“What do you think about my nails, Auntie Kelly?” Allie lifted her hand and showed off the alternating pattern of purple and bright pink. “Mommy says she’s going to put sparkles on too.”

I smiled and glanced over at Max and Justin, who were watching some animated show about teenaged superheroes. “Should we do Aunt Kelly’s next?” I asked, smiling teasingly at my sister, who was about as far from sparkles and hot pink as a woman can get.

Allie giggled, which made Abby laugh, and Kel raised her hands in surrender.

“Not for me, silly girl. Nail polish doesn’t hold up too long in the stables.”

Justin glanced over, winked. “But I was looking forward to seeing you sparkle.”

I sent him a mock-glare. “You’re supposed to say that your wife always sparkles.”

“I wasn’t sparkling much when I was losing my guts this morning.”

I glanced back at my sister. “Oh no. Has it started already?”

She nodded. “Worse than last time.” A shrug. “I guess that’s to be expected with two of them this time.”

Allie cocked her head. “Two of what?”

We all froze before Justin came up with the best distraction for my horse-crazy Allie.

“Horses. Two new ones in the stables.”

Allie shrieked. Which made Abby shriek. Which made Max glare and cover his ears.

“Actually, we have three new horses boarding this week.” Kel’s eyes caught Justin’s, and I had difficulty holding back my jealousy at the shared look of understanding that passed between them. Rob and I used—

No.

“One is only two years old,” Kel continued. “With the cutest heart-shaped marking just between his eyes.”

“Really?” Allie clapped her hands together, probably mussing the polish I’d just painstakingly applied. “Can I come tomorrow and see him? Please? Please?”

Kelly laughed. “You know you’re welcome any time, but,” she added when Allie began spinning in circles and jumping up and down, “you need to check with your mom first.”

I glanced down at my phone, frowning when I saw the calendar jam-packed with after-school activities. “Tomorrow isn’t going to work, sweetheart.”

The bottom lip came out.

God, she was cute. It wasn’t going to work, but she was still cute.

“Max has soccer, and we’re driving carpool, and you have Girl Scouts right after school.” I shook my head. “We just won’t have time to get out to the ranch.”

“But—”

“We still have our riding lesson the day after, so we’ll go over then, okay?”

The bottom lip didn’t move.

Then it did, transforming into a brilliant smile.

“Daddy can drive me.”

Her dad, whom I’d texted and hadn’t gotten any response from. Who’d simply left a note saying:

Was that days? Hours? Weeks? Months? For how long?

Her dad. Who’d already been gone for two days, and I was still no closer to answering any of those questions.

“Dad will probably be working,” I said. “We can’t—”

I cut the words off before I could say “count on him.” Because our kids didn’t need to hear their father wasn’t reliable.

“Dad is never home,” Max grumbled.

I didn’t affirm that I had been thinking the same thing for a while. Instead I said, “Dad does a very important job. He’s helping to keep everyone safe.”

My sister made a noise, but when I looked over at her, she wouldn’t make eye contact with me.

I frowned.

Max sighed. “I know,” he said, his voice wavering the slightest bit. “I just wish that he could make some of my games. I’ve been working really hard.”

Max had been practicing hard. He’d been practically living and breathing soccer for weeks.

“Dad will be so impressed at the next game he comes to, buddy,” I said. “You’ve improved so much.”

“Yeah.”

Max reached for the remote, turned off the TV, and stood. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.” He said goodbye to Justin and Kelly and goodnight to his sister before heading up the stairs.

“I’m tired” were words I’d never heard him utter before.

He was a fighter of sleep, not an acceptor. Always had been.

Which meant he was upset. Certainly about his dad, but what if it was something else as well?

“I—”

“Go,” Kelly said. “We need to head home anyway.” She scooped up Allie and pulled her in for a hug. “Go brush away those sugar bugs on your teeth, and I’ll see if I can pick you up from Girl Scouts tomorrow, deal?”

“Yes!” Allie fist-pumped then sprinted upstairs to her bathroom.

“You don’t have—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” my sister said. “I’ve got auntie privileges, and indoctrinating Allie to horses is one of them.” Her voice dropped. “But I have sister privileges too, which means we need to talk about what’s going on with Rob. Things aren’t right between you two.”

I sighed and dropped my head forward, staring at the one nice pair of flats that Rocco hadn’t managed to destroy—probably since he was still uncomfortable and moving quite slow with the cast and cone of shame.

But staring at the blue leather didn’t make the truth any less obvious.

“They’re not right,” I said. “We’re not in a good place.”

“Have you . . . well, tried to talk about it?”

My eyes flew up, locked with hers. “All I’ve done is try to get through to him, but there’s nothing there in return. No understanding, no support! He didn’t want me to go to New York. He hates the blog. He hates that I’ve found something to spend time on that’s not devoted solely to him.” My chest heaved. “It’s—I just don’t know what to do. I probably won’t even get the show, but how could he begrudge me the chance? This is the one thing I’ve always wanted . . .”

“I know, Miss.”

“Culinary school was too expensive when I had the chance.” I leaned back against the wall, rattling the framed pictures of Rob and me and the kids—happy, cuddling, giggling—that lined the hallway. “Then I had to drop out of college to work and pay to put Rob through the academy.” My hands were fists, and I smacked one against my thigh. “I did it because I loved him, because I wanted the chance for him to do what he loved. So, after everything we’ve been through, how could he begrudge me that?”

Abby squawked in Kelly’s arms, and I jumped, having completely forgotten that she and Justin were still in the room.

This is why I bottled things up. This is why I didn’t vent about the really big stuff to other people and especially not to Kel. Once the statements were out there, I couldn’t take them back. They were always there, tainting future interactions, influencing how they would relate to Rob.

I didn’t want to ruin their relationship with him.

I didn’t want to badmouth him to them.

I just . . . wanted my husband back.

Justin’s expression was fierce. “I’ll pay for you to go to culinary school if you don’t get the job.” He reached over and pulled me into a hug. “And if you do get the job, you can film at the ranch. I’ll get a babysitter to help with the kids.” He leaned back. “God knows, we’re going to need all hands on deck as it is.”

“You don’t have to—”

Justin snagged Abby from Kel’s arms. “We’re here for you, Melissa. We’re family, and that means we have your back, Rob be damned.” He glanced at Kelly. “I’ll get her settled. Come out when you’re ready.”

He slipped out the front door, closing it quickly behind him and limiting the rush of cold autumn air into the warm house.

Abby’s jacket was on the bench by the front door, as well as the diaper bag. I scooped up both and handed them to Kel.

She was looking at me sadly. “Is it really that bad?”

I nodded.

“Damn.”

Silence. Then, “I know.”

“I thought you guys had it all figured out.”

My laugh was brittle. “Believe me, I did too.”

She played with the zipper on Abby’s purple coat. Pulling it up, down, up, down. “What happened?”

“I wish I could say I knew exactly what.” My hands found the hem of my shirt, and I ran my fingers over the threads forming the seam. “He was promoted to detective six months ago, you know, and he’s just been different.”

“Different how?”

“Distant? I try to talk to him, and he seems unavailable. Longer hours.”

“Do you think the job is getting to him?”

“That and—” Oh God, was I seriously going to confide in my sister about this? It was so . . . embarrassing, I guess, that my husband might be cheating on me.

What kind of woman did that make me? What kind of wife?

Kel’s hands froze. “What?”

“I think he’s having an affair.”