His Best Friend's Wife

by Gina Wilkins

  “You, um, want to take the twins to an arcade?” She had a little trouble wrapping her head around that image.

  “Your kids are such an important part of your life,” he said simply. “I want to see that part, too.”

  She twisted a corner of the throw between her fingers. “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.”

  “Because of Lucy.”

  It wasn’t really a question, but she shook her head, anyway. “No. Not entirely. It’s just that I don’t want to confuse the twins.”

  “You never take them out with your friends?” His question held a note of challenge.

  “Well, yes, sometimes,” she had to admit. “But—”

  “You’ve already introduced me to them as your friend. Unless Lucy has told them something different about me?” he asked suspiciously.

  “No. No, of course not.”

  Lucy would never tell the kids the basis for her hard feelings against Evan because she wouldn’t want to upset them. She probably wouldn’t pretend to like him, either, but she’d be tactfully vague about her reasons. At least in front of the twins. Renae, of course, would hear it all in detail again.

  There was no doubt that Lucy would disapprove vehemently of Renae taking the children out with Evan. The question was, would Lucy be able to accept Renae’s decisions without upsetting the happy balance in their little household? And did Evan have any idea what he was asking for in suggesting they take six-and-a-half-year-old twins to an arcade?

  “Is it really that difficult a decision?” he asked, watching the expressions crossing her face.

  Maybe it would be good for him to see that part of her life, she thought. As he’d pointed out, he had seen her only away from her real life and real responsibilities. Maybe it was time he saw for himself how different she was from the woman who could spend Wednesday evenings focusing solely on him.

  Judging from her admittedly limited past experiences, reality would soon put a damper on romance. And maybe that would solve all her problems at once, one way or another.

  “Fine.”

  He lifted his eyebrows in question. “Fine?”

  “You want to spend an afternoon with the kids, we’ll do it. Just remember it was your idea.”

  He seemed surprised that she had capitulated—as she was herself, a bit—but he adapted quickly enough. “Okay, great. Next Saturday?”

  She nodded, thinking grimly of how crowded the pizza arcade would be on a Saturday afternoon this close to the holidays.

  “What are you going to tell Lucy?”

  “Let me worry about that.” And she would worry. She reached for her clothes. “I really do have to go now.”

  Apparently satisfied with his small victory, he didn’t try to detain her.

  The blanket and throw were neatly folded and Evan was dressed when she returned from the bathroom. She knew he would walk her down to her car and see her safely away, even if she assured him he didn’t need to go to the trouble.

  He held out her coat to her with a smile that made her breath catch. It was both regretful and rueful, and so damned sexy-sweet that she couldn’t look away. The smile faded in response to whatever he saw on her face.

  “Renae—”

  His husky murmur brought her out of her reverie. She shook her head to clear it and reached out to take her coat from his hand. “There’s no need to walk me down.”

  He already had one arm in his own coat. “Mmm-hmm.”

  Which meant that he would, just as she had expected. She picked up her purse and pulled out her car keys.

  Their breath hung in the air, mingling between them as they stood by her car to say good-night. “Be careful driving home,” he said.

  She nodded. “I will.”

  “Maybe you could tell the kids I said hi? I’d send greetings to Lucy, too, but I don’t think she’d care to hear them.”

  “I’ll tell them all you said hello,” she assured him.

  “Thanks.”

  “Good night, Evan.”

  He kissed her lingeringly. “I’ll call you.”

  Nodding—and wondering what she’d gotten herself into now—she closed herself into her car and started the engine.

  * * *

  Renae waited until the kids were in bed Sunday night before sitting down with Lucy for a talk over tea in the kitchen. She’d been gearing up for this all day, and she was as ready now as she would ever be for this overdue discussion.

  It had been a busy day. After church, the pastor and his wife had joined them for a big lunch mostly prepared by Lucy. The weather was cool but clear, so Renae had taken the twins to a nearby playground that afternoon. After dinner they’d made popcorn and watched a DVD.

  After the film, the twins had gotten into a tugging match over a toy they both wanted to play with, which had almost ended the otherwise pleasant day with them being sent to bed early as a consequence. Fortunately, they had gotten themselves under control and grudgingly apologized to each other beneath their mother’s stern gaze. They’d gone to bed an hour later with the usual hugs and kisses and giggles, the quarrel forgotten. Renae hadn’t tried to fool herself that it would be the last one—her children were generally well behaved, but they had their moments.

  She hoped they wouldn’t have any of those “moments” at the arcade next weekend.

  She hadn’t told them yet that they would be going on that outing. First she had to talk to Lucy.

  She took a sip of her tea, then set the cup on the table, cradling it loosely between her hands. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about the party last night.”

  Lucy lowered her own cup, looking over the top of her narrow, gold-framed glasses at Renae. “No, we haven’t. Did you have a nice time?”

  “Yes, it was very nice. The auction was a success. They raised quite a bit for the charities, so the scholarship fund should get a nice little boost.”

  “I’m happy to hear that.”

  “I bid on doggie obedience classes, but I got outbid.”

  Lucy gave a faint chuckle. “Those might have come in handy.”

  “We’ll probably enroll him after the first of the year, anyway. You’ll be happy to know that your afghan went to a good home. Emma Grainger bought it. She absolutely loves it.”

  “That’s the young woman we met at the River Market? Evan Daugherty’s girlfriend?”

  “Yes, we met her, but she isn’t Evan’s girlfriend. They’re just friends.”

  “Good for her. She seemed nice.” Too nice for Evan, she might as well have added.

  Renae resisted a sigh. “She is nice. I enjoyed spending time with her last night.”

  “I figured you were having a good time when you got home so late. Guess the party went on longer than you expected?”

  Drawing a deep breath, Renae put her hands in her lap and laced her fingers together. It was ridiculous that she felt like a teenager making a confession to her mother—at least, this was the way she assumed she would feel in that situation she had never actually experienced. “I wasn’t actually at the party the whole evening. I spent some time visiting with Evan afterward.”

  She didn’t know if her mother-in-law would figure out that she’d used visiting as a euphemism, but that was as much detail as Renae was willing to give on that count.

  Whether she’d caught the nuance or not, Lucy stiffened hard enough to make her chair creak a little. “Just you and him?”

  “Yes. I’ve seen him several times recently, Lucy. I didn’t mention it because I knew you’d disapprove, but I don’t want to hide it from you any longer.”

  Lucy clung a bit longer to her shaky optimism. “I know you’ve been meeting him about the scholarship. Is that what you were talking about last night?”

  “No. We have taken care of the scholarship, but we’ve also been meeting socially. I, um, guess you would call it dating.”

  Blinking rapidly, Lucy asked in little more than a whisper, “You’re dating Evan Daugherty?”

  That seemed
like the easiest way to explain it. “Yes. It’s all still tentative, and I don’t know where it’s headed, but I’m going to keep seeing him. For now.”

  “I can’t believe this...”

  “I don’t want to upset you, Lucy,” Renae said softly. “And I truly don’t want to hurt you. I didn’t plan this...it just sort of happened.”

  A glint of anger sparked in Lucy’s dark eyes, but it wasn’t aimed at Renae. “He talked you into this, didn’t he? I knew there was a reason he reappeared in your life.”

  “It really was just a coincidence that he came to the office,” Renae insisted. “And I was the one who asked to be involved with the scholarship.”

  “He convinced you to hide it from me. Why else wouldn’t you have told me before?”

  “No, that was my decision, too. I just—didn’t know how to tell you. I’m sorry.”

  Predictably, Lucy wasn’t appeased. “I’ve always suspected he had an eye on you. Even when my Jason was alive, I thought Evan looked at you too much.”

  That stung, maybe because it hit a little too close to home.

  “There was never anything between Evan and me when Jason and I were together, Lucy.” Not beyond one brief kiss and a barely acknowledged attraction. She refused to concede that added up to wrongdoing, no matter how much guilt she’d felt afterward.

  Lucy waved a hand. “I know you would never have been unfaithful to my Jason. But I don’t trust Evan Daugherty. Never have.”

  “Yes, you’ve made that clear.” Frankly, Renae was getting tired of hearing it.

  “I’ve had good reason. Did I tell you about the time he got my son arrested?”

  It was another old story Renae had heard several times. Evan and Jason, along with several other high school boys, had been hauled down to the police station after a big fight on campus. “I know about that, but—”

  “Evan threw the first punch,” Lucy said with a firm nod of her head. “He even admitted it.”

  And Jason had told Renae why that punch had been thrown. Evan, Jason and another friend had come upon a group of bullies tormenting a younger student. A pushing match had begun, followed by ugly words that had pushed Evan’s temper beyond the boiling point. He’d punched the bully, which had sparked a full-out melee that had been broken up by the campus security officer. No charges had been filed, but all the boys involved had received stern warnings and several Saturday detention sessions at school.

  “Evan said later he was sorry he’d hit the guy, but I always thought he was totally justified,” Jason had confided to Renae. “The jerk deserved it.”

  Lucy was in no mood now to hear a defense of Evan’s actions, even in her late son’s own words.

  “That was a long time ago, Lucy,” Renae said instead.

  “It was just one of the troubles Evan caused this family. And you know the worst.” Lucy dabbed at her eyes with a paper napkin.

  This was what Renae had feared—that Lucy would cry. She had a hard time dealing with her mother-in-law’s tears.

  She reached across the table and covered Lucy’s hand with her own. “Lucy, Evan didn’t kill Jason. All he did was invite him for a ride on their bikes. Jason wanted to go. All the blame goes to Sam Abbott.”

  Abbott was the man who had been driving the car that hit Jason. He was still serving time for manslaughter as a result, having pleaded guilty to avoid a trial and a potentially longer sentence than the one he’d received. While Renae and Lucy hadn’t been happy that Abbott had not received the maximum sentence allowable because of his plea deal, they’d both been relieved to be spared the trial.

  Renae had no doubt Abbott’s lawyers had convinced the man that his previous history of reckless driving combined with the image of a grieving mother and young, pregnant widow would have persuaded any jury to want to put him away for life. There had been a civil settlement, but because Abbott had no insurance and had declared personal bankruptcy, Renae never expected to see a dime of it.

  Lucy hated Sam Abbott, of course, but at least that hostility was rational.

  Lucy met her eyes. “You know how I feel about this, Renae.”

  “Yes.” Renae drew a deep breath. “And I’m sorry. But I’m not going to stop seeing Evan.”

  Lucy flinched. Had she really thought Renae would cave so easily? Maybe Renae had gotten too much into the habit of looking after everyone else’s happiness, which left others expecting her to continue to do so.

  “I loved Jason,” she said. “I married him thinking I would spend my entire life with him. But he’s been gone a long time and I’m not ready to join Daisy and Maxine for dominoes on Thursday nights.”

  Lucy released a long sigh. “I know you’re still young. You gave up your entire twenties to take care of the children and to make a home for them—and me.”

  “We’ve done that together, Lucy.”

  “Yes, but maybe I’ve held you back in starting a new life for yourself. Just because I never looked to remarry after my Luis died doesn’t mean you wanted to spend the rest of your life alone. I must confess it’s difficult for me to imagine you with anyone other than Jason, but you shouldn’t worry about that.”

  Taking encouragement from that, Renae started to speak, but Lucy beat her to it.

  “What about that nice man with the little boys? Mike? He’s interested in you. I’m sure he would ask you out if you gave him a little encouragement.”

  “I’m not interested in going out with Mike.”

  “There’s that man from church. Winn Kiplinger, the one who lost his wife last year? He’s a few years older than you, but—”

  “Lucy,” Renae cut in with exasperation. “I don’t need you to start matchmaking. I’m not planning to remarry anytime soon. I just wanted you to know that I’ve been spending time with Evan and that I’ll be seeing him again. I’d like for you to give him another chance to be friendly with you, but if you’d rather not see him, that’s fine, too.”

  Her expression set, Lucy muttered, “I have no interest in being friendly with him. It’s just too painful.”

  Renae gave up. Now that they had finally gotten this talk started, she wouldn’t push Lucy any further on that count tonight. Maybe Lucy would come around—or maybe things with Evan would end before that became necessary. For now, all Renae could do was take this one day at a time.

  There was still one last hurdle to cross before the conversation ended. “You should know that Evan and I are taking the kids to a pizza arcade next Saturday.”

  Lucy looked horrified. “You’re taking the twins out with him? Why?”

  “Because Evan wants to get to know them. He can’t really understand my life without seeing me with my children.”

  Lucy clattered dishes irritably as she gathered her teacup and dessert plate to carry to the kitchen. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. That man is too persuasive. Think how susceptible Daniel would be to him. Do you know how awful it will be if they grow fond of him only to be hurt by him? As they probably will be,” she added in an ominous tone.

  Hearing her own fear put into words, Renae cleared her throat. “I’ll be careful with them. And really, that would be a risk no matter who I see—even Mike Bishop or Winn Kiplinger,” she added meaningfully. “So, either I never have another date until the twins are grown, or teach them to appreciate the people who come through our lives. Even if only temporarily.”

  Standing by the table and wringing her hands, Lucy fretted. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”

  “I know. And I’m sorry.” But Renae wasn’t going to change her mind. As far as she was concerned, this talk had only reinforced how set in their ways she and Lucy had become, and how it was past time for her to shake things up a bit.

  She could only hope the path she was taking now didn’t lead straight from happiness to heartbreak.

  * * *

  Evan took Renae to dinner with Tate and Kim Wednesday night. It had been a spur-of-the-moment plan cooked up between Evan and Tate dur
ing work Tuesday, but Renae and Kim had approved. They had burgers the guys cooked on an outdoor grill, and roasted potatoes and salad the women prepared together while little Daryn watched happily from her high chair.

  It was cool out that night, and both Evan and Tate were red-cheeked and windblown by the time they carried in the platter of burgers, but Evan figured the appreciation they received made it worth the discomfort. They talked easily over dinner, laughing at Daryn, who serenaded them with a wooden-spoon drum solo on her high-chair tray, enjoying the extra attention she was receiving.

  Kim and Renae insisted on cleaning the kitchen after dinner, leaving the baby in the living room with the men. Bouncing a chortling Daryn on his knee, Evan decided he was getting better at interacting with his partner’s little stepdaughter—daughter, he corrected himself. Tate planned to adopt Daryn as soon as legally possible and Evan had no doubt Tate would forever love the girl as much as he would any biological offspring.

  Tate glanced toward the kitchen. “Kim and Renae seem to be getting along well. They have a lot in common, I guess.”

  Evan passed the baby to Tate. “Yes, they do.”

  Tickling Daryn’s chin to make her squeal with delight, Tate asked, “So is Lucy coming around?”

  Evan grimaced. “Renae said Lucy just doesn’t mention me at all. Even this morning, knowing Renae and I would be seeing each other this evening, she just told her she would see her at the usual Wednesday night time and acted like nothing had changed.”

  He knew that because he’d pressed Renae a little for the details when she’d been reticent about Lucy. He needed to know what he was up against in the six days a week he and Renae were apart. He figured Lucy would do everything in her power to undermine the advances he and Renae were slowly making.

  “Got to be tough for Renae. Caught in the middle that way, I mean.”

  “I know.” Which was why he was doing his best not to make things worse for her even as he pushed to be included more in her life.