A Wife for One Year

by Brenda Harlen

  She lifted her cup, sipped her hot chocolate.

  “Then Mom’s boss called,” she continued. “It was supposed to be her day off, but someone called in sick and he needed her to cover from eleven until seven.”

  “And you figured you could meet Todd and be back home before Mom, and she’d never even know that you’d gone,” Kenna guessed.

  Her sister nodded. “But when I got there, he was with her. Heather Tisdale.”

  Heather had been a student in Kenna’s sophomore science class the previous semester, so she knew she was a year older than Becca. She also knew that a lot of the boys referred to her as Titsdale, because of her attributes in that department.

  “She’s been after him for weeks, but Todd promised that he didn’t like her.” Becca swiped at the tears that spilled onto her cheeks. “It sure didn’t look like he didn’t like her today.”

  She sipped her hot chocolate. “I probably should have just gone home, but I don’t want to see him. And if any of his friends tell him I was there...I just don’t know what to say to him.”

  Kenna could think of a few choice words, but she kept them to herself. Instead she said, “Do you want to stay here tonight?”

  Becca sniffed, her red-rimmed eyes shifting from her sister to her brother-in-law. “Can I?”

  He responded to Becca without hesitation. “Of course.”

  “I don’t have anything to sleep in,” she said.

  “Go wash your face and then I’ll take you home to get whatever you need,” Daniel suggested.

  When her sister had gone to do so, Kenna turned to him. “I’m sorry—I should have asked you first.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” he denied. “She’s your sister and this is your home, too. Besides, isn’t this why we have the spare bed?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “I never even thought... I could snuggle in with her tonight. She might not want to be alone.”

  “I’d rather have you snuggle in with me.”

  “I didn’t want to presume,” she admitted.

  “Wasn’t it only yesterday that we agreed to stop fighting what we both wanted?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, I want you in my bed.”

  “I want that, too,” she admitted. “And I’m sorry for ruining our plans for tonight.”

  “They’re not ruined,” he said. “Just changed.”

  “I didn’t have a dinner plan,” Kenna reminded him. “So while you’re running Becca home, I’ll head over to the grocery store and pick up a few things.”

  “I have a better idea—on my way back, I’ll pick up pizza.”

  “That works,” she agreed.

  * * *

  Because of his longtime friendship with Kenna, Daniel had known her little sister for almost as long as he’d known her.

  Becca had the same delicate features, slender build and fair hair as her sister, but Kenna’s eyes were as blue as a clear summer sky and Becca’s were more lavender. She’d been a beautiful child with a smile that could light up a room and who favored cherry Kool-Aid and grape popsicles, hated all green vegetables and liked mushrooms on her pizza.

  The quiet teenager in his passenger seat bore almost no resemblance to the girl she’d once been. The ends of her blond hair were now dyed black and the remnants of thick, dark liner ringed her eyes. He knew what had happened to her: puberty. The little girl he remembered was now a young woman, and trying to grow up way too fast.

  Becca was silent until he’d pulled out of the parking lot, then she looked at him warily and asked, “Are you going to yell at me now?”

  “Why would I yell at you?” he asked.

  “Because I did something stupid.”

  “If you already know that what you did was stupid, you don’t need me to tell you.”

  She was quiet for another minute before she said, “I shouldn’t have told him that I couldn’t go. If he’d known I was going to be there, he wouldn’t have hooked up with Heather.”

  “So your boyfriend hooking up with someone else is okay because you weren’t supposed to be there?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “I’m not saying that. I just know that if I hadn’t insisted on waiting to...you know...he wouldn’t have been with someone else.”

  His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “I really hope the ‘you know’ doesn’t mean ‘have sex,’” he told her.

  “Lots of girls my age are doing it.”

  This was so not a conversation he wanted to have with Kenna’s little sister. But since no one else was around, he felt compelled to set her straight. “And you think because lots of girls are doing it, that makes it okay?”

  She shrugged. “I think it’s okay to want to be close with someone you love.”

  “Wow—that’s a good one. Is that what he told you?”

  Her silence was answer enough.

  “Do you really believe he wouldn’t have cheated if you’d been sleeping with him?”

  “He wouldn’t,” she insisted. “He told me that he loved me.”

  “He loved the idea of getting into your pants,” he said bluntly.

  Her cheeks flushed. “That’s crude.”

  “But true,” he told her. “Guys like Todd will sleep with any girl who’s willing.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I was one of those guys in high school.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I don’t want you to get hurt—well, any more than you’ve already been hurt,” he amended.

  “But...I love him.”

  “Do you?” he asked gently. “Or do you love being with someone?”

  She nibbled on her lower lip. “I thought I loved him, but he said that if I really did, I’d want to have sex with him.”

  “You’re too young—”

  “Why does everyone say that?” she interjected.

  “Let me finish,” he admonished.

  “Sorry.”

  “You’re too young and too smart to throw yourself at some guy like Todd Denney.”

  “Do you really think so?”

  “I know so.”

  She sighed. “I wish you had a younger brother.”

  “If I did, I wouldn’t let him near you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because he wouldn’t be nearly good enough for you.”

  “So what makes you think you’re good enough for my sister?” she challenged.

  “I’m not,” he admitted. “But I’m grateful that she married me anyway.”

  * * *

  They ate pizza for dinner, then hung out in front of the television, watching part of the race at Daytona.

  Becca wasn’t a big racing fan, but she didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the screen, anyway. In fact, every few minutes her phone made some kind of sound, indicating either a call or a text message. A few times, she teared up again, but Kenna was pleased to note that she never replied to any of Todd’s messages. In fact, after about an hour, she finally turned off the phone altogether, and she and Kenna talked for a long time about everything except Todd.

  There were a few times when she thought her sister was thinking about more than her breakup with Todd, but when Kenna questioned her, she just shook her head. After Becca had gone to bed, Kenna asked Daniel if he thought there was anything else going on with her sister, but he told her to stop worrying—and then he kissed her so that she couldn’t think about anything else.

  Becca went home on Sunday, and Kenna spent the afternoon making final preparations for her summer class that was starting the next morning, while Daniel studied up on some new antivirus program. Sunday night, they had dinner with Daniel’s parents.

  The next few wee
ks were busy for both of them. Kenna was teaching, taking an online course to upgrade her credentials and helping Becca with her admission essay for Hillfield Academy. Her final exam marks had shown significant improvement over her midterms, but Kenna knew she’d still have to write something spectacular to get admitted to the program.

  Daniel was juggling a lot, too, between his clients at S3CUR3 N3TW0RKS and trying to find more associate sponsorships for GSR. His work as a computer security specialist had always required some travel, but the majority of that had been within the state. Networking on behalf of GSR required him to go wherever the money was. Over the past few weeks, he’d been to Kentucky, of course, as well as Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.

  During the second week of August, he went to California for a cybersecurity conference. Although it was only a three-day conference, with the added travel at both ends of the trip, he would be gone for most of five days.

  Kenna was keenly aware of the three thousand miles between them and, even after the first day, she missed him more than she would have thought possible. Her courses—both the one she’d taught and the one she’d taken—had finished at the end of July, so she had a lot more time on her hands now. And a lot more time to miss him.

  She knew she was getting in too deep, that despite her repeated protestations to the contrary, she was falling for him. And along with the falling came the foolish hope that their temporary arrangement might become something more.

  It was a dangerous way of thinking, especially when Daniel had never given any indication that he wanted anything more than a temporary wife. Their agreement was for one year only, and Kenna promised herself she wouldn’t ask for more. To do so would only be uncomfortable for both of them. Instead, she vowed to enjoy every minute of the time they had together, so that when they went their separate ways, she would at least have the memories.

  She’d only ever wanted the simple things in life: a husband, a home, children.

  Maybe it was because she’d grown up without a traditional family. Her mother had never married, and although there had been various men in and out of her life, none had stuck around long enough to assume a parental role with respect to her daughters. Maybe it was because they’d always lived in trailers or apartments that she longed for a real home. Not a mansion or an estate, just a simple house with a yard where her children could run and play. She wanted a sense of continuity and stability, but mostly she wanted someone to share her life—someone to love her enough to stand by her, through thick and thin, for better and for worse.

  She hadn’t entirely given up on her dreams of having those things someday, but the more time she spent in Daniel’s bed, the more she realized that her plan to gain experience and move on had been a foolish one. Because after sharing her body with Daniel, she couldn’t imagine sharing it with anyone else. As for falling in love with anyone else, she didn’t even know if that was possible when Daniel would always occupy the biggest part of her heart.

  But for now, she was just counting the days until he was home again.

  When she went to bed Thursday night, she was glad to know that it would be her last night sleeping alone. His flight was due Friday afternoon, and she planned to make fried chicken and dumplings for dinner. It wasn’t a fancy meal but it was one of his favorites.

  She awakened early the next morning to the sound of his voice calling out to her.

  “Kenna?”

  She pushed herself up in bed and brushed her hair away from her face. “Daniel?”

  He came to the doorway, breathed an audible sigh of relief. “What are you doing in here?”

  She glanced at the clock on the bedside table. “It’s not even six-thirty in the morning—I was sleeping.”

  He half smiled as he moved toward the bed. “Okay—why are you sleeping in the spare room?”

  “Because your bed’s too big and empty without you,” she admitted.

  “This one’s too small and crowded with me,” he grumbled, but he disposed of his clothes and crawled in beside her.

  She lifted her arms to link them behind his neck, drawing his head down for a kiss. “I’m glad you’re home.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to be back until later today.”

  “I took an earlier flight.” He quickly stripped away her T-shirt and boxers. “I missed you.”

  It wasn’t a declaration of undying love, but it was more than she’d dared let herself hope for, and her heart gave a little stutter.

  Then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She snuggled against him, loving the feel of his skin against hers. Judging by the response of a certain part of his anatomy, he was loving it, too.

  But for now, he seemed content just to hold her. And with her head on his chest, his heart beating steady and strong beneath her cheek, they drifted into sleep together.

  * * *

  He’d been gone only five days, but when he boarded the plane in California, to Daniel it felt like forever since he’d held Kenna in his arms.

  They’d been married for ten weeks and they’d been lovers for about half of that, but he’d already grown accustomed to falling asleep beside her and waking with her. Every morning that he was gone, he’d woken up with his arms empty and ached for her.

  Finally, when he began to stir late on the Friday morning after his red-eye from California, she was there. In his arms. And he sighed with pleasure to feel her naked skin against his.

  She met his kiss eagerly, hungrily, suggesting that she’d missed him as much as he’d missed her. His hands stroked over her body, stirring her desire as well as his own. He parted her thighs and, moving between them, found she was more than ready for him.

  He loved making love with her. He’d known her for years, but this intimacy was still new and surprising. Even more surprising was the intensity of the connection he felt when their bodies were joined together. It was different from anything he’d ever experienced. Deeper, stronger and infinitely more real.

  And it didn’t seem to matter how many times he had her. The wanting never seemed to go away. He didn’t necessarily think that was a bad thing, but it wasn’t something he was accustomed to, and he couldn’t deny that the intensity of his need made him uneasy.

  He’d never been with anyone like Kenna. He’d never known anyone like her, inside or out of the bedroom. And the fact that they were friends before they were lovers added layers of depth—and complication—to their relationship.

  But that was something he’d worry about at another time. Because right now, he was exactly where he wanted to be.

  * * *

  The following Monday, Kenna went to South Ridge High School for an early staff meeting in preparation for the new academic year.

  She’d told Daniel that she didn’t expect the meeting would take more than a couple of hours, but she planned to spend some time in her classroom, checking her supplies and getting things organized for the first day. Since he’d managed to carve some time out of his schedule around noon, Daniel decided to pick up lunch and take it to her.

  Any concern that he might be interrupting was alleviated by the smile that spread across her face when she saw him standing in the doorway of her classroom with a paper bag from Eli’s Burgers & Fries in one hand and a beverage tray in the other.

  “What brings you to this part of town?”

  “I had to drop something off for a client not too far from here, so I thought I’d see if you could break for lunch.”

  “You have this obsession with feeding me, don’t you?”

  “I seem to have an obsession,” he agreed, setting the bag and drinks on her desk as he leaned down to kiss her.

  “Knock, knock,” a voice said from the doorway.

  Though Kenna immediately stiffened, Daniel only eased hi
s lips from hers and turned his head slowly.

  “That’s hardly setting a good example of appropriate behavior for your students, is it, Ms. Scott?”

  “It’s Mrs. Garrett now,” Kenna reminded him. “And classes don’t start until next week, Harrison.”

  “I hope you’re Mr. Garrett,” the other man said to Daniel, “or the rumors will really start to fly.”

  He nodded and opened the bag of food to unpack it. “And I’ll bet you’re the gym teacher.”

  “Harrison Ridgeway—junior athletics instructor,” came the pompous reply.

  Daniel popped a fry in his mouth. “In other words—the little kids’ gym teacher.”

  The other man’s face turned red, prompting Kenna to interject. “Was there something you wanted, Harrison? Other than to lecture me with respect to classroom decorum?”

  Harrison’s attention shifted to her. “Laurel tried texting you to see if you wanted to go for lunch. You didn’t reply, so I agreed to check your classroom to see if you were still here.”

  “My phone must be off,” Kenna said. “But as you can see, I have plans for lunch.”

  “Sure.” He nodded toward the take-out bag on her desk. “Better eat up before it gets...cold.”

  Daniel heard the soft intake of Kenna’s breath and knew the other man’s word choice had been deliberate, and deliberately hurtful.

  “Let me walk you out, Harry.”

  “It’s Harrison,” he corrected through gritted teeth.

  Daniel walked beside him down the hall, until they were out of hearing of Kenna’s classroom. Then he grabbed the front of the man’s shirt and slammed him against the bank of lockers.

  “Take it easy, man.”

  “Don’t call me ‘man,’” Daniel said, his voice lethally calm. “And don’t ever disrespect my wife again.”

  “I have absolutely no interest in your wife,” Harrison assured him.

  “Good to know. But if I hear so much as a whisper that hints at anything different, you won’t be able to get a job teaching hopscotch to preschoolers.”