I drank down the remainder of my sparkling grape juice, wishing now I could have a glass of wine. I slowly ran my hand over my flat stomach. I had been trying to find the perfect moment to tell him the news, but lately there didn’t seem to be a right time, and possibly tonight or this weekend wasn’t the right time either. However, I felt more disturbed than ever now after seeing Felice’s name on his phone. Perhaps she had finally won him, and I was the fool all along. Maybe I had finally lost him to her. I got up from his chair, walked to the door, and shut the lights off in his office, returning to the living room to wait for him.
3
Hope
I was quiet all the way to the hotel. I wanted so badly to bring up the message I had seen on his phone; however, I also didn’t want to spend the night or the weekend arguing. “Everything okay, love?” he asked as he pulled the car into the parking lot.
“Yes, of course, why?” I smiled, swallowing hard.
“You just seem quiet, but as long as you’re sure.” He reached over and grabbed my hand, taking mine into his.
“Dad told me about Trent. Is that the reason you have been so quiet about work?”
“Yes, it’s been tough. Since we weren’t sure what was going to happen, I didn’t think there was any point to mention it. Hunter has been working like crazy on this case. He did what he could, but the evidence doesn’t lie. Are you okay?”
“Of course, it’s just you normally share things with me, so I was surprised you didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t want you to worry. It certainly wasn’t on purpose, Hope. This was a big case.”
He ran his thumb over the back of my hand. “Let’s get settled, shall we?”
We checked in and then we made our way to our room. Carter wheeled the suitcase in and set it up on the luggage rack. I followed behind him. Immediately, my eyes went straight to a large vase of red roses on the desk. I noticed a small envelope tucked between the roses, and a bottle of wine sat beside them in a chiller.
I walked over to the desk and stuck my face into the roses, taking a deep breath, and then I tugged at the little envelope and opened it.
“Congratulations on ten years. Love, Mackenzie, Kendall, Grandma, and Grandpa.”
I let out a small laugh. “The girls sent us flowers,” I said, looking over to where Carter was standing. Instead of paying attention to me, his face was buried in his phone as he typed back a response to whomever had contacted him, a look of annoyance and frustration on his face.
“Great,” he grumbled. I knew that tone too well; he had barely heard a word I had said.
“What time is dinner?” he asked again, furiously typing away.
“Seven. We have a couple hours,” I said. Walking over to him, I reached up, my hands shaking, and opened the top two buttons on his dress shirt, slowly making my way for the third as he continued typing away. “We could always use that time to...you know...spend a little private time together.” My fingers danced in circles across his chest before running down the front of his shirt and gripping his cock through his dress pants.
He stopped, turning his attention away from his phone to my eyes. He smiled down at me. “I could probably be persuaded to release some tension.” His large hand took my face and held it gently. Leaning down, he met my lips. His kiss felt like fire, and as his tongue swept through my mouth, I started to get that familiar ache in between my legs. As it built and as his hands started to travel my body, we were interrupted once again by his phone pinging numerous times in a row. He pulled away, my lips feeling a void that I wasn’t quite ready to feel just yet. “Give me a minute.”
As he read the messages on his phone, his brows drew together in an agonized expression. His expression said it all. “You have to respond, don’t you?”
“I do. It’s a client.” His eyes met mine despairingly. I wanted to say no, put it away, spend time with me, but the look in his eyes told me it was important.
I held back tears and gave him a weak smile instead. “Go ahead.”
I expected him to sit down at the desk and take the call that was going to come in, but instead, he took his phone and headed out the hotel room door, leaving me in the room, alone.
I busied myself while waiting for him to return by starting to unpack our bags. Once I had everything hung up, I sat down on the bed, arranged the pillows behind my head, and started thumbing through a magazine that I had found on the desk. Half an hour later the door to our room opened and Carter came in.
“That didn’t take too long. We should get ready and head out to the restaurant,” I said, laying the magazine beside me. When he didn’t say anything, I looked up at him. He was just standing in the doorway looking at me. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
He shook his head regretfully. “Honey, I don’t know how to tell you this. The clients that I am seeing in New York...they need me to come now.”
The smile that had been on my face when he had come back had slowly diminished. “But this weekend...”
“I know. I know. It’s not what I want either, but unfortunately, I must go. There have been some new developments in their custody battle, and well, they are counting on me to help them.” He walked over and placed his hands on my shoulders, trying to pull me into him.
I didn’t know what to say, so it was best I said nothing at all, and I didn’t want to cry either, so I pulled out of his touch and started packing things up. As I went to walk past Carter to get to the suitcase, he reached for me, grabbing me by the arm. Again, I shook out of his hold and continued grabbing the few things I had unpacked. “It’s best if we just get going, Carter. I don’t want you to be traveling too late.”
4
Hope
I sat in the car, watching the houses go by as we drove home. Once it had started to rain, I kept my mind focused on the droning hum of the windshield wipers. It kept me from crying and focusing on disappointment. We hadn’t said anything to one another since we had left the hotel. He was visibly upset; he had never missed our anniversary weekend, no matter what he had been working on, so I knew this night was just as important to him as it was to me. However, this specific anniversary felt a little more important to me.
I continued looking out the window while Carter was on the phone with his secretary and assistant. “Text me the flight information and see if you can get the hotel to extend my reservation, even if I have to switch the room I have, oh and tell Alicia to have my files ready before she leaves the office tonight. I’ll swing by in an hour or so to pick them up on my way to the airport.”
He ended the call just as we pulled into the driveway. I didn’t wait; I got out of the car and headed toward the door. Once we were inside, Carter dropped his phone and keys by the door and carried our suitcase up the stairs to the bedroom. I followed quietly. “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll call Alicia and have her purchase another ticket. Call your mom and dad and ask them to keep the girls for a few days extra. We’ll go into New York, see a show, have dinner. During the day you can shop, take in some sights, and relax at the spa while I am working.”
“No, it’s okay. You’re going to be busy. The last thing you will need is me there in the way.” I grabbed my T-shirt and sweatpants off the end of the bed and took them into the bathroom to get changed.
“Why would you say something like that? You are exactly what I need.” Carter stopped undressing and looked at me.
“Don’t worry about it, Carter. It’s fine.” I walked toward the bedroom door, and without looking back, I mumbled, “I’ll go down and make you something to eat before you leave. Don’t be too long or you will miss your flight.”
When I hit the bottom of the stairs, Carter’s phone was going off like crazy. I picked it up and swiped the screen to see Felice’s name again—this time it wasn’t just text messages; there were two missed calls from her as well. I felt a rush of saliva to my mouth and threw his phone down. I didn’t want to know what they said. I had never wanted to see her name plastere
d over his phone screen ever again after the summer we had gotten back together, and I certainly didn’t want him to meet with her for any reason. She was the only reason that we had never seen Mike again after their wedding.
I stormed my way to the kitchen, slapped together a sandwich, and went to the living room to lie down and wait for him to come down. As I lay there, I listened to the familiar sound of his footsteps above me, and my thoughts went to the unborn child I was carrying—our unborn child. I still didn’t know how to tell him. We had decided that two was enough. He was so busy with the firm, and in the next few years, he wanted to pull back the reins and travel more. Now with this business trip and seeing her name splashed across his phone, along with the messages from earlier, I was doubting our relationship and his reasons for not wanting any more babies. He had been so withdrawn lately.
Tears were streaming down my face as I watched him carry his suitcase, briefcase, and suit bag to the door. “Princess, you sure you don’t want to come with me? I’m sure your parents would jump at the chance to watch the girls a little bit longer. Or even Autumn and Hunter. Let me call Alicia.” He reached for his phone.
“It’s fine, Carter, please,” I said, wiping the tears from my face. I wanted to pretend that I was fine, but my hormones had gotten the best of me, and honestly, I was crushed.
“It’s not fine, look at you.” He reached out, placed his hand on my waist, and pulled me against his strong chest. “Aside from me having to leave and ruin this weekend, what has gotten you so upset? This isn’t like you.”
I shrugged. Instead of telling him the truth, I mumbled, “I was just really looking forward to some private time with you. I miss you.”
“Then come with me.” He smiled, pressing his forehead to mine. “Don’t make me beg.”
Kissing the tip of his nose, I pulled away from the comfort of his arms and together we walked into the kitchen. “Just come eat, you’re going to be late.” I placed the sandwich I had made for him in front of him and poured him a glass of milk. I sat beside him while he ate.
Soon we stood together at the front door, and as he stepped out of the house, he turned, setting everything down on the stoop, and quickly grabbed me, wrapping his arms around me. “You do know I love you, right? That you and the girls are my world, and I really wish you would get on this plane with me?” I nodded, he was going to make me cry if he kept this up. “I love you, Hope. I’ll be back as soon as I can. We will celebrate this anniversary.” He leaned in, his lips crashing down onto mine, consuming every inch of my body. I was lost in his kiss, in his arms, but then all that flashed before my closed eyes was her, waiting for him in that damn restaurant. I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, whispering “I love you” into his ear. He kissed me harder and then he pulled away, leaving me wanting more.
I watched as he climbed into his car and reversed out of the driveway. I did my best to hold it all together as I waved goodbye. I locked the door and went back to the couch, flipping on the television. Soon I found myself in tears; my stomach hurt, my eyes burned, and I wondered at that moment why I had let him go without bringing up my concerns about the texts I had seen. Instead, I was going to torture myself until he came back. Suddenly, my cell phone rang. I grabbed it from the table, my parents’ number flashing on the screen. I sucked in a deep breath and answered. “Hello?”
“Mommy!” I heard the girls shout. “Happy Anniversary!”
“Thank you, my loves. Why aren’t you both in bed?” I glanced at the clock; it was almost eight-thirty.
“Grandma made pie, and we had some. We aren’t tired.” I laughed.
“Are you being good?”
“Yes, Mommy, we called to say good night to you and Daddy.” I looked around the room. “Can we say ‘night to him?”
“Sorry, girls, Daddy had to run to the store. How about if I wish you a good night from both of us?”
“Okay, Mommy.” I knew the girls were disappointed. I could hear it in their little voices, but I would have to do.
“Girls, can you put Grandpa or Grandma on the phone?”
I heard the girls run away laughing and yelling for my Dad. Finally, he picked up. “Hey, Angel.”
“Hi, Dad. Listen, if need be, could the girls stay with you for a couple extra days?”
The silence on the phone was deafening. “Hope, is everything all right? You sound funny.”
“Everything is fine, Dad. I’m just asking.”
“Of course, they can stay anytime, you know that.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”
“No need. Go and enjoy yourself.”
We said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone. I looked around the room and then down to the ring on my hand. It felt like yesterday that I was in this same position. I’d already lost him three times, and now here I was again. We’d been having troubles; every marriage does, but I never thought in a million years he would give up so easily and run back to her. I took a deep breath and tried my best to calm down. They were only messages.
I sat up and dialed his number. I wanted to hear his voice, but it went straight to his voicemail. I thought about leaving him a message but knew he probably wouldn’t get it until his plane landed, and I didn’t want to do that to him. I got up, shut the TV off, and grabbed my purse, keys, and shoes. Within minutes I was in my car on my way to Autumn and Hunter’s. I decided that I would spend the night there and, come morning, I would try to book a flight to go and reclaim what was mine.
5
Autumn
I had just finished putting Kaylee to bed and had finally sat down with a hot cup of tea. I let out a deep breath. I was tired and was looking forward to Hunter returning from his business trip. I glanced at the clock—almost ten. I switched the fireplace on and turned the TV on low to watch my favorite show, The Affair. I needed something to keep me awake until Hunter called. I needed to hear his voice.
A light knock on the door startled me. We lived in a secure building, and no one had called up. Hunter didn’t like me to answer the door this late when I was home alone, but I still felt like I should see who it was; it could have been Sylvia, a little elderly lady down the hall. Getting up from the couch, I peeked out the peephole; Hope was standing there. I unlocked the chain and deadbolt and pulled the door open.
“Autumn, I’m sorry. I know it’s late, but I didn’t want to be alone, and I had nowhere to go.” The tears streamed down her face.
“What happened? Come in. Are you all right? Where is Carter?” I was a little worried. They were supposed to be celebrating their anniversary this weekend.
“Carter had to leave for the airport tonight; he was called away on business. He took me home before he left.”
“Oh, hun, come on in. He must have been so upset to have to leave you tonight.”
Suddenly she burst into tears. “I think Carter is seeing another woman.” As soon as the words had left her mouth, she flew into my arms, her body shaking. I held her, stroking her hair as she cried on my shoulder.
“Hope, honey, I’m sure it’s nothing like that. Come in, love, and sit down. I’ll get you some tea.” I took her coat from her and hung it along with her purse just inside the door. “Now tell me, what’s happened?”
“I don’t know. Tonight, when my dad came to pick up the girls, he told me about Trent, my ex—he’s gone to prison. Carter normally talks to me about work and he never mentioned anything about that case. I mean, sure, Hunter is the one who is working on it.”
“Well, maybe he didn’t tell you because he didn’t want to upset you.”
“Trent is old news, and it’s not the fact that he didn’t tell me about it; he’s just been so distant. But it was what I saw while I was in his office reading the article on the internet that’s really upset me.”
“What did you see?” I asked as I filled the kettle with fresh water.
“Well, Carter received a text message, and I accidentally looked and saw that it was from h
is ex-girlfriend Felice. She told him she can’t wait to see him next week.”
“Hope, just because she messaged him, doesn’t mean he is cheating on you.”
Hope let out a heavy sigh. “No, I agree, but he’s been so secretive. We’ve been fighting a lot, and he never mentioned Felice at all. If you knew her, you would understand, and from the looks of things, she’s been messaging him for a while. He has been very withdrawn... I’m just worried that my marriage is over,” she said, sobbing into her hands.
“Give me a minute, I’m just going to check on Kaylee. I’ll be right back.” I turned the kettle on, handed her the box of Kleenex, and went down the hall to Hunter’s office.
I picked up Hunter’s private line and quickly dialed his number. “Hello, beautiful, I was just about to call you. I can’t wait to get home to you tomorrow. I get as hard as a rock just thinking about it.”
“I can’t wait to see you too.” I smiled. “Listen, Hope is here. She is rather upset.”
“What do you mean? It’s their anniversary; they’re supposed to be away together.”
“I know. She showed up about ten minutes ago, in tears. She says she’s worried their marriage is over.”
“What?” I could hear the tension in his voice, and I knew when he was tense, he knew something.
“She says she saw a text on Carter’s phone from a Felice. Do you know anything about this person?”
I heard him blow out a breath. Whenever he did that, I knew he for sure knew what was going on. “Fuck me. I told him to tell her,” I heard him mumble.
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