LIPSTICK AND LIES AND DEADLY GOODBYES

by Jodi Vaughn

  He blinked then smiled and nodded. “Yes, Mrs. Jones.”

  I watched as he made his way to his truck. He backed out and then pulled onto the street before making his way out of the subdivision.

  “That was weird,” I muttered, shaking my head.

  Once inside, I went back to the kitchen to finish making dinner. I couldn’t help but wonder just how this family dinner would go.

  Chapter 17

  Dinner went off without a hitch. We fell into our routine of talking with the girls about their day, and for a moment, it almost seemed like we were a family again.

  Until Miles got a text. He got up from the table and grabbed his phone. I followed him into the kitchen while the girls finished their dinner.

  “Who is that?” I asked once we were alone.

  “Just work.” He shrugged and stuffed the phone into his pocket.

  “Let me see.” I held out my hand.

  “Seriously, Rachel?” He cocked his eyebrow at me like I’d asked him what color the sky was.

  “If you want this marriage to work, you need to be honest. Let me see your phone.” I kept my hand out. My stomach clenched when he handed it over. I almost dreaded to see what was on the text.

  I glanced down and read the group message from the doctors at the hospital. It was about an upcoming golf match for charity.

  I held Miles’ gaze and then handed it back to him.

  “We aren’t going to make it if you don’t trust me.” He cocked his head to the side.

  Guilt pooled in my stomach. A marriage had to be built on trust. I knew that.

  “I don’t know how to trust you. Not after…” I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. The two bites of Mexican rice I’d eaten at dinner threatened to come up.

  “That’s the only way this is going to work. Trust.” He stepped closer and took his phone back. “You know I love you, and I love our family.”

  His eyes seemed sincere. It still didn’t change what he’d done, or who he’d done it with.

  “It’s going to take time,” I said. I turned and headed back to the dining room.

  Ever since the girls were born, the rule was that the family ate dinner in the dining room. I knew that dining rooms were going out of fashion, and a lot of families didn’t eat together anymore at all, but it was one habit I didn’t want to break. I liked the focus that came from eating together as a unit, I felt like it brought us closer.

  As the girls got older, they complained, but I didn’t care. I knew once they grew up, it would be something they’d remember and hopefully carry on when they got married and started families of their own.

  I grabbed the banana pudding out of the fridge and took it into the dining room.

  “Yay, dessert!!” Gabby clapped her hands together.

  “I don’t want any,” Arianna said none-too-convincingly. “I’m trying to watch what I eat.”

  “Honey, you don’t need to worry about that. You barely weigh anything as it is.” I snorted.

  “Well, I’m eating a big old bowl,” Gabby said. “I don’t care if it makes me fat as an elephant.”

  I snorted at Gabby’s description and scooped a helping into a bowl before handing it to her.

  Arianna bit her bottom lip and eyed Gabby’s bowl with envy.

  “How about just a little taste?” I asked Arianna. I didn’t want my girls to have body-image issues. I figured they shouldn’t be worrying about that until they hit at least sixteen—if ever.

  “Just a little.” Arianna pressed her lips together.

  “I’ll put in more banana than vanilla wafer. Banana is a fruit, so it’s like a healthy dessert.” I scooped some pudding into a bowl and handed it to her.

  “Yeah, it’s healthy.” Gabby nodded and scooped more pudding into her mouth.

  “How about you? Aren’t you having any?” Arianna looked at me and picked up her spoon.

  “Of course.” I smiled. I really didn’t think I could eat another bite of food, but if it made my girls happy, I’d do it. I’d do anything for them if it made them happy. Including staying with their cheating father.

  “That looks good.” Miles came back into the dining room and sat down.

  I fixed him a bowl and handed it to him.

  “Did you know that Lori’s parents are getting a divorce?” Gabby said between licks of her spoon.

  I froze. Lori’s parents had been married for years and had waited until they were in their thirties to have children.

  “What?” I looked at Gabby. “How do you know that?”

  “Lori told me at school today. She said that her daddy has a girlfriend. Her mommy told her daddy he had to pick between her and the girlfriend. So, her daddy packed up his stuff and moved out.”

  My hand flew to my mouth, and I felt nauseated. Sheila and Doug Armell seemed so happy.

  “That’s awful.” I swallowed back the bile that rose up in the back of my throat and eased into my seat.

  “I never liked Lori’s dad. I’m glad he’s gone.” Gabby licked her spoon. “He was always grumpy and didn’t like when Lori had friends over. He said we laughed too much and were too silly.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You’re girls. You are supposed to laugh and be silly.” I cut my eyes to Miles, but he didn’t look up from his bowl of banana pudding.

  “Is Lori very upset?” I watched Gabby’s face to read her expression.

  “She says she’s not, but I can tell she is. She hasn’t cried or anything. But she’s really quiet and won’t join in when we are playing on the monkey bars.” Gabby looked at me with a scowl on her face. “I mean, how am I going to play dragons and fairies if I can’t get the dragon to get on the monkey bars?”

  I grinned. “Just give her time, sweetie. Maybe you should invite her over to spend the night in a few weeks. Maybe it would help make her feel better.”

  “Can I?” Gabby’s face brightened.

  “Of course.” I smiled. It made me happy to see her happy. “Maybe we can do some fun stuff.”

  “Like Manis and pedis?” Arianna asked and cut her eyes at me.

  “Yeah. Like Manis and pedis.” Gabby looked at me.

  “Let me check and make sure there’s nothing planned first.” I put my spoon down without touching my banana pudding.

  “Maybe you guys can have it on a weekend I’ll be on call,” Miles joked.

  My chest clenched. Was he really on call? Or was he just saying that so he could go meet Nikki?

  “Aww, Daddy. You’re always working. You’re never home anymore,” Gabby whined.

  I froze at her words and waited to see his response.

  “I’m going to try to be home more, Pumpkin. I can’t get out of being on call, but I’m really going to make more of an effort, I promise.” He gave her a genuine smile.

  Despite all the hell he’d put me through over the past few days I really wanted to believe that he would make good on his promise. For his family. For me.

  After dinner, the girls went to their rooms, and I went into the kitchen to clean up. It had been the same routine for years. Tonight, it was hard to load the dishwasher properly because I had so much on my mind.

  Lori’s parents getting divorced was a shocker. From the outside looking in, I thought they had the perfect marriage. Doug brought her flowers all the time, and Sheila always bragged about what a great guy he was.

  It hit too close to home, and the similarity to my own life was scary.

  “I’ll do these. Why don’t you go relax?” Miles came up behind me and took the plate I had been rinsing out of my hand.

  I looked at him with surprise. Miles never helped in the kitchen. Never.

  “Are you sure?” I studied his expression, trying to see how sincere he was.

  “Yes. Go take a hot bath and relax.” He smiled.

  His smile used to make my heart stop. Now, it made my chest hurt.

  “Thanks. I’ll do that.” I grabbed my purse off the kitchen island and headed back to the bedr
oom. My stomach dropped when I spotted our bed. I reminded myself to look and see when that new comforter I’d ordered would arrive. I wasn’t sure I could ever sleep in that bed again, but at least I could have new linens.

  I grabbed my favorite robe out of the closet and hung it on the hook by my soaking tub. I sat on the edge and turned on the hot water and added my favorite jasmine-scented bath crystals. As I waited for the tub to fill, I grabbed my cell phone to check my messages.

  My phone buzzed in my hand with an incoming call.

  The number was unfamiliar to me, and I debated whether or not to answer it.

  But the number was local, and it could be an appointment reminder.

  “Hello?”

  “I need to see you.” the familiar voice of my kidnapper, Khalan, came over the line.

  “What the hell are you doing calling me?” I frowned. “How did you even get my number?”

  “I am your Maker. I make it my business to know everything about you. Including your number.”

  I flinched at the tone of his voice. I could picture him on the other end, rolling his eyes at my question.

  “I can’t meet you, I’m in the middle of something.” I scowled.

  “A bath is something that can wait.”

  “How did you know I was going to take a bath?” I glanced around and looked at the mirror but, this time, I didn’t see his reflection.

  “I can hear the water. Either you’re running water for a bath, or an elephant is taking a piss,” he snarked.

  I clenched my teeth. “What do you want?”

  “We need to talk. We need to meet so you can transition out of your human life and into your life as a vampire.”

  “That’s not going to happen. I have a life here. A good life with a family and two girls that need me.”

  “It doesn’t sound so good with a husband that is cheating on you. Besides, the girls really don’t need you, they’ll have their father to take care of them.”

  Anger rose up inside me like a wildfire. The thought of abandoning my daughters was unimaginable.

  “Fuck that. And fuck you.” I spat out the crude words. “Let’s be very clear. I will not abandon my girls. Not now. Not ever. You can get that shit out of your head right now.”

  “You are making a very stupid mistake, Roadkill.” His menacing tone pissed me off.

  “Stop calling me that. I have a name. It’s Rachel.”

  “You are losing your humanity. It may be a slow process, but you will eventually lose it and become something else entirely. You will become a vampire, and you need to learn to live like one. In the next few hours, your body will crave blood in order to satisfy your hunger.”

  White spots danced before my eyes. “Why did the blood taste like dark chocolate and roses?”

  “Blood tastes different to every vampire. The things you loved as a human are how blood will taste on your tongue. Just nature’s way of making the transition a little easier.”

  “Listen, buddy, there’s nothing easy about any of this. I still have a heartbeat, and I still eat real food. Nothing is changing.”

  “What about the sun? Did you question why you had to cover up when you went outside?”

  My heart jumped into my throat. “Have you been following me? Did you follow me today?”

  “Absolutely not.” He sniffed. “I’m a vampire. I know better than to stay outside all day.”

  “I’ve been outside, and I didn’t burn up or burst into flames. I didn’t even sparkle.” I lifted my chin defiantly, even though he couldn’t see me.

  “God, you are so pathetic.” He sighed heavily. “Vampires don’t burst into flames in sunlight. And don’t you dare bring up sparkling to me ever again. We can go outside during the day, but it drains our energy. The only way to combat that is to drink blood.”

  “Drains us?”

  “Yes. And if you keep going outside in the daylight without replenishing your body with blood, the results will be catastrophic.”

  “Like what?”

  “This is exactly why you need to meet me, so we can talk.” He growled into the phone.

  “Well, it’s not like I can just up and leave right now. I’ve got kids to put to bed, and I have to...”

  “Meet me after midnight.”

  “Have you lost your mind? I’ll be in bed by ten. There’s no way I’m hauling my butt out of bed after midnight.” I shook my head and reached over and turned off the water to the tub.

  “That’s all about to change.” He laughed.

  The line went dead.

  I blinked and looked down at the cell phone in my hand.

  “He didn’t even say goodbye.” I clenched my teeth and tossed the phone onto the bathroom counter. I quickly shed my clothes and stepped into the hot bathwater.

  I sank down and closed my eyes, letting the hot water slip across my body like a cocoon. I tried to relax and not think about that conversation, but my mind wouldn’t let me.

  I’d lost a lot these past few days: my marriage, my trust in my husband, and according to Khalan, my humanity.

  I laid my head back against the edge of the tub. Where had Khalan come from? I’d never seen him out and about in town, not even at night. The house he was in was in an older part of town where the rich used to live. Some people were currently trying to buy up the homes and remodel them to revitalize that area.

  It was clear that he didn’t like people. He made no effort to bathe. The dude smelled to high Heaven, and his clothes were constantly dirty. He wore the same black wool duster coat and black pants each time I saw him. Even his button-up shirt was black.

  If he really were a vampire, I wondered how old he was. I made a mental note to ask him the next time I saw him.

  “Ugh. I’m not going to see him again. This whole thing is a bad freaking idea.” I shook my head and grabbed the towel. I stood and dried off before grabbing my robe.

  I went to the bedroom and tugged open the drawers in my dresser. I immediately reached for comfy, fuzzy pajamas that I always slept in. I froze, wondering. When Miles and I were first married, I’d always worn something sexy to bed. I’d made an effort. But once the children came along, I chose comfort over seduction. Had Miles cheated because I’d stopped making an effort?

  I reached for the white silk gown with its plunging neckline and the slit up the thigh. I slipped on the sexy material and looked at myself in the full-length mirror in the closet.

  The last time I’d tried it on, it was tight around the hips. But now it flowed over my slender body and made me look as if I’d stepped out of a Victoria’s Secret catalogue.

  I grinned and then slipped my robe over the top of my gown. I wasn’t ready to be intimate with Miles, but I was more than willing to show him what he couldn’t have.

  I never thought I was vain. I knew I was attractive, and plenty of men had tried to get my attention over the years. Even the bag boy at the grocery store seemed to get flustered when I checked out.

  But now, I looked gorgeous.

  I stared at my reflection, and then it hit me.

  “I have a reflection,” I said to myself.

  Vampires didn’t have reflections. I stepped closer to the mirror and reached out my hand.

  “Yep, definite reflection,” I said and arched my brow.

  I slipped on my comfy house shoes and headed back to the kitchen.

  The dishes had been put in the dishwasher, but Miles hadn’t bothered to turn it on. Nor had he put away the skillet. Typical. I shook my head and finished setting the kitchen to rights.

  My mind raced with thoughts of Miles’ betrayal. If someone could have seen inside my head at that moment, they would have thought I was crazy.

  I was mad, sad, hurt, and devastated. But, I also had a flicker of hope that maybe we could work this out. Miles hadn’t left the house, and he seemed like he wanted to make things work. But something kept gnawing at me. He didn’t seem remorseful.

  With a shrug, I started the dishwasher
and headed toward the girls’ rooms.

  I peeked in on Arianna. She was lying on her bed with her feet up on the wall as she chatted away on her cell. I wasn’t keen on her having a phone because she was too young, but Miles had given in and bought it for her.

  I knocked on her open door.

  “Start getting ready for bed.” I waited until she nodded before heading toward Gabby’s room.

  I heard Gabby’s voice before I even made it to her room. I smiled. She was always talking to herself when she was alone, playing games of dragons and princesses and fairy tales. I loved that about her. I wished I could be adventurous like her.

  My Gabby was going to change the world.

  “Hey, sweetie.” I stepped inside her room.

  Gabby looked up from her kneeling position on the floor beside her bed. She had a plastic knight’s helmet on her head and a book in her hand.

  “How about this book, Mommy?” Gabby’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Sure.” I smiled and sat on the bed. She pulled off the helmet and tossed it onto the floor.

  She scrambled under the covers and snuggled close. I closed my eyes and sighed. This feeling of being needed warmed my heart and seeped into my lungs. I lived and died for my children. I decided then, in the space of mere seconds, that I would do whatever it took to save my marriage. For the girls’ sakes.

  I opened the book and began reading the tale of a brave knight rescuing a princess from the cave of a dragon. It was Gabby’s favorite. Not because it had a princess. It was her favorite because it had a knight and a dragon.

  When I had finished the last line, I closed the book and looked down at my daughter.

  “I feel bad for that dragon.” Gabby looked up at me with her big, brown eyes.

  “But the dragon kept the princess captive and wouldn’t let her leave.” I frowned.

  “He only did that because he was lonely and didn’t have anyone to talk to.” Her brow creased as she continued. “I think he was probably bullied in school and didn’t have any friends. He had to go find a friend, it just happened to be the princess.”

  “Ah, so that’s what you think.” I grinned at her. I loved the way she looked at the world.