Swimming Naked

by Laura Branchflower

If Megan sensed Katie wasn’t pleased with her presence, she didn’t show it, chatting enthusiastically the entire five-minute drive about her classes, her sorority, and her overall college experience. “You’re going to love it,” she told Katie. “It’s like being a real adult.”

  “Except you’re not paying any of your own bills,” Katie said. “Real adults support themselves.”

  “I have a scholarship. That pays a big portion of my expenses,” Megan said. “Where are you applying?” she asked Katie as they got out of the car.

  Katie shrugged. “I haven’t decided.”

  “Do you know what you want to major in?”

  “Philosophy.”

  “Have you looked at UVA?”

  “I don’t think I want to go that far away.”

  “It’s only, like, four hours.”

  To Lina’s delight they continued to talk as they made their way to the entrance of the yoga studio, sounding more like friends than the combatants that they normally resembled. She was disappointed but not surprised when Megan decided to do Power Yoga instead of the regular yoga she and Katie preferred.

  “It’s not enough of a workout,” Megan said, sounding like Phil, who claimed yoga wasn’t exercise. “If I do yours, I’ll have to run later.”

  “She doesn’t get that it’s for your mind as much as your body,” Katie complained as she rolled out her mat beside Lina’s. “It isn’t supposed to be a competition.”

  An hour later Lina followed Katie back out into the lobby, encompassed by the sense of well-being she almost always experienced after yoga. Megan, who indeed looked like she’d had a more intense workout, her face red from exertion, was chatting with a woman near the front doors.

  “Can you sign me up for the full membership since you’re here?” Katie asked.

  “Yes, but are you sure you need the unlimited?” she asked as they headed to the front desk.

  “Yes. I come every day.”

  “I know you do, but are you going to continue to when…?” Lina trailed off as her gaze focused on the woman standing beside Megan. It was Kim.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “Let’s go,” Lina said to Katie.

  “You just said you’d sign me up.”

  “I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. We’re here now,” Katie said, following her toward the entrance.

  Megan noticed them when they were several yards away. “Mom, this is—”

  “We have to get home,” Lina interrupted, ignoring Kim completely as she reached for the door.

  “Mom, she’s friends with Dad. She recognized me from my picture in his office.”

  “She isn’t friends with your father,” Lina said in a surprisingly composed voice, considering her heart felt like it was beating at an alarming rate.

  Megan frowned as she lifted the drink in her hand. “She bought me a smoothie. I owe her five dollars.”

  Lina stepped to Megan, took the smoothie from her hand, and shoved it into a nearby trash can. “Come on.” She gripped Megan’s arm, propelling her toward the door. “We have to get home to your father.”

  “What is wrong with you?” Megan asked as soon as they were all outside. “Why did you do that? I barely drank any of it.”

  Lina walked hurriedly through the parking lot, ignoring Megan’s barrage of questions until they were in the car. “That was her.”

  “Who?” Megan asked.

  “Liam’s mother.” She released a breath as she started the car.

  “Liam’s mother,” Megan repeated in confusion. “Who’s Liam?”

  “Dad’s Liam?” Katie asked from the back seat.

  “Yes.”

  “But she’s so young,” Megan said.

  Lina closed her eyes.

  “She seemed nice,” Megan continued.

  “She isn’t nice,” Katie said. “She had an affair with Dad. She isn’t nice.”

  “I didn’t say she was nice. I said she seemed nice. What was she doing here anyway? Why was she at our yoga place?”

  “I don’t know.” Lina put the car into drive and began maneuvering out of the parking spot.

  “Are you okay to drive?” Megan asked. “Your hands are shaking.”

  “I’m fine. I was just—I was a little surprised to see you talking to her.”

  “I didn’t know who she was,” Megan said defensively. “I wouldn’t have talked—”

  “I know,” Lina interrupted her, covering her hand. “It’s not your fault.”

  ***

  Phil looked up from the newspaper when Logan shuffled into the kitchen, his eyes puffy with sleep.

  “Can we get the tree today? Will’s family puts theirs up the day after Thanksgiving every year.”

  “What’s the rush?”

  “We can have it longer. We can decorate the outside of the house today, too.” He took a box of cereal from the pantry. “I can bring everything out of the basement. I’ll do most of the work.”

  The sound of the garage door opening preceded the entrance of Megan, followed by Katie.

  “We’re going to get the tree today,” Logan announced. “Do you want to come?”

  “No,” Megan answered, not pausing as she continued out of the room.

  “Is she okay?” Phil asked Katie.

  Katie shrugged, avoiding his eyes as she crossed to the pantry.

  His attention turned to Lina as she entered the kitchen. “What’s going on? Megan looked upset.”

  Lina’s gaze shifted to Logan.

  “What’s wrong?” Phil asked as soon as they were in the mudroom with the door closed.

  “Kim was there. At yoga. She was in Megan’s class. She apparently recognized Megan from the pictures in your office.”

  Blood surged to his head. “She spoke to her?”

  “Yes. I don’t know—”

  Phil snatched his keys from a hook beside the door and slammed into the garage, ignoring Lina’s pleas to stop as he got in his car, started the engine, and drove away.

  His anger only grew during the five-minute drive to Kim’s. Both her assigned spots were taken, so he parked behind her Lexus, boxing her in. He was out of his car and jogging toward her door, completely immune to the fact that he was in shorts and a T-shirt when the air temperature was below thirty.

  He was momentarily surprised when instead of Kim, a woman in her early thirties with blonde hair and a petite build answered the door. “Get Kim,” he bit out, gripping the doorframe and putting his foot just inside the house so she couldn’t close the door.

  She held up her hands, taking a step backward. “I think you need to take a few deep breaths.”

  “Get. Kim,” he repeated as he came into the house. “Now!”

  “I don’t know what she did, but you need to calm the fuck down because you’re scaring the shit out of me. You’re Phil, right?”

  “This isn’t a social call.”

  She held up her cell phone. “I don’t want to, but I will call the police if you take another step.”

  A ball came rolling down the hallway, followed by the pitter-patter of feet and Liam’s voice. “Ba…ba…ba.”

  “I’m Cammie, Kim’s older sister. I’m not the enemy.”

  Liam came barreling into the foyer after the ball. His eyes widened when he saw Phil. “Dadda!” he squealed, ignoring the ball in favor of his father. “Dadda!” He wrapped his little arms around Phil’s leg.

  “Hey, buddy.” Phil forced a smile he didn’t feel as he lifted Liam into his arms.

  “Dadda!” Liam said, looking at his aunt as he patted Phil’s face.

  “Yes, that’s your daddy. I can see that.”

  “Ba,” Liam said, pointing at the ball, which had stopped rolling and was resting near the door. He struggled to get down.

  Phil set him on his feet, watching him scamper across the foyer to the ball. “Where’s Kim?” he asked, doing his be
st to keep his anger in check.

  “What did she do?”

  Phil watched Liam pick up the ball and launch it haphazardly back down the hallway. “Ba,” he shouted before chasing after it.

  “Phil?” Kim halted halfway down the stairs. She was dressed in dark running tights and a hoodie, gloves dangling from one hand. “What are you doing here?”

  The anger that had taken a minute hiatus was back in an instant. “You know exactly why I’m here.” He launched himself up the stairs, taking them two at a time until he was in front of her, pointing his finger in her face. “You stay the fuck away from my wife,” he snarled, spit spewing from his mouth. “You stay the fuck away from my children. You stay the fuck away from my house.”

  “Mama!” Liam’s high-pitched wail penetrated Phil’s ears and subconscious. Liam was climbing up the stairs, tears streaming from his eyes. “Mama!” He held his hand toward her.

  “Oh my God.” Cammie scooped him into her arms. “I didn’t realize he was in here.” She pulled him into her chest. “It’s okay, Liam. Mommy’s okay.” She rushed him out of the foyer.

  “I didn’t know they went to that yoga studio.”

  “Stay. Away,” he bit out.

  “Believe it or not, I didn’t choose to fall in love with you,” Kim said, brushing a few stray tears from her cheek with the back of her hand. “It just happened.”

  “You don’t know me enough to love me. We fucked for a few months, Kim. Get over it!” He turned and began descending the stairs.

  “I bet your other children have never had to witness you talk to their mother like that.”

  “You’re right,” he agreed. “Because I respect their mother.” He opened the door and left the house.

  “You are such an asshole!” Kim cried as she ran out of the house behind him.

  “You have no idea what an asshole I can be.” He stopped when they reached his car, pointing his finger in her face once more. “Stay the fuck away from my wife!”

  She met his eyes, her own swimming with tears. “I think I might hate you.”

  “Thank. God,” he snarled. “You are nothing to me. Do you understand that? And I will do whatever it takes to protect my family. If that means destroying your career, I will. If you speak to them again, I’m filing a restraining order, and Hendrix, Wolff, and Pearson will know. Don’t mess with me.”

  “I hate you,” she whispered before jogging away.

  As Phil lowered himself into the driver’s seat of his car, his eyes focused on Kim’s house. Guilt rocketed through him at the memory of Liam’s distraught cry. Lina would never have left one of their children when they were in such a state. Kim had gone running.

  When Phil stepped back into the foyer, he heard Liam’s muffled cries coming from the back of the house. He found him in the kitchen, cradled in his aunt’s arms, crying so hard he was hyperventilating, his little body jerking every few seconds. “Hey, buddy,” he said softly, stroking his hand over Liam’s sweat-drenched hair.

  “Mama,” Liam whimpered.

  “It’s okay.” He took Liam from Cammie, pulling him into his body. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against the side of his head, jiggling him as he crossed to the French doors overlooking a wooded lot. “Shh, shh.” After a minute he felt Liam calming, the tears drying, but his body continued to jerk every few seconds, the aftermath of his hard cry. “Where’s your ball? Do you want to show Daddy how hard you can throw it?”

  “Ba,” Liam said.

  “Yeah, where’s your ball?”

  “Here.” Cammie was beside them, holding out the ball.

  “Ba,” Liam said, his hand gripping the small red ball. He smiled.

  Phil’s heart tugged as he looked at his son’s tear-swollen eyes. It was the second time in the past month he’d scared him. He wasn’t going to let it happen again. “You want to show me how you can throw it?” He bent down to a knee, setting Liam on the floor beside him. “Go ahead. Throw it.”

  Liam threw it more up than out. Phil picked up the ball and placed his hand around the back of Liam’s as he showed him the motion of a throw. “Like this. Throw it like this,” he said, demonstrating again.

  Liam launched the ball across the room.

  “Wow!” Cammie clapped her hands. “That was awesome, Liam.”

  Liam smiled and clapped for himself before running after the ball.

  Phil came to his feet. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, kneading the tight muscles. “I’m sorry. I could have handled that better.”

  “You’re right. You could have. The intensity you came in here with would be scary coming from a small man. You’re not a small man.”

  “No,” he agreed.

  “Dadda!” Liam yelled, his arm held back.

  “I’m watching, buddy. Go ahead.” He smiled when Liam again made a perfectly executed throw. “Good job.”

  “Where’s Kim?” Cammie asked.

  “Running,” Phil answered. “Tell me something. Are there mental issues in your family I should be aware of?”

  “No.” Cammie laughed. “She isn’t crazy, but she is used to getting what she wants. She wanted and still wants you. You’re definitely the first guy to ever break up with her.”

  “Breaking up with implies a relationship. I had a fling with your sister.”

  “In your mind maybe, but in hers it was a relationship. Before she even started working at your firm, she told me you were the man she was going to marry.”

  “Before?” He frowned in confusion. “I wasn’t even the partner interviewing her. I barely spoke to her.”

  “She watched you give a closing argument up in New York. You were defending a pharmaceutical executive, I think she said. She thought you were mesmerizing. She updated her résumé and sent it to your firm within a week. She took a significant salary cut leaving her firm in New York to go down to Baltimore. We were all shocked. She graduated first in her law class at Columbia. She was on the fast track to make partner.”

  “Are you saying your sister came to Baltimore for me?”

  “Yes.”

  She’d come to Baltimore for him. Phil’s hands tightened on the steering wheel on his drive home. He had no doubt now that she’d gotten pregnant on purpose. For someone who prided himself on his ability to read others, he’d certainly missed all the ques with Kim. He’d even believed her when she’d told him it was a coincidence that she’d joined the same Saturday morning running group. They’d had limited interactions there, but he’d left with her when they were done. Fuck. No wonder people from the running group started assuming they were a couple. Everything was so clear now. He’d been a fucking idiot. He had no one to blame but himself.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  The kitchen was in breakfast mode when Phil returned home. Katie was pouring herself a cup of coffee, Lina was at the stove, and Logan was sitting at the kitchen island.

  “I brought up the Christmas boxes,” Logan said. “I wasn’t sure which lights were for the outside of the house. Do you want to come look so I can get started?”

  Phil didn’t. He wanted to talk to Lina, who was watching him with an equal mixture of annoyance and relief in her eyes. “Let me just grab a slice of bacon first.” He crossed to Lina, cupping the side of her hip with one hand while he reached around her with the other to snatch a piece of bacon from a plate beside the stove. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear. “I couldn’t just ignore what she did.”

  “You could have long enough to talk to me,” she said, continuing to poke at the bacon in the skillet.

  “I was angry.”

  “Which is exactly why you should have waited a few minutes. You were in no condition to drive. You could have—”

  “Dad?” Logan interrupted. “Are you coming?”

  “Yes,” Lina answered for him. “And make sure you go talk to Megan when you’re done,” she whispered for his ears only.

  Phil lightly tappe
d his knuckles against Megan’s door a short time later. “Sweetheart, it’s Dad. May I come in?”

  The click of the lock releasing preceded a light “okay.” Phil entered the room to find Megan lying on her bed, still in her yoga attire, curled on her side, facing the wall. “Hey.” He sat down on the edge of her mattress. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m just tired.”

  “Megan?” He gently squeezed her shoulder. “Talk to me, sweetheart. Are you upset? Mom told me what happened.”

  “I don’t think I really want to talk about it, Dad.”

  “I need to know what she said to you.”

  “Nothing. It was just a normal conversation. She said she was a lawyer and that she had worked with you and that you were brilliant or mesmerizing or something like that. I don’t remember exactly.”

  “What did she say to upset you?”

  “Nothing.”

  “She must have said something. You’re clearly upset.”

  “I just…I…I didn’t expect her to look like that…to be so much younger than Mom.” She turned her face into her pillow.

  He hadn’t seen her cry since she was thirteen and her team lost the middle school lacrosse championship. She was never a child that cried easily. “Megan? Look at me. Tell me what’s going on.” He clasped her shoulder and slowly rolled her onto her back. The pain in the tear-filled eyes looking up at him tore at his heart. “Sweetheart?”

  “It wasn’t real,” she whispered. “Until I saw her, what you did wasn’t real.” She wiped at her eyes. “How could you do that? How could you be with someone besides Mom?”

  He hesitated, trying to think of a sufficient answer, but of course there wasn’t one. “I messed up,” he finally said.

  “Like Carrie’s dad,” she whispered, referring to one of her friends whose father left her mother for a younger woman. “I remember thinking you would never do something like that, and now you have.”

  “No. I didn’t leave. I would never leave Mom.”

  “But you were with that Kim! You got her pregnant and she had your baby.” She slapped her hands over her eyes. “How could you have done that?” she cried. “How?”