by Robin Janney
“What’s that about?” Jared asked, sitting on the floor in front of Angela. He didn’t know if the trick would work, but he wouldn’t know if she didn’t drink the tea.
“Can I have my phone back?”
Passing the iPhone back to her, Jared hugged his own knees to his chest and waited for her to continue.
“Nan is Everett’s spy here,” Angela said with a one shoulder shrug. Her finger poked at her smartphone’s touchscreen. “At least, the only one I’ve managed to identify. I’m sure he has more than one person ‘looking after me’ like my own husband does. I don’t think Rick is one of Everett’s, but I’m not sure about Gary yet.”
Jared gave a small laugh as she put the phone to her ear. “I guess you won’t ever be able to get away from Everett. He is your bio-dad.”
His sister nodded but wasn’t paying attention to him. “Come on Craig, please just pick up the damn phone…damn it.” She closed her eyes. “Please, Craig…you don’t have to do this. Call me, please. I’ll do whatever I need to if you’ll just come back home. I’ll take whatever meds Pat wants me to once…I’ll go to church with you…whatever it takes. Please, I love you.”
Lowering the phone, Angela let it fall on the floor. After a couple deep breaths, she said, “I’m sorry for what I said, Jared. I know you were just trying to help.”
“I’m still trying to help,” he said. And tried not to tense when she picked the mug of tea up and put it to her lips. After she’d taken a sip, she lowered it to her lap, both hands wrapped around the mug.
“I’ve lost him, Jared.” Her hands were trembling slightly in renewed anxiety. “I can’t sleep, don’t sleep, because I keep dreaming of him standing at a crossroads. He can’t see the Dragon lurking in the shadows waiting to consume him. I don’t think he’s going to choose me. Why should he? I complicate things.” Tears began to slide down her cheeks again. “Where’s Nan?”
“I’m right here, Miss Angela.” The housekeeper approached from where she’d been waiting just out of sight. “Everett sent no one to New York. He has however asked if you want him to? I didn’t give him a lot of details, didn’t want him…assuming the worst when we don’t know for sure what’s happening.”
Angela nodded. “Thank you. Tell him: No. It’ll only make things worse.” She drank of her tea again, more deeply. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at them. “Whose idea was it to try slipping me a sleeping pill?”
“Mine,” Jared told her. “Angie, I have no idea what you were talking about concerning your dreams, but you need to sleep. If not for yourself, then for the baby you haven’t announced yet. This can’t be good for him…or her.”
She drank no more tea, setting the mug back down. One of her hands brushed over her stomach. “Not a word to anyone, Jared.” She cast a glare at Nan. “Not even home. If Craig leaves me, I’ll ask Everett if I can have my trust fund. I’m sure he still has it. I will disappear with my baby if I have to.”
Jared nodded. “Not a word. Not even to Dad. Can I keep your phone? See if I can trace that number and stuff?”
“I tried. All I get is that it’s a wireless number.” Angela shrugged.
“I probably know a few tricks you don’t.” He held his hand out expectantly. “Computers and I get along pretty well.”
Angela sighed and passed her phone over. “It doesn’t look like he’s going to call, so sure. Thanks for talking Jared, and for caring.”
“Hey, blood relation aside, you’re my sister and I love you.”
“I love you too.” She handed the mug of sweetened tea to him and stood to her feet. “I’m going to bed.”
Jared sighed as she raced up the stairs, Princess at her feet. He hopped up to his own feet and handed the mug to Nan. “That…didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but at least she’s going to bed.”
Nodding the housekeeper took the mug from him. “I’m hoping this is all a misunderstanding.”
“Me too,” he agreed. “But if Craig does cheat, I may never forgive him. I may have a hard time with that anyway.” He looked down the hallway toward his brother-in-law’s office.
“I am having that same feeling myself,” Nan admitted. The housekeeper had only witnessed a moment of Angela’s breakdown before she’d taken off to fix the tea. “I think you should sleep up here instead of the bunkhouse. Everett cautioned me to keep Angela inside as much as possible.”
Jared nodded. “I was planning on it. Wait…oh God…is there a threat again?”
“He didn’t elaborate. I think I’ll leave the office as it is. I think Mr. Moore may need to see it when he comes home. In fact, I think I’ll go lock it, so Angela can’t clean it up either. Goodnight, Jared.” The housekeeper turned on her heel and returned to the kitchen.
“How the hell am I supposed to sleep after that?” Climbing up the stairs, he walked down to his bedroom. Flicking the lights on, he pulled his laptop out of the bag under the bed and opened it on the small desk in the corner.
“Alright, big brother. Let’s see what you have in the way of security.”
36
W hat the hell was he doing?
Images of Angela floated in Craig’s mind, his heart pounding in his ears. His arousal from watching his wife’s striptease had long since dwindled, had dwindled long before he’d set foot in this hotel.
Enough anger had burned in him as he and Katie met in the lobby, so he had joined her on the elevator, had walked with her to this room and shut the door behind them both. He hadn’t kissed the petite woman until the door was shut, when her lips had met his eagerly, and they’d fallen onto the bed together.
The lack of trust from his friends and family, and his wife of all people, had cut him to the quick. But if that’s what they all wanted from him, then that’s what Craig would give them – even if his anger was a dying coal inside of him.
At least, that’s what he told himself as he deepened the kiss he was in. His hand slipped under the thin material of her dress and rested on Katie’s ample breast. Craig pressed her into the mattress with his body while her hands ran through his hair and down his bare back. He had a vague memory of his shirt coming off, her fingers raking him in a move reminiscent of his wife. Her skirt had ridden all the way up, exposing her sheer thong had he taken the time to notice.
Katie’s leg wrapped around his waist, and she rubbed herself against him. She pulled the dress away from her shoulders, exposing her breasts fully for him. She was certainly into this.
Craig couldn’t say the same about himself.
Nothing about this felt right.
There was too much breast and not enough leg. Katie smelled like cigarette smoke, not roses. And she didn’t taste right…there was no taste of lingering blueberry’s here, just old wine. Her eyes weren’t the right color, neither was her hair. Katie just didn’t fit against him the way Angela did. And as angry as Craig was with his wife, she didn’t deserve even this small betrayal.
Craig pulled out of the kiss, pulled his hand away from Katie’s now bare breast. Maybe it wasn’t such a small betrayal at that. Looking into the eyes of the aroused woman beneath him, he realized he wasn’t even hard. He didn’t want her, not like he once had.
“Katie…I’m sorry, I can’t do this.” Rolling away from her, he let his head fall back hard against the headboard of the hotel bed as he propped himself up against the pillows.
Katie sighed, and sat up. She looked at him, her emerald eyes biting. But her voice was surprisingly gentle when she spoke. “You really love her that much?”
“Yeah, I do.” Craig answered. He wiped his mouth with his hand, feeling the smeared lipstick. Angela rarely wore lipstick with her eye makeup, and when she did, she wore it lightly; in color and application. His wife’s makeup was pinks and greens and the occasional lavenders. When would this never-ending comparison between the two women end, especially since he’d already declared his love for the one not here? “I’m pretty pissed at Angela right now, but I love her. She doesn’t deserve to
be betrayed just because I’m angry.”
The petite woman straightened her clothing angrily, patted at her hair, and readjusted her ample bosom back into the dress. “I’m not going to deny I’m pretty pissed myself right now. I’ve always wanted you, Craig. I won’t deny that. You were my first love. My first kiss. I wanted you to be my first everything. But I’m not going to force you into something you don’t want. And to be honest, I care enough about you that I don’t want you settling for moonlight when you could have sunlight.”
“What?” he asked in confusion. And why did he feel so relieved?
“Earlier you said what you felt for me paled in comparison to what you feel for your wife. As I was driving in the moonlight, it came to me. That’s what I am. A pale reflection. Your wife is the real deal. Blazing sunlight. I’m just an echo of your past, and she’s your present and your future.” Katie patted his leg fondly, not rubbing the material of his pants like she had before. “I don’t know what you’re pissed about but – go home, Craig. Make up with your wife. And leave me the fond memory. Forgive me for trying to make you give her up.”
Craig couldn’t bring himself to return her sad smile. “I’m sorry, Katie. I never meant to hurt you.”
She laughed sardonically. “I brought it on myself this time. I probably did the first time, too. I know I used to press you pretty hard for sex.”
“No, the first time didn’t really have much to do with you. I…” Craig flinched at the memory and sat up in the bed. He ran his hands through his hair; he needed a haircut. “I broke up with you because my stepmother raped me. And after that, the thought of sex scared the shit out of me.”
“I see,” Katie said, her eyes flashing with something he couldn’t define. “And Tim?”
“She did the same to him, too. He actually took it for me.”
“I guess that explains a few things.” Katie shook her head and rolled off the bed.
“I guess it would.” Craig didn’t understand what he was seeing in her now and decided he didn’t really care. If it had been Angela withholding something from him, he’d have pressed. But he’d had enough reminders tonight about how this woman wasn’t remotely like his wife.
Pulling his shirt and suit jacket back on, leaving the top two buttons of the shirt unbuttoned, Craig hesitated. He was sad as he watched Katie look out the window into the city lights. Why was he sad? He wasn’t sure. “Katie, what would your reaction have been years ago if I had told you then?”
Katie sighed and didn’t look at him. “I’ve grown up a bit since then, Craig. I’m not quite as shallow as I was as a teenager. I probably would have told you to leave me alone and go back to fucking your mother.”
Craig nodded, feeling the sting of her words. How much of that was in her manner now, despite what she said? “Which is probably why I just dumped you instead of telling you.”
“Probably,” agreed Katie. She gave him a rare shy smile over her shoulder, and for a moment he saw the girl he used to know. “I might be telling you to leave me alone from now on, but not because of that. Honest. Go home, Craig.”
“Goodbye Katie,” he said softly. He left her in the room and made his way down to the impressive hotel lobby, taking the time to stop in the restroom to wash the remains of her lipstick from his face. It had been hard looking at his reflection. Returning his room key to the front desk, he told the woman there that he didn’t know if Katie would be staying the night or not. And then he left.
Waving down a taxi and climbing in when one stopped for him, Craig told the cabbie, “Can you just drive for a while?”
“Can you pay?” she asked.
“If you take card like your sign says, then yes, I can pay. Just stay in the city until I decide where I want to go.”
“Alright then, it’s your dime,” the crusty woman replied, turning the meter on and flipping the switch for the taxi’s roof light.
“That it is.” Craig leaned back in the backseat of the cab, watching the city slide by. What had he done? He couldn’t even fathom how badly he’d hurt his wife because this topped all other wrongs he’d done toward her. The look on his wife’s face as he was shutting the lid to the laptop was reminiscent of her expression the night of their first New Year’s Eve together as a couple. He still felt the shame from that night, when he’d gone too far with his kiss, then pulled away from her touch as though he’d been burnt. The mixture of hurt and confusion was something he’d never been able to forget.
Covering his mouth with one hand, Craig struggled to not break down in this stranger’s cab. His failure to uphold his vows ate at him as the lights from the city flashed by. He might not have finished the deed, but he’d started…and he knew it for the betrayal it was.
Pulling out his iPhone out of his pocket, Craig turned it back on. He had turned it off when his wife had tried calling, not wanting to hear what was either going to be anger or apology from her. He’d still been smarting with hurt and anger. He wasn’t surprised to see another missed call and a voicemail from her.
Bracing himself, he brought the phone to his ear and listened to it. “Please, Craig…” her voice said, laced with frantic anguish. “You don’t have to do this. Call me, please. I’ll do whatever I need to if you’ll just come back home. I’ll take whatever meds Pat wants me to once…I’ll go to church with you…whatever it takes. Please, I love you.”
He ran his hand over his face, not surprised to feel the wetness of tears. Not only had he told her no, repeatedly, but he’d made her beg. Twice actually, as he remembered her words and tears in their driveway. What an asshole he’d been to her. And for what? A trip down memory lane? Relief from the life they’d built together? It was a good life, and he’d had no complaints until he’d come back to this city. He’d known she was safe, which was the only way he’d been able to relax.
Craig winced at the time but called his wife. He sighed but wasn’t surprised when it directed him to voicemail without a ring. She might be sleeping, but most likely she had just turned her phone off. “Angela…please call me as soon as you get this message. I’m sorry, honey, and I need to talk to you. I didn’t sleep with her. I hope you can believe me after the way I talked to you. I’ll let my dad know I’m leaving in the morning and I’ll be on the first flight home I can, I promise. Please call me back, Angel. I love you, and I am so sorry. I hope you can forgive me. God, please.”
Pressing end, he opened his Contacts. Bringing up Mike’s information, he hesitated only briefly before pressing on the number. His friend had given him permission to call any time, but at this late hour, well, that high school friendship was about to be tested. Especially since Katie was the other man’s half-sister.
“H’lo?” came the sleepy greeting.
“Mikey, it’s Leo. Listen, I know it’s really late, but I could use a friend right now…” Craig wasn’t able to keep all the emotion out of his voice. That he was using their high school nicknames for each other was a sign of his frayed emotions, and he was well aware of it.
There was a tired sigh, but Mike replied, “I’ll have coffee brewed by the time you get here.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
His friend hung up, and Craig followed suit.
“Where to?” the cabbie asked, somewhat gruffly. Craig thought he saw a glimmer of compassion in those sharp eyes.
Craig rattled off the address, expecting her surprise.
She shrugged and repeated her earlier comment. “It’s your dime.”
“Several dimes,” Craig replied humorlessly. Forty minutes later, he handed his credit card to the older woman and waited for it to be returned.
Get a receipt a tiny voice prompted.
“Can I get a receipt?” he asked, while the older woman ran the card.
“Sure thing.”
When she passed his card and a thin slip of paper back to him, he said, “Thanks. Have a good night.”
“You too, ‘Leo’. I hope it works out for you.”
Craig smiled at the woman’s teasing tone; she had enjoyed hearing about the Turtles from high school and gave a small wave as she drove away. Walking up the sidewalk, Craig took the dark area in. It wasn’t the seedy side of the city by any means, but it was a far cry from the wealth he was accustomed to. Even though it wasn’t his first time here, he wasn’t exactly sure how far out into the suburbs he was. Mike had never been the social climber his sister was.
The door to the two-story house opened before he could knock, and he slipped in quietly. “Hey Mikey, thanks.”
“Just keep it down,” Mike requested, quietly. “I don’t want to wake the kids, or Amber-Lynn.”
Craig nodded, letting his friend lead him to the kitchen where two cups of coffee already sat on the table. He sat in the chair Mike gestured to and drank from the cup sitting there. The coffee was as light and sweet as his wife’s on the rare occasions she drank it. It hadn’t been that long ago he’d sat in this seat with Katie at his side, and Reese asking if there were any new pictures of his wife and her horse.
“So, what’s up?” asked his friend, sitting behind the other cup of coffee. His own coffee was light.
Craig sighed. “Did you see it too?”
“What exactly?”
“The danger I was putting myself in with your sister?”
Mike sighed and leaned back in his chair. “It was hard not to, Craig. Even if Katie hadn’t gone on about it a few times. It’s been bothering Amber-Lynn something fierce. The air was a little blue when she found out you were the one to invite her to the pizza party we had with Jason and his family. I don’t know, Craig. When we were kids, you and Katie always had this…sizzle, I guess. And then one day it wasn’t there anymore. I mean, she still wanted you, but that light had gone out in you. Hell man, you were a different person all together.”
Craig nodded. “Something happened that changed me.”
“We knew. Me and the other Turtles, I mean. We speculated some, but we were never sure. It never mattered. Once a Turtle, always a Turtle.” The other man shrugged. “And when you came back home this time, you’d changed again. For the better. You were more relaxed, even worried about your father. More like the kid you used to be. Until you ran into my sister, and yeah, there was a bit of that old sizzle.”
