Three
Tuesday night, Julianne was finishing up her class when her sister walked up to her.
“Great class tonight,” Harper said, wiping her face with her towel. “I think they’re going to need to add an extension onto this place because you can’t fit many more people in here.”
Julianne smiled. “I know. And as much as I’d love to do classes back-to-back to accommodate everyone, I just can’t. It’s too much.”
Harper nodded. “You want to go and grab some dinner?”
“Oh, I can’t. I have plans.”
The look on Harper’s face conveyed her shock. Most Tuesday nights they ate dinner together after class. And as much as they tended to share everything with each other, for some reason, Julianne had yet to mention her kickboxing lesson.
“What’s up? You and Gavin going out?”
She shook her head. “Um…no. I have some stuff here to do at the gym.”
“Like what?”
“It’s nothing. Just some extra stuff I’m working on,” Julianne murmured as she looked around the room and began collecting her stuff.
“Why are you being so vague? What’s going on?”
Straightening, Julianne’s shoulders sagged as she turned and faced Harper. “I’m going for a kickboxing lesson.” There. She’d said it.
“Are you serious? You? And do you really need a lesson on that? You’re a personal trainer, for crying out loud! Why do you need a lesson?”
Why hide it? If anything, maybe if Harper knew how frustrated she was lately, maybe she’d help her out by trying to get along with Natalie or with their mother or…just helping her keep her shit together while she was slowly starting to freak out over this whole wedding thing.
“We need to clear out so the next class can come in,” she said instead. “But we’ll talk as we work, okay?”
Harper rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll help you clean up, but start talking.”
“I seem to have some…anger issues,” she began cautiously.
Beside her, Harper froze. “You? You never get angry.”
“I know. But something about all of this wedding planning is making me…” She paused. “I like being in control of things. And being that this is my wedding, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem, but it is. Everyone has something to say about everything! What kind of dress I want, what kind of dress the bridal party wants, what colors we’ll use, what kind of paper for the invitations…it’s endless, Harper! And on top of that, besides everyone giving an opinion, there’s a lot of…there’s a lot of snipping and arguing and snarky comments. It’s making me crazy!”
Her sister at least had the good sense to look ashamed.
“Okay, I’ll admit Kayla and I were a little hard on Natalie on Saturday and I’m sorry. We’ll tone it down. I promise.”
“And what about the stuff between you and mom?”
“That is totally not on me, Jules,” Harper said defensively. “I’m not the one who keeps bringing up my failed engagements. That’s all on mom. And the only way that’s going to stop, is if you tell her it’s making you crazy. Lord knows I’ve tried telling her and it doesn’t seem to register with her.”
“Fair enough.”
“And you think that and…kickboxing,” Harper said the word slowly, “is going to help you with this…anger?”
“Maybe. I hope it does. I mean, I spend a lot of time wanting to punch something,” Julianne said with a small laugh. “So I was talking to Brady…”
“Who’s Brady?”
“He teaches the kickboxing class on Saturdays after our Zumba one.”
“Ah.”
“So I asked if it could help with anger and he suggested getting some time in with a bag.”
Harper frowned as she picked up her bottle of water and the two began to walk toward the door. “Like a punching bag? But you just said you were kickboxing. I thought it was all…you know…bagless.”
“Normally it is. But he’s training a boxer upstairs and said he can show me some moves and that being able to make contact with something and hit it might be more helpful than kicking and punching air. And I have to tell you, I totally agree. Just thinking about it makes me giddy.”
They walked across the lobby toward the stairs and Harper stopped her before she could head up. “Wait…you’re giddy about punching something?”
Julianne nodded. “Like you can’t even believe.” She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw it was already five minutes after seven. “I really need to go because Brady’s doing me a favor and I don’t want to keep him waiting.”
Rather than respond, Harper studied her for a moment. Julianne knew that look – her sister was thinking of something to say and as much as she didn’t want to be late, she also didn’t want to walk away in the middle of a conversation.
“Harps?”
But Harper shook her head. “I think this is a little crazy. You’re the least violent person I know. Does Gavin know you’re feeling this way? That you’re dealing with this?”
Damn. Leave it to her sister to pull on that thread.
“Actually…no. I didn’t mention it to him. He’s working late tonight and I just figured we’d get home at the same time and maybe I’d feel better after…hitting something for a little while.”
“Somehow I don’t think this is a one-time thing, Jules. If anything, you’re probably going to be dealing with this until the wedding is over. Have you thought about that?”
She hadn’t.
Dammit.
“I was just going to check it out tonight and see if it helped. Even just a little bit,” Julianne said with a huff. “It’s not like I have all the answers here. I’m looking for a solution to this anger – which is totally new for me – and all this conversation is doing is adding to it! Now can we stop with the interrogation and just…go?”
Again, Harper just studied her and it made Julianne want to scream.
“You know what?” Harper said after a minute. “I’d like to come up and watch and see if this works.”
“What? Are you insane? Don’t you think having you – one of the people adding to my stress – is going to hinder any progress I may make?”
“Or…you have a target right there,” Harper teased. “Think of it, maybe this guy will put us in the ring together and you could take a swing at me!”
The idea wasn’t completely unappealing.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to punch you. That would just be wrong. I just need to channel this…negative energy into something. And hitting a bag is supposed to keep me from hitting people. Even you.”
Harper laughed and climbed up the first two stairs. “Come on…I think you’d feel a lot better if you hit me. Maybe get some of that little sister aggression out for all the times I used to tease you…”
Julianne couldn’t help but laugh too. “Yeah, you really were a pain when we were growing up. But unlike you, I can be the bigger person and just move on.”
They continued up the stairs with Harper taunting her. “Obviously not or we wouldn’t be heading to boxing lessons.”
“Kickboxing,” Julianne corrected. “I probably wouldn’t mind kicking you though.”
“You’d have to catch me first!” Harper called out as she took off up the rest of the stairs. Julianne chased after her and the entire time Harper kept calling out how she couldn’t be caught.
And then her sister ran right into Brady Bennett.
A little breathless, Julianne walked over and gave her sister a smug smile as she poked her in the shoulder.
“Guess you were wrong,” she said with a hint of sarcasm. “I totally caught you.”
****
That statement was completely wrong, Harper thought.
Her sister didn’t catch her, this…giant of a man caught her.
Slowly, she tilted her head back and looked up at the wall-shaped man and gulped.
Sandy brown hair, clear blue eyes and a fierce look on his face.
“Um…sorry,” Harper murmured as she took a step back. “That was totally my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Not a problem,” he said as he grinned at her. “You okay?”
She nodded, unable to speak, partly because she was winded from the sprint up the stairs and partly because she got the wind knocked out of her from the collision.
“Hey, Brady,” Julianne called out, “any chance you’d let my sister and I get into the ring to duke things out?”
“Not on your first night,” the giant man called back.
Wait…this was Brady? This was the guy who was going to give private lessons to her sister? Oh, hell no. Harper took another step back and sized him up.
Well over six feet tall, a ridiculous amount of muscles, and a Carolina Panthers t-shirt along with a pair of sweats.
He had muscle-headed athlete written all over him and Harper had to suppress a shudder. Why would a guy like this want to teach Julianne how to box? Oh, sorry…not box. Kickbox. Either way, it seemed weird for her. Harper looked over at her sister in her tight little yoga pants and sports bra.
Oh, that’s why.
Julianne was a beautiful woman and this guy was probably going to hit on her. Well, not on Harper’s watch. She’d just hang out with them and make sure good ol’ Brady never got a chance to cop a feel or anything.
Harper was protective of her little sister, even when they were taunting each other.
“So, you’re Brady?” Harper asked.
Turning his attention back to her, he nodded. “And you are?”
“Harper. Julianne’s sister,” she said stiffly. “I’m going to hang out and watch this kickboxing lesson. You know, see what it’s all about.”
Brady simply nodded and didn’t seem the least bit fazed by her being there.
He could have at least commented or made an attempt to welcome her, or even tell her to get lost. Something!
With nothing left to do, Harper sat down on one of the benches against the wall while Brady helped Julianne put on some boxing gloves. They were talking quietly and she couldn’t hear a word they were saying. Maybe they were flirting. Maybe Brady was saying he was disappointed that she was there watching them when he’d hoped to have Juliane all to himself! Or maybe Julianne was apologizing for having her big sister here watching them.
Standing, she walked over and began to ask questions – about the kind of gloves Julianne was using, about the bag, the ring…pretty much about every item she laid her eyes on.
“Um, Harper?” Julianne finally said.
“What?”
“Could you go sit down so I can try this? Although I have to admit, you’re getting me riled up so I’m sure I won’t have any problem punching the shit out of this bag.”
Beside them, Brady chuckled.
Harper shot him a warning glance.
He shot one right back.
Okay, she knew she wasn’t the most intimidating person, but he could have at least pretended that she’d made an impression.
Again.
From across the room, someone called his name and Brady excused himself. As soon as he was gone, Julianne punched Harper in the arm.
“Ow! What the hell?”
“What are you doing, Harper?” Julianne hissed.
“What? I’m curious about this whole…boxing thing. And I figured if I could learn it too, we could help each other out.”
Julianne’s gaze narrowed. “You’re lying. And on top of that, you’re acting weird.”
“No, I’m not. You’re acting weird.”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m really not in the mood to be eight years old with you right now, Harper. So either tell me what you’re doing or leave.”
“Okay, fine. I think it’s weird that you’re doing this – the private boxing lesson.” Before Julianne could comment, Harper cut her off. “And I think it’s odd that you haven’t told Gavin about it. You two tell each other everything. If you’re feeling this stressed out and pissed off, why are you here with…Brady…” She let out a snort of disgust. “And not at home talking to your fiancé?”
“Wow…okay,” Julianne said, crossing her arms. “For starters, this isn’t a private lesson. At least not the way that you’re making it sound. I asked Brady about this and he offered to help. We’re here in the middle of the gym, Harper, not at home in his bedroom. And shame on you for even going there!”
“I didn’t,” Harper said with a satisfied smirk. “You did. I just said the word private. You’re the one who took it to the bedroom.”
With a roll of her eyes, Julianne took a step back. “You know what? I don’t need this. I tell you how I’m stressed out and your answer is to follow me around and stress me out more? How is that helpful?”
“For starters, I didn’t think you’d get this defensive. Care to explain that? Oh, and remind me again why you haven’t talked to Gavin about this little situation?”
“Gavin is under a lot of stress at work and doesn’t need to be bothered by this petty nonsense,” Julianne argued. “We knew going into this that it would be stressful – everyone warned us about it – and now that it’s happening, I’m dealing with it. And there isn’t anything he can do to help, you know. All he’d do is tell you to stop egging on Natalie and tell mom to lighten up on you.” Then she paused. “Are you noticing who the common denominator is in all of this?”
Harper’s eyes went wide. “Wait a minute…are you saying I’m the one causing you all this stress? That all of this is my fault?”
Julianne chose to let her silence do the talking.
“Unbelievable,” Harper murmured. “You are unbelievable.” She took a few steps away and then back again. “You know what, Jules, I’ll make it easy for you – I’ll stay out of your way unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’ll skip gown shopping this weekend so mom won’t have any distractions and I’ll even skip Saturday’s Zumba so I don’t bother your precious friend Natalie either.”
“Harps, that’s not what I’m saying…”
“It’s exactly what you’re saying,” Harper countered. “And you know what? I’m done.” And with a swift turn, she punched the bag and then stormed off.
Hanging her head, Julianne let out a weary sigh as Brady walked over.
“Damn,” he said. “Your sister’s got one hell of a punch. I’ve seen guys twice her size not send the bag swinging like that.”
“Great.”
Brady studied her for a minute and then clapped his hands together loudly before rubbing them together. “All right. Let’s get you started.”
****
Wednesday morning, Kayla sat and patiently waited for Adam to call her into his office. He had postponed their Monday meeting – via text – and rescheduled it for this morning. Unease over what she was walking into kept niggling at her.
Were they over?
Had he met someone else?
Did he have a new assignment for her?
Wait…shouldn’t that last one be the top priority here? After all, this was her job, and she did have bills to pay and all kinds of bridal party hoopla to help fund, so collecting a paycheck was of utmost importance.
Except…she really wanted to know where her and Adam stood. He was the one steady thing in her life. Sure, there were her friends and family, but they were all going off and doing their own thing. Adam was stable. Secure. For some reason, he helped her hold and retain her focus and she wasn’t sure what she’d do if their relationship – personal or professional – ended.
The office door opened and he stepped out.
He wasn’t smiling.
And he looked…exhausted.
“Come on in, Kayla,” he said gruffly.
One of the many things she always admired about Adam was that he didn’t play games with people. You always knew where you stood with him. He got straight to the point. And on top of that, he wasn’t one of those metrosexual types – he wore jeans, his hair was normally in need of a trim and unless he had some sort of formal business function to go to, he had no problem wearing sneakers to work.
Right now, he looked rough around the edges. More so than usual.
Kayla followed him into the office and shut the door before sitting down. Adam picked up a pile of papers from his desk and began scanning them.
O-kay…something was definitely up.
Taking a page from his book, she took a steadying breath and said exactly what she was thinking.
“I don’t think you rescheduled our meeting so I could come here and watch you read, Adam. What’s going on?”
Slowly, he put the papers down and folded his hands on the desk as he looked at her. But he didn’t speak. His expression was neutral and it was making her crazy.
“Seriously, you’re not even going to answer me?” she snapped and then huffed. “Do you have an assignment for me or not? Because I’ve got things to do.”
Yeah, it was childish and even though five minutes ago she was curious about the nature of their personal relationship, something about his behavior just rubbed her the wrong way and she was lashing out.
Adam shifted and leaned back in his seat. “Where do you see yourself in five years?” he asked.
Wait…what?
“Excuse me?”
He repeated the question.
“What difference does that make?” she asked defensively.
He shrugged. “Humor me,” he replied. “It’s not uncommon for people to ask or answer that question. Five years, Kayla. Where are you?”
Damn. “I guess I haven’t thought about it,” she replied honestly. “I don’t like to look that far ahead. I prefer living in the moment because things can change in the blink of an eye. So why put your focus on a future that may never happen?”
He nodded, his arms now folded across his chest. “But if you had to think about it, where do you see yourself? Let’s start with your career. What are you working toward?”
Part of her relaxed. She could talk about work. “Well, I’d like to think that I’m still doing the kind of stuff I’m doing now – traveling all over the world and taking pictures in some amazing places.” She thought for a minute. “I hope I’m not reduced to doing wedding photography or working in a portrait studio,” she said with a laugh. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I’d love to see some of my work on display in some galleries or that sort of thing…or maybe win a Pulitzer for one of my pictures. That would be kind of cool,” she added with a smile.
“All very attainable goals,” he said. “And what about in your personal life? Where do you see yourself?”
“Probably still living here in Raleigh,” she said without really thinking. “I like it here. My friends and family are here…”
When her eyes met his she saw something in his eyes – just a flash of it – but it was like…pain. Or sadness. Or disappointment.
Adam instantly straightened in his seat and turned to his computer. “Weather predictions are positive for some great viewings of Uranus at Opposition and the Orionids meteor shower. It would mean about a week in Nevada for the best viewing here in North America. Are you interested?” he asked, totally in business mode.
“Um…yeah. Sure.” Astronomy events were fairly common and not all that exciting for her, but they were the kind of things that held her over until something bigger and better came along. Kayla watched as Adam typed up a storm and she knew he was using the program to assign photographers to certain tasks. “So…that’s it? The assignment’s mine?”
He nodded but didn’t look at her. “Yup.”
She’d wait him out. He had to stop typing eventually, right? At some point he was going to have to look at her and talk to her about something other than work. That’s how it normally went – they’d get business out of the way and then…they’d focus on other stuff.
After about three minutes, she’d had enough. “Oh for crying out loud, Adam! There’s nothing left you can possibly be typing!”
He merely glanced at her and went back to focusing on the screen.
Standing up, Kayla put her hands on her hips and let out a loud sigh. “What is going on?”
“What do you mean?”
She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? That’s all you’ve got? In all the years we’ve known each other, you’ve never played dumb so please don’t start now.”
His fingers instantly stopped typing and he slowly came to his feet. Kayla swallowed hard because she knew him well enough to know that she had officially hit a nerve. “I’m not playing dumb,” he said, his voice so calm and yet so deep that it was a little intimidating.
“You blew off our meeting on Monday in a text message,” she began counting off. “Then I get here today and you leave me waiting out in the reception area, which you’ve never done before. And when I finally get to come in here, you’re all but ignoring me and asking me vague and ridiculous questions and handing me a bullshit assignment that any rookie photographer could do! So I’ll ask you again, what’s going on?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Adam closed his eyes and she knew he was mentally counting to ten. It’s what he did when he was frustrated about something. “Sit down,” he said. “Please.”
If she wasn’t so damn curious about what this was all about, she would have told him to go to hell and simply left. But she needed to know…
“Kayla, how long have you and I known each other?” he asked softly, sounding more like himself than he had since she got here.
“Years, Adam,” she replied as her heart began to beat rapidly, nervously.
“We’ve had a good, healthy working relationship, haven’t we?”
She nodded. “We have.”
“And I believe we’ve had a satisfying personal relationship as well.”
Another nod. “I agree.”
He leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk again. “But I feel like we’re in a holding pattern and…I can’t do it anymore.”
And then her heart stopped.
He was ending it.
“Oh,” she said, but it was barely more than a whisper.
“Kayla, I think you are an amazing woman. I love working with you and I’ve loved the time we spent together.”
“But…?” she asked nervously.
Adam sighed and leaned back in his chair. “But…we’re not going in the same direction. In five years, you’re still going to be who you are now. Probably a more successful version, but other than that, it’s who you’re going to be.”
“That’s not a bad thing, Adam,” she argued lightly. “You’ve always known how important my career is to me. Why is it suddenly a bad thing?”
He shook his head. “It’s not a bad thing at all. In fact, I admire you – your drive, your ambition – but work isn’t life. Work isn’t who you are and it shouldn’t be all that you have.”
“But it’s not all that I have,” she said, getting more and more frustrated. “I have a life, Adam!”
The look on his face showed how much he didn’t believe that. “Kayla…come on. I know you. I’ve known you for a long time. You have a small group of friends you hang out with and do the occasional girls’ night out, but other than that, you’re working. You take pictures, you travel, and you work on the pictures you’ve taken. Once in a while you and I go out and grab a bite to eat where we talk about your pictures.”
“That’s not all…”
“Yeah,” he said with a sad smile. “And then you come home with me and we make each other feel good and you slip out while I’m asleep.” He paused. Shrugged. “That’s not what I want anymore.”
Did he mean in general or just with her?
Unfortunately, she was too afraid to ask.
She slowly let out a breath. “So…where does this leave us? Would you rather I not work for you anymore?”
Clearing his throat, Adam seemed to collect himself and immediately transformed back into business mode. “I don’t think that will be necessary. We’re both adults, right?”
She wasn’t prepared for how much this hurt. All she could do was nod.
“I’ll keep scoping out assignments for you, you’ll keep freelancing like you always have and basically, nothing has to change.” Then his eyes met hers. “Well, except for the…personal side.”
“Right,” she murmured as she glanced down at her hands that were tightly clasped in her lap.
“It’s for the best, Kayla,” he said, his voice going gruff again. “I have a different five-year plan than you. And it wouldn’t be fair to either of us to force the other to change.”
Wait…was he saying she was part of his five-year plan? That he had been thinking of them moving forward?
His phone rang and she nearly jumped out of her seat. “Adam, I…”
“I really need to take this,” he said. “Doreen will have a printout of all the travel details for you so you can stop and see her on the way out.”
And just like that, they were over.
She was dismissed.
****
The roast was done to perfection.
The candles were on the table just waiting to be lit.
Natalie looked at her reflection in her bedroom mirror and smiled.
All week Jayce had been working so hard and she wanted to have a stay-at-home date night with him. She was wearing a strapless navy cocktail dress she knew he loved and a pair of sexy heels and she’d prepared his favorite dinner. Earlier, she sent him a text to pick up a bottle of wine on his way home along with a picture of her in nothing but the red lace lingerie she had on underneath her dress.
Normally he would respond rather quickly to one of her flirty texts, but today he hadn’t. Poor baby, she thought. He really must be swamped.
Five minutes after six, Jayce walked in the door, took one look at her and frowned.
“Did you pick up the wine?” she asked using her sexy voice.
“Wine? What are you talking about?” he asked as he walked across the room while loosening his tie.
“I…I sent you a text earlier,” she said, following him across the room and picking up his tie when he dropped it to the floor.
“I didn’t get a text,” Jayce said. Natalie crashed into his back because he stopped so abruptly. His hands immediately went to her arms to steady her. “Are you sure you remembered to hit send?”
Now it was her turn to frown. “Of course I hit send, Jayce,” she said, trying not to let her frustration show. She kept her voice calm and sweet even though she was more than a little annoyed that he was putting a definite crimp in her romantic plans for the evening.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he scrolled through and then showed it to Natalie. “See? No text from you.”
She thought she was going to be sick. “But…but…it was…you know…a sexy text,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “Go and check your phone. I’m telling you, you probably just didn’t hit send. Not a big deal.”
But it was a big deal, she thought as she fled the room to find her phone. It was on the kitchen island and when she pulled up her messages, it showed that it had been delivered. She immediately went back to the living room where Jayce was sitting and flipping through the television channels. “I think there’s a game on tonight,” he said, his eyes never leaving the TV screen.
“Jayce,” she began calmly, “I just checked my phone and it shows that I sent the text. How can that be if you didn’t get it?”
He shrugged. “Maybe you sent it to someone else.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she huffed and then looked at her phone again and gasped. “Oh, no!”
From the sofa, Jayce chuckled. “Who’d you send it to? Julianne? Your mom?”
“Harper! I sent a nearly naked picture of me to Harper!” Yeah, she was going to be sick. Slowly she sat down on the sofa beside him. “Oh, God. What am I going to do?”
“I don’t see what the big deal is. She probably already figured out that you sent it to her by mistake. And you weren’t completely naked, right?”
Natalie turned and glared at him. “It is a big deal,” she argued. “Harper already annoys the crap out of me and picks on me all the damn time. Now I just handed her ammunition.”
Jayce put the remote down, took the phone from her hand and looked at the picture. He let out an appreciative whistle. “Nice one, babe. You know I love the red lace.”
She smacked his arm. “This is serious!”
But he laughed. “It’s really not, Nat. You need to chill out. You’ll see Harper on Saturday while you’re out shopping for gowns and you’ll make light of it to show that it’s not a big deal to you and then just move on. If she knows it doesn’t bother you, then there’s nothing she can do.”
“But it does bother me!”
He let out a patient sigh. “Natalie, things like this happen all the time. You guys go shopping together and go to the gym together all the time. Your friends have seen you in your underwear. It’s not like you’re doing anything sexual or obscene in the picture. Now if you had sent her the one where you were sprawled out on the bed and using the…”
She put her hand over his mouth. “Don’t! Just…don’t even bring that up. You know I hate that word.”
“It’s a vibrator, Nat. And again, it’s not a big deal.” He pulled back and looked at her. “Why are you freaking out so much over everything? Why are you in such a mood?”
Jumping to her feet, she cried, “Because I had a romantic night planned for us! I made a lovely dinner and we were going to eat by candlelight and you were supposed to bring home the wine! Afterwards, we’d go into the bedroom and…and…”
The sigh he let out next wasn’t quite so patient. “Is this some sort of weird anniversary I don’t know about?”
She frowned. “No.”
“Some sort of holiday or special occasion I forgot?”
“No.”
He thought for a minute and then began to smile. “Oh…you were hoping we’d do the whole wedding night thing, weren’t you?”
Unable to help herself, she blushed. “Well, maybe…”
Jayce stood and placed a light kiss on her cheek. “I don’t have a problem with that but…after the game, okay?”
“After…? Wait, what?”
He walked over to the corner of the room and pulled out one of their snack tables. “Can we eat in here? It should be over by ten. We can do…” The referee’s call on the TV grabbed his attention for a minute before he finished. “We can do your…wedding night thing after that.”
Natalie willed herself not to cry.
She watched as her husband sat back down on the sofa and yelled nonsensical insults at the TV.
“Bring me a beer too, Nat. Okay?”
He didn’t even look at her as he asked.
Slowly, she turned and went to the kitchen. She pulled an apron out of a drawer and put it on to protect her dress. With an efficiency she was known for, she made up Jayce’s plate and made it look like something out of a gourmet food magazine. When everything looked perfect, she went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of beer, then poured it into one of the mugs he liked to keep on ice.
Wordlessly, she served him.
He offered a distracted word of thanks but that was it. She shot a glance at the TV and mentally willed it to fall off the wall or for the cable to go out or…or…something! Of course, neither of those things happened, and she made her way back to the kitchen where she prepared her own plate of food and sat down at the table alone.
It was happening, she thought to herself. They were becoming one of those couples who are more like roommates than husband and wife. The honeymoon was clearly over. When a man doesn’t seem upset over his wife sending sexy pictures to someone else – even if it was a friend and by mistake – then what did that say for their marriage?
Her appetite was gone and she pushed the plate aside, fighting the urge to simply throw the whole damn thing against the wall.
All her work. All the time and effort she put into planning a perfect night for them and look at where it got her? Eating alone while Jayce watched some ridiculous game on TV. Maybe Harper was right - being involved with a sports fan should be a deal-breaker.
How on earth was she supposed to face Harper in the morning? They had Zumba and then dress shopping and probably lunch after that…ugh. It was going to be beyond mortifying. Jayce could be on to something, however. Maybe if Natalie just laughed and played it off like one big “oops” – which it totally was – then they could just move on and forget about it.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
“Babe! Can you bring me the salt?” Jayce called from the living room.
She was tempted to tell him to get it himself, but weren’t they already on a slippery slope? Did she really want to give him even more of a reason to put some distance between them?
The answer was a bold and definitive no.
With a sigh, she stood up, took off her apron and smoothed her dress. Head held high, she walked into the living room and put the salt shaker on Jayce’s table then turned and walked away.
He never uttered a single word.
At least not to her.
Just the television screen.
Back in the kitchen, she threw the remnants of her meal in the trash and then scrubbed the entire room until it sparkled. Cleaning made her feel good, accomplished. By the time she was done, she was tired and no longer feeling sexy or romantic. Without a word, she bypassed the living room and went up to her bedroom.
She slipped off her dress and hung it up.
She peeled off her sexy underwear and put the garments in the hamper.
Going to her dresser, Natalie picked out one of her most well-worn night shirts – one she hadn’t worn in almost a year – and slipped it on. Moving around, she turned out the bathroom light, closed her bedroom door and crawled into bed. Her Kindle was sitting on her nightstand so she picked it up and scrolled through her selection of books until she found something that appealed to her.
A murder mystery.
Seemed fitting right about now.
She fluffed her pillows and made herself comfortable, then began to read. The story was gripping, the characters were well-defined and soon she found herself deeply engrossed in the story. When she could no longer hold her eyes open, she put the Kindle down and stretched. It had to be close to ten, right? She thought. But when she turned and looked at the clock, she saw she was wrong.
It was after midnight.
And Jayce never came looking for her.
A tear rolled down her face as she reached to turn out the light.
Her last thoughts as she lay down and pulled the blankets up around her were of how tomorrow, while she was shopping with Julianne and the girls, she’d keep her opinions to herself. After all, what difference did it make if you had the perfect wedding when your marriage was certainly less than perfect?