“Hey, it’s me.”
There was a pause, during which Piper heard the clatter of a keyboard. “Hey you. What time is—oh crap. I meant to call you an hour ago to say I’d be late.”
“I just got home myself. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.” She could hear the whine in her own voice and couldn’t muster enough give-a-damn to stop it.
“What happened?”
“Stomach flu epidemic. You don’t want to hear the gory details. Just be sure to wash your hands after touching anything in public.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He lapsed into a silence that she’d learned meant his brain was already half back on his work. Given how much he loved his job and how hard he worked, Piper was working on not being offended by that. But just now it was kinda hard.
“I didn’t actually call to gripe about my day. I wanted to beg you to pick up take out on your way home.”
“Oh. Maybe you should call for Chinese. I’m not sure you want to wait on me.”
“You’re going to be a while, then?”
“Working on something that could be huge for the paper.”
She held in a sigh, missing the guy who’d juggled everything in his schedule to spend every spare moment with her before they got married. “Okay. I’m pretty wiped. I may be asleep by the time you get home.”
“Yeah, don’t wait up on my account. You sound half dead on your feet. If I don’t make it home before you crash, I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
Piper swallowed down her disappointment. She’d wanted some comfort and support tonight. It had been a blanket fort and foot rub worthy kind of day. She waited to speak until she could keep her tone even. “Be careful on your way home.”
“I will. Promise. Night, Piper.”
The dial tone interrupted her goodnight.
Great. No food. No husband. A lousy end to a craptastic day.
As she ran a hot bath, she didn’t have the energy for her usual optimism. This sucked big donkey balls. Since they’d come home from their honeymoon, he’d worked longer and longer hours, becoming more and more consumed at the paper. Other than the fact that they managed to share a bed for a few hours a night, the last week hadn’t felt much different than those three months of hiatus.
Was this what his normal life was? Piper realized she had no idea. During their months of working on the show, they hadn’t talked much about his business. She really had no idea what he’d had to do in order to make time for the show. As well as she understood him on some fronts, there was a great deal she didn’t know about the man she’d married.
Was this what would’ve happened to their relationship if it had gone the normal course of dating instead of them diving headlong into marriage? Her being gradually pushed to the side in the name of his work? Zing or no zing, she wouldn’t have put up with this from a boyfriend for very long. She wasn’t some needy, codependent wuss, but she expected to do more than share the same address and semi-regular orgasms with her husband.
Stripping out of her scrubs, Piper slid into the water, hissing as the heat burned her toes.
Surely things would settle down once access to the trust went through and his investor was paid off. This pace he was setting for himself wasn’t sustainable for any kind of life.
As the heat soaked into her aching muscles, a horrible thought popped into her brain.
What if he was deliberately taking on all these long hours because he’d realized he didn’t actually want to be married to her? Had the bloom worn off so soon? Had he been disappointed to find out that she wasn’t crazy, fun-loving, optimistic Piper all the time? Surely he’d realized before he walked down the aisle that there was more to her. Hadn’t he?
But then how would he have known? When had he ever seen any other side of her? They hadn’t spent enough time together for him to know what she was like under other circumstances. He might understand the heart of her, but what if the everyday reality was a disappointment? Had they failed in their marriage before their first month was even up?
Feeling suddenly overheated and queasy, Piper boosted herself out of the bath.
I’m exhausted and not in the right frame of mind. I’ll just go on to bed, get a good night’s sleep, and when I’m calmer and more rational, we’ll talk about it like sane adults.
But having a plan of action did nothing to quell the rising nausea. She bolted for the toilet, barely making it before her stomach revolted. Little remained of her lunch, but she continued to heave, stomach cramping and twisting, wringing out every last drop of bile and acid, until, at last, she lay panting on the floor, cheek pressed to the cold tile.
Looked like her luck, along with their honeymoon period, had finally run out.
Chapter 13
Myles felt his blood sing. He hadn't had cause to pull out his investigative reporter skills since he moved back to Mississippi—uncovering Piper's matchmaking scheme during the play not withstanding. He'd just sussed out everything he could possibly need to know about Vanessa Clark's current circumstances. The combination of her new daughter and noted discontent with her role at The Baltimore Sun, along with those small town roots, meant he had a shot at wooing her to Wishful. He'd used the same methods on Simone, though that process had been easier because they'd still kept in touch.