He frowned. “It’s not that much work. I showed him what to do.”
“He’s four.”
“He likes it.”
“You just want him to like you.” The minute it was out of my mouth, I regretted it. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Brayden’s eyes hardened, and any warmth that had been there before was now gone. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t have to. The torrent of seething resentment shone on his face.
“Daddy, want to see my new shoes?” Lanie skipped up the hall to us.
He gave me one last look like he wondered who the hell I was, and then stepped into the hall.
I closed Noah’s door and went to my bedroom’s bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I didn’t know who I was either. But as my gaze drifted to my bustline, I couldn’t worry about whether or not Brayden and my marriage was crashing and burning. No, I had more important concerns, such as what would happen to my children if I had cancer and it took me away from them as it had taken my mother.
5
Brayden – Two Weeks Later – Tuesday
Kyle tossed me a sandwich as he sat at the table across from me. He and I were having a working lunch as we went over the new cloud security system. It had been awhile since I’d felt the tingle and excitement of being on the verge of a great creation. This new program had me feeling alive in a way that I hadn’t in a long time. Maybe not since I met Terra.
“I’ve met someone,” Kyle said taking a bite of his sandwich.
“You meet lots of someones.” I smirked at him. Kyle wasn’t a douche, but he was a ladies’ man.
“This one is special.” He took a drink of his soda. “Maybe even the one.”
I smiled at him, remembering that feeling. There’d been several women that I’d thought were special, but when I met Terra, she’d been the one. Or at least I thought she was. Over the last two weeks, I’d wondered if maybe I’d been wrong. We’d been struggling to connect already, but for the last few weeks she’d seemed even more distant. Secretive even. It made me wonder what she wa
s doing all day while the kids were in school.
“Enjoy your freedom while you can,” I said, pulling my sandwich from the wrapper.
“You sound like you miss it.”
I shrugged. “I’m not against marriage, but it does change people. It’s not all sex on a bed of roses.”
Kyle frowned. “I always thought you and Terra had a great marriage.”
“We’re like everyone else. Ups and downs. Plus, with kids, they take a lot of time. And when they’re sleeping, you’re too tired to do anything else.”
“That’s not a glowing statement for marriage.”
I didn’t want to get into my marriage with Kyle. He was my friend, but he also worked for me.
“I need to make headway on this project now. I have to leave early to pick up the kids as Terra has something going on today.” What it was, I didn’t know. I couldn’t imagine she was having an affair, and yet, if she had a doctor’s appointment or something, she’d have told me. All I could think of was affair or meeting with a lawyer. Perhaps she was getting ready to leave me. To put this suffering marriage out of its misery.
The idea of that hurt me and made me profoundly sad, even though I understood. Terra and I had once had a love that surpassed all others. What the fuck had happened to it?
“Everything okay with her and the kids?”
“Yeah, sure.” I picked up a sheet filled with data and handed it to Kyle. “Let’s go over these numbers.”
When Kyle and I finished, I headed out of the office and back towards home, stopping at the elementary school where Lanie attended first grade and Noah pre-kindergarten. I didn’t understand pre-kindergarten. It seemed to me that a few days of pre-school until kindergarten was enough. But Terra thought the all-day four-year-old program would be good to help Noah socialize and prepare him for school.
I parked in the lot and walked to the office to sign in, and then waited as they called Lanie and Noah down.
Noah was the first to enter the office. When he saw me, his face lit up in surprise, like he’d forgotten I was going to be there.