A White Picket Fence

by Laura Branchflower

  He smiled. “You’re not going to be one of those mothers who thinks no one is good enough for their son, are you?”

  “No one is good enough for my son.” She turned to go back inside.

  “Hey.” He gripped her hand when she began to walk past him. “Where are you going?”

  “To start dinner.” She tilted her head back as he pulled her into his arms. “You want to eat, don’t you?”

  “I want my wife to kiss me.” He brushed his lips over hers. “One day when Logan throws you over for another woman, I’ll be here to pick up the pieces.”

  “Ha. Ha,” Lina said.

  “I love you.”

  Two and a half weeks after her dinner with Nick, Lina was tending to one of her front-yard flower beds when she heard and then saw a familiar Porsche coming down her driveway. She came to her feet, her heart rate accelerating as images of their last moments together flashed through her mind. She considered pretending she didn’t see him, but as she watched Nick emerge from his car less than twenty-five yards away, she knew it wasn’t a viable option. He was looking right at her.

  She pulled off her gardening gloves as she made her way across the grass, stealing a glance towards the garage, nervous Phil would appear at any moment. “Good morning.” She smiled at Brian, who was stepping back from the trunk with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

  “Hey, Mrs. Hunter.” Brian offered her a lopsided smile before jogging off towards the house.

  “He looks so much like you,” Lina said, bringing her gaze to Nick.

  “So I’ve heard.” His eyes were concealed behind sunglasses, and there was no discernible expression on his face. “Nice place.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I should go,” he said, but made no move to do so. Although she couldn’t see his eyes, Lina knew they were traveling over her.

  She felt heat in her already-warm cheeks. She wasn’t wearing a speck of makeup. Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. But her attire was more alluring. She was wearing short, cut-off jean shorts that were frayed and full of holes and a tight cotton tank top. “I wasn’t expecting visitors,” she said softly.

  “You’re gorgeous. I need to leave.” He turned without another word. Moments later his car roared to life and he was disappearing down her drive.

  Lina stood in the center of the driveway staring after him, her heart rate slowly returning to normal. She turned to go into the house and came face-to-face with Phil.

  “Drayton was here?”

  “Yes, he dropped Brian off.”

  “What did he say to you?” He was frowning.

  “Nothing.” She stepped around him. “Less than a paragraph.”

  Unable to think about anything but her one-minute encounter with Nick, Lina knew she was a poor shopping companion for Adele, but she wasn’t sure how to pull herself out of her funk. Seeing Nick had hit her harder than she expected.

  “What’s with you today?” Adele asked when they took a break from shopping to share a pastry. “Are you missing Megan?”

  Lina laughed. Her eldest daughter had been away at college for one week. Instead of thinking of her like she should have been, she was depressed over the loss of a man she should never have developed feelings for in the first place. “I wish.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I have feelings for Nick,” she admitted aloud for the first time.

  “Nick?” Adele’s eyes seemed to grow to twice their normal size. “Who in the hell is Nick?”

  “Dr. Drayton.”

  “Holy shit!” Adele sat back in her chair. “I told you to fuck him, not fall in love with him.”

  “I’m not in love with him. I’m confused about him.”

  “Did you have sex with him?”

  “No! Adele, you know I wouldn’t do that. I’m married.”

  “Well, so is Phil, and he had sex with someone else.”

  “Can you just get the revenge stuff out of your head? You’re not helping. I know I’m supposed to be with Phil—if there was any question, the whole hot tub incident confirmed it. And since that night things have gotten better with us. It feels almost normal.”

  “Except there’s a woman out there carrying his child.” Adele said.

  “I said almost.”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  “I keep thinking about Nick. I mean, not all the time, but a lot. And then today he dropped off Brian. It was the first time I saw him in a couple of weeks, and I felt drawn to him. When I watched him drive away I wanted to cry, and now I just feel sad.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t know what it means.”

  “I assume you’re attracted to him?”

  “Yes.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe it. It’s so wrong. I’m married. I love Phil.”

  “You’re married, not dead. Are you saying in all these years you’ve never been the teeniest bit attracted to another man?”

  “Never.”

  “Wow.”

  “What am I supposed to do? I hate thinking about him.”

  “If you don’t see him, it will pass. Just give it time.”

  “You think?” Lina asked.

  “Definitely. And just push him from your mind whenever he comes into it.”

  “Okay.” It would work. It had to work.

  “There’s something else we could do that would probably permanently cure you of this crush you’re carrying,” Adele said.

  “What?”

  “Introduce me to him.” Adele smiled. “I’ll fuck him.”

  26

  “Is it true if someone keeps popping into your mind, it’s because they’re thinking about you?” Katie asked over breakfast one Saturday in early October. “That’s what Grandma says.” She hadn’t seen or heard from Matt since Ryan went away to college over five weeks earlier, but she still thought about him all the time.

  “Maybe,” Lina said before taking a sip of her coffee.

  “I believe it,” Logan said. “Girls are always popping into my mind.”

  “Yeah, right.” Katie rolled her eyes.

  “What?” He smiled. “It’s true.”

  “To be safe, you should just assume everything your grandma says is false,” Phil said, not looking up from the article he was reading in the newspaper.

  “Ignore him,” Lina said.

  “I think it’s true,” Katie said.

  “I hope it’s not the kid with the tattoos,” her father said. “The one that keeps popping into your head.”

  Katie looked down at her cereal. “I wasn’t talking about me.” She hated the way he could read her mind. Grandma was right, he was definitely psychic. She could feel his eyes on her but refused to look at him.

  “If you say so,” he said, sounding less than convinced.

  “If they pop into your head while you’re showering, does it mean they’re thinking of you naked?” Logan asked.

  “Gross.” Katie scrunched up her face in distaste.

  “What is wrong with you?” Phil slapped Logan with his newspaper. “You don’t say things like that in front of females.”

  “You shouldn’t say things like that at all,” Lina added.

  “Sorry.” Logan dropped his eyes, but the smile remained.

  “Think before you talk,” Phil said.

  “Okay, sorry.” He stole a glance at Katie. They both started laughing.

  “Don’t encourage him,” Phil said to Katie.

  “It was funny.”

  “It was crude.”

  “It was a serious question,” Logan insisted.

  “Hey, look at me,” Phil said and waited for Logan to meet his eyes. “Enough.”

  “I’m going to start going to an astrology class with Grandma on Saturday mornings,” Katie announced, hoping telling them instead of asking would make them agree.

  “No you’re not,” Phil said. “Absolutely one hundred percent, no.”

  “Why not?” She frowned across the table at him.

  �
�It’s against our religion.”

  “Your religion, you mean,” Katie fumed. “I should be able to explore other ideas. I don’t need you to think for me.”

  “When you’re an adult, you can explore whatever ideas you’d like. Until then, the answer is unequivocally no.” His attention shifted to Lina. “Do you want to talk to your mom or do you want me to?”

  “I will.”

  “You can’t imprison my thoughts,” Katie said.

  “I can certainly try,” he said before returning his eyes to the newspaper.

  “It’s supposed to be eighty today. Can Brian come over to swim?” Logan asked.

  Lina was in the garage removing grocery bags from the back of her SUV when she heard the closing of a car door, and then Brian walked in, a backpack slung over his shoulder and a lacrosse stick in his hand.

  “I told Logan to call me if you were coming. I drove right by your neighborhood. I could have picked you up.”

  “I came from my dad’s,” he said, surprising her.

  “Oh.” She set down her bags before stepping out onto the driveway, her eyes centering on the Land Rover that was in the process of doing a three-point turn.

  “I forgot my cell phone.” Brian dropped his things, running past her towards his father’s SUV, which had completed its turn and was headed down the drive. “Dad, wait!” he yelled.

  The brake lights of the vehicle lit up, and then the door was opening and Nick was stepping out of the SUV. Lina’s heart rate quickened as she focused on the man she hadn’t seen or heard from in six weeks. She missed him, and as she watched him open the back door of his vehicle so Brian could retrieve his cell phone, she felt a nostalgic pull that made her walk farther out onto the driveway.

  When his head turned in her direction, she raised her hand in greeting. He returned her wave before ducking back into the car, and she felt a lump forming in her throat at the realization he was leaving without speaking to her, but then he was emerging once again. Moments later, he and Brian were walking towards her. His hair was longer, and he wasn’t quite as tan, but it was him, and her heart leapt in her chest.

  “You have the same gait,” she called out as they approached.

  “Gait?” Brian looked quizzically at Nick.

  “We walk the same.” He patted Brian on the back as they came to a stop before Lina. “Be good.”

  “You can let yourself into the house,” Lina told Brian. “I think Logan’s already down at the pool.” She watched him until he disappeared into the garage, and then she was turning back to Nick.

  “How are you?” They spoke in unison and then both smiled.

  “It’s really good to see you,” she said.

  “Is it?”

  “You know it is,” she said lightly, her eyes traveling over his face. “I hate not talking to you. I feel like there’s a void in my life.” As her eyes met his, she felt a connection pass between them.

  “I should go. Emily’s waiting in the car.”

  “Emily,” Lina repeated, her eyes moving past him to the Land Rover twenty yards away. “How long have you been together?”

  “Lina—”

  “I’m sorry.” She released her breath. “It’s none of my business.”

  “How’s Katie?”

  “She’s good. I mean, still argumentative, but nothing too extreme.”

  “And everything is working out with Dr. Jones?”

  “We see him every three weeks now, and if everything continues to improve, we’ll scale back to monthly after the holidays.”

  “Excellent. How is she doing in school?”

  Before she could respond, he was standing up straighter, the warmth gone from his eyes as he looked past her towards the house. Without looking back, Lina knew Phil was approaching. She’d thought he was out cycling, but clearly she’d been wrong.

  “Drayton.” Phil’s voice broke the silence, and then Lina felt his hands gripping her hips as he pulled her back against the hard length of his body, one of his hands sliding over her stomach in a blatant show of possessiveness.

  “Good afternoon,” Nick said coolly. “Thanks for hosting my son.”

  “Anytime. He’s a good kid.”

  “Phil?” All eyes turned at the sound of the female voice. A petite blonde, who Lina assumed was Emily, was walking towards them from the Land Rover. “Oh my God, I thought that was you.”

  Lina felt Phil stiffen behind her. “Hi.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I live here,” he said.

  The confusion on Emily’s face was obvious. “You live here? Are you Logan’s father?”

  “Yes. This is my house. This is my wife.” Lina heard the warning behind his words.

  “Wow.” She shook her head. “I had no idea. I thought you and…” She trailed off, dropping her eyes as she seemed to grasp the situation.

  Lina gripped Phil’s hands and pried them from around her waist. “How do you know my husband?”

  “Lina?” Phil touched her arm.

  “Don’t touch me,” she whispered before taking a step closer to Nick. “How do you know him?” she repeated, her eyes on Emily.

  “I’m so sorry,” Emily said. “I’m sure I just misunderstood. I…” She paused as her eyes briefly shifted to Phil. “He was in my running group.”

  “The Saturday-morning running group in Baltimore?”

  “Yes.” Emily nodded.

  “With Kim?”

  “Stop it, Lina. You already know the answer,” Phil said before shifting his attention to Nick. “Why don’t you leave?”

  “I’d like my son,” Nick said. “I’d be happy to take Logan as well. The two of you need privacy.”

  “Don’t tell me what I fucking need!” Phil exploded, stepping around Lina and directly in front of Nick. “This is none of your fucking business.”

  “Stop it!” Lina moved between them, her hands on Phil’s chest. “You will not take this out on him!” It took a few seconds, but then Phil was taking a deep breath and letting Lina push him back a few steps. “You don’t have to take Brian.” She turned back to Nick but left her hand on Phil’s arm so she would know where he was. “I’m fine. It will be fine. It’s a beautiful day. Let’s not ruin it for them. They’ll spend the entire day in the pool.” When she saw the indecision in his eyes, she continued, “Nick, please, I promise it will be fine.”

  Nick nodded. “Okay.” His gaze shifted to Emily, and he motioned with his head towards the car. “Ready?”

  “Does she know?” Phil asked. His eyes shifted to Emily and then back to Nick.

  “Excuse me?” Nick’s eyes narrowed in confusion.

  “That you have a thing for my wife. Have you told her?”

  Lina flushed with embarrassment. “Phil!” she hissed, turning to face him. “Stop it!”

  “It’s true,” Phil continued. “Isn’t that right, Drayton?”

  Lina clasped Phil’s upper arm, turning him away from the other couple and towards the house. “Stop it,” she whispered, glaring up at him. “This is not their fault.” She steered him towards the garage, wanting to say something to Nick but afraid of setting Phil off further. She stole a glance in their direction before following Phil into the garage and was relieved to see them walking towards Nick’s car. She’d been half-afraid he would change his mind and take Brian.

  “That was outrageous,” she whispered as soon as they entered the kitchen. “What could possibly compel you to say that to her?” She crossed to the windows and looked out at the pool to make sure the boys were outside and they were alone in the house.

  “Nick?” Phil snarled, gripping the back of one of the high-backed bar chairs as he glared at her. “When did he become Nick to you?”

  “You are unbelievable! Do you really think that’s what we’re going to talk about?”

  “You’ve been talking to him, haven’t you?” he continued. “That son of a bitch.” He turned and was out the door before she could react.

&nb
sp; 27

  As she ran out of the garage, she was relieved to find the Land Rover nowhere in sight. Phil was staring down the drive with his hands on his hips. She slowly closed the distance between them. “You are the one who had the affair,” she whispered, poking him in the back with her finger. “And you dare to make this about me using the first name of a man I’ve never had an inappropriate relationship with? You’re the lying cheat, Phil, not me.”

  “Nothing has changed, Lina,” Phil said, following her into the house. “I had an affair—you knew that. You’ve been punishing me for it for four months.”

  “Punishing you?” she spit out, turning to him. “Punishing you? The only person being punished is me! Every time I think of those texts or the fact there is another woman walking around with your baby inside her!” She looked him up and down. “I don’t even know you.”

  “You don’t know me?” he repeated, his hands clenched at his sides. “I’m the same man that made love to you this morning,” he snarled. “Tell me what I’ve done in the last four hours?”

  “You’ve become a stranger to me,” she said. “Because the man I thought you were wouldn’t have stopped running with his daughter every Saturday so he could see the woman he was already screwing Monday through Friday. You weren’t just cheating on me. You were cheating on your children.”

  “Fuck!” He slammed his hands down on the counter. “So what, now we’re back to ground zero? You have to get over it all over again?”

  “I don’t know.” She stared at him, imagining him showing up with Kim as a couple to a running group every week. “Maybe I won’t be able to get over it at all.”

  “What does that mean?” All the anger seemed to evaporate from his body. “What are you saying, Lina?”

  “I’m saying what I feel.”

  He curved one of his hands around the back of his neck. “I made a mistake. One huge fucking mistake. Why can’t you just forgive me?”

  When Lina drove away from her house, leaving Phil with the boys, she didn’t consciously think she had a destination in mind, but when she found herself sitting on the patio of Nick’s Mexican restaurant, sipping a margarita and eating from a basket of tortilla chips, she knew she had planned to come to him all along.