Sharp Edges

by Middleton, Kristen

  He smiled. “Our anniversary? Now, how in the world could I forget about that?”

  “Honestly, I wish your parents wouldn’t have splurged like they did. Didn’t you say they’ve rented out one of the banquet rooms at the Hyatt?”

  He pulled a tendril of my hair playfully. “Yes, they have. But, you know how they live for these things and love doing it for us. They’re retired and bored.”

  And so rich they don’t know what to do with all of their money.

  “I guess. It’s just… I wanted something romantic, you know? Just the two of us,” I pouted.

  “We’ll have all night for that,” he said, sliding his hands over my hips.

  With his hands gripping my rear and the scent of his cologne teasing my senses, I didn’t even care anymore. As long as we’d be celebrating in our own special way after the party, I could live with whatever made him happy. “We do, and I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Me, too. Well, I’d better go. I’ll call you later,” he said, releasing me and grabbing his briefcase. “Give the kids a hug for me.”

  “I will,” I said, pushing my bangs out of my eyes once again. I desperately needed a trim and made a mental note to look for the scissors.

  I watched him as he left, admiring how polished he looked in his grey Ralph Lauren suit. After all these years, he was still an incredibly handsome man. It was hard to imagine that we’d been together for over fifteen years, although, I felt like I’d loved him my entire life.

  “Morning,” mumbled my oldest daughter, Regan, as she shuffled into the kitchen. She’d just turned fourteen and was still at the age where she loved school. She was on the girl’s track team, played tennis, and was a straight-A student. I couldn’t have been more proud of her.

  “Still tired?” I asked, handing her a glass of orange juice.

  She yawned. “Yeah, but I have a test first period, so I wanted to study a little before I left for school.”

  I looked at my watch. “Well, you certainly have enough time.”

  She looked at me like I was dense. “Well, yeah. That’s why I woke up early.”

  I shook my head but didn’t say anything more. I’d learned recently that you couldn’t win an argument with anyone from the age of twelve to seventeen. They knew everything.

  She took out her history book and began studying while I made her some oatmeal. Then I checked on Max, who’d fallen back asleep watching cartoons, and finally went to my youngest child’s room, Jeremy.

  “Oh, good you’re already up,” I said.

  He was twelve and had just gotten a new Kindle for his birthday. He now spent most of his time downloading new games or reading science fiction stories.

  He pushed up his glasses. “Yes, I just downloaded a new book that’s very intriguing. It’s about a young boy who is training to become a soldier to fight these bug-like aliens that are threatening his planet. Very intense stuff, mom, you should read it.”

  I bit back a smile. My son, the intellectual, far beyond his years; he sometimes made me feel like a dolt. “Maybe, let me know how it goes and I’ll think about it.”

  He nodded and returned to his story.

  “You have ten minutes and then you should get ready for school, kid,” I said, grabbing his dirty clothes hamper.

  He nodded. “No worries. I’ll be down in a bit.”

  I stared at Jeremy and was reminded of how fortunate Scott and I were. Both children were intelligent, confident, and fortunately, had their father’s sunny good looks.

  “You okay, mom?” he asked, biting one of his nails.

  I smiled. Of course, he had one of my bad habits. “I’m fine. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  After the kids left for school, I drove Max to the nearby park and started a sizzling, hot detective story I’d just downloaded on my own Kindle, while he played on the slide. The house was clean, the dry-cleaning and laundry taken care of, and my entire day was pretty much free. Since Scott was adamant about me not working and being home for the children when they arrived home from school, I had all the time in the world between the hours of eight and four. I had to admit, though, it made me somewhat jaded at times.

  “Hi,” said a woman, planting herself on the bench next to mine. She was pregnant and had another child, who appeared to be around four, playing on the jungle gym. She looked to be somewhere in her early twenties, short, blonde bob, pierced nose, and a tattoo of a butterfly on her ankle.

  “Hello,” I answered, smiling warmly.

  “Whew, it’s a scorcher today,” she said, brushing away the beads of perspiration from her forehead.

  I nodded. It was definitely humid. Fortunately, the sun was hidden behind the clouds making it bearable for those of us not pregnant. “You look miserable,” I said, noticing her swollen ankles.

  “I am and I can’t wait for this baby to be born,” she said, rubbing her tummy. “One month left and I know it won’t come soon enough.”

  “It’s tough, I remember those last few weeks.”

  “They suck, big-time,” she said.

  I’d packed a small cooler of bottled water and offered her one. “Here, you look like you could use one of these.”

  She smiled, gratefully. “Thanks, you’re a lifesaver. I don’t know what I was thinking, coming out here without something to drink.”

  “No, problem,” I said, relieved that I’d packed extras.

  She tipped the bottle back and guzzled most of it down immediately. Then, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and replaced the cap. “I’d better save some for Jenna. That’s my daughter.”

  “Pretty name,” I said, handing her another bottle of water. “Just give her this fresh one, I’ve got plenty.”

  She looked at me like I was from another planet. “Wow, thanks.”

  I chuckled. “Hey, like I said, no problem.”

  She took another sip of water, then pulled out her phone and began texting someone.

  Realizing our conversation was over, I started reading my story once again. It was about a sexy cop falling for a suspect that had seduced the hell out of him. Some of the scenes were so steamy, that I had to look around to make sure nobody was peering over my shoulder. It was that intense.

  “Jenna! Be careful!” yelled the pregnant woman. “You might fall!”

  I looked up from my story. Jenna and Max were racing around the park, playing tag.

  I smiled. “Kids.”

  She wiped more perspiration from her face with the back of her hand, uncovering an ugly bruise near her eye. It almost looked like someone had smacked her.

  I bit the side of my lip, reminding myself that it was none of my business. Instead of meddling, I introduced myself.

  “I’m Tina,” she answered, rubbing her stomach, again. “So, do you live around here?”

  I nodded. “Well, a couple of blocks away. I’m babysitting that little guy and decided to bring him, here to let him get some exercise. What about you?”

  She pointed to a group of newer townhomes on the other side of the park. “We live over there.”

  “That’s nice and convenient,” I said. “This park has always been one of my favorites. I used to bring my own children here when they were young.”

  She yawned. “Oh, yeah?”

  I nodded. “They keep it pretty maintained, too. Most of the other parks have bird crap on the equipment and graffiti, or overflowing garbage cans; it’s gross. This one, though, it’s always fairly clean.”

  “Hmm…” she said, although I could tell she wasn’t really impressed.

  “Get down, Max!” I yelled, watching him attempt to climb the outside of the covered slide. “You’ll fall!”

  Tina’s cell phone began ringing and she practically jumped off the bench to answer it.

  “Hello,” she answered, getting up and moving away from me.

  I returned to my story, trying not to blush when the detective bent his lover over and frisked her in spots that made me cross my legs.
<
br />   Good grief, how long had it been since Scott and I’d had sex? Four weeks? Longer?

  I looked around again, cleared my throat, and finished reading about the different places Detective stud-muffin buried his smoking gun.

  For the love of God…

  Now my cheeks were burning, and not from the sun. I turned off the machine and tried to push away the erotic images flitting through my lonely housewife mind. I knew that tomorrow night couldn’t come soon, enough. I couldn’t even remember the last orgasm I’d had. With the kids getting older and seeming to need more attention than ever, as well as Scott’s busy schedule, we barely had enough time for “wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.” The last time that had even occurred seemed like ages ago.

  “I just said that I would, Jerry!” hollered Tina into her cell phone.

  I glanced her way and noticed the tears in her light blue eyes. When she noticed me staring, she turned away.

  “No, I’m sorry,” she murmured into the phone. “I’m sorry. Okay?” She swore as she hung up the phone. “Jenna! We have to go!”

  “Are you okay?” I asked, seeing the stress and anxiety in her face.

  “Husband came home for lunch,” she muttered, now trying to avoid eye contact with me altogether.

  “Oh. Well, it was certainly nice meeting you,” I said.

  She nodded. “Yeah, you, too. Come on, Jenna! Your daddy’s going to flip out if we don’t get home. Let’s go!”

  Jenna jumped off of the slide and rushed to her mother’s side. It was then that I noticed a bruise on the little girl’s arm and this time I couldn’t stop myself, especially when a child was involved. “Oh, did you get hurt, honey?” I asked, leaning forward on the bench to get a better look.

  Jenna looked at her mother. “I –”

  “She fell last night,” interrupted Tina, grabbing her daughter’s hand. “We have a very narrow staircase.”

  I felt sick to my stomach. Suspicious bruises on both mom and daughter?

  Coincidental?

  Right.

  “Bye, Jenna!” yelled Max.

  Jenna turned and waved as Tina pulled her along towards the townhomes.

  Max strolled over to my bench and sat down while we watched the two of them leave.

  “Did you have fun with Jenna?” I asked, running a hand over his soft hair.

  He nodded. “Yes. She doesn’t want to go home, though. I wish she could have stayed.”

  I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I know, but you might see her again someday.”

  He looked up at me, his hair flopping over his brown eyes. “No, her dad won’t let her. She told me.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

  “It is. Just like my dad, they wreck everything.”

  I sighed. “I know it might feel that way, but your father loves you and thinks he’s doing what’s best.”

  He stared at his feet that were dangling off the bench. “He makes my mommy cry. If he loved us, he wouldn’t make anyone cry.”

  I pulled him into my arms. “Sometimes parents make mistakes, honey. It happens to everyone, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you. In fact, I bet he loves you more than anything else in the world.”

  He frowned. “I heard him tell Anna last night that he loved her beaver more than anything else. I didn’t even know she owned a beaver.”

  Anna was his dad’s girlfriend.

  Trying to keep a straight face, I cleared my throat. “She must have sold it when she moved in with your dad.”

  His eyes grew big. “Well, he must miss it a lot then.”

  I sighed. “No, I’ll bet he visits it whenever he can.”

  Chapter Two

  I wanted to treat Max to a healthy lunch, but we ended up at McDonalds anyway for the convenience. After we both pigged out on fries and cheeseburgers, he began yawning.

  “Such a big yawn, looks like it’s time to go back home and rest until mommy comes to pick you up,” I said, grabbing my purse.

  He nodded and slid out of the booth. As we were about to leave, we bumped into my hunky neighbor, who was just entering the restaurant.

  “Well, hello there, neighbor,” he said in a rich, deep voice.

  I looked up at him and smiled. “Hello there.” We hadn’t actually met face to face, but he was much taller than I’d originally thought.

  “I’ve been meaning to get your lawnmower back to you,” he said.

  His statement barely registered as I stared at the ugly stitches near his jawline. As usual, I couldn’t stop myself from opening up my big mouth. “Wow, what happened to you?”

  He smiled and then winced. “Perks of working in law enforcement, I guess.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know you were a cop. Man, I hope the other guy looks worse than you,” I said.

  Something flashed through his eyes for a brief second and I thought maybe I’d offended him. I tried to apologize but ended up babbling and sounding like a hopeless idiot. “Oh, God…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that you looked bad. I mean you do look bad….the stitches, that is, not you,” I cleared my throat. “You’re quite handsome.”

  He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. She doesn’t have a scratch on her.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “A woman did that to you?”

  He nodded. “A very violent woman with a switchblade. She got lucky and jumped me from behind.”

  I grimaced. “Wow, I guess it could have been much worse.”

  “You got that right.”

  He then looked over at Max and started engaging him in a conversation while I took that time to study him. Not only was he handsome in a rugged kind of way, with his strong five o’clock shadowed chin and eyes the color of warm caramel, but his broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist that was very appealing. Being a married woman, one that was starving for sex at the moment, I didn’t even dare glance lower.

  “Will that work for you?” he asked.

  My eyes darted back to his. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

  As if he knew I was checking him out, his eyes lit up with amusement. “Your husband loaned me the lawnmower. I’ll return it tomorrow afternoon, if that’s okay?”

  I nodded. “No problem.”

  He held out his hand. “I’m Jake, by the way. Jake Sharp.”

  “I’m Lindsey Shepard,” I said, enjoying the warmth of his hand as well as the size.

  Jeez, I must be ovulating.

  “Lindsey,” whined Max, getting antsy, “let’s go.”

  “Okay, honey. Well, it was nice meeting you, Jake. I’ll let Scott know you’ll be returning the lawnmower soon.”

  He smiled. “Sounds good.”

  We left McDonalds and I brought Max back home with me, putting on a Disney movie so he could relax for a while before Darcy picked him up. Then, I went into the kitchen to sift through my mail when my cell phone began to vibrate.

  Darcy.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” I asked.

  She sighed. “It was going very well until my Mercedes was towed.”

  “Shut up!” I gasped.

  “Yep, I must not have put enough coins in the meter. Anyway, can you pick me up? I’m still stuck downtown.”

  “Of course. Max and I will meet you in front of the courthouse, say, twenty minutes?”

  “Perfect.”

  I hung up, grabbed Max and the keys to my SUV.

  “Where are we going?” he asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

  “Sorry, honey. Your mom needs a ride,” I said, buckling him into the car seat.

  That woke him up. “Yay, let’s go get mommy!”

  We sped off and I jumped onto the freeway but noticed, with great dismay, that rush hour had already begun. After sitting in traffic for twenty minutes, I called Darcy.

  “Let me guess, rush hour?” she chuckled.

  “You got it.”

  “Don’t worry about it; I’m just happy that you’re on your way. I’ll watch for you, hon; don’t fret.”<
br />
  “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

  When I finally made it downtown, the traffic was still very slow and I had to stop myself several times from swearing at the other drivers. Max had since fallen asleep, thankfully, so I didn’t have to answer any more of his “Are we almost there yet?”’ questions.

  “Come on,” I muttered, trying to maneuver around an old woman who could barely see over the steering wheel. As I turned my head to see if it was safe to pass, I saw Scott moving quickly along the sidewalk, carrying his briefcase. He was alone and entering the Four Seasons Hotel. Knowing they had a very upscale restaurant where he sometimes met his more lucrative clients, I didn’t think much about it.

  “Mommy!” hollered Max when we finally pulled in front of the courthouse five minutes later.

  “Hi, sweetie,” said Darcy, getting into the front seat next to me. She put her seatbelt on and turned to look back at him. “I missed you, little man,” she said, making a silly face.

  He giggled. “I missed you too, silly mommy.”

  “So, where’s your car?” I asked.

  “I just spoke to my father. He’s picking it up for me,” she said. “Three hundred and fifty dollars to get it out, can you believe it?”

  I shook my head. “That’s nuts.”

  She sighed and rested her head back against the seat. “At least court went my way. I’ve got full custody of Max and child support. Frank gets to keep the house, which I didn’t want anyway, and his new pet.”

  “Oh, I bet it’s the beaver!” shouted Max from the back seat.

  Darcy’s eyebrows shot up. “The beaver?”

  I laughed. “I’ll explain later.”

  She stretched her arms and put them behind her head. “Anyway, Frank was livid, as you can imagine. But I don’t care. He definitely had it coming.”

  “That’s for sure,” I said.

  My phone started ringing and I looked down at it.

  Scott.

  “Hey, honey,” he said, when I answered. “How’s your day going?”

  “Okay. How’s your day?”

  He groaned. “Horrible. I’m at the office, pulling my hair out. I’m sorry, but it looks like it’s going to be another long night, I’m afraid.”