Renewed: The Unexpected Series

by Roberts, S. E.

  I pull myself away from her. I feel bad that she’s been put between us, but I’m glad she’s here.

  “I need to talk to my parents about staying with them for a bit.”

  She shakes her head. “No, Evan can stay with us.” I really don’t want to stay here with all the memories, but it would probably be best for Zoey. I may have to move us somewhere else eventually though.

  I sigh. It breaks my heart. I’m not just losing my husband, I’m losing my best friend too.

  She rubs at my hair.

  “I don’t know what the hell is up with my brother, but you’re still my sister, okay?”

  I look up at her and nod.

  “It hurts so bad. How did you get through it?”

  “I had you and Evan, and then I found Ryke,” she says sympathetically.

  I rest my head on her shoulder and eventually drift back to sleep.

  * * *

  I stir awake at the sound of the garage door opening. I look around, realizing Claire must have left sometime after I fell asleep. My stomach drops at the thought of having to confront Evan, again. It was bad enough talking to him on the phone this morning, but now I have to face him. I have to decide what I’m going to do next. If he wants to stay in the house, there’s no way in hell I’ll be staying here too. What he did is unforgivable.

  As soon as I hear the door close behind him, I sit up on the couch. I wipe the drool from my face and rub at my eyes that are surely bloodshot as a result of crying for hours. To top it off, my head feels like a damn train ran into it.

  When I see him standing in the doorway, my breath hitches, and my heart breaks all over again. I want to scream at him, maybe even hit him right now, but I can’t find the energy for either of those things. I feel like I’ve been put through the wringer. I think I could sleep for a week. Unfortunately, I can’t do that.

  “Av,” he whispers, and my walls crumble.

  The tears I thought had dried up, flow freely down my face. I’ve never cried so much in my life. I’ve also never had my heart obliterated either. I gave this man my heart, and he destroyed it. I know that there’s no way we can ever come back from this.

  I try standing from the couch, but lose my balance. I realize that I feel like shit after not eating all day and throwing up everything I ate yesterday.

  He crosses the room and grabs my arms to try to steady me, but I flinch at his touch. It’s as if he’s burnt me. Which is funny, because metaphorically speaking, he did.

  “Don’t.” I seethe. I find my balance and then push past him.

  “Avery, we have to talk about this,” he says to my back as I’m walking toward our bedroom. I stink and probably need to take a shower, but right now, I just want to crawl back under the covers and sleep the rest of the day away.

  I turn back to him, and I’m sure the look on my face is terrifying.

  “I don’t want to talk to you, Evan. There’s nothing to fucking talk about!” I shout and then realize I’m shaking.

  He starts toward me, but then stops himself.

  “Av, you’re shaking. Please come sit down.”

  “No. I need to get a shower and then get Zoey from my mom’s.” I pause. “Do I need to go stay with them or are you leaving?”

  He chuckles and then throws his head back in frustration.

  “You have got to be fucking kidding me. I have no damn clue what the hell I did. Don’t you think you at least owe me that?”

  “I don’t owe you a goddamned thing. Claire said you can stay with her.”

  I turn to walk away and then hear a crash behind me. I jump. When I turn to see what the sound was, a lamp we got as a wedding gift, is broken to pieces up against the wall.

  “I can’t do this anymore,” I choke out.

  Without another word, I head to our room and close the door behind me. I slide down to the floor, and once again, I break.

  29

  Evan

  I’ve been driving around for the last forty-five minutes and have no fucking clue where I’m at. I haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on around me, so it’s a damn miracle I haven’t gotten myself killed yet.

  I can’t do this anymore.

  Her words keep replaying in my head. How did things get this bad? I love that woman with every fiber of my being, but apparently, that isn’t enough.

  I finally pull into Claire and Ryke’s driveway and debate whether or not I should even bother knocking on the door. I don’t feel like talking about this anymore, but maybe Claire knows what the hell is going on.

  Sighing in frustration, I get out of the Jeep.

  “How could you do that to her?” Claire screams as soon as she opens the front door. In the next instant, she’s pulling me into the house and then pounding her fists into my chest. For being so much smaller than me, she sure is tough as hell.

  I grab her hands to stop her.

  “Will you please tell me what the fuck is going on? Everyone seems to know, but me.”

  She finally stops hitting me and backs up but is breathing heavy. I wouldn’t be surprised if she started attacking again.

  “After all the shit I went through with Trevor and how much pain you saw that caused me, how could you sleep with that bitch?”

  What. The. Actual. Fuck? I become dizzy, so I have to grab the wall behind me. She thinks I cheated on her?

  “She-she thinks I cheated on her?” I choke out.

  “How could you?” she screams, ignoring my question. “You just had a child with her, for Christ’s sake!”

  I pull at my hair.

  “I didn’t fucking cheat on her! Why the hell would she even think that?”

  She turns and heads for the living room, and I follow. Once we enter the room, she throws herself down on the couch.

  “Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because fucking Mallory answered your phone the other night and she heard you talking.”

  My mind races, trying to connect all the dots. What the fuck is she talking about? Oh, shit.

  “Fuck!” I yell.

  “Ev?” she asks hesitatingly.

  I look up at her, and I’m sure I look like I’ve been backed over with a truck.

  “Did you cheat on her?”

  “What?” I shake my head. “Do you honestly believe I’d do that to her?”

  She runs her hands through her hair.

  “I don’t know what to believe, but I do know that she is crushed.” She stands. “I need to go check on Aria.”

  This has possibly been the worst day of my life. How did my marriage come to this? A year ago, she would have never thought for one minute that I was capable of doing something so terrible to her. Have we grown apart that much, that she can’t even trust me anymore?

  I’d never dream of doing something like that. Ever. In a million years. I don’t care how shitty our marriage gets, I’d never resort to cheating on my wife. I just wish she understood how much I love her.

  “Eben!” I look up at the sound of my nephew’s voice, and I force a smile on my face.

  “Hey, bud.” I reach my hand out to him to do knuckles. Something we’ve been doing since he was old enough to know how.

  “Where’s Avvy?” he asks as he climbs onto my lap. “And Zo?”

  I pat his head. “They’re at home. You’ll see them soon, okay?” I hope that I’m not lying.

  Not only am I losing my wife, I’m losing my baby girl. I don’t know if I can go on without them. Those two are the reason I get up every morning. Now, I feel like my life has come to a complete stop.

  “Okay!” He jumps from my lap and then is sprinting down the hallway, like the ball of energy he is. I’m jealous of how innocent that kid is.

  Claire walks back into the room with Aria in her arms.

  “Is Ryke working?” I ask as I stand to walk to the kitchen to get a drink.

  “Yeah,” she says behind me. “But don’t even think about going over there. The last thing I need is to take care of your drunk ass because y
ou’re depressed.”

  “Whatever, sis,” I mumble as I open the fridge. I take a gulp of water, and then I turn back to her. “I need a place to stay.”

  She puts Aria in her high chair.

  “I know you do, but I’m pissed at you.”

  I throw my hands in the air. “Jesus Christ, sis. I didn’t cheat on her!”

  “Then why the hell was Mallory in your hotel room?” She raises her eyebrows at me.

  I lean on the counter. “She came to my room crying because apparently her boyfriend broke up with her last night. I didn’t think I should be an ass considering she’s my boss’ niece, but then she kind of took off her shirt and basically threw herself at me.”

  Her hand flies to her mouth as she gasps.

  “Evan!” Okay, that probably didn’t help my case about not cheating.

  “Claire, I didn’t fucking ask her to come to my room, and I sure as hell didn’t want her taking her clothes off. God. She’s a bitch.” I sigh, as I pull at my hair in defeat. “I left and got another room.”

  “Well, even if I did believe you, I’m not saying I do, but if I did, that doesn’t mean that Avery does.”

  “You know what? This is bullshit. I’ll go stay in a fucking hotel.”

  I storm out of the room, toward the front door.

  “Yeah, you do that. Maybe Mallory will join you later.”

  I love my sister, but she sure knows how to piss me off, and right now, she’s doing a good job of that.

  “I thought you knew me better,” I say with my back to her and my hand on the doorknob. I have no clue where the hell I’m going to go.

  “So did I.”

  Great. Now my wife and my sister are both pissed at me. Can this day get any more shitty?

  30

  Avery

  Evan left two weeks ago. I thought the pain would lessen a bit, but it seems to have only gotten worse as time has gone by. He has tried calling and texting me, but I can’t bring myself to talk to him yet. He hasn’t come by the house again, which I’m honestly surprised by, but at the same time, I’m glad.

  He’s been taking Zoey for a couple hours throughout the week after he gets off work. He got the firm to let him work earlier in the morning, and then he leaves work before I’m off and gets her from my mom’s. I’ve done everything I could to avoid running into him.

  I’ve talked to Claire a few times, but she hasn’t said much about him. She’s only called to check in. I have a feeling she’s worried about upsetting me.

  “Hi pretty girl!” I clap my hands at Zoey and then sit on the floor next to her. My mom has her propped up against her nursing pillow. I can’t believe that soon she’ll be sitting on her own. Where has the time gone?

  I grab her toy monkey and squeeze it to make it squeak. The damn thing is annoying, but it makes her laugh. The sound of her giggles makes my heart feel a little less heavy.

  I look up and see my mom’s sympathetic look.

  “Hi, Mom,” I lift Zo from the floor. “Did she have a good day?”

  “Yeah. She just ate about an hour ago and had her diaper changed. She really liked the carrots you sent.”

  I tweak Zoey’s nose.

  “We have to be careful not to feed her too much of it because Claire said Aria’s nose turned orange from all the carrots she ate.” I laugh. “We don’t need that, do we Zo?” I kiss her forehead, and she swats at my face.

  Mom laughs. “No, I guess we don’t. Tomorrow, we’ll try the green beans.”

  I gather her things and then leave so we can get home at a decent time. Since Evan left, I’ve preferred to be locked inside the house before it gets dark out. Not that we live in a rough area, but he made me feel safe. Fuck. I really shouldn’t think about him. I miss him so damn much, but I need to stay busy to keep my mind off of him. Luckily, during the week, I stay busy at the office and with Zo, but it’s when I’m by myself at night. For the last week, I’ve dreamt of him and finding out about Mallory. Almost every day since he left, I’ve had to relive the hell he put me through. I’ve woken up crying, but I have no one by my side to help ease the pain.

  Once we’re home, I put Zoey in her swing and then fix a bowl of cereal. It’s pointless to make a big dinner for only me. When I walk back to the living room, she’s batting at her toys dangling from the mobile above her head.

  “What should we watch tonight, Zo?” I flip the TV on and quickly get lost in a rerun of Friends. This is by far the best show ever made. I had actually wanted to name Zoey, Phoebe instead, but Evan wasn’t having it. I guess it wouldn’t have been nice of me to name my child after the quirky character, but she was always my favorite.

  I look over at Zo, and she’s now sound asleep.

  “Well, you aren’t any fun,” I murmur.

  Apparently, I’ve resorted to talking to myself now. Am I that lonely? I’ve always thought I was independent, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the companionship. Actually, I can be honest. I miss Evan so damn much, but I know that things are never going to be the same. I think I’m a pretty forgiving person, but I draw the line at cheating. I’d never in a million years dream of hurting him the way he did me.

  I decide to leave my sleeping babe alone for now and pick my phone up to see if I have any missed calls or texts. I’m the worst about turning my ringer on after work. Charlotte has a big no cell phone policy, so I’m always careful. As much as I can’t stand the woman, I do need my job.

  I see that I have a text from Sierra. I feel like I’ve been the worst friend since she moved to North Carolina. I’m surprised she still wants to talk to me. She lost her husband, and I’m over here sulking like the bitch I am.

  Deciding I really need to talk to her, I forego texting and call her instead.

  “Hey, stranger.” She answers after the first ring.

  “Hey. How’s everything going in the Carolina’s?” I’ve never been to the East Coast, but the pictures she sent me looked amazing.

  “Okay. Just been helping Grandma Rose at the bakery and keeping busy with the boys.”

  “How’s Augs and little Jayce?” I hate that they live so far now because all of our kids would have been the best of friends.

  “They are good. Growing too damn fast.”

  I can hear the sadness in her voice, which makes me feel even worse about not keeping in touch with her.

  “Sier, I’m so sorry I haven’t called much since Zo was born.”

  “Girl, you’ve been busy.” She pauses. “How are things with you and Evan?” I can hear the hesitation in her voice. I should have known that Claire would tell her about our split.

  I sigh. “Not good. Sier, he hurt me so damn bad.” I really don’t want to spend the night talking about my shitty marriage.

  “You think you can get a week off from work?”

  I perk up at the idea.

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” I’m not sure they’d appreciate me leaving again after just being on leave for so long.

  “Why don’t you and Zo come out here? Escape for a bit. Could be good for you to clear your mind. The salty sea air is good at making anyone feel better.”

  I smile. “That actually sounds heavenly. You sure your grandma won’t mind if we crash with you guys?”

  I can hear the smile in her voice. “No. She’ll love it, and I know she’ll love Zo too.”

  “Okay. Let me talk to Charlotte, and then I’ll get back to you.”

  “Sounds good. I think we could both use some bestie time. I’ve gotta go. I hear Jayce crying, but text me once you know when you can come out.”

  “Sounds good. Love you, Momma.” I make a kissing sound into the phone, and she chuckles before we both hang up.

  After getting Zoey settled in her bed, I collapse into mine. I’m in desperate need of a sleeping pill, but know I wouldn’t be able to get up with her in the middle of the night. I turn toward the empty side of the bed, and I grab his pillow and hope and pray that I’ll be able to sleep. I close my eyes but am
immediately wide awake again when I hear a knocking noise outside. When it stops, I close my eyes again, but then it gets louder. I’m sure it’s only the wind, but I’m half tempted to get my baby from the other room. I know I’m being silly, but before, Evan would always check to make sure everything was alright. Now, there’s only me to do that.

  Realizing that I’m overreacting, I grab my phone off the end table and tuck it under my pillow.

  I finally fall asleep and, once again, dream of Evan.

  31

  Evan

  “Hey, man,” Malcom says as he takes the seat across from me at Ryke’s. He insisted that we go out tonight, to celebrate our buy-out of the firm. It took a lot of convincing on our part, but Flynn finally agreed that we would make a good team. I honestly think we can make the place a hell of a lot better. Plus, I knew that I couldn’t go to Dallas. Even if my marriage takes the piss, I can’t leave my daughter.

  “Hey.” I sip at the Corona Ryke brought me. He’s off soon and said he’d join us.

  After my sister nearly killed me a couple weeks ago, he called and told me to get my ass back to their house. I can tell Claire is still pissed off at me and not sure what to believe, but at least I have a place to stay. It sucks, but I can’t really blame her after what her deadbeat ex-husband did to her. But I’m nothing like Trevor Davis. I’d give anything to be back home with my wife and daughter, but I can’t see that happening anytime soon. The fact that she thinks I’m capable of hurting her like that, guts me.

  Malcom grabs the menu in front of him. “What’s good here? I haven’t been here since it was just the bar,” he asks, bringing me back to the present.

  “The mushroom burger is fucking amazing, or Avery likes the turkey club.” Shit. I know he’s going to lecture me for mentioning her.

  He raises his eyebrows at me. “Damn, dude. You’ve got it bad. What has this woman done to you?”

  I sigh and throw my head back against the booth. “I fucking miss her, but she refuses to talk to me, much less see me when I drop by to get Zoey.” I sigh. “I’ll never get her to believe me if she doesn’t listen.”