None of this was news to Mary, she’d seen it coming for months. Instead of saying those things out loud, she sat back and waited to see if Nina was going to open herself up.
“He’s too demanding. And crazy. He’s been over the edge ever since I started staying at Bev’s place.”
“Beverly is your single girlfriend?”
“Right.” Nina paused. “Just because she’s single doesn’t mean we’re out trolling for men every night. It isn’t like that.”
Mary waited . . .
“Jacob calls me a slut. I’m his wife. He shouldn’t call me names.”
“I have to agree.”
“He’s such an asshole. He called my mother and told her I was sleeping around on him.”
“Nina . . . did you ever tell Jacob what happened last winter?” It was time to remind her client of her infidelity, if in fact the last time she’d stepped out of her marriage was so many months ago.
“No. Of course not.”
“Do you think Jacob might have picked up on anything? You were very conflicted over the holidays.”
Nina removed her sunglasses and revealed dark circles from either a lack of sleep or tears.
“Do you think he knows?”
“What I think isn’t important. Consider this. You had an affair. And not just a one-night stand, but something that lasted for several weeks. You told me yourself how guilty you felt, and when it ended, you dedicated yourself to your husband with renewed energy. Didn’t you both go to Hawaii in January as a second honeymoon?”
Nina nodded.
“You returned and within a month you were both in here struggling again.”
“That’s because he is unreasonable when I want to go out with my friends.” Her defensiveness was palpable.
“What happens when you go out with your friends?”
“We drink . . . we dance.”
“Get picked up on?”
“If guys are attracted, I can’t help that.”
“I didn’t say you could. How does it make you feel when guys come on to you?”
Nina started tapping her foot against the air. “It doesn’t suck. It’s nice to get dressed up sometimes and feel like a woman.”
“Do you do those things with Jacob?” Mary already knew the answer to that but asked the question anyway.
“Jacob hates going out. Says he did enough of that when he was single.”
“So you go out without him and men try and pick you up?”
“That doesn’t mean I’m sleeping with them.”
Mary sat forward. “We’ve talked about this. Being unfaithful in your marriage is more than just an act of sex.”
“I’m not falling in love with them either.”
“Nina, I’m not asking you these things to corner you into saying something, or believing something. I’m asking you these things so you can look inside yourself and ask some important questions.” Because her sitting in front of Mary and denying everything was a massive flag of bullshit. If Nina was her friend and not a client, she’d call her on said bull in a heartbeat. Nina was doing her best to destroy her marriage on her end. “Do you wear your wedding ring when you go out, Nina?”
Her client lowered her eyes to her left hand and started to twist her wedding bands.
She didn’t answer the question.
Mary walked out of her office after seven. It was nearly dark, and she was exhausted. She checked her cell phone for messages as she walked to her car. Glen didn’t call her before she made it into work, but he’d texted her around three apologizing and saying he’d call her later that night at home.
She tucked her phone back in her purse once she realized there wasn’t any pending message. The thought of her favorite Mediterranean takeout, which happened to be on her route home, put a smile on her face. Rotisserie chicken sounded perfect.
Then she turned the key and her car moaned with a weak response. The light in the cab dimmed and her stomach dropped.
She tried again.
The noise in the engine, or lack of noise, and the fact that the dash didn’t light up, told her it was her battery.
The lights in her car automatically turned off and on so long as she didn’t override the switch. So why had it drained? The car was only a few years old, with less than thirty thousand miles on her.
Mary pushed open her door and popped the hood. Not that she knew what she was looking at. Most of the engine in the car was covered by a massive shield. There were bits sticking out here and there, but nothing that she could see was obviously wrong. She glanced around the nearly vacant parking lot and wondered if there was anyone in the building still around to give her a jump.
“It had to happen on a late night,” she said to herself.
With the hood still up, she leaned back into her car and removed her purse. Her AAA card sat behind her driver’s license. She pulled it out and started to dial.
A pair of headlights turned in her direction and started to drive away. Probably for the best, she didn’t like attracting strangers while standing alone in a parking lot.
“Triple A roadside assistance. How can I help you?”
“I think my battery is dead.”
The car in the lot slowed to a stop behind her car.
“Where is your location?”
Mary rattled off the address, kept her eye on the car behind her.
“Do you need help?” The voice from the driver asked through a rolled down passenger window.
Mary leaned down to see the person. “I’m calling Triple A.”
“Okay . . . wait, Mary?”
Mary peered closer. “Kent?”
“Ma’am?”
“I’m sorry, just a minute,” she told the woman on the phone.
Kent left his engine running and got out of his car. “What happened?”
“I think it’s the battery.”
Kent thumbed in the direction of his car. “I have jumper cables.”
“Do you? That would be great.”
“Ma’am? Do you want me to send a driver?”
Mary turned back to the phone. “I think I’m good. Someone is here to help.”
“Thank you for calling Triple A. Feel free to call back if you need further assistance.”
Kent moved to the front of her car and unbuttoned the dress sleeves of his white shirt before rolling them up to his elbows.
“I don’t know what could have happened. The lights are automatic. Even the dome light turns off after two minutes.”
He fiddled with the cables that connected the battery to the rest of the engine. “Try turning it over.”
She slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key.
The car moaned again without turning over.
“Definitely sounds like the battery. Let me pull my car up to yours.”
Kent backed up and swung his car around to face hers and popped his hood. She stayed where she was and waited for him to connect the cables.
“It’s a good thing I was working late,” he said.
“Great timing.”
“I didn’t realize this was your building.”
“Yep, this is where I rent space to see my clients.”
“Oh.” He disappeared under her hood for a few seconds. “Try it now.”
She got back in her seat. “C’mon.”
The engine took a second to catch and then turned over. “Oh, thank goodness.”
Mary left it running and stepped out of her car. “I can’t thank you enough.”
Kent set the jumper cables on the ground and closed her hood. “No problem.”
“I really don’t know what happened for the thing to drain.”
He wiped his hands together. “I’d get that checked right away. Wouldn’t want to be stranded in a less hospitable place.”
“That’s true. I’ll take it in tomorrow. Really, Kent. Thank you.”
He stepped a little closer and leaned against her car. “You can thank me by going out with me.”
>
She kept her smile but found herself biting her lip. Last month she would have taken him up on the offer. “Uhm, the thing is . . . I’m kinda seeing someone.”
“Oh . . . just kinda?”
“Well, we’ve known each other for a while . . .” Why was she explaining this to a stranger? “We just started dating.”
“Sounds serious.”
She lifted her shoulders. “I don’t know. Could be.”
“And you don’t date two men at the same time.”
Mary shook her head. “Tried to in college. It didn’t work out very well.”
His chest rose and fell with a giant sigh. “Well, if something changes, you let me know.”
Thank goodness. “I will.”
He pointed in the air in her direction. “I’ll take you up on that.”
He turned back to his car, closed the hood, and put the cables back in his trunk.
“Thanks again.”
“My pleasure. Have a nice evening, Mary.”
Alone in her car, she gripped the steering wheel and felt some of the tension leave her system. Kent followed her out of the lot and waved when they turned in opposite directions at the first intersection. Then Mary took a solid breath.
Chapter Fourteen
Glen listened to Mary’s phone ring for the fourth time. He’d already left her a message on her house phone and considered calling her cell. But she’d told him she had clients into the evening and not to bother since she turned it off.
Here it was close to nine at night in California and he was starting to worry.
Since when did he worry about a woman missing his call?
He heard her message machine pick up and lifted the phone from his ear to hang up the call.
“Hello? Glen?”
“There you are.” Her voice made him smile.
“Yeah . . . God, what a day. Can I call you right back? I just ran in the door.”
“Of course.”
“Okay. Give me five minutes.” She hung up.
When she called back, he was sitting on his leather sofa in his den, his socked feet kicked up on the coffee table in front of him.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey, yourself. You’re up late.”
“I missed my call this morning, I couldn’t have you wondering if I lost your number.”
“I would hope you’d have memorized it by now.”
He had . . . a long time ago, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. “You’re getting in late.”
“Long day at work. Then my car wouldn’t start.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Battery. But I don’t know why. I’ll take it in tomorrow and have it checked. I’m going to eat in your ear while we’re talking, hope you don’t mind. I’m starving.”
He chuckled. “Go on ahead. So was there someone in your building to give you a jump?”
“The one behind me, actually. Everyone in mine was gone for the day. I hate car problems with a fiery passion. Dakota is always telling me I need a stun gun in my purse for when things like this happen.”
On this he had to agree with Dakota. Mary would be a beautiful, blonde target if she broke down in the wrong neighborhood. “I’m guessing you don’t own a stun gun.”
“No. After Dakota shocked the heck out of Walt last year . . . I don’t know, seemed like that thing is too dangerous.”
“Why would she stick Walt with a blast of electricity?”
“It was an accident. He approached her from behind in a dark parking lot. She didn’t know it was him. She felt guilty for weeks. Didn’t stop her from laughing about it, but boy was she guilt ridden over it!”
“That’s funny.”
“It was. Anyway, I didn’t need one today, so I guess I’m good.”
He heard her attempt to chew as they spoke. “About this weekend.”
“Uh-huh?”
“There’s a dinner party I’ve committed to going to on Saturday.”
He heard her drink something before she responded. “I understand. I’m thoroughly enjoying our weekends, but can’t expect to dominate every one.”
He liked that she sounded sincere and a little disappointed at the same time. “I want you to be my date.”
She cleared her throat. “In Connecticut?”
“The party is in Manhattan, but yes.”
Mary was silent, and for a minute he thought she had her mouth full again. “Uhm, I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to.”
“Go ahead.”
“I-I can’t afford a flight back east right now. Not with all my plumbing issues—”
“Mary—”
“I’d love to join you. And it’s only fair that I visit you instead of you making the trip all the time. I mean—”
“Mary—”
“And my car, who knows what’s wrong with my—”
“Mary!”
“I’m sorry. I’m rambling.”
“I’ll send a plane. I wouldn’t have asked you to come here without offering a ride. I have meetings on Friday and can’t fly out to get you, but I do have a leg in LA that is coming back here Friday night. Or if you want to fly on Saturday, I can arrange that, too. Just tell me you’ll come.”
“It feels like I’m taking advantage.”
He knew that was coming. “You didn’t ask me, I’m asking you.”
“I don’t know . . .”
He needed to change tactics. “Dakota and you are best friends, right?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Just answer the question, Mary. You’re tight, correct?”
He heard her sigh. No food in her mouth that he could tell. “Yes. She’s my family.”
“You two talk, right? About everything?” If there was one thing Glen knew about women . . . other than the need for chocolate on occasion, it was their ability to talk.
“Yes.”
“Do you ever offer her advice?”
“What?”
“Like when she zapped Walt with the stun gun, did you talk about that?”
“Of course we talked about it, how could I have told you about it had I not talked about it?”
“You gave her advice,” he asked.
“I told her she shouldn’t feel guilty about buzzing anyone who walked up to her in a dark parking lot, even if it was her own mother. If you’re scared, you need to protect yourself. It’s natural.”
Glen smiled in the darkness of his den. “So a professional observation on human nature.”
“Fight or flight. So yeah, professional.”
“Has Dakota ever given you one of her books for free?”
Mary hesitated with her answer. “I’m her best friend. Of course she gives me a copy.”
Glen knew he needed to make the next words count or no matter how much the comparison worked, Mary would think he was full of shit.
He paused and spoke from his heart. “I miss my mom.”
“You’re changing the subject aga . . . wait, wh-what did you say?”
He felt his chest constrict with the admission. “I miss her. I miss my dad, too . . . but my mom . . . I don’t know, we didn’t have a lot of time together in those last years and I feel like I missed out on something.”
He heard Mary pause. “Oh, Glen . . . it’s natural. She left your life too early.”
“I know. Still sucks.”
“It does suck.”
They were both silent for a moment. He didn’t realize how hard the words were to say. He’d started out with this just as a way to get what he wanted, but now he felt better saying it out loud.
“I can come on Friday after five and need to be back Monday morning.”
Glen found himself squeezing his eyes shut. “My mom would have liked you.”
“You’ll have to show me pictures.”
“She was beautiful . . .” Glen went on to tell Mary how both he and Jason thought Trent was going to be a girl. And how they’d even put makeup on him when h
e was a toddler, teasing him. “Don’t tell Monica . . . oh, who am I kidding, women can’t keep secrets.”
“We can . . . just not ones as funny and innocent as that. A wife needs to know if her husband was an involuntary cross-dresser.”
“I’ll have to dig up the pictures we took that day. Maybe have one framed for his birthday.”
He did love the sound of Mary’s laugh.
“I’ll make all the arrangements for this weekend. The dinner is formal.”
“Floor-length formal or closer to what I wore in San Francisco?”
“Ask me an easier question.”
“Men! Are you wearing a suit or a tux?”
“Tux.”
“All right then.”
“That’s it? No more questions?”
“Unless you’re the best man in a wedding, a tux is only worn with superformal events. So instead of flat-out asking where you’re taking me, I can safely assume that a floor-length gown would be appropriate.”
“I didn’t realize I was dating Little Miss Etiquette.”
“I didn’t realize I was dating Li’l Mr. Clueless. I would think with your dating portfolio you’d know what a woman should wear.”
He should have been offended by the dating portfolio comment, but they both knew it was true. Glen moved the phone away from his face and yawned.
“You should probably go to bed,” she told him.
“You heard that?”
“I did.”
“It is after midnight here.” He had to be in the office by nine.
“Then I’ll say good night.”
“Okay. I’ll call you later in the week with details.” He waited for her to end the call.
“Glen?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t think for a second I don’t realize what you did back there . . . with the questions about Dakota . . . you telling me about your mom. I just don’t want you to think I’m dating you for the perks.”
“I don’t think that.”
“I’m glad we’re clear on that. Now go to bed.”
He laughed. “Yes, dear.”
She ended the call without saying good-bye.
Glen couldn’t be happier.
Noise from a jackhammer tore Mary from her bed. She twisted her head toward her alarm clock and slapped a hand across her eyes. It was seven thirty in the morning. And her neighbors were going to be pissed.
Not Quite Perfect (Not Quite Series Book 5) Page 12
