by SL Beabhar
"How are things with your wife?" Bobby wiped his mouth with his napkin, then tossed it onto his plate. "Things been working out between you?"
Judging from the look in his friend's eye, Ash assumed Bobby had already developed his own opinion on the matter. Ash motioned towards the waitress, letting her know he was ready for the check. Then he turned back to Bobby.
"Things are going good. It was a little rough between her and Reggie in the beginning, but they seem to get along." He took the checks from the waitress, removed his wallet, and counted the bills to cover them. "I don't think I would have managed to keep Reggie at home, if it wasn't for her."
"Which brings me to my original point," Bobby said. "I thought your aunt was the source of the change, but I'm now thinking it's your pretty little wife."
Ash pushed his chair back and got to his feet. "Are you ready to go?"
"Are you dodging my question?" Bobby grinned and stood. "I take it the marriage has evolved from a purely beneficial arrangement to something a bit more"--he screwed up his lips--"carnal."
"I don't want to talk about this," Ash said, walking out of the restaurant. He'd always been open about his previous relationships, but what he had with Phoebe was different. Not something he wanted his friend to joke about. He waited for Bobby, and when he saw his friend reach for his cigarettes, Ash shook his head. "I thought you were quitting."
"That was the plan." Bobby placed a cigarette between his lips, then shrugged. "But it's not worked out the way I planned. Are you going back to the lodge?"
Ash glanced down the block. He was probably a half-mile away from where he was staying. Usually, when he was on TDY, he'd spend his weekends exploring the region. But today, all he could think about was calling Phoebe and checking in on things.
"This is how it starts," Bobby murmured between puffs.
"How what starts?"
Bobby gripped the cigarette between his fingers. "How the end begins." He waved his hand in the air, motioning at Ash. "I gotta admit, I was all lovey-dovey in the beginning, too. I'd wake up holding in her arms. I'd be calling her any chance I got. Hell, she couldn't even take a shit without me pestering her in one way or another." He stuck his cigarette back into his mouth. "Then the honeymoon period was over." He stopped abruptly. "Like, quite literally, soon after the honeymoon things began going south."
Ash stopped walking and pinned Bobby with a dark look. He was annoyed because he'd known Bobby and his wife back then. They'd been happy together. Things likely would have worked out for them if it wasn't for the multiple deployments.
"Things between me and Phoebe are not so complicated. We both entered this marriage with our eyes wide open. She's helping me take care of Reggie, and I'm helping her get the education she wants." He started walking again, kicking his foot out to send a rock flying into the road. "I'm sorry things didn't work out the way you planned, but your situation isn't my situation."
Bobby threw his hands up in defeat. "I'm just trying to save you from getting your heart broken."
Ash nearly tripped over his own feet. He settled his legs beneath him, then he grabbed onto his friend's arm. "Okay. I hear you loud and clear, but you don't need to warn me about protecting my heart."
Bobby searched Ash's eyes; however, Ash couldn't tell if his friend was pleased or concerned about what he saw there. Bobby dropped his cigarette to the sidewalk, then ground it beneath his foot.
"As long as you know what you're doing," Bobby said.
Ash removed his hand and started walking again. "Yeah. I know what I'm doing." At least, he hoped he did.
"Good."
Silence descended between them as they walked back to the lodge. Bobby waved goodbye before turning away to go to his room. Ash approached his door, unlocked it, then stepped inside. As he fell onto the bed, he pulled his phone from his pocket.
He heard Bobby's warning replay itself in his mind. He knew Bobby was concerned about him and didn't want him to experience the pain he'd dealt with. But Ash didn't want to tell Bobby that his warnings were already too late, as he knew he was a goner. After years and years of avoiding commitment, Ash had done the stupidest thing ever.
He'd fallen in love with his own wife.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Phoebe was scrubbing Reggie's bathtub when the older woman came bolting into the bathroom with a panicked look on her face. Phoebe sat down on the edge of the tub, pulled the gloves from her hands, and tossed them into the tub. She assumed Reggie needed to use the toilet, but as she stood to walk from the room, Reggie grabbed onto her arm.
"Whatever you do, don't go to the front door." Reggie reached past Phoebe and shut the door. "In fact, don't leave this room."
The perspiration on Reggie's lip worried Phoebe. Ash had only been gone a few days and during that time, Reggie had gone wild with renewed energy, as if she'd been restraining herself for Ash's benefit. Now she looked on the verge of collapsing. Phoebe quickly washed her hands in the sink, then held onto Reggie's upper arms and guided her onto the toilet.
"What's wrong?" Phoebe asked, taking hold of Reggie's wrist and gauging her pulse. Reggie's heart rate sped out of control, spurring Phoebe into action. She opened the door and walked from the bathroom.
She heard Reggie call for her to come back, but she was on her way to the kitchen where she'd left her phone. "I'm calling for an ambulance."
"No!" Reggie called out.
To Phoebe's surprise, Reggie appeared before her in record time. She wasn't relying on her walker or cane. She grabbed Phoebe's phone and twisted it from her hold. "I don't need no damn ambulance."
"Reggie, I don't want to argue about this."
Phoebe made to grab her phone but Reggie hid it behind her back. Reggie then placed a hand over Phoebe's mouth and directed her eyes towards the front room. "Girl, don't you hear the girl knocking?"
Reggie motioned for Phoebe to be quiet. They waited a few heartbeats, then more pounding sounded at the door. Phoebe furrowed her brows and pulled Reggie's hand from her mouth.
"Is there a reason you don't want me to answer the door?"
Reggie hissed. "Lower your voice." Reggie walked to the window above the sink and looked out into their backyard. She then crept to the doorway that opened to the hallway leading to the dining room. "Damn it. She probably saw us walk into the kitchen."
Suddenly a thought formed in Phoebe's mind. She wondered if the physical therapist had returned, and Reggie was trying to avoid her.
"I can just tell her to go away," Phoebe said, smothering her amusement. She picked up her phone and pointed at the display. "I'll just call her office if she stresses you out that badly."
Reggie squinted an eye. "You think I'm worried about little miss prissy?" she scoffed, then shook her head. "No, Phoebe. You ain't never met this girl, and I don't think you want to."
"You know her?" Phoebe asked.
Reggie closed her mouth and straightened her back. Phoebe waited for an answer to her question, but judging from the quiet determination on Reggie's face, she wasn't going to get one. Rolling her eyes, Phoebe mimicked Reggie's creep to the doorway. She looked down the hallway.
Through the dining room window, she could tell somebody was leaning against the front door. She imagined their visitor was trying to peek through the window.
"No use hiding," called the voice at the door. "I can see you in the kitchen."
Phoebe lifted her eyebrows and pointed back at the door. "Are we going to stay here all day, or are we going to do the polite thing?"
"Fuck politeness."
"For crying out loud." Phoebe left her hiding place and walked down the narrow hallway.
"Don't do it," Reggie pleaded. "You'll regret this."
Phoebe glanced back and saw that Reggie lurked in the hallway. Her skin was pale, and her mouth curled into a ferocious frown. For a moment, Phoebe hesitated, wondering if she should heed Reggie's warning.
But their guest decided to stop the knocking and switch to rin
ging the doorbell. Over and over. Shooting a perturbed look in Reggie's direction, Phoebe grabbed the doorknob and opened the door wide.
She stared at the younger woman standing on the other side of the screen door. Phoebe had intended to greet her with a smile, but the woman was glaring back at her with rage filling her eyes.
Phoebe's confidence faltered. Her mind raced as she tried to piece together the puzzle of this woman. Was she one of Reggie's former caregivers? Was she one of Ash's exes?
"May I help you?" Phoebe asked, searching the woman's face. She was looking for any hint of jealousy or sadness, but all she saw was anger.
The woman leaned her arm against the screen door and damn near pressed her face against the screen. Her hazel eyes blazed. "I'm going to let Ash know how terrible you are at your job. I've been standing out here for the last fifteen minutes, waiting for you to answer the door." She grabbed the door handle. "Unlock it."
"I'm sorry. Who are you?"
The woman straightened and ignored Phoebe's question. She looked past Phoebe and motioned towards Reggie. "Reg, please open the door."
"Does Ash know you're here?" Reggie asked. She didn't move from her spot in the hallway.
The woman shifted from one foot to the other and then crossed her arms over her chest. "Ash isn't answering my phone calls." She twisted her lips. "As usual."
Phoebe turned when she heard Reggie approach. They stood side by side, and she could see the apprehension had faded from Reggie. If Phoebe was honest with herself, it had unnerved her to see Reggie so frazzled by this woman's presence.
Phoebe stepped forward to place her hand on the door. "Ash is away and won't be back for a few days. He didn't mention that he was expecting visitors, so I think it's probably best if you came back when he’s home."
That definitely didn't please the other woman. She curled her hand into a fist and pounded the door. "Dammit, Reggie. Would you tell your little nurse to back off?" She sent Phoebe a scathing glance. "You can let her know that I'm family."
"Family?" Phoebe asked, looking back and forth between the woman and Reggie. When neither one answered, Phoebe raised her brows and gave Reggie a pointed look. "She's family?"
"I'm Jack."
Phoebe had heard the name before, and she could recall Ash's enraged mood upon receiving a call from Jack. But she'd assumed that Jack was a man, perhaps a colleague from work. She knew the confusion was clear on her face. "I'm sorry, but Ash never mentioned anything about you."
"I'm his baby sister."
Phoebe closed her mouth with an audible click. Ash had mentioned his two younger sisters a few times, mostly when he discussed his childhood growing up in Reggie's house. But he'd referred to them as Francine and Jacinda, and he never called them by a nickname.
Stepping closer, Phoebe could see the subtle similarities between Jack and Ash. The same long, curly lashes. The same mouth, except she had a piercing in her bottom lip.
Finally, after a moment, Phoebe unlocked the screen door and stepped aside.
Jack entered the living room and dropped a bag beside her booted feet. She barely acknowledged Phoebe's presence even though they stood only a few inches apart. "How are you, Aunt Reggie?"
Jack was a few inches taller than Phoebe. Her hair was dyed a rainbow ombre, and it was twisted into a braid hanging over her shoulder. Her eyes were hazel while Ash's were a bright amber, but they shared the same eye shape.
It finally dawned on Phoebe that she was meeting her sister-in-law, and that sister-in-law had no clue who she was. "I'm Phoebe."
Jack shot Phoebe a look from the corner of her eye, but she walked to where Reggie stood and took her aunt in an awkward hug. From over Jack's shoulder, Reggie screwed up her features but patted her niece's back.
"Frank told me Ash was gone on a training mission and had left you with the help." Jack was looking at Reggie, but Phoebe knew the words were meant for her. "I thought it best if I come check in on you and make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine," Reggie said, pulling away from Jack. "I wish you'd bothered to call before you flew all the way up here."
Jack laughed. "If I did, you would have told me not to come."
"Damn right I would've." Reggie waved her hand dismissively. "Ash ain't gonna like you here."
"Well, Frank would have come, but her doctor advised her against traveling." Jack looked at her watch, then spun on her heel and walked back to her travel bag. She picked it up and held it against her chest as she dug into it. She pulled out a light blue box, shook it so the contents rattled, then she handed it to Reggie. "I brought you something."
Reggie's noticeable chill swiftly thawed. Interest shone in her eyes as she plucked the box from Jack's hand. Phoebe approached them, curious to see what was in the box.
"I know they're your favorite candies." Pride shone on Jack's face as Reggie opened the box to reveal peanut butter fudge.
Phoebe sighed, knowing this was a pathway to disaster. She'd been carefully monitoring Reggie's sugar since her last checkup. Her sugar levels were elevated. Not to the point where she was diagnosed with diabetes, but Phoebe had been advised by the doctor to limit the sugar in Reggie's diet.
"One piece," Phoebe said, taking the box from Reggie's hands and opening it wide. She held it out, waited until Reggie took a piece, then she promptly closed the box and held onto it.
Jack pointed in Phoebe's direction. "Who are you to think you can talk to my aunt like that?"
Merriment glittered in Reggie's eyes as she shot Phoebe an ornery look. The corners of her mouth curled as she looked to her niece and nodded in Phoebe's direction.
"You gonna tell her?" Reggie asked Phoebe.
Phoebe's stomach churned. "She doesn't know?"
Reggie shook her head.
"And you didn't tell her?"
Reggie grinned, baring her teeth. "I ain't no snitch."
Jack must have picked up that something was out of the ordinary. Her brow furrowed and her lips were pinched. "Who are you?"
"I..." Phoebe blew a gust of air through her lips, then shifted from one foot to the other as she thought of the right words. When none came to mind, she simply lifted her left hand and pointed at her wedding ring.
Jack blanched and collapsed against the back of the couch. "And I thought I was the fuck-up!"
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ash was leaving a late-night briefing when his phone began to buzz. He looked at the display and saw that he'd had multiple missed calls from Phoebe, Jack, and Frank. Feeling panic well in his chest as he realized he'd received no calls from Reggie, he bolted for the exit and stepped out into the brisk night air.
Just as he made it to his rental car, there was another incoming call. It was from his sister, Frank.
"What's wrong?" He opened his car door, tossed his case onto the passenger seat, then fell into the driver's seat. "Is it Reg?"
"You asshole!" raged Frank through the receiver. "How could you do this?"
He held the phone away from his ear as he checked the name on the phone. It was Frank on the other end, but she didn't sound like the rational, coolheaded sibling she usually was.
Feeling his anxiety dissipate, he started the car and turned on the air conditioner. If there was something wrong with Reg, Frank wouldn't be pissed at him.
"What have I done now?" he asked, switching on the speaker function for his phone. He placed the phone into its holder, then he put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. As he drove from the parking lot, he could hear Frank's heavy breathing through the phone. "Should I be worried?"
He heard a faint sniff, and he realized that she was silent because she was crying. Once again, his anxiety returned.
"Tell me what's wrong. I can't do a damn thing about it if I don't know what's bothering you."
"Did you get married?"
No use beating around the bush. She knew the truth, and he wasn't going to lie about it. Not to Frank. "Yeah. I did."
"You asshole."
His hands gripped the steering wheel. He struggled to pay attention to the other cars on the road as he framed an explanation in his mind. "It's complicated."
"That's all you can say? It's complicated?"
"Look," Ash said, pulling onto the main road that led to the lodge. "I'm driving back to my room right now. Can we talk later?"
"No," she said. There was a bit of noise in the background. It sounded as if a door was slamming. "Pull over if you have to, but you're not getting off this phone until you talk to me. How you could you do this?" There were tears in her voice. "Ash, you fell in love with someone and you couldn't tell me about her?"
"It's not that simple. I--"
"Was it that Victoria? Please tell me you didn't marry her. No, wait. Jack said her name is Phoebe. Who is Phoebe? Was she the dental hygienist?"
He had to go through his mental catalog of ex-girlfriends. Unfortunately, he'd dated a few dental hygienists, but he figured she must have been talking about one particular girl. "You're thinking of Patricia and, no, I didn't marry her."
"Who is Phoebe?"
Who was Phoebe? He could spend the next hour describing her, but he knew that wouldn't satisfy his middle sister. He settled for an abridged version of the story and hoped it would be enough to satisfy her curiosity until the two of them could meet.
"You haven't met her. She's new to the area, and she's planning to go to school to become a nurse."
"And?"
"And what?" he said, pulling into the parking lot of the lodge. He parked his car near the stairway leading to his room, then he turned off the car. "What else would you like to know?"
"How did you meet her? How long were you two dating? Why didn't you invite us to the wedding?" There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone. "Oh my goodness. You got her pregnant, didn't you?"
"I'll have you know we didn't have sex until after we were married." Ash felt smug as he realized that was the truth. "I met her online and--"
"You're joking, right?"
His head dropped to the steering wheel. He knew he should be forthcoming with Frank, but he decided to only give her part of the truth. "No. I'm dead serious. Look, it's not a real marriage, okay? It's a special arrangement between us."
