She heard his car roar out of the drive a moment later; thinking briefly that Paul never drove fast. Today seemed to be one of those kind of days, she mused as she went back to the bedroom. She was surprised that Nathan was still sleeping, the ghost of a smile on his face, totally oblivious to the fact that his father had stormed out of the house.
"What the hell am I going to do now?” She sighed. “First thing's first. I'm gonna have a fucking cigarette."
She stood on the step stool in the closet, and reached up for the old purse which she knew had an almost full pack tucked into the inside pocket.
Paul had watched her smoke the last cigarette out of the pack that he knew she'd bought the day before, but he hadn't searched for any other packs that she had tucked away. And for that she was glad; figuring that a stale almost three year old cigarette at this point was better than none at all.
She pulled the purse out. She could feel the form of the pack as she opened it. When she found a lighter that worked along with them, it was all the better.
She glanced at her still sleeping son, figuring that she should have a few minutes at least before he woke up and went into the bathroom, closing the door softly behind her.
She stood on the edge of the tub, flipping the latch on the small sliding window and opening it all the way. The small fan was running, but she stood in the tub as she smoked, blowing the smoke out the window so that none could escape into the room where her son was. She finished her cigarette, and had thrown it into the toilet when she heard her son start to cry. She released the handle, saying "Mama's comin’ baby. Mama's comin’."
Chapter 22
Kimber
It was a few minutes before five when he walked into the store.
Kimber supposed he was handsome, though he looked haggard. His tie was crooked and his dark slacks were wrinkled. The blue eyes behind his stylish wire rimmed glasses looked puffy, as if he'd been crying.
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah. Shit, I have no idea how to say this."
She was worried for a minute that he was a detective coming to tell her that something had happened to Luke or Alexis, but quickly dismissed the idea. He looked too soft to be a cop. And he would have to be a pretty bad one at that she thought, if he'd been the one crying when he came to give her bad news.
"Okay." She gave him a puzzled look.
"Are you Lucas Stone's wife?"
"Yeah, I am. Why?"
"I think your husband's been screwing my wife.” He slumped down onto a chair.
"What? Luke? No, you've got to be mistaken."
He shook his head. "Nope. I was driving aimlessly for a while, trying to clear my head. Then I saw your sign. I saw you through the window and I knew you had to be the one. You're pretty and blonde. Your husband's Luke. You own this store right? You have a little girl? Yeah, so, you gotta be the one."
"But I, I don't understand.” She poured him a cup of coffee from the mostly empty pot, and had the presence of mind to move to the door, changing the sign from open to closed.
"Ah." He shrugged. "I don't much understand myself either, but I guess we're not supposed to be the ones that understand. Being the ones that were cheated on instead of the cheaters."
She had so many questions to ask him but she didn't know where to start. "So how did you find out?"
He looked down into the coffee cup as if it would give him the answer to the age old question of why people cheat. "I got off of work early today. I go home to find my wife sitting on our bed, with our baby son sleeping in his bassinet next to her. It was like she was in a goddamn trance. Then I take a good look at her and I see she's wearing this ring that I've never seen before. It looks way too much like an engagement ring to be anything but. I try to stay calm, thinking that maybe there's some reasonable explanation. But then there she goes blurting out this whole big sob story of how she and your husband were so in love and she turned down his proposal. Broken hearts blah blah blah. But anyway, she happened to run into your husband when he was taking your daughter to school. And wham bam thank you ma'am before you know it, they're hopping back into bed together. While she's pregnant with my child."
“Oh." Kimber sat down on the stool behind the counter.
It was all too much to take in at once she thought.
Luke rarely talked about his ex girlfriends, let alone someone he'd asked to marry him. It all seemed too crazy to be true but it had to be. The man sitting before her knew too much about their lives for him to be wrong.
"Is it over?"
"She claims it is. Claims that she was going to get rid of the ring today. That that's why she took out in the first place. But if you could have seen the look on her face. . . Ah hell, I don't know."
He rubbed his hands over his face, resting his joined hands on his forehead and closing his eyes for a minute.
"How old is your baby?" She was glad that Alexis was older. That she might have some kind of a chance of understanding when Mom came home and told Dad to get the fuck out of the house. But no, she wouldn't do that; she thought. She'd wait until their daughter was in bed before she confronted him.
"He's not quite two months old."
"I'm sorry.”
"Yeah, so am I. Sorry for springing this on you, but I thought you should know." He stood, as if to leave, and then leaned over the counter towards her. At first she thought he was going to kiss her, but he pulled back. "Shit. I wanted to kiss you. Wanted that bitch to know what it felt like but I couldn't even do that. Maybe she's right. Maybe I'm not a real man."
"It wasn't your fault. And it wasn't mine either. How could we have known about something that went on with the people we married before we'd met them? Since they chose not to tell us?"
"I guess you're right.” He took her hand and gave it a dry kiss. "I'm Paul by the way."
"Kimber."
"You have a nice night Kimber. Or as nice a night as you can have when you found out that your husband's been cheating on you."
"Yeah. Uh, you too."
He gave her a tired smile as he walked out the door.
She stood looking out onto the street for a moment, watching him get into a four door car that could be described as nothing but a family car and drive away.
Her cell phone rang as she was doing her usual night time walk through. She gave a distracted "Hello," as she re shelved several books in the children's section that had been left on the floor.
"Kimber, is everything okay? You're late for dinner and the little princess is whining that she's starving to death."
"Go ahead and feed her. I got tied up at the store. It's a real mess tonight and I'm still going to be few minutes."
"Okay. But don't be too long. You know that Mommy has to be the one to read her her bedtime story."
"I know."
"I love you Kimber."
"Yeah. Bye Luke."
She snapped her phone shut with a sigh. The store really was a mess tonight, and she still had a shipment of books that needed to be shelved. They could wait until tomorrow, she decided as she straightened the shelves. She needed to get home and figure out how she was going to deal with her cheating husband.
She forced a smile to her face as she entered the house. Alexis was on her instantly, wrapping herself around Kimber's legs.
"Mommy.”
"Baby girl." Kimber pick her up and gave her a quick hug and kiss before she put her back down.
"I'm not a baby Mommy."
"But you're Mommy's baby aren't you?"
"I guess. Daddy made me eat my vegetables. They were ucky."
Luke laughed. "They're good for you kiddo. They'll make you grow up big and strong."
"Why would I want to be strong Daddy? I'm not a boy."
"Girls can be strong, too. Your mommy's pretty strong from lifting books all day."
"Yeah." Alexis squinted her eyes as if she was considering the idea. "I guess. Is it story time Mommy?"
"You can watch TV with Daddy while you let Mom
my eat her dinner in peace. Then it's bath time. Then Mommy will read the princess her story."
"I don't wanna be a princess. They're boring. I wanna be a rock star. You can write songs for me. But hopefully I'll be able to sing better than you huh Dad. I wouldn't make a very good rock star if I couldn't."
Kimber had to laugh as she crossed to the kitchen. Alexis never ceased to amaze her with the ideas she came up with.
Their daughter was such a joy to be around. She was so smart and so curious. When she looked at her, Kimber saw all the good things from her and all the good things from Luke all tied together into the beautiful little package that was their daughter.
She envied Luke sometimes, for being able to spend more time with her. She figured that she should probably hire some help at the store before too much of her daughter's life slipped away from her.
As she ate the dinner that he'd left for her in the microwave, she decided that she agreed with her daughter, the vegetables were pretty gross.
She watched her husband in the other room, his arm around Alexis as he explained something to her that had happened on TV. It was such a beautiful thing, such a normal thing in their household that she almost couldn't bear the thought of separating Alexis from her father.
But, thinking that he hadn't bothered to tell her about his affair, that she'd had to find out from a stranger who happened to be the husband of the woman he'd been sleeping with made her pause, made her wonder if he would have bothered to tell her at all.
And was it really over she thought? Now that Paul was out of the house, Luke would certainly have easy access to her, all day while Alexis was at school.
She'd deal with all that later she thought as she took her daughter's hand, leading her up the stairs to get her ready for her bath.
Alexis kept up a steady stream of chatter the whole time, telling her mother about what she'd learned that day at school, and what she had done with Daddy while Mommy was still at work.
As she helped her daughter into her pajamas, Alexis looked up at her, a questioning look in her eyes. "Are you sad Mommy?"
"No baby. Mommy's just tired."
"Okay." Seemingly satisfied with her mother's explanation, she went over to the small plastic book shelf in the corner of her room, selecting a book.
They finished the book. The child's eyes had already started to droop when Kimber kissed her gently on the forehead.
"Guess she was tired." Luke appeared behind her in the doorway. "They had a big day at school. They're planning some kind of a party to welcome their teacher Si. . . Mrs. Brooks back from maternity leave."
She nodded at him. It came to mind that he had been fucking their daughter's teacher, not someone he had run into at the school.
"Do you have cigarettes stashed somewhere?"
Looking a little guilty since he'd quit when Alexis was born he said "Yeah. Why?"
"Bring them and meet me outside on the porch."
"Okay."
She was sitting on the porch wrapped in the blanket from the couch when he came out a few minutes later.
"Give me one of those." She indicated the cigarettes in his hand. "You might as well have one too. You're going to need one before I'm done with you."
She shook a cigarette out of the pack, lighting it with a hand that was steadier than she figured it would be, all things considered.
A look of alarm had crossed Luke's face at her words. She wondered for a moment if he knew that she knew he'd been cheating.
She let him wonder for a moment, taking a deep drag off of the cigarette and blowing it out at the moonlit sky.
As if resigned, he sat down finally on the step below her, lighting a cigarette and looking out at the street.
"Our daughter's teacher Luke," she said finally, throwing the cigarette onto the asphalt of their driveway.
"It's not like that Kimber. You don't understand."
"Oh, I understand Luke. I understand that her husband came into the store today right before closing time, looking like he'd been crying. He weaved for me this twisted tale of how you'd proposed to her years ago and she'd turned you down. Is that all I've ever been for you Luke? Second best? You couldn't have the one you wanted, so you had to settle for good old oblivious Kimber. Who never would have suspected you were cheating, if it hadn't hit her in the goddamn face."
"Kimber, I'm sorry."
"Sorry Luke? Words are pretty damn cheap. Don't they always say that actions speak louder than words? The actions you took, screwing another woman while she was pregnant for goodness sake, those are speaking pretty loudly right now. Telling me that our whole life together has been a sham."
"I love you Kimber. I was a little in love with you before I had the courage to ask you out."
"And shit, how dumb was I? Practically throwing myself at you on our second date. I feel so cheap."
"You're not cheap, Kimber. You're anything but."
She continued on as if he hadn't spoken. "I was thinking that maybe it was time to have another baby. You're such a good father, and Alexis absolutely adores you so I thought, why not have another one? I am such a fucking idiot."
"Kimber."
"Stop it Luke. Just shut up. I don't want to hear your voice right now. I don't want you anywhere near me. I want you to go Luke. I want you to leave now."
"Alexis. . ."
"Alexis will be fine. I'll tell her that Daddy's gone on a trip. I'll ask Mrs. Petrie to watch her until I can find a more permanent day care for her. If it comes down to it and I decide that I don't want you to come back at all, I will find some explanation for her. Something other than that Daddy was carrying on with her teacher. I guess I'll have to find a different school for her now then, won't I?"
"No Kimber. You don't need to do that. Sierra really is a great teacher and Alexis is comfortable there. She already has friends there."
"How dare you defend her? Get your things and then go."
She had to stop herself from turning to watch him as he went into the house, instead reaching for another cigarette, though the first one had left her a little light headed.
He passed by her several minutes later, carrying a duffel bag and the case that housed his laptop.
She stood up as he popped the trunk of his car, intending to go back in the house.
"If you go to her Luke, don't bother ever coming back." She opened and then shut and locked the door behind her.
She noticed that he'd left his house key on the table, and slipped it wearily into her pocket as she headed to the stairs.
Chapter 23
Six weeks later
Kimber
Kimber looked at the pregnancy test that lay discarded in the trash can, wondering if it was a blessing or a curse that she'd ended up pregnant so soon after she'd decided to let Luke come home.
She was mentally counting the days in her head, wondering if it could be possible. She was racking her brain for the date of her last period, when she heard the door open downstairs, and the cheerful sound of her daughter's laughter as they moved into the kitchen to deposit the takeout that they'd gone out to get onto the table.
Alexis was overjoyed that Daddy was back home and had been telling him over and over again that he couldn’t go away for such a long trip without taking her with him.
She'd waited four weeks before she'd called him. It was only after she'd learned that Sierra and Paul were leaving town that she'd finally made up her mind to let Luke come home.
She knew that the time hadn't been easy for her daughter. It hadn't really been easy for her either, but she'd made sure she quizzed Luke extensively before agreeing to let him come home. Making sure that there were no other lost loves or almost fiancés hiding in his past. It had almost been easy to pretend it had never happened, that they were still the happy family that they always were.
She still found it hard to trust him at times though, even with Sierra gone. She found herself watching him when they went out together, checking to make sure that he
wasn't checking out other women, or checking out other women too closely at least. She couldn't totally expect him to close his eyes completely to the sight of other women.
But she found him to be as devoted to her as he'd ever been and it was easy to fall back into their routines.
They'd started making love again the past week and though their love making wasn't quite what it had been, she was sure that it too, would be back to normal soon.
She took a deep breath as she went down the stairs.
"Mommy, we got you that yucky egg soup that you like," Alexis said cheerfully as she entered the kitchen.
"Why, thank you sweetie.” Kimber reached down to tickle her daughter on the way by.
Alexis giggled. Kimber thought for a moment of springing her news at dinner but decided to wait until their little girl had gone to bed, telling Luke then, and telling Alexis in the morning.
"Luke.” She noticed that he was wearing his glasses again. "What happened to your contacts this time?"
"Nothing.” He swallowed a mouth full of Chinese food. "My allergies are acting up again."
"It's not polite to talk with your mouth full Daddy."
Kimber laughed. "She's right you know." She gave him a mock frown.
They spent the rest of the evening watching a cartoon on TV that they both knew Alexis had seen several times before, but as this was her allotted TV time for the day, neither protested.
After the usual bath and story time, she kissed Alexis good night, and retired to the bed room, to find Luke in bed reading a book.
"Luke.” She shed her jeans and long sleeved shirt, and put on the roomy t shirt that she slept in that she'd inherited from Luke.
“Yes dear?” He didn’t turn his eyes away from his book.
"I'm pregnant."
His book felt to the floor with a quiet thud. "Pregnant, really?"
"I haven't been to the doctor yet, but I missed my period and the test was positive so yeah, really."
"That's great.” He pulled her to him for a kiss. She could see he really meant it. "Wow. Another baby. How do you think Alexis will react?"
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 14