My Husband's Secret

by Kiersten Modglin

  “Himself. Yeah, I know.” I’d heard this speech from Brent more times than I could count. The brothers were a true Cain and Abel story—nothing but pure hatred between them. Their only connection was me, something I’d once been proud of, but now I wasn’t sure what to feel. Far as I knew, Cain and Abel hadn’t been in love with the same woman. “Well, I suppose I could just head down there and see. Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding.”

  “Go to the apartment, you mean?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  “No way in hell are you going to any apartment alone,” he said with a scoff. “If you’re insistent on going, you’re taking me with you.”

  “You don’t have to do that, Brent. You have work. I’m a big girl, you know? And besides, if it is just Lucas, what have I got to worry about?”

  He didn’t say anything at first, and I heard the wind pick up again through the line. “It’s going to storm tonight. I’ll come by the house in the morning. You can text me when he’s gone, if you want.” He paused. “Naomi, I need you to swear you won’t go alone.”

  “I swear, I won’t. I really appreciate the help, Brent. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

  “You aren’t asking me. I’m telling you. Whether it’s Lucas or not, we both know you discovering this apartment could put you in danger. Can you get a sitter for Becca in the morning?”

  “I think danger is a bit extreme, but sure. I can get a sitter for her. You can come by whenever in the morning, you don’t have to wait for my text. Lucas is gone for the night, and he took a bag. He’ll be staying at the hospital.” A strange thought washed over me, but I didn’t dare speak it aloud. Perhaps he was staying at his secret apartment instead.

  “Must’ve been some fight…” He let out a laugh under his breath.

  “You know Lucas. Always one to make things interesting.” I smiled sadly, though he couldn’t see it.

  “That’s my brother,” he said wryly. “Are you going to be okay for the night?”

  “I’ll be fine,” I told him, just as I heard Becca crying from down the hall. “I should go, anyway. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

  “See you tomorrow,” he confirmed. “Call me if you need anything.”

  “Always,” I promised, then I let the phone slip from my ear. Why was it so easy to call on the man whose ring I didn’t wear?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Clara

  When Luke left for work in the middle of the night, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something worse than what he’d told me happened had happened. It wasn’t my business, I knew. I kept warning myself I should stay out of it. As much as I wanted Luke all to myself, I didn’t want him if it meant hurting him in the long run. I had to know what happened with Naomi, why he was suddenly so willing to leave her.

  To get the answers I needed, I had to go directly to the source.

  Luke would kill me if he knew what I was planning. Luckily for me, he’d never have to know. If Rena in payroll thought it was strange that I’d called looking for Luke’s address the next morning, she didn’t let on, especially not after I told her it was because we were chipping in for his birthday next week and I was having his gift delivered. When I’d asked if she’d pitched in her portion yet, she’d all but thrown his address at me, in a hurry to get off the phone. If there was one thing you could count on Rena for, it was skipping out on hospital potlucks, birthday pools, or gifts for the chief.

  I pulled into the driveway of a large brick house, glancing around for any sign of a child’s toys, but I didn’t see any. Didn’t Becca play outside? I exited my car, noticing the cherry red Grand Prix in the driveway parked in front of the garage. What was I going to say to Naomi when I met her? I wrung my hands together in front of me, sweat beading at my hairline as I tried to think of what to say, what to do, how to introduce myself. It wasn’t as if we were meeting under the best of circumstances.

  Hey, Naomi. It’s me, your brother’s girlfriend. I’m here to ask if you’ve recently harmed your daughter or given Luke any reason to want to run away and take her with us?

  Somehow, it was lacking.

  I forced my hands to my sides, adjusting my blouse as I sucked in a haggard breath. I could do this. I was good with people. Good with awkward situations. I’d make the best of this and then, somehow, some way, I’d make Luke understand why it had to be done.

  It was well past time.

  I made my way up the walk and toward the front step, raising my fist to knock on the thick, mahogany door. Within seconds, I could hear footsteps headed my way.

  This was it.

  I was going to meet her.

  The woman I’d heard stories about for twelve years.

  The woman I knew so much about, yet I still didn’t know what she looked like.

  The woman I was competing with for my boyfriend, despite her inability to actually date him.

  The woman who terrified me more than I liked to admit.

  The woman I desperately wanted to like me.

  The door swung open, and I took in the sight of the woman—stretch of a word there, it seemed. She looked thirty years younger than me at least. She stood in front of me, chestnut brown hair cut just above her shoulders, wearing a lime green T-shirt and blue jeans with scuffed up sneakers. There was scrutiny in her gaze as she studied me from inside the house, brushing a piece of hair behind her ears.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Yes, hello. I’m…I’m Clara DeVoss. You’ve probably heard a bit about me.” I tried to laugh. With Luke, it was a toss-up. She either knew my entire life story, or she’d been unable to get a word about me out of him.

  She stared at me blankly before shaking her head, and I realized it must have been the latter. Surely she at least realized who I was. In the background, I heard a little girl giggle loudly. “You’re missing it!” she cried.

  The woman turned, calling over her shoulder, “Be right there, sweetie.” When her gaze returned to meet mine, she took half a step back. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

  “Sorry, I should’ve mentioned I’m the girlfriend. From the hospital. Anyway, I’m sorry to bother you without giving you a heads up that I’d be coming, but I didn’t have a way to contact you. I actually just wondered if we could talk. I know Luke is at work. Truth be told, he’d probably be upset with me for coming, but I’ve been dying to meet you. I suppose you have some questions for me, too.”

  “I’m sorry,” the woman shook her head again, “I think you must be confused. Are you looking for Mrs. Martin?”

  My heart sank. “Are you not Naomi?”

  The woman chuckled, much to my mortification. “I’m Rianne, Becca’s sitter. Mrs. Martin stepped out for the morning to run a few errands, but she should be back this afternoon. Would you like me to leave a message for her when she returns?”

  I took a step back, nearly tripping on the small half-step in front of their door. All of this for nothing. “No, sorry. I must have sounded like a lunatic. I should’ve checked who you were before I started babbling. It’s just…I’ve never met Naomi. Luke’s told me all about her, but…well, like I said, he wouldn’t be happy I’m here. He’s incredibly protective of his sister. I’m sure you understand why.”

  The girl’s face changed from cheerful to confused. “Sorry, his…his sister?”

  “Yes, right. Talking about Naomi, of course. You’d think he’d want to introduce us, but men, you know—” I was babbling, my face growing red-hot with embarrassment as I couldn’t seem to stop the flow of word vomit.

  “You think Naomi is Mr. Martin’s sister?” She wrinkled her nose with apparent disgust, and the blood drained from my face, no longer red-hot.

  “Well…isn’t she?” She seemed not to want to answer, so I encouraged her. “I could have it wrong.”

  “I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t get involved,” she said, taking a step back.

  “Rianne, please…” I put my hand on the door as she moved to shut it. “Pleas
e just tell me.” Her eyes were wide with fear as I pulled my hand from the door. “Sorry.”

  “Naomi and Lucas are married,” she said, gripping the door with both hands. “I’m not sure where you heard differently, but they’ve been married for as long as I’ve known her, which is just over four years. Lucas doesn’t have any sisters, to my knowledge. I think he has a brother or two, but I’m not positive.” She drew in one side of her mouth in a pitiful expression.

  “Right,” I said, feeling like a hole had been torn through my insides. Her words were only being halfway processed. How was it possible? It wasn’t, and yet here we were. The answer to all my questions. Why he was so apprehensive to move forward. Why he was so secretive about his life. Why he couldn’t walk away from Naomi.

  I am the other woman.

  The man I loved with all my heart was splitting his heart between two women. Did he love her more? She’d gotten the ring, after all. And the house. And the child.

  “I should really go back inside now. Becca doesn’t like to be alone for too long. Should I…er, I mean, I could leave a message that you dropped by.”

  “No,” I said, too quickly, then smiled. “No. That won’t be necessary. I’m sorry to have bothered you, Rianne.” I stumbled backward, unable to meet her eyes as my vision blurred with fat tears. What had I done?

  “No bother,” the woman whispered, seeming relieved to be done with the conversation. She closed the door, leaving me to my racing thoughts. I turned around, adrenaline coursing through me as I hurried back to my car, half aware that I seemed to have no control over my body or my movements. I was filled with an odd combination of rage and devastation, no idea which emotion to act on first.

  I didn’t want to believe it.

  I wanted it to all have been a bad dream.

  It had been, right?

  What was the alternative?

  If what she’d said was true, our entire relationship had been a lie. I refused to believe that. Luke wouldn’t do that to me.

  He loved me, didn’t he?

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Alaina

  I met Lucas at the door.

  Surprise, surprise, he’d given me no warning he was coming. Again.

  “Going somewhere?” he asked, eyeing the purse in my hand and my made-up face.

  “What tipped you off?” I turned around, locking the door behind me and moving past him down the hall.

  “Hang on a moment,” he said, reaching for my arm and spinning me back around. “Am I missing something? Are you mad at me?”

  “Why would you think that?” I asked, twisting my lip ring with my tongue. I’d had it out for the past few days, so it was a weird sensation, wearing it again.

  “Because of the way you’re acting. Did I do something wrong?”

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. Did you?”

  “Of course I didn’t. Not to my knowledge, anyway. When I left, things were pretty great between us.”

  “You left before I’d even woken up Sunday morning. I didn’t hear from you all day yesterday, and you just show up randomly today and assume I don’t have plans? Where were you, Lucas?”

  His jaw dropped and relief filled his face. “Is that what this is about? I’m sorry.” His fingers wrapped around my forearm. “I should’ve called. I got called in for a surgery and stuck on two twelve-hour shifts. I didn’t even leave the hospital until just now.”

  “Just now?” I ran my gaze over his fresh scrubs.

  “Yes, honestly.” He held up two fingers. “First chance I had, I hurried over to see you. I hated leaving while you were asleep, but I didn’t want to wake you.” I felt him pulling me toward him, but I wasn’t giving in. He didn’t know he’d been caught in a lie, and I wasn’t ready to show my cards yet. “I’ve missed you.”

  I leaned forward, but only barely. Enough for him to brush his lips on my cheek. “I’m running late for a doctor’s appointment. Do you want to come?”

  He glanced at my stomach. “For the baby?”

  “Mhm,” I said, putting a protective hand over my stomach. “There’ll be an ultrasound. It’s the first time you’ll get to see her.”

  His eyes bugged out. “Her?”

  “Wishful thinking,” I teased. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” I turned away, ready to leave, but he jogged to catch up with me.

  “No, I want to. I’m coming.” His gesture surprised me, but I couldn’t allow myself to get too caught up in his nicety. He was lying. For whatever reason, he didn’t want me to know what he’d been doing last night. Who he’d been doing for all I knew.

  “Okay, fine,” I said. “Let’s go, then. I don’t want to be late.”

  We rushed out to the car, him trying to slow me down as we descended the stairs, citing a fear that I’d trip and fall, though I wasn’t sure that wasn’t actually wishful thinking on his part. I felt tears in my eyes at the thought, but I brushed them away before climbing in the driver’s seat. He reached for my hand in the car, but I kept them firmly at ten and two. I had no interest in playing whatever game he was trying to play with me. We were playing my own game now, he just didn’t realize it.

  We rode in nearly complete silence the whole forty-five-minute drive. Once, when he’d tried to speak, I turned up the radio, claiming whatever song was playing just happened to be my favorite.

  When we arrived at the hospital, he shook his head. “I still don’t know why you insist on going to the doctor here rather than closer to your place. When you’re in labor, you’re not going to want to make this drive.”

  “Well, when I picked it, I thought I was doing you a favor by finding a doctor close to your work, since that’s where you always seem to be. Is Dr. Montgomery not any good? I’ve really liked her so far.”

  “No, Alexa’s great,” he said, though his face was pale and ashen. Ordinarily, I’d have thought it was because he was nervous for the appointment. This time, though, I knew the truth, and I was mentally high-fiving my former self for picking this office for my prenatal care. If he was going to lie about being at work, I was going to make that as difficult as possible for him.

  Lucas and I had very different goals as we walked across the crowded parking lot and through the double, automatic doors. I hoped more than anything to run into a coworker of his that I recognized. If I knew Lucas, he was going to attempt to make sure I didn’t.

  The sterile smell hit me right away, and I slowed down as a nurse wheeled an elderly lady in a wheelchair past me, talking slowly to her as they made their way into the elevator. I turned left, toward the stairwell, and headed for the third floor.

  “You’re taking the stairs?” he asked, trying to keep up with me.

  “I always do. I need my steps.”

  “You’re pregnant. I think you can afford to miss a few steps.”

  “I’ll take my doctor’s advice, thanks,” I snapped back.

  “Are we okay?” he asked, stopping for a moment, but when I didn’t, he continued on.

  “We’re fine, Lucas. I just want to get to the appointment.”

  He sighed, not believing me, but forced to carry on anyway.

  For once, we were on the same page.

  Fifteen minutes later, I’d checked in and the nurse called us back. Lucas waited outside while I gave my urine sample, and then we stepped into the room where the ultrasound tech was waiting.

  “Hi, Alaina,” she said, giving a half-wave in the semi-lit room. “Go ahead and hop up here on the bed for me.” Her eyes followed Lucas as he took a seat on the far wall. “You must be Dad?”

  He nodded, but looked down without a word. She seemed a bit taken aback but didn’t let it throw her off. Instead, she turned her attention to me once again. “Is this your first time seeing your little one?”

  I swallowed, my attention momentarily diverted as I realized this was really happening. I was finally going to see the little life I’d been growing. “Yes.”

  “How exciting,” she said,
lifting my shirt to just below my breasts. “This gel will be a little warm. They like that.” She grinned, squirting the gel onto my lower belly and lifting the transponder. “You’re a little over nine weeks, it looks like, so we’re probably just going to see a small little bean today. We’ll make out some body parts if we’re lucky, but mostly, it won’t look like anything at all. And if we don’t hear the heartbeat, don’t panic. It may be too early still, but we should be able to see it beating.”

  I nodded, trying to swallow down the ginormous lump in my throat as she placed the probe onto my stomach. She pressed down harder than I’d expected, and I watched the screen fill with white fuzz. She moved the transponder around on my belly, pushing and poking, though I couldn’t make out anything—

  There she was. He. She. Whoever.

  My baby.

  Our baby.

  It was there. Very much like a bean, though I could make out the smallest little head and an arm. There might have even been a foot in there.

  “There’s baby,” she said, pointing at the screen. “You can see the cord here. And the head.” She moved her finger across the screen as she spoke. “There’s the little hand and you can see—oh, he’s wiggling. See?”

  I nodded, embarrassed by the tears suddenly in my eyes as the bean moved back and forth, its little hips swaying side to side.

  “Perfectly healthy size,” she said as her mouse moved across the screen taking measurements. “And there’s the placenta here. He’s snuggled up against it. You can see the heartbeat, too.” She zoomed in a bit. “Let’s see if we can hear.” She adjusted the transponder as I waited with bated breath. The room filled with the whooshing sound I’d heard on the many YouTube videos I’d researched. It sounded right. Perfect. Healthy. “Strong heartbeat. One fifty-four. Right where we want it to be.”

  I smiled, proud of the heartbeat I’d created, and looked over at Lucas. My heart sank as I saw him staring down at his phone, not spending even a moment taking in our child. When I looked back, the interaction hadn’t gone unnoticed by the tech, who offered me a reassuring smile.