to see what the problem was.
"Jeffrey, you lousy brother-in-law," Drew continued to roar. "Get out here right now."
From the back of the house, there was a thump and then some cursing. Whirling from Drew, Mia gasped and set her hand over her mouth. Seconds later, a stranger she’d never met before appeared from the darkness of the hallway, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and black dress socks pulled halfway up his calves. He was probably in his late thirties, early forties and sported a healthy sized gut.
Seeing him, Mia shrank protectively against Drew who stood seething behind her.
"What in the world," the older man slurred out, tripping on an end table as he hurried into the living room. Squinting at Mia and Drew framed in the doorway, he jerked to a stop when he recognized the man behind her.
"Drew?"
Mia covered her mouth with both hands. She couldn’t believe it. Drew’s brother-in-law was in her house. Piper had indeed lied to her.
"Get your clothes on and go home to your wife," Drew growled. His voice was so menacing, Mia tensed as if bracing herself. But instead of shying away from him, she moved closer, seeking his protection and comfort.
"What—how—where’s Amanda?" Jeff asked.
"She’s waiting for you at home," Drew informed him coolly.
Drew’s brother-in-law went still. "She knows?" he rasped unsteadily.
"Who do you think sent me here?" Drew bit out. "Now put some clothes on and go home."
Hurrying to comply, Jeff whirled around only to bump into Piper, finally arriving to see what all the commotion was about.
"Move," Jeff growled at her, taking her shoulders and physically setting her aside.
"What’s going on?" she mumbled, rubbing at her eyes and yawning as he disappeared. Then she noticed Mia in the entrance with Drew.
Blinking a few times, she pointed and mumbled, "Hey. What’re you doing here?"
"I’m the brother to your boyfriend’s wife," Drew told her.
Mia shivered, a little concerned what he might do to Piper.
Piper froze and her mouth fell open. "Oh," she finally said, and then winced. "Oops."
"Yeah. Oops," Drew bit out stonily. He vibrated, and Mia unconsciously reached back and grappled for his hand. When he didn’t pull away and actually returned the grip, squeezing her fingers, a jolt arrowed deep inside her.
It was nice knowing he needed her support. Satisfying.
"Did you know he was married?" he asked, making Piper shift weight and give a half-hearted shrug. "Did you know they had three kids together?"
Piper’s hand was shaking as she lifted a few fingers to the corner of her eye. "He showed me pictures," she admitted on a whisper.
Drew’s grasp on Mia’s hand tightened painfully; she moved even closer, leaning fully against his chest.
"Do you know how much his wife loves him?" he pressed. "For twelve years, she’s stood by his side, supporting him through college, raising his children, feeding and clothing him without complaint. Does that not mean anything to you?"
Piper choked out a sob and whirled away, slamming her hand over her mouth and hurrying down the hall toward her room.
Every muscle in Drew’s body seized as if he wanted to go after the adulteress. Mia spun around to face him, resting both her hands on his chest. She was so close she had to tilt her head back to see his face, shadowed as it was in the dim light.
"I’m so sorry," she whispered. "I had no idea he was here. Drew, please believe—"
He wrapped his hand lightly around her wrist and tenderly pulled her fingers from his chest. That he cared enough to be gentle affected her more than if he’d shoved her away.
His eyes slid to hers. "You already made it clear whose side you’re on, Mia."
He took a step backward until he was standing outside the doorway, physically drawing the line between them.
Brows wrinkling to show his misery, he shook his head. "I have to go babysit now," he said, his voice cracking. Then he turned stiffly and strode off her steps heading for his truck.
Mia just stood there dumbly,
and watched him drive away.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned to find Jeffrey Wright, shirttails hanging loose from his pants, tucking a wallet into his back pocket as he hurried into the front room. He faltered when he saw her. They both paused, neither speaking a word as they studied each other. Then Mia stepped back, clearing the exit for him. He nodded a brief thanks and hurried out the door.
She closed it behind him, locking and bolting it. Then she pressed her face to the wooden panel. Her hand came up and fisted against the door. She pounded once for the injustice of it all.
Poor Drew, she thought. Poor Drew’s sister. Amanda had known all along something wasn’t right, and Mia had been reluctant to do anything about it.
This was Piper’s fault, she decided. Piper and Drew’s brother-in-law. Because of them, she wasn’t going to see Drew again, and she’d probably digress further into herself. Why would Piper date a married man then lie about breaking up with him? It made no sense.
She found Piper in her room, sitting on an unmade bed with her head bowed and her hands fisted in her lap.
"Piper?"
Her roommate lifted her face. The light from the hall beaming into the dark room immediately picked up the shine of tears on her cheeks.
"He said he was going to leave her," she rasped, sniffing and wiping at her eyes.
Mia had to force herself not to roll her eyes. She moved into the room and sat gingerly next to Piper.
"He said he’d already gone to the lawyer and filed for a divorce. But he lied to me, didn’t he?"
Mia nodded softly. "Yeah, I think so."
"He spent hours telling me about his kids, showing me pictures and making me fall in love with them. I was actually preparing myself to be a stepmother."
"I’m so sorry." Mia reached for her friend’s hand.
Piper lifted her face. "I didn’t know he was related to your Drew."
Swallowing, Mia gave a miserable nod.
"If you want, I’ll go talk to him—Drew, that is. Jeff can go to the devil for all I care. But I’ll apologize to your Drew if you want. You’ve done so much better with him around. You—"
"No," Mia said, frowning. "Don’t."
"But," Piper frowned. "You like him. After three years of seeing you so miserable, it was like … It was amazing to see you smile again. He makes you smile, Mia. I’ll do anything to get the old you back. It makes me sick to think my getting involved with a married man came between you and your first chance at happiness. I’ll talk to him. I’ll tell him you didn’t know. I’ll do anything—"
"Piper," Mia cut in squeezing her grip on the other woman’s hand. "Thank you, but … no more lies. Besides, I’d like to try talking to him myself."
"Make sure he realizes you didn’t know what I was doing. That I lied to you."
Mia shook her head. "It shouldn’t matter if I knew or not. You’re my friend. I have a right to keep your affairs secret if I want to."
Her roommate cringed. "No pun intended," she muttered. After she sniffed and wiped at her wet eyes, she looked sadly at Mia. "Why does life have to be so painful?"
Sighing, Mia leaned over to rest her head on Piper’s shoulder. "We wouldn’t know what happiness was if we didn’t have something bad to compare it to."
A lifetime of happy moments washed through her. Winning the spelling contest in the second grade, graduating high school and college, hearing a proposal from Ryan, holding her newborn baby girl and raising her for three months, turning from her flowerbed and seeing Drew for the first time, kissing Drew. Those moments wouldn’t have been so outstanding if she’d never know pain and sorrow.
"I have a confession," she admitted, lifted her face and glancing hesitantly at Piper. Biting her bottom lip, she said, "I knew Drew suspected you were … dating his brother-in-law."
Her roommate eyes widened. "What? But—"
"His sister saw the credit card bill he used to buy your roses."
Mouth falling open, Piper gasped, "Okay, that explains a few things. Drew acted … so strange when I was talking about my roses with him. He—" She covered her mouth and gaped at Mia with large eyes. "He hurried out the salon right after he asked about them. And he looked upset. I thought … I assumed he felt bad because he hadn’t thought of buying you flowers. I never—Oh, wow. How long have you known?"
Anger and accusations were absent from her question. She merely sounded curious as if she was trying to fit all the pieces together.
"Honestly, Piper," Mia started. "Why aren’t you livid? I kept something important from you."
"I have no reason to be mad," Piper said. She patted Mia’s hand. "I’m the last person on earth worthy to cast blame at anyone about keeping secrets. I mean, look at me. I was dating a married man and kept it from my best friend."
"Why were you?" Mia blurted out, slapping a hand over her mouth. "Never mind," she quickly added. "It’s none of my business."
"No, it’s okay," Piper assured. "I want to talk about it. I … I’ve been incredibly stupid. But he was so different. Established for one, not like every other immature idiot who thought he was some kind of stud."
"But I’m sure there are plenty of single older men out there, Piper. If that’s what—"
"I know," her friend interrupted, "But they’re all so insecure. J was different because he had this charismatic confidence. I guess he could be that way, though, because he was so sure he could get a woman … he already had one. But at the time, I was grateful for such a refreshing change of pace."
Thinking over Piper’s words, Mia grew grateful herself. She was grateful Piper hadn’t met Drew before she had, otherwise, she probably would’ve dropped her older, married Jeff and gone after his younger, better-looking brother-in-law. Drew held a certain maturity about him without the added age. And he hadn’t possessed any qualms about pursuing Mia, though there were many things that should’ve deterred him.
Piper reached for Mia’s hand. "Oh, Mi Mi, I’ve caused such a mess. Do you think Drew’s sister will be okay? From listening to J, I thought their marriage was over. I thought she didn’t love him. But Drew made it sound—"
"Don’t think about it," Mia advised. "Just … try to stick with single men from now on. Okay?"
Piper nodded. "You have my word."
Chapter Fourteen
The longest night of Drew’s life started with a school concert and ended with him sleeping on his sister’s short, flowered loveseat.
He followed Jeff home. When he eased into the back kitchen door from the garage, using his key, he could tell his sister and her husband hadn’t started fighting yet. Relieved, he hurried through the house to find Amanda and Jeff in the living room. She stood on one side, her arms tightly crossed over her chest. Jeff huddled by the front door, looking shell shocked.
When Drew burst into the room, they both whirled to gape at him.
Amanda recovered first. "What’re you doing here?"
Lifting both hands, he started, "Both of you, don’t say anything to each other yet. Okay? Just … go somewhere else. Go to my place. I’ll stay here with the kids. Just don’t start fighting here. You don’t want you to scare the children. Especially Natalie. She’ll understand too much."
"Okay," Amanda said. She rubbed at her arms as if she was freezing. "Okay," she said again, more jittery-acting that he’d ever seen her. "That’s a good idea." She started for that door, past Drew.
He reached for her arm to give it an encouraging pat as she passed, but she paused and gave him a full hug in return, holding him hard and burying her face in his shoulder. He cupped her head and kissed her hair. She shuddered and sobbed out a hiccup-type moan.
Stroking her hair, he quietly murmured, "Shh. It’ll be okay. It’ll be okay," though he had no idea how. Could anything ever be okay again?
Amanda found courage from his words though. She straightened, stared him in the eye for a good five seconds. Then she managed a watery smile. Nodding, she patted his cheek lovingly and started from th
e room without glancing at her husband.
Once she was gone, Drew shifted his gaze to Jeff. At least the man looked suitably guilty and apologetic.
"You guys can ride over there separately," he said.
Though he’d never given his brother-in-law a command before, it didn’t come out timid or even feel awkward. He was actually ready and willing to give Jeff a few more commands, telling him where to go and how to get there. But this wasn’t the time. He was only here to act as the babysitter, not get in the middle of a married couple’s dispute. So, he held his tongue.
Jeff nodded in response to Drew’s suggestion. As if wanting to give his wife a head start, he waited until they heard Mandy’s Honda start before he made a move toward the door. Then he bowed his head and started out. Drew stepped aside to give him more room to pass, but Jeff paused next to him.
He reached for Drew’s shoulder as he said, "Thank you, Drew."
But Drew stepped back before his brother-in-law could make contact. He had no sympathy for this man. No "it’ll be okays" or heartfelt hugs for Jeffrey.
Jeff waited a frozen moment before dropping his hand. Then he nodded in understanding before he ducked his head and fled.
Finally deflating, Drew sagged against the door and stayed there until he heard Jeff’s car start as well. Then he slumped toward the loveseat and collapsed. He was tired, but sleep didn’t come. Too many thoughts raced through his mind to allow him rest. He wondered what Amanda and Jeff were talking about. He pictured Mia’s shock as she glanced outside and caught sight of Jeff’s car in her driveway. He worried how his nieces and nephew would react if he was still here in the morning when they woke.
Since they were his main priority at the moment, he eased down the hall toward their rooms, hoping their parents hadn’t done anything to wake them before he’d arrived.
They were still dead asleep, thank God. Felix lay sprawled out on his back, totally open and relaxed with his arms and legs hogging the whole bed. Lucy curled into a ball and looked like a kitten nestled among the sheets. Natalie stirred restlessly when he checked on her. She’d scissor-kicked her sheets half off. He took the edge and pulled them back over her.