I glanced down. Sure, I was in a T-shirt and jeans, but they were skinny jeans, not Mom jeans. I may not have looked like the town whore, but I looked like something she’d never be—sophisticated. “He’d never go for a tramp like you. Not even if he were single.”
“You’re separated, aren’t you? I’d say he’s almost there.”
“What we are is none of your business.”
“What do you want, Callie? Why are you here—to chew me out? Consider it done.”
She may have been done.
I wasn’t.
I slapped her across the face. Hard. “That was for Kenna, for what you did to her in high school.” She pressed a hand over the inflamed area, but this time it was me who was smiling. Once the shock of what I’d done subsided, I slapped the other side of her face. “And that one is for me.”
“You can’t hit me! I’ll call the cops! I’ll press charges!”
I turned, pointing toward the passenger sitting inside my car.
Rae waved.
“Go ahead and call the cops,” I said. “When I bring Rae in as a witness, she’ll say nothing happened here. I never touched you.” I held a finger up to her face. “And if you ever come near my husband again, I’ll cut you down.”
“I’ll cut you down?” Rae said. “You actually said you’d cut her?”
Rae, Sasha, and Kenna roared with laughter.
“I couldn’t help it!” I said. “I saw that smug look on her stupid face and said the first thing that came to mind.”
“Good for you,” Sasha said. “I never thought I’d see the day when you were angry enough to take on someone like that. I’m proud of you. We all are.”
“You shouldn’t be. I screwed up big time with Josh. I didn’t even know I was doing it. I just ... took him for granted, waited for him to do everything, not knowing the whole time he thought it meant I didn’t care enough about him to put forward any effort.”
“You’re still married,” Rae said. “It’s not too late. And he loves you.”
“I know it’s not too late. I’m just not sure how to do better, you know? I’m not sure how to step outside of my comfort zone enough to make it right.”
“Care for some suggestions?” Rae asked.
“Tell me what I need to do, and I’ll do it.”
“Anything?”
“Anything.”
“No matter what it is—you’ll do it?”
“I just said anything. What more do you two want from me?”
Rae looked at Sasha, who looked at Kenna, and then all three of them looked back at me, insanely pleased. I took it to mean they’d collaborated on the subject of me fixing my marriage before I’d arrived. Whatever they wanted me to do, I didn’t care, and I didn’t question. I was ready for anything.
It was dinner. Just dinner. A ritual I’d shared with Josh for years. Tonight was different though. It felt different. I felt different. New and improved and brave, like someone had cracked open my shell, exposing everything beneath.
Josh walked into the house, closed the door, and looked at me. Really looked at me, taking me in. I’d ditched the casual clothes for dark, tight, skinny jeans and a fitted, black, low-cut shirt. I’d also ditched the natural makeup for a thin, pretty layer of color. I still felt like me, and I still looked like me, just a shinier, updated version of the woman I was before.
“You look nice,” he said. “Really nice. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with eye makeup on before.”
I smiled, noticing he’d purchased a new shirt and new pants for the occasion. “You look nice too.”
He hugged me, pulling me into him. He leaned down, showering my neck in kisses, something he hadn’t done in a long time. “Mmm ... you smell good.”
Another small change I’d hoped he would notice.
I pointed to the plates on the table, showing him what I’d cooked—his favorite dish—grilled flank steak with mashed potatoes. We walked together to the table, sat down.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry,” I said.
“No, Callie. I’m sorry. I was so stupid. I should have never left the way I did. I assumed I couldn’t talk to you about how I was feeling, or that you wouldn’t care, and I was wrong. Yesterday I realized if I had been open with you, we could have avoided all this.”
“Maybe. I don’t know if I would have been able to handle it though. I needed time to see what I’d been doing. I needed to make a change. Changes I should have made long ago.”
“You don’t need to change for me.”
“You’re wrong. I do need to change. Not for you though. For me. For us. For our relationship. I need to be more open with you. I need to tell you how I’m feeling and not keep everything so closed in. I need to trust you more.”
He reached out, grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb along my palm. “I want to try again. I want to rebuild what we had when we first got married. Do you want to try with me?”
A single tear trickled down my cheek. He reached out, wiping it away.
“I just want you back, Josh. I want you here, with me, in our house. I want to be together again.”
He rose from his chair, reached out a hand to me. I took it, stood up. In his eyes I saw the passion and fire I’d been missing.
Hand in hand, we walked upstairs and into the bedroom. He closed the door behind us. “I love you, Callie. I never want us to be apart again.”
“And I love you. I’ve always loved you, Josh. And I always will.”
THE END
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About Cheryl Bradshaw
Cheryl Bradshaw is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author writing in the genres of mystery, thriller, paranormal suspense, romantic suspense, and women’s fiction. Her novel Stranger in Town (Sloane Monroe series #4) was a 2013 Shamus Award finalist for Best PI Novel of the Year, and her novel I Have a Secret (Sloane Monroe series #3) was a 2013 eFestival of Words winner for best thriller.
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Books by Cheryl Bradshaw
Sloane Monroe Mystery Series
Black Diamond Death
Murder in Mind
I Have a Secret
Stranger in Town
Bed of Bones
Hush Now Baby
* * *
Addison Lockhart Supernatural Suspense Series
Grayson Manor Haunting
Rosecliff Manor Haunting
* * *
Till Death do us Part Mystery Novella Series
Whispers of Murder
Echoes of Murder
* * *
Boxed Sets
Sloane Monroe Series (Books 1-3)
Sloane Monroe Series (Books 4-5)
Till Death do us Part (Books 1-2)
* * *
Maisie Fezziwig Cozy Mystery Series
Hickory Dickory Dead
Table of Contents
VEGAS DREAMS NOVELLA SERIES BY CHERYL BRADSHAW:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapt
er 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
About Cheryl Bradshaw
Books by Cheryl Bradshaw
Stolen Dreams Page 5