Back in Charge

by Dinah McLeod

  Sadie desperately wished she would, but of course she had no reason to while she was holding court to women who were clearly eager to hang on whatever she had to say.

  "Of course, Ella-Grace is being scouted by all the top pre-schools, but we haven't made a decision just yet."

  Pre-schools? Pre-schools? That was it. She just couldn't take it anymore. Without giving it a second thought, Sadie leapt up from the table and made her way for the door, walking as fast as she could. She couldn't contain her laughter for another second and could be heard clear across the diner laughing uproariously. God, it felt good.

  Before the door closed behind her, she heard the lady's voice clear as day. "My goodness! Some people!" she exclaimed. Unable to resist, Sadie looked her way and caught a glimpse of a woman who was clearly Queen Bee in school revisiting her glory days in her pressed yoga pants and perfect chignon. Maybe she should have felt embarrassed by her own imperfect attire, but instead it only made her laugh all the harder.

  Realizing that Lexi was on her heels, she spilled out the door. The moment the two of them were outside they barked with laughter so loud and for so long that they received a fair amount of stares from passers-by. One mom, Sadie noted, took firm hold of her son's hand and led him away from the diner rather than walk around the pair of them. She couldn't blame them, she thought as tears streaked down her cheeks.

  "I never… in my life…"

  "Not even at MOMs?" Sadie said when she could breathe.

  "Never," Lexi vowed solemnly, her own hazel eyes shiny with merriment.

  Sadie found herself grinning at her friend. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so long. Lexi was good for her health.

  "You know, we really should get our brood together," Lexi said, still sounding breathless.

  She said it oh-so-casually, but Sadie thought she saw something there: a longing for a friend, a deep and true longing that matched the one she had herself. "I'd love to. Why don’t we have it at my house?"

  "Only if you tell me what wine to bring."

  She grinned, her eyes twinkling at her friend. "I knew I liked you."

  ***

  "I really like her," Sadie explained as she adjusted Robert's tie—for the third time.

  "So you said," he replied drily.

  "I really want you and her husband to hit it off, so be nice, please?"

  "I'm always nice!"

  "Well… don't talk about politics, baseball, and for the love of God, whatever you do, don't bring out your stamp collection."

  "What?" he demanded, looking hurt. "I thought you liked my stamp collection."

  "I do. I like it—but I really like this woman, and no one wants a history lesson. At least, not on the first night," she added, hoping to salve his ego somewhat. She could tell in a glance that it hadn't worked, but he still agreed to her terms, however reluctant he might have sounded.

  "Why is it such a big deal, anyway?"

  She was about to answer him when she caught sight of Maddison out of the corner of her eye. "Maddie!" she gasped. "Come here, baby, come to Mommy. Did you give her a cookie?" she demanded, eyeing the streaks of chocolate across her daughter's face.

  "Did I… of course not. Did you leave chocolate chip cookies on the counter, by chance?"

  With a huff and an eye-roll, she took her daughter by the hand and marched to the kitchen. "McKenzie Ann you get down from there right now!" Sadie demanded as soon as the door was thrown open, revealing her other daughter sitting on the counter next to a plate heaped high with cookies.

  Wide-eyed, the child looked first to her mother, then to her twin, then back again. "But Maddison got one!" she wailed, her bottom lip trembling.

  "Well, she won't be having any more, will she?" she asked, looking down sternly at her daughter. Without waiting for an answer, she walked to the counter, her high heels clacking against the tiled floor as she tried not to scream. She wanted everything to be perfect and here her kids were, conspiring against her before their guests even arrived!

  She took a deep breath, trying to calm her frazzled nerves before opening her arms to McKenzie. "Come on down, sweetheart. Now, let's get you both washed up." She'd barely finished that and put the cookies in the microwave when she heard Robert calling her.

  "Daddy wants you, Mommy!" Maddie piped up.

  Sadie felt a flutter of nervous, hopeful excitement in her stomach. "Okay. Let's go." As she walked out, one of the girls' hands in each of hers, she prayed silently please let Robert forget about the stamp collection for the night. Just one night. She doubted she'd be that lucky, but she had to give it a try.

  "Lexi!" she exclaimed, a smile lighting her face when she saw her friend. "You made it!"

  "We wouldn't miss it," she assured her, handing over a bottle of wine and giving her a side-hug. "Sadie, this is my husband Peter. And my kiddos, Nick, Stan and Sallie.'

  Sadie had almost forgotten that Lexi had triplets until she stood blinking at the three of them. There was no denying the resemblance. While they weren't identical, they all had the same wide, hazel eyes and shiny blond hair. "Hi there."

  "Hello," they parroted, looking and sounding like such perfectly mannered angels that she couldn't help but give the twins another nervous glance.

  Once everyone had been introduced and they were all sitting and talking—the girls sipped glasses of the chilled wine that Lexi had brought and Robert had cracked open a couple of beers—Sadie finally felt herself begin to relax. After a few minutes, the kids warmed up to each other and they all ran off to play. With little ears gone, conversations spanned all four corners. She and Sadie whispered and giggled amongst themselves about the incident in Tasty Chicken a few days ago, then discussed makeup and the best diaper rash creams. Peter and Robert immediately launched into a 'friendly' debate about politics. Sadie stiffened and shot Robert the look, but to her immense relief, they seemed to agree on most things, and laughed away what they did not.

  It seemed like a match made in Heaven. At least, it was to Sadie. She and Lexi were becoming better friends by the minute. Normally, when they had a couple over for dinner—which in itself was rare—they barely lasted through the meal and the hour of obligatory small talk that inevitably followed. But Sadie was enjoying her friend's company, the kids were playing so well, and even Robert seemed to be enjoying himself. So much so, that when he went to get the second bottle of wine at her request, Peter got up and followed him to the kitchen so that they didn't have to stop their conversation on exactly where America was going wrong.

  "Our kids are getting along well," Lexi commented, draining the last little bit from her wine glass.

  "Yeah, even the adult ones," she giggled.

  "Hey, babe?" Robert called when he came back, wine bottle in hand. "Did you know it's past the girls' bedtime?"

  "What?" She gasped, frowning at her watch. "It can't be…" But it was. Twenty minutes past, in fact. She made a reluctant face at Lexi, who responded by leaning over and patting her hand.

  "Don't worry. We'll get together for coffee soon."

  "I hate to say goodbye," Sadie sighed, sounding very like one of her toddler daughters at the moment.

  "So don't. Say 'see you tomorrow at Starbucks'!"

  Sadie agreed with another regretful sigh and they called their kids into the dining room to exchange goodbyes. The twins were just as sad to see their new friends go and everyone gushed about how much fun it had been and how they'd have to do it again soon.

  Robert even offered to put the girls to bed so that Sadie could go take a bath and relax. With two—okay, three—glasses of wine in her system, she didn't know when she'd been more relaxed, but she kissed the tops of the girls' heads and readily agreed. In no time, she was in the bathtub full of hot, sudsy water. She sank into the tub and felt her body enveloped by the water. She'd planned on asking Robert to join her, but he was taking longer than she expected and she hadn't realized how tired she was until she was in the cocoon of the warm bath. She'd just c
lose her eyes for a minute, she told herself.

  Chapter Ten

  "Sadie?"

  Her eyes flew open and she jerked upright in surprise. She hadn't meant to fall asleep.

  "Hey, it's all right. Relax, it's just me."

  "Sorry," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I guess I made it too comfortable."

  "Let me be the judge of that," he suggested, unbuttoning his pants and shucking them off in mere seconds.

  Sadie couldn't help but feel more awake when she laid eyes on his muscular, tan legs. Her eyes zoned in on his boxers and she waited, her mouth going dry as soon as he hooked his thumbs in the waistband. Yep, she was awake all right.

  And apparently she wasn't the only one.

  "Come on in," she murmured in what she hoped was a sexy voice.

  "Don't mind if I do," her husband grinned. She shifted her body forward so that he could climb in behind her. As soon as he was settled, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, so that her head rested on his chest.

  "Mmm. That's nice."

  "I couldn't agree more."

  Sadie grinned in contentment, knowing that a pre-bedtime orgasm was on the docket if she played her cards right. And judging by the way his hard cock was pressing into her, she didn't think she'd have to try too hard.

  "Sadie…"

  "Hmm?"

  "Did you have a good time tonight?"

  "I had a great time," she enthused. "Did you?"

  "Yeah. Pete seems like a good guy."

  Uh-oh. She could sense a but coming. Please, don't let there be a but, she thought frantically. It had all seemed so perfect.

  "I was just wondering…"

  "Uh-huh?" she asked, tensing slightly.

  "Well, just before they got here, you were so focused on everything being perfect."

  "I just wanted to make a good impression."

  "Right, but I asked you why it was such a big deal, and well, you never really answered me."

  Oh. He was still hung up on that, was he? Well, maybe she had been being a little silly. Just a tad. She'd apologize, and that would be that. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be such a stress case. I just really like Lexi's company and I thought maybe if you and Peter got along, we wouldn't have to be a twosome all the time." She shrugged, thinking that would be the end of it.

  "What's wrong with being a twosome?"

  "Nothing. It's just, I like having friends. Don't you?"

  "Sure. But I don't think you should be getting attached so soon. I mean, you've only known her for five minutes, you know?"

  Sadie furrowed her brow. This had to be one of the weirdest conversations they'd ever had. "Two weeks, actually."

  "See? That's exactly my point. Don't go getting so worked up this early on. You know what I mean?"

  "No, not really."

  "I'm just saying, we might not be here forever."

  Sadie turned around to look at him, her eyebrows raised. "Since when?"

  Robert opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it and shook his head. "You know what? Forget it. I'm just trying to look out for you, that's all."

  "Um…thanks, I think."

  Robert let the matter drop and they sat in silence for a few minutes. Sadie's mind was whirling, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He'd never been so cryptic before, or so worried about her making friends. Hell, he used to encourage her to make friends! What was going on here? But somehow, she knew without asking that he'd brush it off and make it seem like nothing.

  After sitting in silence for a few minutes, Robert reached around to pull at one of her nipples, but Sadie brushed him off. "What was that for?" he demanded, sounding hurt.

  She stood up, beads of water coursing down the length of her body. "Nothing. I'm just tired, remember? I think I'm going to go to bed."

  "But I thought…"

  "I'm just not in the mood anymore, okay?" She stepped out of the water and grabbed a towel that she wrapped around her without giving him a backward glance. She could tell that he wasn't happy about it, but he didn't protest, either.

  She'd been so sleepy only minutes ago that she'd thought she'd conk out the moment her head hit the pillow, but her husband had given her so much to think about. So much so that she was still wide awake when he came to bed.

  "Sadie?" he whispered.

  She snapped her eyes closed, hoping he wouldn't see it in the dark and concentrated on making her breathing sound normal and even. She could feel his eyes on her, watching her, but after a few moments he gave up, and she felt the bed shift with his weight as he climbed in beside her. He didn't cuddle her the way they normally slept, but instead scooted to the other side of the bed as though he was afraid to touch her. For the first time in her life, she found that she was relieved.

  ***

  "He's hiding something," Sadie said without preamble as she slung her purse on the table Lexi was sitting at.

  "What? Who? Have you even had coffee yet?"

  "Not yet," Sadie said, though she felt jittery enough to have had ten cups.

  "Why don't you go get a cup and then we'll talk?"

  "No time for coffee," she replied as she sat down.

  "No time for coffee?" Lexi echoed, sounding bewildered. "What's going on?"

  "Robert."

  "Okay, I'm gonna need a little more."

  Sadie reached across the table and closed her hand around Lexi's cup, bringing it to her mouth and gulping it down without a second thought. Only when she saw Lexi's wide-eyed expression did she realize how she probably looked. "I'm sorry. I barely slept."

  "It's all right. Just tell me what's going on."

  "Well, I've been suspecting for a little while that something has been going on with Robert."

  "Really? You didn't mention anything."

  "Well, okay, maybe I didn't suspect anything, but he has been acting weird. Nothing too big, just being mysterious about things, making himself scarce when the phone rings."

  "Hmm." Lexi considered, her brow furrowed. "You don't think…"

  "What?" Sadie asked, her throat tightening. She was pretty sure she already knew what her friend was about to suggest, and it hurt just to consider it.

  "I'm sure he's got a good reason…"

  Sadie sighed, combing her fingers through her light brown hair. "Maybe you're right. I mean, I'm sure you are."

  The two of them fell silent, looking at each other, until Lexi cleared her throat. "I mean, you could always find out."

  "How?" Sadie asked without preamble.

  Lexi was quick to grin. "Have you never spied on your husband?"

  "Um…no. Not really."

  "Oh, girl. You've got a lot to learn. Luckily, I'm just the one to teach you."

  Sadie returned her grin, but it was forced. She didn't like the idea of snooping behind Robert's back. She'd never thought she'd be that kind of wife, and the idea didn't set well with her. "I don't know, Lexi."

  "Oh, come on." Her friend waved a hand dismissively. "It's not a big deal. You probably won't find anything, and you can stop worrying."

  The question lay unspoken between them as Lexi's coffee grew cold: what if she did find something?

  "I mean, it's not like he's cheating or anything," she added.

  Sadie gasped, feeling like she'd just been punched in the stomach. It was one thing, to have the thought skirting around her mind, never fully realized, but to have someone say it aloud…

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

  "No," she mumbled, cutting off Lexi's apology. "You… it's fine." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, feeling anything but fine. She felt like her entire world was spinning out of control, but the only thing to do to get it righted again was to find out what was going on, once and for all.

  "You know what? Just forget I said anything. I have a tendency to be paranoid."

  "Maybe I should be more paranoid," Sadie countered, picking up a napkin from the table and beginning to tear it into strips. "I know something's g
oing on—I'm sure of it. And if he won't tell me himself, I guess I'm going to have to find out on my own."

  Lexi was watching her with wide, wary eyes, as though she was standing on the ledge of a bridge and was about to jump. Strangely, it was just as she felt. "Are you sure?"

  "Yeah." She tried to smile, but it fell flat. "I'm sure. So tell me: what do I need to do?"

  ***

  Sadie's fingers were shaking as she neared Robert's keyboard. Per Lexi's instructions, she was going to try to get into his computer—why had she never asked him his password before? She supposed it was because they'd always trusted one another and she'd never had reason not to before. Now everything had changed and just the thought put an ache in pit in her stomach that just wouldn't go away, no matter how many times she told herself that she wasn't doing anything wrong.

  Her fingers hovered uncertainly over the black letters on his keyboard as she tried to guess. She typed in Sadie but that bounced back. She tried McKenzie next, followed by each of the kids' names. None of them worked. Hmm. This was going to be harder than she'd thought. You have to think like your husband, Lexi had told her. But how could she do that? If she could, she'd know what he was hiding already and she wouldn't need to be moonlighting as an amateur detective.

  "Come on, Sadie," she muttered. "Think like Robert. What would his password be?" She tried their anniversary, her birthday, and each of the kids'. Nothing worked. As a last ditch resort, she even tried typing in his name, but that got shot back too. She was still puzzling over it, her brow furrowed and her mouth turned down in a frustrated line, when a voice her made her jump.

  "Sadie?"

  "Jesus!" she exclaimed, putting a hand to her heart as she spied Robert watching her from the doorway. "How long have you been standing there?"

  "Just a minute. What are you doing?"

  "Nothing," she snapped, too quickly. When his eyebrows raised, she knew she had to say something. "I mean I was just trying to check my email. My laptop wouldn't connect to the internet."

  "That's weird."