“Good morning.” She forced a smile as he joined her.
“Is it?” He took the seat across from her. “Sorry I’m late. I overslept. Coffee, please,” he said to a passing waiter. “So,” he began, looking across the table at Lina, “should we tackle the elephant in the room or ignore it?”
“I think ignore it,” Lina said.
“Works for me.” He dragged his hands down his face as he leaned back in his chair. “I’m going to be useless until I get my coffee.”
“I’m afraid she’ll hurt you,” Lina rushed out.
“Hurt me?” A slow smile came to his face.
“I feel like since I introduced you, I’m responsible. You must think I’m an awful sister, but I just—I just don’t want things to get awkward for us when she undoubtedly dumps you. Every guy she dates falls for her. And they end up with a broken heart.”
He laughed aloud at that. “Duly noted, Lina, but I promise you my heart is safe.”
Lina’s face heated when she realized how naive she sounded. He was a handsome, forty-seven-year-old man who had a one-night thing with her sister, and she was acting like he was already thinking about marriage. “I’m sorry. Just ignore me. I’ve been with the same man since I was fifteen. I have no idea what the dating world is like.”
“Fifteen? Impressive. How many children?”
Liam popped into her head. “Um—three.”
He smiled. “You’re sure?”
“Yes.” Lina nodded.
***
Phil noted Matt’s Mustang in the driveway when he returned home from an early run. It wasn’t quite ten a.m. The kid definitely spent more time at their home than his own. Katie’s voice drifted to him from the back of the house as he closed the front door. He found them on the family-room couch, Katie leaning against Matt’s side with his arm stretched around her shoulders as she read from a book of poetry.
“I need you to clean up the house before Mom gets back tonight,” he said. “I don’t want her coming home to this mess.”
“What?” Katie closed the book as she sat up. “It’s not my mess. I’m not picking up after Logan. And that’s yours,” she said, looking pointedly at the empty beer bottle on the coffee table.
“Whose shoes are those?” Phil pointed at a pair of shoes on the floor. “Whose dishes?” He nodded at the half-full cup and plate on the coffee table. “Whose book bag?”
“I’m using it all. The rest of the stuff in here is Logan’s and yours.”
“I want everything cleaned up, including the kitchen. That includes vacuuming.”
“That’s not—”
“I’ll give you forty dollars.”
She relaxed back into Matt. “Fifty.”
“Forty-five and you’re making my bed, too.” He left the room, looking down at his cell phone as he headed toward the front of the house. He was scheduled to visit with Liam at noon and had texted Kim saying he would like to stretch his two-hour visit into four. Lina wasn’t scheduled to arrive home until late in the evening and Logan was going to a high school football game, so he figured he should take advantage of his free afternoon.
There was a new text from Lina, replying to the good-morning text he’d sent her an hour earlier. I miss you.
He was preparing to respond when another text arrived, this one from Kim.
Noon to four is fine. We’re at our new place. Moments later he received a second message with her address. Phil paused halfway up the stairs, his eyes narrowed. She’d moved to his neighborhood.
Chapter Sixteen
Phil arrived at the address Kim provided thirty minutes earlier than scheduled, slamming his car door before jogging up the walk to a three-story town house. He pressed the button for the doorbell and then began slapping his hand on the door, too riled up to stay still.
When thirty seconds passed without a response, he tried the knob and found the door unlocked. He stepped into the two-story foyer. A large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. There were boxes stacked in a room to the left. It was obvious a move was in progress. Kim was a talented attorney, but with her limited experience there was no way she could have afforded the house on her associate’s salary. His child support was footing a large portion of her rent or mortgage.
“Kim?” he called out. “Kim?” His running shoes cushioned the sounds of his steps on the hardwood as he made his way through the foyer, into a living room, and then to a large gourmet kitchen with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. It wasn’t as high-end as the kitchen in his own home, which Lina had updated a few years prior, but it was definitely constructed with top-of-the-line materials.
He continued through the kitchen to a family room, which was set in the back of the house. There was a playpen set up in front of the fireplace. Lina had never used one for their children. He heard Liam a moment before he saw him. He was sitting in the center of the playpen, babbling at the stuffed bear in his hands.
His eyes widened when he saw Phil. “Dadda.”
Phil’s anger dropped a notch as he lifted Liam into his arms. “Hey, buddy.” He brushed his lips over his son’s soft cheek.
“Dadda!” Liam squealed, patting Phil’s face.
Phil felt the usual mixture of guilt and love in response to Liam’s enthusiastic greeting. “That’s right, buddy. I’m your daddy.” He couldn’t know for sure because he hadn’t paid close attention with his other children, but he felt like Liam used the word “daddy” more than they had. It was as if he was unconsciously reminding Phil that he was his son.
“Dadda.”
Phil pressed his lips into his forehead. “I love you, too.” He thought of how Logan’s eyes used to light up whenever he came into the room when he was Liam’s age. Of course, with him it had been daily. With Liam it was only once a week.
“Phil?”
His entire body tensed up in response to Kim’s voice.
“What are you doing here?”
He slowly turned to find Kim standing just inside the room. The smell of her perfume wafted in the air. “What am I doing here?” His eyes narrowed in anger. “What in the fuck are you doing here?” he exploded, the veins in his neck and temples bulging.
She took a step backward. “I—I told you I was coming back to Baltimore.”
“Baltimore is thirty fucking minutes away! This is my home!”
Liam burst into tears.
“Fuck,” Phil whispered.
“I was trying to make it convenient for you to see your son,” she said.
“You should have checked with me,” he said, keeping his voice low as he attempted to soothe Liam, rubbing his hand over his back. “Closer to the office would have been convenient.”
“Maybe if you had answered my phone calls you could have told me how you felt.”
“You could have texted me,” he bit out. “Did you buy this place?”
She lifted her chin. “Yes.”
“Fuck!”
Liam began to wail.
Phil turned from Kim, jiggling Liam in his arms as he crossed to the French doors leading onto the back deck. He stepped outside, breathing in the cool autumn air as he attempted to calm down. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against the top of Liam’s head. “Daddy’s sorry.” It was a nightmare. He couldn’t imagine how Lina was going to react. They’d have to move. With Logan and Katie in private school, they could live anywhere.
It took minutes, but eventually Liam’s tears stopped and he fell asleep against his father’s chest. Kim was in the kitchen, putting dishes away, when Phil came back into the house. “I need his stroller and diaper bag.”
“Where are you taking him?”
He took a deep breath. Just the sound of her voice made him want to punch a wall. “Just get me his stuff,” he said through gritted teeth, walking past her, toward the front of the house. “I’ll have him back at four.”
“I moved here because I thought it was what was best f
or Liam.” Kim joined Phil in the foyer with the stroller and the diaper bag. “I’m not trying to cause problems for you. That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Is it?” He slung the diaper bag over his shoulder. “You don’t want to cause me trouble?”
“No, of course not.”
He lifted the stroller and opened the front door, pausing before he stepped outside. “Then why did you put a Victoria’s Secret receipt in my suit jacket for my wife to find?”
Her eyes widened in surprise before she quickly masked it. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’re not a very good liar.”
***
“Asshole,” Adele said, looking down at her phone.
“What?” Lina asked. They were on the train, less than an hour from home.
“William. He sent me his address.”
“His address?” Lina frowned. “Why would he do that?”
“Why do you think? He wants me to come over.”
“Oh.” Lina’s gaze returned to the magazine she’d been flipping through. She’d been relieved after her conversation with William, assuming, incorrectly obviously, that the relationship wasn’t going anywhere.
“Nice.” Adele held out her phone.
Lina’s eyes narrowed as she took in the large modern home. “Is that his house?”
“Yep. He lives in Potomac. Two-point-nine million, according to Zillow.”
“I didn’t need to know that,” Lina said.
“Do you mind taking an Uber home?”
“What? Why? You’re not going to actually go there, are you? We’re not getting back until ten. You wouldn’t even get to his house until eleven. You just called him an asshole.”
“I happen to like this asshole.”
An hour later, Adele followed Lina off the train and down the platform toward the front of the station. “We’ll just use my phone to get your Uber. You really need to download the app though. If you start traveling more, you’re going to want to use it sometimes.”
“I don’t know. Can’t anyone be an Uber driver? Phil will probably have a fit if I show up in one of those. Maybe I should just take a cab.”
“I use them all the time,” Adele said, tapping on her phone as they walked down the platform. “Phil probably does, too, when he’s traveling. Everyone does. There’s…” She trailed off. “Never mind. Your Uber is here.”
“Already?”
“Yes. Your driver has a BMW.”
Lina smiled when she saw Phil striding toward them looking ruggedly handsome in jeans and a dark sweater, a couple of days’ scruff on his face.
“Ladies.” He cupped the side of Lina’s jaw as he brushed his lips over hers. “Hi, baby,” he whispered before kissing her again.
“Ciao,” Adele said.
“Wait—wait,” Phil said. “Where are you going?”
“To my car. I drove, remember?”
“We’ll take you.” He took her suitcase in one hand and Lina’s in the other, leaving them with their shopping bags. “It’s late.”
“Give me my bag back, Phil. I walk to my car alone all the time,” Adele said.
“Not when I’m around, you don’t.”
“Caveman,” Adele grumbled, rolling her eyes.
After seeing Adele safely to her car, Phil wrapped his arm around Lina’s shoulders as they made their way out of the parking garage. When they reached his BMW, he opened her door and waited until she was safely inside before putting her suitcase in the trunk.
“My feet are killing me,” Lina said once the car was in motion and they were headed home. “We must have walked ten miles.” She slipped off her shoes, sighing with relief.
“Here.” He patted his thigh. “Give them to me.”
Lina turned sideways in her seat, lifting up her legs and placing her feet on Phil’s thighs as she leaned back against the door. She moaned aloud when he began to massage the sole of one of her feet. “God, I love you.”
“Enough to not leave me alone again?”
“As little as possible. That feels so good.” She closed her eyes. “How are the kids?” It felt like a week instead of two days since she’d seen them.
“Logan had a date last night.”
“What?” She pulled her feet back, sitting up straighter on the seat. “How come you didn’t tell me?”
“I just told you.”
“I mean before—before the date. Who is she?” She’d been gone two days and missed something significant.
“Tiffany something. I don’t remember. She’s a senior at River Hill.”
“A senior? He’s a sophomore. What do we know about this girl?”
“I just told you what we know about her.”
“Why does he always date older girls?” The girl he had dated the year before had been two years older as well. “That’s not normal, is it?”
“He likes them more experienced.”
“That’s not even funny. You’re kidding, right?”
“Right,” he answered.
“Are you? Or are you just saying that because you think that’s what I want to hear?”
“I don’t know why he likes older girls.”
“It’s not like he’s mature for his age,” Lina continued. “I don’t like the idea of it. She could manipulate him.”
“Let it go. It was one date.”
“Did you meet her?”
“No. He was going with a group. I dropped him at Will’s.”
“Why didn’t he mention it to me before I left? He used to talk to me more.”
“Be happy you had him as long as you did. I never shared with my mom like he shared with you. What you’re getting from him now is more normal.”
“What are you saying? That this is how it’s going to be from now on?” Lina frowned at him. “That he’s not going to talk to me anymore?” She felt sick at the thought.
He took her hand and brought it to his mouth, brushing his lips over the inside of her wrist. “Don’t be sad.”
“I am sad. Logan has always been the open one, and he didn’t share this with me.”
“He’s turning into a man. He couldn’t be a mama’s boy forever. But you’ll always be his first love. And you’ll always be the love of my life.”
“I want to be the love of both of your lives.”
He smiled. “Now you’re just being greedy.” He kissed her hand again before bringing it to rest on his thigh.
“What else did I miss?” In an instant she could feel the mood in the car shift. “What?”
“We’ll talk when we get home.”
“Did something happen? Is Katie—”
“Katie’s fine. We’ll talk at home.”
It was something to do with Kim. Lina could see it in the set of his jaw. “She took the job and moved to Baltimore, didn’t she?”
“Lina—”
“Just tell me.” She sighed. “I know it’s about her.”
“We have to move.”
“What? What are you talking about? Why would we have to move?” He loved their home as much as she did. They’d lived in it more than thirteen years. They’d never even talked about the possibility of moving.
“Kim.”
“Kim,” she repeated, her stomach dropping. “What did she do?”
“Can we—”
“Tell me,” Lina said.
“She bought a town house in River Hill.”
“You mean our River Hill?” she asked in disbelief. “She bought a house five minutes from us?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God.” Lina brought her hands up to cover her face. “Our grocery store is right there. My yoga studio.” She felt nauseous.
“I’m sorry, baby.” He slid his hand over her upper back.
“She’s trying to ruin our lives,” Lina whispered.
“We can move.”
“No!” Lina shook her head. “She�
��s not driving us out of our home. This is our children’s home. I already lost Steamboat because of her. Oh my God. I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this.” She felt the pressure of tears behind her eyes. “Oh my God. We’re going to run into her when we go out. I could see her at the grocery store. Oh my God.” It was like a nightmare.
“I’m sorry.”
“Everyone is going to know. Everyone in the legal community and now everyone in our neighborhood. This is my fault.”
“No. No. How could this be your fault?”
“Because I haven’t even met him. It’s been six months since you came back. I’ve been living as if it didn’t happen. My mom says that when you resist something it comes at you harder.”
“Your mother says a lot of crazy things.”
“No, she’s right. I should have met him by now. I’ve been putting it off too long.”
“Lina, baby, this has nothing to do with you not meeting him. This is Kim trying to upset our lives. That’s it. That’s all it is.”
“Well, if that’s all it is, it’s working.”
Chapter Seventeen
Over the ensuing days Lina threw herself into Liam’s nursery, ordering the furniture and peripherals, painting the walls, and getting Phil and Matt to move the existing furniture into their shed. She’d made a point of not asking for Logan’s help and insisted Phil do the same, so she was thankful that Matt was around to assist with the heavy lifting.
The following Wednesday, ten days after Lina’s New York interview, Dolmar Enterprises sent her an official job offer. It was three pages and full of information on 401(k)s and health benefits, but the section her eyes kept going back to was her title. She was the creative director of their residential property division, responsible for the conception, planning, and execution of their interior spaces. At forty-one she was receiving her first official offer letter. She felt silly when tears came to her eyes.
She called Phil first, but when there was no answer she called Adele. “I received the offer,” she said.
“How much?” Adele asked.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s in the offer. That’s the whole point of the letter.”
Swimming Naked Page 13
