by J. P. Comeau
Billionaires Next Door
A Contemporary Romance Box Set
J.P. Comeau
Copyright © 2020 by J.P. Comeau
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Contents
WE’RE JUST FRIENDS
WE’RE JUST NEIGHBORS
WE’RE JUST PRETENDING
WE’RE JUST FRIENDS
1
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JULIANNA
I put my hands to my forehead as my soon to be ex-husband, Cam, spoke into the phone. It was the last thing that I needed to deal with.
“I just don’t understand,” he said. “We should have been divorced by now. What’s the hold-up?”
I glanced out the window to make sure our daughter, Caley, wasn’t home yet and wouldn't walk in on what I was about to say.
“Do you really think that I’m dragging this out on purpose? That I actually enjoy being married to you? Or do you need to be reminded about why we got divorced in the first place?” I proceeded to pace back and forth in my foyer, my bare feet slapping the granite tile.
I wasn’t near a mirror, but I could feel the heat brightening my cheeks. It was the same feeling I got the night that I found out about his affair.
Cam scoffed into the phone. “Stop acting like I forgot. Yes, I messed up. You know why? Because I’m a human being and have needs that weren’t being met.”
“And you just had to have them met by Lydia of all people!” I screamed so loudly that I scared even myself a little. It was hard to be calm whenever I thought about his girlfriend, though. The woman had utterly wrecked my idea of a perfect world.
He let out an audible sigh, and I instinctively formed a fist with my left hand, stopping to stare at a watercolor painting on the wall. It was one of the first pieces I had purchased when we bought this house. Cam never even noticed it.
His voice held a tone of fake pleading. “What else do you want, Julianna? For the sake of our daughter, please. Just tell me.”
I hissed at him, tired of him acting like he gave a shit about anything. “It’s never been about what I want, Cam. I know this is Lydia, just nagging away at you to get rid of me.”
“You’re gonna have to get over your hatred of her,” he calmly but firmly said into the phone.
I turned to my left and opened the door into the garage, thinking about all of those nights when I waited for him to come home. I’d hear the garage door opening and feel a passing relief, followed by a wave of insecurity about where he’d been.
I quickly slammed the door shut and headed into the family room, tired of talking. “Whatever. Anyway, my attorney still has to look over the documents before I sign anything.”
“I have given you everything you asked for, Julianna. Unless you suddenly want more from me, then I see no reason as to why you can’t sign them tomorrow.”
I rolled my eyes. Oh yes. Everything that I want, except for you to keep your wedding vows.
Plopping down on the sectional, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “This isn’t you talking, Cam. It’s her. She wants me out of your life completely, doesn’t she?”
They thought I was stupid. The silence on the other end gave way to the sound of Lydia whispering something inaudible. My eyes popped wide open. “Tell her to speak louder so I can hear, Cam. Or perhaps I should be having this entire conversation with the person who is actually trying to rush this divorce along. Put that bitch on the phone!”
I turned and looked over the back of the couch, making sure that Caley hadn’t suddenly walked in and heard me, letting out a sigh of relief when I saw that I was still alone.
Cam muted his phone to talk to Lydia. Once again, I rolled my eyes, realizing how pathetic and weak he’d become. I was sure by the time the divorce was over and settled, I would have learned how to rotate my eyeballs a complete three hundred and sixty degrees. Either that or they would get stuck like that and I'd be forever annoyed.
“Do you want our daughter to hear you using that kind of language,” he patronizingly said to me.
“Don’t question my parenting skills.” There I was, screaming again. By that point, I was in full rage mode, having to stop myself from throwing the phone against the wall and into a million pieces. “And since when do you care so much about our daughter?”
I knew that comment would get to him.
“Just because I’m not with her 24/7 doesn’t mean I’m a bad parent,” he said slightly louder.
He was doing everything possible to come off as the better person, refusing to raise his voice while patronizing me to the point of insanity.
“You barely make time to see her, Cam. It’s all about you and Lydia,” I yelled back.
A knot formed in the pit of my stomach as I pictured them in bed.
Then I opened my mouth to really let him have it, but the sound of the front door creaking open stopped me. I turned on the couch, putting my arm across the back and forced a pleasant smile across my lips. My sister, Annie, and Caley were walking through the foyer and into the kitchen. It’s the first place Caley went to every day after school. Like clockwork, she would toss her bag on the breakfast bar, sigh, push the wild stray hairs that had escaped her ponytail from her face, and begin to decompress.
“Who are you talking to, Mommy?” Caley did her exact routine and sat down, swinging her feet back and forth while Annie got her a juice box from the refrigerator.
I felt my heart sink as I watched our daughter sitting there in front of the French doors that led to our backyard. The same backyard we used to play together as a family. The same backyard that had housed seven birthday parties with Cam at the grill and me smiling and laughing with family. The same backyard I had unceremoniously tossed half of his things into when I found out about Lydia.
“I’ll contact you after I hear back from my lawyer,” I whispered angrily into the phone.
I maintained eye contact with my sister the entire time. Annie was fully aware that it was Cam I was speaking to. She could see it in my face, that knowing look between sisters.
Cam started to speak, but I ended the call, feeling satisfied with hanging up on him.
Go be with Lydia, you good for nothing piece of... Don't let him ruin anymore for you.
“Just an old friend,” I lied as I walked into the kitchen. I kissed Caley on the top of her head. My eyes shifted up to my sister, who gave me a sympathetic smile. I winked at her and pulled back, brushing a piece of hair from Caley’s face. “How was school, honey?”
“Today I got to read in front of the whole class,” she said, pulling out her notebook. “Miss Johnson said that I did a good job, but she didn’t say that to Suzie.”
“Now, now,” I said, walking over to the refrigerator. “What have I told you about saying mean things about other people?”
Caley was quiet for a few minutes before replying with a poking lip, and her eyes turned to the floor. “That it’s not nice.”
Annie sat down on a stool at the kitchen island, sipping on a bottle of water while scrolling through her phone. I let out a sigh, turned the oven on, and leaned over the kitchen island, looking at the screen on my sister’s phone.
“Anything new,” I asked, looking at her timeline.
Annie just shook her head, hitting the ‘like’ button on a meme about getting older. She continued to scroll. “Her principal is
getting divorced.”
“He probably had an affair with an ex from high school too,” I whispered, turning back to the fridge to pull the chicken out. Annie looked up at me with a scrunched nose and wide eyes. I shrugged, glancing at my daughter, who was doing some sort of dance in front of the windows, watching her own reflection. “Relax. She didn’t hear me.”
“Where’s Daddy,” Caley asked, skipping back over to the chair and grabbing her pencil.
I paused as I placed the third chicken breast into the dish, casually looking up at Annie, who met my gaze. Caley was fully aware we were getting divorced, but Cam’s lack of presence had been painfully noticeable lately.
“Daddy is just busy with work,” I lied again, placing the last chicken breast into the baking dish. “But he loves you so much.”
Annie went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bag of mixed salad greens, removing herself from the middle of the loaded conversation.
“Did you talk to him today,” Caley asked.
Annie didn’t look up as she rinsed the salad off in the sink, paying a little more attention to it than was necessary. She wanted to give me plenty of time to respond before Caley asked another question.
I topped the chicken breasts with marinara sauce and a bag of shredded mozzarella while deciding how to answer. Caley may have been aware of the divorce, but not all of the details. She was much too young and didn’t need to know about her fathers’ infidelities.
“No,” I lied for the third agonizing time, putting the chicken parmesan into the oven.
She spun to face Annie, my brow scrunched and raised, my lips twisted. I whispered to her as I approached. “Am I a bad mother?”
Annie shook the water off her hands, turning and wrapping me in a hug. “You’re the best mother, and you know it.” Annie then began to set the table for all three of us, placing Caley’s setting in front of her homework. “What class are you working on?”
“History,” Caley said while writing in the answers on a worksheet.
I finished preparing dinner by putting some baking potatoes into our second oven, a gift from Cam on our first Anniversary when I was going through a baking phase. Annie walked over to me, eager to get at least a little bit of information about the phone call while Caley was distracted.
“What did Cam say,” she whispered as I wiped my hands off on a dishtowel.
“I’ll tell you after dinner.” I forced a smile.
Even though Caley was too young to fully understand what it meant to have an affair, I wanted to keep the details of the divorce away from her. I didn't want to be the type of parent that badmouthed the other one. I had seen the movies, and that never turned out well for the kid or the mother.
Annie and I sat down to help Caley finish up her homework, repeatedly telling her what a good job she was doing in school. I couldn’t believe how fast she was growing up, which was even more of a reason for Cam to be involved in her life. A part of me wished that Cam could have been there with all three of us, encouraging Caley to study hard and do well in school. I didn't even recognize the man he had become. Or maybe I did, but I just never wanted to admit it to myself. The timer on the stove rang out, pulling me from my moment of pity.
“Dinner’s ready,” I said over-enthusiastically.
I walked from plate to plate, putting the smallest piece of chicken on Caley's plate, added some salad and dressing, and a baked potato. Sitting down, I began cutting up Caley's food, something I still did even though I knew at her age, she should probably be doing it herself. Sue me, it was a tiny thing that I couldn't let go of.
“Smaller, Mommy,” she said while holding her silverware. I cut the food up in even smaller bites, waiting for her to be satisfied, “Thank you!”
All three of us ate dinner in the kitchen, making small talk about the cartoons Caley was into and what boys she had a crush on in school.
Annie made a kissy face, and Caley giggled. I shook my head. "It's okay to have crushes, but you are much too young to be worrying about boys. Right now, you need to focus on what when you're at school?"
Caley shrugged, stabbing a bite of chicken with her fork. "Grades."
Annie chuckled. "She's just like me."
We both laughed and happily chatted as we ate. After dinner, Annie and I went to the sink to wash the dishes.
"Mommy, can I play out back until it gets moonlight dark?"
Annie furrowed her brow, glancing at me. "What's moonlight dark?"
"Is your homework done?" I asked Caley, putting my finger up to Annie.
Caley nodded excitedly. "Yep. Finished it all."
I gave her a nod, and she took off. I yelled after her. "Put shoes on! And come in when you're supposed to!"
I chuckled as I turned back to the sink, taking the dish from Annie to put in the dishwasher. "Moonlight dark is something Cam, and she used to say. He told her once she couldn't go out because it was pitch black, and she freaked out. There was something about that saying that scared her. So, he started calling it moonlight dark when the moon was the only thing lighting up the yard."
Annie gave me a pouty look. I shook my head, scooting over and kicking the door shut. I opened up the kitchen curtain so I could see her playing out back on the swing set. "No pouty lips anymore, remember? What's done is done. At least, that's what I'm feeling right this second. Ask me in ten minutes, and I might have a different answer. It's the Wheel of Emotions."
“What did Cam have to say?”
“He’s complaining that I haven’t signed the documents yet,” I said, bent over maneuvering the dishes in the dishwasher to fit. “But I told him that nothing gets signed until my attorney sees it first.”
“You know that’s all Lydia.” Annie insisted, scrubbing the marinara from the plate.
I casually leaned forward, looking to make sure Caley hadn't snuck back in as she did from time to time. But she was happily swinging on the swings, singing to herself. "I know it is. I heard her on the phone."
Annie groaned. “She can’t wait for him to be completely divorced and wrapped even tighter around her finger. You know, she’s probably still holding a grudge about the tension between you guys in high school.”
“Of course it is. That bitch has always hated me, and she hates that he and I will always be connected because of Caley.” I didn’t directly reply to Annie's comment about high school. That was a time that I didn’t like to think about, for many reasons.
“The same Caley that he’s refusing to see,” Annie pointed out.
I felt my heart sink again as I thought about how much Cam was missing out on with Caley. No divorce should ever affect a child. “I don’t know if that’s just her demanding all of his time, though. Although he rarely even calls her. Would it be so hard for him to do a quick, 5-minute call each day?”
“Men are just selfish," Annie growled. "And speaking of selfish, when’s the last time you had any fun?”
“I have fun,” I said, slightly caught off guard by the question.
The truth was, I hadn’t gone out in a long time. Except for crime dramas on television at night, my life was Caley, work, and divorce.
“There’s a new bar downtown that I’m taking you to on Friday night,” my sister said with authority, handing me the last dish. “It’s called Pink and has a lot of good reviews.”
Annie dried her hands on the towel and pulled her phone out, holding it in front of me with the reviews on the screen. I paused for a moment, my eyes lighting up, but quickly shook my head as I closed the dishwasher and turned the knob. “No, that’s okay. Caley and I usually watch a Disney movie on Friday nights.”
Annie put her phone away, folded her arms across her chest, staring at me with pursed lips. “While I could see how building snowmen could be riveting and life-altering for the nine hundredth time, that doesn't count as fun. You are prewired to think that's fun. Besides, you need time away. It won't even cost you anything. I can’t imagine how you keep this house running with just your
income, so drinks are on me. I’ll even pay for the babysitter.”
I dried my hands on a dishtowel and shrugged. “I’m actually doing just fine. Cam gave me plenty of money, although I’d gladly give some of it back in exchange for him spending more time with Caley.”
I looked out at my daughter again. This time she was running around in circles but still singing as always.
Annie clapped her hands. “Then we’re at least going out to get drunk. Neither of us have been wasted in a really long time!”
I couldn’t help but giggle. “There’s a reason for that, Annie. Remember the last time we got so wasted that we passed out while eating pancakes at Bob’s Diner?”
We both burst out laughing as we remembered the owner, Bob, waking us up and calling us a cab.
Annie wiped a tear from her eye as she laughed. "Poor Bob. He asked us never to come back again. Then, we promptly showed up the next day to give him I'm sorry hugs."
“Well, we’re not doing that again,” I said as we both continued to laugh. “I woke up with syrup all over my bedsheets!”
“And I woke up with a bacon strip in my hair!” I said, holding my stomach.
Annie put her hands on my shoulders and rubbed them a bit as she gave me the little sister pout she always used when we were kids. “Can we please go out Friday night? Pleeeease.”
I let out a big sigh, realizing that I really could use a fun night out. I narrowed my eyes at Annie, who was mouthing the word, "please," over and over again. Glancing out at Caley, I knew that if I didn't start to build a life outside of the wholly damaged one I had, it would begin to affect her too.
“Fine,” I finally agreed, wrapping my arms around Annie. "This better be one banging night."
Annie giggled. "I got you."
I shook my head, leaning it against hers. "That's what scares me.”
2
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JAKE