“I was working all the time, I thought it was just baby blues. I didn’t think it was anything serious. She was a new mother, her hormones were all over the place. I didn’t know anything about postpartum depression or that she could even be that depressed without me knowing. Besides, your investigations at the time showed it was purely an accident. The insurance company even agreed. Why am I here now?”
I was starting to feel angry, betrayed, like a wrongly accused man ought to feel. I was the victim of a witch hunt. I’d done nothing to harm my wife, not on purpose anyway.
“Because your former lover says you did plan it all. That you purposefully tormented Kayla until she couldn’t take anymore and drove herself into a light pole. That you told her what you had planned.” The smallest of the pair stared at me with hate-filled eyes and I sat back, stunned at the rage.
“Then why isn’t she being questioned?” It was all I could think to ask.
“Who?” The taller one asked, looking at me like dog muck on the bottom of his shoe.
“Sarah. If she says I planned this with her then she’s an accessory isn’t she?” I looked between them, feeling a glimmer of hope.
“Ms. Rogers has made her statement and been released, Mr. Elliot.” I turned to Bill then, my eyes begging for him to do something.
“If those are all your questions gentlemen, and you have no grounds for charging my client, I’m now going to take him home.” I stood with Bill, following his example.
“Don’t leave town, Mr. Elliot. It’s not the same world it was ten years ago. We will find you if you run,” the taller one said. They’d told me their names but I’d forgotten them as soon as I heard them.
I left the interrogation room and walked out of the police headquarters with Bill. He was talking the whole way to my car, telling me what not to do, who not to talk to, and that I basically needed to go to work, and come home to shutter myself up inside until this was all done.
“There may be reporters soon enough, if Kayla’s parents leak this to the press. You may be in for a ride, Galen. I’m hoping to get everything dismissed, to have an answer, but right now I don’t have much. Go home, get some rest, and please, don’t do anything stupid.” Bill squeezed my shoulder before he walked away.
I stared after him, lost, confused, and incredibly broken. They weren’t just coming after my daughter, they were coming after me! I got in my car, checking the seat as usual, and started the car. I’d spent the last two years of my life living for Rikki. Since she’d been born my world had changed. I was her father, her protector. For a moment, I wished my dad had been around to protect me, to be there for me when I needed him most.
I breathed deep, the engine running but the car still in park. I needed to think. I’d seen that moment of doubt in Tara’s eyes. I knew exactly what she’d been thinking. Could I have done it, could I have killed Kayla?
I pulled out of the parking lot, heading out of town to a country lane I knew well. It didn’t lead to anything more than more country lanes, but that’s what I needed. I rolled the window down, cranked up the radio, and drove. I had no destination in mind, just a need for peace and not thinking. Tara had Rikki, they were at home, and I knew they were safe. I needed to get my head around everything before I could face them.
Maybe I had killed Kayla when I didn’t insist she seek out medical care? Who else is supposed to take care of you when you can’t take care of yourself, if not your spouse? Isn’t that the one person you’re always supposed to rely on? The doubt played over and over in my mind. Maybe I had killed her?
18. Tara
“Hey guys! What’s up?” Amanda came bouncing in, her face going blank as she saw our intense gazes.
“Galen’s been accused of murdering Kayla.” I didn’t speak loudly because Rikki was playing on the floor with her dolls. I knew little pitchers have big ears.
“What? What are you talking about?” Her gaze skittered to Rikki before coming back to me.
“It’s not clear right now. I think they’re trying to claim some kind of neglect led to her... demise.” My own eyes skidded to the little girl I adored, not wanting her to hear anything.
“Ah! Gotcha! John, do you want to come in the living room with me?”
We had piles of papers stacked on the kitchen table and we’d been going through them for hours now. Financial reports, work schedules, tax papers, police reports, photographs, testimonies, legal documents regarding Galen’s parental rights—it was all there, but nothing had struck a spark of interest yet. We were going through some papers that had obviously been Kayla’s before she married Galen when Amanda came in.
John went into the living room with Amanda, their words low and quiet, and I glanced over at Rikki.
“You alright, baby?” I gave her a smile and held my hand out to her. She got up from the floor and came to me, her grin missing a tooth or two still. She hadn’t grown them yet, poor little angel.
“Missh Daddy, Tar-wah!” She was used to her father being home by now and she’d woken from her nap early, she was going to hit cranky-land soon.
“I know, baby, I do too. Do you want to have a snack while we wait?” I pulled her up to my lap and she rested there happily, pushing the papers in front of me.
“Who’s Kayla?” She asked the innocent question but it made me freeze. How could she not know her mother’s name?
“What do you mean, honey? Don’t you know who Kayla is?” That was just weird.
“No, is she pretty?” She looked up at me from underneath my chin, her fingers still pushing at papers.
“Yes, she was. I’ve seen pictures of her. You don’t know who your mommy is?” I wasn’t sure how to handle this.
“She’s not my mommy! My mommy’s name is Mommy! She died.” I felt relief mix with pain at the same time. That’s why she doesn’t know her name. Nobody’s ever told her that her mother’s name was Kayla! I found it heartbreaking how she said her mother was dead so matter of factly.
I realized that for a two-year-old, there wasn’t much to miss. She had her father, his friends, and now Amanda and me. One day, it was going to hit her though, I just knew it. Maybe soon if her father was accused of murdering her! I wasn’t going to allow it. Rikki had been through enough when she lost her mother. I knew what that was like.
Someday, some kid was going to tease her because she didn’t have a mommy and just a daddy. Some kid was going to make sure she knew that was weird, different, and it was going to tear poor little Rikki apart. I knew it was worse to think you were unwanted, but Rikki had been wanted, hadn’t she?
“Ah, no, honey. Your mommy’s name was Kayla. Here, let me see these.” I dug through a stack of pictures until I found one I knew to be Kayla. “This is your mommy. She was pretty wasn’t she?”
Rikki took the picture studying it for a while before she put it down. “Why did she die?”
“She had an accident, honey. There wasn’t anything anybody could do to help her.”
“Oh. So it wasn’t ‘cause-uh me?” Her green eyes looked up at me for the truth, her expectations that an adult wouldn’t lie to her clear by her innocent question.
“No!” I emphasized the word, hugging her close. “She loved you a lot, Rikki. A whole lot. Buckets of love!”
“Alright. Snack now, Tar-wah?” She was back to her usual self now, all self-doubt gone as she climbed down and went around to the fridge.
I made her a snack and we sat at the table as she ate. She’d outgrown her bottles now, with the help of Amanda and me, but she wanted her sippy cup to take to the couch with her. I put some juice in one and went to turn her favorite cartoon on. It was getting late and Galen still wasn’t back yet.
Was he still at the police station or somewhere else? Had they arrested him? My anxiety was growing and the only way I had to relieve it for now was by going through more of the boxes. Amanda and John came back in to take up the search and once more, we started going over the contents of the boxes, hoping to find an an
swer that would keep Rikki’s daddy out of prison.
19. Galen
I drove for hours, stopping to pick up some food at one point, not really thinking, just feeling and driving down the road. By the time I hit Alabama I knew I needed to get back home, mainly because I had no clear memory of the past few hours of my drive. I’d heard of road hypnotism before but it had never happened to me.
I’d sent my teaching assistant a text, telling him to teach my classes for a couple of days while I sorted some personal matters, and knew I had no specific time I needed to be home but Tara would be worrying by now.
It was three in the morning when I pulled into the driveway. John’s truck was there, so was Tara’s car, but when I went in I didn’t see John anywhere. There were boxes I recognized on the kitchen table, papers strewn about, but Rikki was in bed, and so was Tara.
It kind of hurt to find her in her own bedroom, not in mine. That had happened before but this time she was alone. Rikki was in her own room, snuffling as she sometimes did. I had no idea where John was but didn’t care. I undressed and slid in alongside Tara, needing her warmth to thaw me out. The drive home had been cold with the window down to keep me awake.
She murmured my name as I slid in behind her and pulled her close to me. I felt bad about waking her but I needed her touch, I needed her. She wrapped her arm around me and snuggled into my chest, her breathing evening out after a few minutes. I held her, needing nothing more than that, nothing more than her gentle touch on my body.
To know she was there was enough.
I wasn’t aware I’d been stroking her hip until she jerked, breathing in fast and sharp until she realized it was me in the bed with her.
“Galen?” She looked up at me, her eyes shining in the moonlight, her hair a dark stream behind her. It was so long, almost to her waist. I loved feeling it in my hands.
“It’s just me, baby. Only me. Go back to sleep.” She’d gone stiff but now she relaxed, throwing a leg over my hips.
I sighed as her lips nuzzled at my neck, stared into nothing as she breathed in my scent, and tried not to become aroused. She had other plans, as I soon learned when her hands went between us, sliding down to my groin.
“I’ve missed you, Galen.”
She was quiet, soft, but her hands were insistent and I was hard before she gripped me tightly, and squeezed in just the right way.
She’d been a virgin, how did she know to do that? Maybe it was instinct, I don’t know, but it was perfect. Thrusting up into her hand, I pulled her face up to mine.
“I’ve missed you, Tara.”
I found her lips in the darkness, warm and soft, eager as she pressed into me, her hand moving languidly in a way that sent a thrill up my spine. I wanted to throw her on her back and bury myself in her, lose the memories that had plagued me all day, forget the doubts I’d had about myself.
Instead, I let her have her way. My head fell back to the pillow and I closed my eyes, letting her work her way up to whatever she had planned. I’d let one wife down by not being there for her, I wasn’t going to do the same with this one.
I’d learned something on that long drive back home. Tara was there, she was the one that waited for me. Somehow, I’d fallen in love with her, somehow she’d got past my defenses, past the impenetrable armor I’d wrapped myself in after Kayla died, and she’d filled me with something I’d never experienced before, something I hadn’t known was missing from my first marriage; a need to be loved in return, a need to share in that love.
I’d cared about Kayla, I thought I’d been totally in love with her, but it was different with Tara. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with her, I needed to. Then I lost my train of thought because the beautiful woman I adored moved, her legs closing around my hips as she positioned herself above me.
My hands grasped at her breasts, a move that made her shiver. I circled her nipples in slow strokes as she sank down onto my hard length, trying to distract myself from the pleasure of Tara’s tight walls closing around me. I couldn’t close my eyes, even though I wanted to sink into her oblivion, because she leaned her head back, the long fall of her dark hair teasing at my thighs. She was all woman, my wife.
Her hips tilted as she started to move on me, a slow exploration as I gripped at her nipples, tearing out a long groan of approval from somewhere deep in her chest. Oh, she liked that.
“Don’t stop, Galen. More.” She was doing a slow grind on my dick, what else could I do but appease her? I gripped the buds more tightly, and a new sound came from her throat, surrender.
She was the one in control, she was the one setting the pace, but in that instant, she’d given me total control of her body. She trusted me and it almost undid me.
I pushed up, pulling her down to kiss her, all but inhaling her as our mouths fused, an exchange of far more than simple passion pushing me to swipe my tongue across hers, to suck her tongue into my mouth, as something burst painfully into my chest. Mine.
My wife, my partner. My pleasure.
I pulled back, my hands at her hips, guiding her as I drove up into her, frantic to watch the emotions play across her face. I saw pleasure, love, and so much more twist across her face as she moved with me, seeking out the bliss we knew we could create.
Tara moved, pleasured moans tearing from her throat, and I was glad I’d closed the door. I didn’t want to muffle those beautiful sounds; they drove me to dig my feet into the bed, using the resistance to fuck up into her with a thrust that made her whole body shake.
“Galen!” she gasped out, her nails digging into my chest, and I knew she needed more to get her over the edge she was braced on.
I slid my hand beneath her hair, winding it in my fist as I went along, her tight little gasping sighs telling me it was what she needed. I pulled at her hair, forcing her head back, and she clamped down on me hard with her heated walls.
“So fucking good, Tara. That’s right baby, touch yourself now. Fall over the edge with me.” I wasn’t going to be able to hold back when she finally gave in, not with the kind of pussy she had.
“Gal—”
She didn’t get to finish because the friction of her finger on her clit finally did it, or maybe it was my words, I don’t know. But those sweet walls started fluttering on my dick, like two long tongues flicking at me, and I went with her.
Her teeth sank into my shoulder as I hissed out a growl, emptying into her. I couldn’t have stopped it even if I’d wanted to. It was too good to resist.
Her lips found mine as I drifted into the nothing that came after, soothing me back into reality. I held her tightly to me, holding on to the one woman that could pull me back from the rage I wanted to fall into. That’s why I’d driven for so long tonight, I’d been trying to drive away from my rage. Helpless rage, because there was little I could do to save myself this time. Only Tara could save me from myself. My Tara.
20. Tara
I woke up to find Galen standing over me the next morning with a grin on his face.
“I’ve brought you pancakes, orange juice, and a mountain of bacon. I might have to help you with that bacon.” He settled a bed tray over my lap and came to sit beside me.
“Where’s Rikki?” I took a piece of bacon and tried a bite before I looked over at him. It was the perfect level of crunchy. It could be crunchy or crispy, but never still wiggling around my plate. That just freaked me out.
“She’s with Amanda. They’ve gone for a day of girl-time, from what Amanda said.” He grinned at me as he settled back on the pillows, more at ease than I’d seen him in a long time.
“Ah, she’s taking her to get her nails done and clothes shopping I bet. Amanda adores her.”
“She’s beautiful, smart, and knows how to wrap people around her finger. Amanda can’t help but love her,” he said, snatching another piece of bacon as I cut into my pancakes.
“That’s true. What are you doing home?” I glanced over at him between bites, he had class this morning, aft
er all.
“My TA is taking over for a few days. We have some work to do.” His arched eyebrow told me he meant more than just the bedroom fun-time kind of work.
I gave him another piece of bacon and he munched on it as I finished my pancakes off. I watched him, wondering if I should pout that he wanted to do real work instead of having sex. Would that work on Galen?
In the morning light, after a shower and shave, Galen was awake, cheerful, and too sexy for his own good. Memories of the night before played in my mind, memories I never wanted to lose. I wanted to repeat them.
I sat the tray of leftover bacon on the floor and turned to Galen, running my hand under his t-shirt, the name of the university emblazoned on the front. His skin was warm and smooth and I closed my eyes, savoring the feel of him.
“We can work, but I think I need a little encouragement. Just a little.” I scrunched my nose up and he laughed.
“I don’t think you need any encouragement at all, sweetheart. Come here.” He pulled me over his lap and I straddled him, looking into his eyes as we came face to face.
I hadn’t brushed my teeth, but he didn’t care. He hadn’t said he loved me yet, but I didn’t care. We smiled at each other, our lips brushing together softly. I felt the love between us. I knew it was there. Unspoken or not, I knew there was more to us than mere convenience, or the sex we so enjoyed. For now, I was willing to let it go.
“Look, we could have a lot of sex right now. And I do mean a lot. Tons of it. I’m down with that, but... and this is something to think about, we could spend that time looking for a way to get me out of this situation so we have a lot more time in the future. What do you think?” He’d spoken just as I’d started to explore his neck, the scented skin making my head dizzy with desire.
I didn’t respond at first, I was too busy licking at the pulse in his neck, tasting him on my tongue, a move that earned me a thrust of his hips.
“Oh yes, that’s good, more of that!” I ground down on him, wanting that intense feeling of almost pain but pure pleasure to intensify.
Professor next Door Page 11
