by Linda Kage
Eyeing the blood red petals as if they were contaminated, her breathing grew choppy. No way, she thought dizzily. There was no way those had come from a married man. She refused to believe it. She could never image her roommate—
Suddenly, Piper appeared, strolling in from the kitchen as she popped the tab on a can of soda. She started to smile until she saw the expression on Mia’s face.
Jerking to a stop, her grin fell. "What’s wrong?"
Mia shook her head. She couldn’t ask. She wouldn’t. She refused to pry into her roommate’s private life.
In the past three years, Piper had helped her in her time of need. When Mia was struggling through her darkest hour, contemplating suicide, her friend called from five hundred miles away, as if she knew how desperately she was needed, and she invited Mia to come live with her.
Okay, so invited wasn’t quite the right word. She’d ordered.
"Mia, you’re family’s concerned about you. I think every member’s called me in the past week, worried sick. This has gone on long enough."
Mia nodded, but she couldn’t answer. She knew exactly how long it’d been since burying her baby girl. But she couldn’t seem to do anything about it.
"You need to get away from there," Piper insisted. "You need to escape all the memories and just start over."
Start over. The words sent a shiver up her spine. Start over.
"You’re coming to live with me. That’s all there is to it. And you’re going to get help. Your family’s been too lenient, not pushing you toward therapy. But that’s what you need."
Mia wasn’t sure what all her friend went through to move her from Illinois, but a month later, she was living at 410 South Elm and all her things had been arranged in her new room. She didn’t remember much of the move. Piper must’ve taken care of everything because Mia had only been along for the ride, half out of it.
Life here wasn’t easy though. It’d been good for her, yes. But easy? No. After starting therapy, along came a job and responsibilities. Piper made her take on half the cooking and cleaning, half the laundry, and half the bills. And her friend had been right about starting over fresh. Moving had been exactly what she needed.
She owed her life to Piper. She’d saved Mia. Literally.
"Nothing’s wrong," she murmured now, her voice an octave too high. Tearing her gaze from the flowers, she forced a nervous smile Piper’s way.
But her roommate was no fool. Setting her pop on the table next to the roses, she started cautiously toward Mia. Mia wrenched a step back, running into the closed door.
Piper stopped. "Mia?"
"I saw Drew again." It was the first thing she could think to say to divert her friend’s attention; the words just kind of rushed from her throat.
Surprise and excitement bloomed on Piper’s face. "You did?"
Mia nodded. "I went over to his house."
"Oh, Mia," Piper breathed out in awe. "That’s so wonderful. What happened?"
Mia winced. "I totally bombed it." And so had he.
Face falling, Piper’s features filled with sympathy. "Oh, honey, I’m sorry. You were so hopeful too."
Nodding again, Mia murmured, "There will be other guys." Even as she spoke the words, though, she worried no other guy would ever provide her excitement and comfort, all in one pleasant package, the way Drew had.
Piper grinned. "That’s the spirit. And whenever you’re ready, I’ve got a couple dozen to introduce to you."
Mia chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Not yet," she muttered.
"This guy I’m seeing now, for example," Piper continued. "He’s got a bunch of hunky, successful, single friends. I’m sure any one of them would jump at the chance to take you out."
Though Mia was dying to ask about this "guy" Piper was seeing, she kept her mouth shut and merely gave the woman a brief smile. All the while, her mind raced.
Was her best friend dating a married man?
Mia couldn’t picture it. But then again, Piper was being surprising closed-mouth about her newest beau. In fact, this was the first time she’d actually volunteered information. After Piper had received the roses, Mia had asked, but Piper merely shrugged it off.
"Oh, he’s just this guy I’ve been out with a few times." And then she’d casually changed the subject, asking Mia about her job.
Mia hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, even though Piper was always so eager to share information about the men in her life. But now … now, everything was different.
"He knows so many people," Piper was still chatting about her mystery man, making Mia’s shoulders loosen with relief.
Her friend certainly wasn’t acting like she was hiding anything now.
"Last weekend, he took me to this fancy restaurant that’s, like, three hours away, and all the waitresses and servers there knew him by name. Isn’t that amazing?"
Mia was more amazed by the fact he had to drive so far away to take her to eat. Why couldn’t he find someplace close? Did he not want to be seen by someone he knew … like his wife?
"So … " she couldn’t help but ask. "How’d you two meet?"
Piper grinned and flushed like a teenager with her first crush. "He came to the salon, and I cut his hair."
Mia nodded mutely.
"I guess his usual stylist is Darla. But she was out that day, and he had some big meeting, so he popped in for a quickie trim," she winked, "and got me instead."
Mia swallowed, suddenly ill.
"And, oh my God, Mi Mi. Jay has, like, the softest hair ever. I fell in love with his golden locks after the first snip."
"Jay?" Mia echoed. Short for Jeffrey, perhaps?
Piper cleared her throat and glanced away. "That’s my nickname for him."
Nodding pleasantly, Mia ignored the ball of anxiety forming in her stomach. "He sounds … " married.
"Oh, he is," Piper gushed, coming back around with a beam of excitement. "He’s absolutely wonderful. He might be a little older but that just means he’s settled and responsible and successful. He’s not like the immature, inconsiderate losers I’ve dated before."
Not sure how to respond, Mia could only watch the glow on her friend’s face as Piper detailed his many positive attributes. "Jay" supposedly owned a sleek Charger, wore three-piece suits to work and liked Starbucks.
"I think he might be the one," Piper finished on a blissful sigh.
Mia winced; thank goodness her friend didn’t notice.
The thought struck her that maybe Piper didn’t know. If she didn’t realize "Jay" already had a significant other, then it was Mia’s duty to tell her. She owed it to her friend to reveal the truth. But if Jay wasn’t Jeffrey Alan Wright then Mia didn’t want to scare Piper unnecessarily. Trying to be as unassuming as possibly, she asked, "What’s his last name?"
Piper turned away slightly to pick her can up. She stalled a few seconds, drinking heartily, staring at her six roses as she set the can back down. Then she turned back to Mia with a frown. "Is it my turn to cook tonight or yours? I can’t remember?"
Mia’s lips parted, stunned. "Uh … It’s mine."
"Thank God," Piper went on. "I told a friend I’d eat out with her. We’re going to that new deli on the mall."
As she gabbed on, Mia could only stare. She couldn’t believe Piper would so obviously evade her question. It was like she was protecting him, which meant she already knew about his marital status.
Piper couldn’t seem to look her in the eyes as she talked about the sandwich she wanted to taste test tonight. "It’s supposed to have melted mozzarella and this special sauce … "
Suddenly feeling disconnect from her friend, Mia eased a step back. Piper was lying to her, or at least she was avoiding the truth.
The realization hurt.
If Piper couldn’t share a secret with Mia, then how strong was their relationship … really? How long could Mia continue depending on Piper for her emotional support if they couldn’t trust each other?
Too dizzy to
listen to any more bull, she cleared her throat and turned to go. But at the last second, she spun back. "Is-he-married?" she rushed out the question, making it sound like she’d uttered one word instead of three.
Piper froze, then slowly frowned. "Excuse me?"
"Is he married?" Mia repeated, straightening her spine. "Does Jay stand for Jeffrey Wright? Is his wife’s name Mandy? Do they have children together?"
Chapter Five
Piper’s mouth opened, then closed. Then opened again. "I … how …" She closed her mouth once more. But her eyes were wide with guilt and surprise.
"She knows about you," Mia said, her voice soft. "His wife. Mandy. She knows he sent you the roses."
Piper shook her head a single time to deny it, but then her shoulders dropped. "Oh, no," she whispered and plopped into a chair, staring up at Mia with a bleak expression. "How does she know? How do you know she knows?"
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell all. Reveal Drew’s deceit and his involvement in the entire, sordid mess. But at the last second, she held back. Piper hadn’t been honest with her recently, keeping a secret as big and awful as adultery, so Mia didn’t mind stretching her own bit of truth. Besides, she didn’t want to reveal what an idiot she was for being taken in so completely by a liar like Drew Harper.
"She came here," she said. "Yesterday. While you were at work. She accused me of sleeping with her husband, of receiving your roses. She was upset, Piper. She was so upset."
"Oh, no," Piper said again, covering her gaping mouth with both hands. "She came here? What’d you tell her?"
"I told her the truth. I’m not dating anyone’s husband."
Piper waved her arms, impatient. "What about the flowers? What’d you tell her about the roses?"
Jaw going hard, Mia said, "I told her she must be mistaken because no one had sent any flowers here."
"Thank God." Pressing her fingers against her temples, Piper sent Mia a tremulous smile. "Thank you, Mi Mi. I owe you big time."
"You owe me an explanation," Mia said, setting her fists on her hips.
Piper’s smile died. She eased to her feet. "What do you mean, an explanation?"
"I lied for you," Mia said through gritted teeth. "I lied to an innocent woman while you were out there, with her husband, doing God-knows-what."
Her roommate didn’t speak, just stood there, looking ashamed as she stared down at her feet.
"How could you?" Mia whispered. "He’s married to another woman, made commitments with another woman, had children with another woman. How could you break up a family, Piper?"
"I …" Expression going stubbornly shuttered, Piper lifted her face. "He’s miserable, okay? He wants to leave her."
"Wants to and will are two entirely different words, Pipe."
Piper ground her molars. "I know, but—"
"There’s nothing you can say that will sugar coat this. You’re wrong. You’re—"
"I’m in love with him!"
Mia closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her forehead. "Then wait until he has a license for divorce in his hand before you ever see him again."
"Oh, like that’s not going to hurt his wife and children if he leaves them for me."
Shaking her head, Mia turned away. "I can’t even talk to you."
"Mi Mi, you don’t understand. He and I—"
"I don’t want to understand this. I don’t want anything to do with it. What you’re doing is—"
Eyes filling with tears, Piper cried, "Stop. Just stop." Spinning away, she rushed from the room, her footsteps pounding down the hall until a door slammed.
Shaking with too many emotions to name, Mia crumpled into a chair and covered her mouth with her hands.
•
Sunday afternoon, Drew found himself sitting across a dinner table from his brother-in-law, eating pot roast. To his left, his niece Natalie rattled on about summer camp her parents were finally letting her attend. To his right, her sister Lucy begged to go too. And all the while, their little brother Felix was lost in his own world, making motor noises as he ran his fork through the mashed potatoes, causing gravy to spill and seep into a pile of peas.
"That’s enough," Jeff muttered, scowling at the boy.
Next to Felix, Mandy shot out an arm to catch her son’s hand. "Eat," she ordered quietly.
Drew glanced from Mandy to Jeff, unable to imagine their lives separate from each other. This right here was who they were. Not so interested in eating either, he glanced toward his nephew.
Felix, who’d gone right back to making a fort in front of his pile of peas, but was doing it silently, could be a holy terror sometimes. Drew adored that most about the boy though. Mandy and Jeff had let the girls name him, worried they would feel left out with a new baby around … and not just any baby, but Jeffrey’s long-wished-for boy. So, per Lucy and Natalie, he’d been aptly dubbed after Felix the cat. He seemed to take his mischievous namesake to heart.
As Mandy once again told her son to stop playing, Natalie blathered on. "And I’m going to get some stationery so I can write you guys every day."
"I want some stationary too," Lucy said.
"Honey, you’ll get to go to camp in two more years and you’ll get some stationary then," Mandy assured her second daughter as she ripped Felix’s entire plate away from him.
From the end of the table, Jeff caught Drew’s eye. "Always use condoms," he muttered.
"Jeffrey!" Amanda exploded, looking absolutely scandalized as she plopped the plate back in front of her son.
"What’re condoms?" Lucy and Felix asked together.
Narrowing her eyes on their father, their mother hissed, "I believe it’s your responsibility to answer since you’re the one who started the subject."
Husband and wife battled through a brief stare off before Jeff finally slumped with a defeated sigh. Drew, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier. This was exactly the nature of their marriage. He’d never understood it, but it worked for them, or at least it had always worked for them before. It felt almost comfortable to watch them snap at each other.
"You’re too young to know," Jeff advised his two youngest.
Amanda snorted. "Brilliant answer."
"Well, what did you expect me to say?"
"I know what they are," Natalie bragged as she lifted her nose, looking smug about being the oldest and so much wiser than Felix and Lucy.
"How do you know?" her dad demanded.
"They’re—"
"Natalie!" her mother squawked.
"—those ketchup and mustard and salt packages you get at McDonalds when you order a happy meal."
As her two parents sighed out their relief, Drew threw back his head and laughed. A second later, his brother-in-law joined in.
"Yeah, Drew," Jeff chuckled. "Always remember to order extra ketchup."
"It’s not funny," Amanda informed the two men.
Though Drew tried to straighten his face, Jeff sent her an irritated scowl. "Oh, relax. It’s not that big a deal."
His wife didn’t respond. Instead, she sent her brother a telling look. See what I mean? This is how he’s been treating me.
But Drew didn’t see at all. Jeff and Mandy had always been like this. He still remembered the time when they’d been dating. After one thick snowfall, Jeff had spun a few doughnuts in a church’s empty parking lot with his Camaro. Drew had loved it, laughing uproariously as he was slung around the back seat. But from her spot in the front passenger’s seat, Mandy screamed her head off, demanding he stop.
Snapping at each other was their way of saying I love you.
Jeffrey seemed perfectly normal to him. He hadn’t said or done anything that was in any way unlike the usual Jeff.
"You want a beer?" he asked as soon as lunch was over and Mandy was clearing the dinner table while the kids played in the back yard.
Drew sent a quick glance his sister’s way. He could tell she’d heard her husband’s question because she paused briefly in stacking plat
es and stared hard at the top of the table. She’d murder him if he said no.
"Sure," he answered and followed Jeff through the kitchen and out the side door into a well-kept garage. Jeff’s hideout.
As the older man opened the fridge and ducked inside only to appear with two bottles in hand, a pent-up ball of tension loosened in Drew’s chest. Amanda had been freaking him out there. He’d actually worried the man who was almost closer to him than a blood brother was ruining his marriage by dating another woman. But this was Jeff as Jeff always acted.
"So, how’s the love life, Drew?" he asked as he handed the beer over.
Drew relaxed even more as he popped off the cap and listened to the refreshing hiss of air that followed. Yeah, he was still the same old Jeff. Always wanted to know about everyone’s dates.
Snorting, he said, "What love life?" and took a long drink, relishing the cool liquid that slid down his throat. He closed his eyes, trying to ignore the image of Mia that jumped to the front. But too many times, he pictured her standing in his living room and nervously holding out that list of addresses, her big grey eyes wide with uncertainty and hope.
He sighed as he dropped the beer to his side, only to find Jeff standing there, his own bottle still unopened, studying him intently with his arms crossed. "There’s this new intern at the office," he told Drew. "She’s pretty cute. Smart too. I could set you up if you want."
"Oh, yeah?" Drew asked, trying to hide his interest. Was it Mia? Did she just have a death in the family and Jeff had sent her flowers?
"Where’s she live?" he asked.
His brother-in-law threw him a surprised look. "Heck, I don’t know. She just started a couple weeks ago. I’ve only talked to her a handful of times. We haven’t exactly exchanged addresses and phone numbers yet."
"She got a name?" Drew wondered.
"Uh …" Jeff looked momentarily blank. And then he snapped his fingers. "Allison. Her name’s Allison. Don’t ask for a last. I have no idea."
