The Work Wife

by Allison B Hanson

  She would have given her father more notice, but she hadn’t had her story ready yet.

  Her story.

  “My husband is rich and he told me to come spend more time with you.” Hell, she forgot to wait for him to ask. The older couple was still righting themselves for company. “Wait a minute. You’re Mrs. Knox.”

  “Widow,” the woman said.

  “Oh. Sorry. I wasn’t judging.”

  “Is that a cat?” Her father frowned at the meowing fluff in the bag.

  “Yes.” She unzipped the bag and off the cat went. That would probably be the last they saw of it. Jamie’s scream the other night probably scared the poor thing down to its last life. She couldn’t leave him in the apartment by himself. Even if it was obvious he liked to be alone.

  “And why are you here again so soon?” he asked.

  “My husband is rich and he told me to come spend more time with you.” She kept her face completely blank of expression. She could have been the poster child for Botox.

  Had she just repeated her story word for word? Surely that would be suspicious.

  “I mean, Wes has a lot of money, and he said I should use some of his money to come visit you. More. Longer than the first time. Because he has so much—”

  “Jamie, you should stop now.” Her father held up his hand and winced. “I think you’re actually getting worse at this.”

  Everyone was standing in the living room, clothing where it should be. Lips touching nothing. The nurse smiled and patted Jamie’s arm as she headed for the closet where the coats were hung.

  “I’m going to go.”

  “You don’t need to leave,” her father said.

  “I have a feeling it’s going to get tense. I’ll check in later.” She kissed him on the cheek on her way out the door.

  “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

  “Sit down. Tell me why you’re sorry.”

  When she opened her mouth, the whole story came out.

  * * * *

  Weston sat down at the desk where he’d woken up at three that morning. He’d been figuring out a way to retrofit the building with bracing, and had fallen asleep.

  Surely that was a sign he was heading down the wrong path. He’d never fallen asleep at his desk when he worked at Blain and Douglas.

  He left on time most nights.

  He’d missed a call from Jamie, which sounded important, and maybe even a little pissed off. It was too early to call her. He’d wait until she had some time to calm down.

  When he went home to shower and change, he also packed a bag.

  He was going to Boston after work to surprise her. And hopefully beg forgiveness for being inattentive at the same time he undressed her. He missed her like crazy, and he was ready to ask her to move to New York with him.

  He knew it was a huge thing to ask, but he hoped she wanted him enough to want to be in the same city with him. God, he wanted her. The more time they spent apart, the more he realized how important she was to him.

  After spending the day imagining what Jamie would do when he showed up to surprise her, and the other half imagining what he would do to Jamie, he closed up his laptop to catch the train to Boston.

  He’d just stood up when Benji walked in.

  “Do you have a minute?”

  “No. I want to go see my wife.”

  “I get that. But I have a favor to ask.” Ben looked upset, and after seeing the mess his brother had been dealing with all this time, he would do whatever he could to help.

  “Whatever it is, sure thing.” He didn’t add the part about doing whatever it was after he got back from visiting Jamie.

  “Oh. Okay. That was easy.”

  Wes stopped walking again and backed up. “Wait. What is it?”

  “I’m giving you my assistant.” The smile Ben gave along with this statement alerted Wes to trouble.

  “Why? What’s wrong with her?” Wes readjusted his bag and stared at his brother.

  “Nothing. I just thought you’d be better off with someone who’s been here a while instead of hiring someone brand-new. I hope it won’t be a—” He stopped talking when the woman walked in. Wes smiled in greeting.

  “Good evening, Mr. Archer,” she said to him, ignoring Ben altogether. Ah. So this was the issue. Perfect.

  “Please, call me Weston.” Wes recognized her from his time with the company before.

  “I’m Anna, your new assistant. I wanted to know if you needed to send anything out by courier. Someone is dropping something off. I thought I’d make one trip.”

  “No. I don’t have anything to go out, except myself.” He pointed toward the door so everyone in his office understood he was trying to leave.

  “I’m sure there would be additional charges for that,” she joked pleasantly, and walked out of the office.

  “Is this going to be a problem?” Ben asked as soon as she was gone.

  Wes watched his brother watching the woman leave. “Is what a problem?”

  “Working with her. I just can’t. I was hoping it wouldn’t bother you as much.”

  “What are you talking about? What is wrong with her?” She seemed normal enough.

  “Don’t you recognize her?”

  “Yeah. But that doesn’t answer my question.”

  “She’s the woman who slept with our father.” Ben waved his hand as if revealing her in a magic trick.

  “No, she isn’t.” Wes looked at the empty doorway, knowing without a doubt it wasn’t the same woman.

  “You said she was blond.”

  Wes let out a breath. “Surely you realize there are many blond women in this city.”

  “You said her name started with an A.”

  “Again, statistically speaking, I’m guessing there’s more than just the one.”

  “Blondes who have names starting with A and work here? What are the statistics on that one?”

  “At least two. Because that is not the woman who I caught messing around with Dad.” Wes waved his hand with his own revelation.

  “Shit.”

  Anna walked in carrying an envelope and held it out.

  “Thank you, Anna.” He hoped to ease the tension between the two of them. Something was definitely up.

  “No problem. Have a safe trip.” She gave an efficient nod and left the office.

  “You’re positive?” Ben asked, looking a little sickly as the woman closed the door.

  “One hundred percent sure.”

  “Oh, no.” Ben slumped in the sofa by the door as Wes pulled the tab to open the envelope. “I like her,” Ben went on, rubbing his temples. “Really like her. Like maybe we could have had something great, but I accused her of . . .”

  Wes was putting the pieces together pretty well with Ben’s situation. But not so much with the contents of the envelope he’d just received via courier.

  “What the hell?” he whispered while Ben continued to berate himself. “Annulment?” He flipped through the stack as if there would be some explanation. There was none. But he did find his signature on the last page next to hers. Along with the name of the law firm. His family’s law firm. Complete with court seals and signatures.

  There was some kind of huge mix-up. The document read as if he was the one who wanted the annulment. It was created by his attorney, and Jamie signed it and sent it back to him without so much as a sticky note.

  His mind played back their last conversation and he let out a gasp of shock.

  His mother.

  Could she have done this? Wes knew the truth before the question was fully formed. He knew how desperate his mother had been that night to get him to end the marriage. He’d removed her from their apartment before she upset Jamie, but she was determined to get him out of the arrangement, as she called it.

  She’d also ca
lled Jamie a few names until he told her to leave and stay out of it.

  He thought his mother had respected his wishes. She’d even made it sound like she was protecting Jamie. How stupid could he be not to see what his mother was up to?

  After finding out she’d stayed married to a man who cheated on her, for the money, it made sense she would go to any extreme to keep that money secure from any foreseen threat. His mother saw Jamie as a threat.

  And he’d told Jamie to sign the papers. They’d been talking about two very different documents, but he’d told Jamie to sign them because it was for the best.

  And she’d signed them.

  “Do you know what this means?” Ben said, pain clear in his voice.

  “It means both of us have fucked up our chance at happiness?” He’d been so close to having everything.

  Ben stared at him in confusion as Wes held up the documents.

  “Apparently I’m not married anymore.”

  * * * *

  Jamie was exhausted by the time she got the story out. Her father didn’t say much. He told her he needed to think on it.

  He was sure there was some kind of misunderstanding, but after repeating the last conversation she’d had with her husband, her father simply blew out a breath and shook his head. “I don’t know what to say. I sure didn’t see this coming.”

  Neither had she.

  She’d known Wes for a very long time. She knew he didn’t like to call things off with a girl. He hated breaking up so much, it was the reason he didn’t date that often. He’d once told her that when he knew a relationship wasn’t going anywhere, it was better to avoid it than to hurt someone’s feelings in the end.

  He’d done a pretty good job of avoiding her, until she gave him no option. She could see how he had tried to make it work. He wouldn’t have wanted to hurt her.

  She held her ring up to the light coming in from the street and frowned.

  Why had he given her something so important?

  She’d fallen asleep on the sofa before she could come up with the answer. She stayed on the sofa, not wanting to sleep in the bed she’d shared with Wes.

  Shadow curled up next to her, as if he knew she needed some affection.

  “He said it was for the best,” she whispered to the cat, who purred against her and licked her arm. “It sure doesn’t feel that way.”

  * * * *

  “Have you ever heard of someone accidently getting annulled?” Wes asked as Ben drove him to the airport.

  Ben had spent the last hour making sure the papers were legit as Weston paced. Somehow, their mother had gotten a judge to file the annulment immediately and it was a done deal.

  Ben knew Wes’s problem was immense, but it didn’t mean his own small tragedy wasn’t important too.

  “No. I thought I was the stupid one,” Ben admitted.

  “Nope. It’s me. I thought I owed this company something, but I don’t. I was happy in Boston. I had a job I enjoyed and a wife I . . . I love.”

  The way Wes spoke, a person might have thought it was the first time he’d said he loved his wife.

  “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have pressured you.”

  “You didn’t pressure me. At least not enough to make me actually come here. I did it because I was curious. And Jamie said I was leaving the door open for some reason. She was worried I might want to be here, and that one day I would resent her. Can you believe that?” He laughed once, a painful sound that twisted Ben’s stomach.

  “You don’t seem all that resentful of her.” Ben hadn’t been sure what the deal was between Wes and Jamie, the first time he’d visited. They’d seemed more like friends, but it was clear on Wes’s face that he loved Jamie.

  “Thank you for driving me to the airport. Once I see her, we’ll be able to work this all out. It will be okay. I just need to see her.”

  “Did you call her?” Ben asked.

  “I did, but I didn’t get an answer.” Wes frowned and looked out the passenger window. Ben was probably going to have as much trouble getting Annabelle to speak to him. The Archer boys were in big trouble.

  “Good luck,” Ben said as he pulled up at the passenger drop-off area.

  “Ben?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Go work things out with Anna. It’s not too late for either of us.”

  “You think?”

  “Only you know how much you want it,” Wes said with a shrug.

  “I want it pretty damn bad,” Ben said, meaning it all the way down to his toes.

  “Then go get it.”

  * * * *

  Wes arrived at their apartment a little after eleven. Everything was dark as he quietly moved to their room. He turned on the small light beside the bed, expecting the unhappiness of waking her. There was bound to be more unhappiness, but he was prepared to fix everything.

  Except the bed was empty.

  He flipped on lights to find the entire apartment was empty.

  Holding the phone to his ear, the call went straight to voicemail.

  “Jamie, it’s me. Please call me when you get this. I need to talk to you. Please.”

  She didn’t call him back. The next morning he rushed into the office as soon as it opened.

  Cindy looked confused as he passed her to go into the office he used to share with Jamie. It was dark and her laptop was gone.

  “Where’s Jamie?” he asked, probably sounding snappish.

  Cindy blinked at him. “She worked it out with Rob. She took a leave of absence so she could be with her father through his illness. She’s still working on the Atlantic Global job remotely.”

  “We got it?”

  “Yes. She didn’t tell you?”

  “We’ve missed each other the last few days. I remember now.” Wes didn’t know why he was keeping up pretenses. His whole world was crashing down around him.

  * * * *

  Ben found Anna sitting at her new desk when he arrived. She didn’t even look up. He cleared his throat.

  “How can I help you, Mr. Archer?” she asked without looking at him.

  “You could forgive me for being an asshat.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry, but I don’t work for you. I only take direction from Weston.” She smiled and turned back to her work.

  “My guess is Wes is not coming back. I was hoping you would work for me again.”

  She didn’t answer, she just typed faster. As if she was angry at her computer.

  “I know you didn’t have an affair with my father.”

  “That makes two of us then. Except I’ve known it much longer than you.”

  He knew this wasn’t going to be easy. But he wasn’t going to give up. “I made a mistake. Haven’t you ever made a mistake?”

  “Of course. Though generally my mistakes don’t entail accusing innocent people of adultery and then sleeping with the offspring of the fellow adulterer.”

  “I’m going to apologize, because I’m extremely sorry for what happened, not to mention embarrassed by my stupidity and stubbornness.” He rolled his shoulders and kneeled at the corner of her desk.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Apologizing.”

  “You don’t have to get down there to do it.”

  “I’m groveling, Annabelle. I’m pretty sure groveling requires the person to be kneeling. Look it up if you don’t believe me.” He was pulling out all the stops. She was worth any discomfort. He’d hurt her and he needed to make it right.

  “Fine. Then hurry and stand up.”

  “I don’t think one should hurry through a grovel. It’s meant to be heartfelt. If I rush it will come out sounding insincere.”

  “Someone is going to see you.” Her voice was a hiss.

  “I don’t care who sees me.”

  Annabelle
fixed her gaze over his shoulder as her skin turned pale.

  Ben knew only one person who could produce that reaction.

  His mother had arrived.

  * * * *

  Annabelle looked for a place to hide as the gorgon approached, but with Ben still kneeling by her chair, there was no escape.

  “Benjamin. What are you doing down there?” his mother snapped.

  “Apologizing.”

  “Get up.” His mother’s head swiveled as she checked the office to make sure no one was watching. No doubt she wouldn’t want anyone to be witness to Ben’s disgrace.

  Anna was touched that he didn’t seem to care if anyone saw him on his knees, begging for forgiveness.

  “I’m not getting up until I’m done. Give us a minute.”

  “What has gotten into you? You don’t lower yourself like this to your subordinates.”

  Annabelle couldn’t help but snicker. He was indeed lowered before her. He’d even taken her hand in his.

  “Annabelle, can you ever forgive me for jumping to conclusions? I should have known better. I won’t ever make a mistake like that again. I’m so sor—”

  “Enough of this,” his mother interrupted, and Annabelle leveled a glare at the woman. She’d had enough of this bossy lady who didn’t respect her son or the person who worked for him.

  “Mrs. Archer, Weston is not in today, and you do not have an appointment. I have your number and I can contact you when I have his schedule.”

  The woman sucked in air through her puckered lips and narrowed her eyes. “You can consider yourself unemployed. No one speaks to me like that in my company.”

  Without a second’s hesitation, Ben stood and turned on his mother.

  “First, this is not your company. It is Weston’s company. After what you’ve done to Weston, I would be running if I were you. Not only have you committed fraud, but you’ve come between Weston and the woman he loves. I’ll be damned if I’ll stand here and allow you to do the same thing to me. Now get out. Or I’ll call someone to escort you out. Either way, you’re done here.”

  It was the first time Annabelle had seen Mrs. Archer speechless. When she opened her mouth to rebut, Ben cut her off with a sharp, “Out.”