One Hot Fake

I call her, and this time she answers the phone on the third ring. “Marian, where are you?”

“It’s not Marian; it’s Brooke. She’s here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you,” Brooke says.

“Why the hell not?” I demand. “I don’t understand what’s going on.”

“I have to go,” Brooke says and disconnects the phone.

Clearly, something is terribly wrong. A cold slab of fear settles in my belly. I have to speak to Marian. I run through everything again with a fine-toothed comb. Nothing was amiss this morning, and up until lunchtime, we’d been sending each other messages.

I grab my car keys and head out. As I’m walking, I call Ace and ask him for Jason Cooper’s home address.

This is so unlike Marian. It must be bad if she doesn’t want to come home. Maybe she’s decided that she doesn’t want to be married to me anymore. If that’s the case, why can’t she tell me? My hands tremble, and I grip the steering wheel tighter.

I drive faster than I should. What if this is it for us? I try to imagine my life without Marian in it, and all I see is black. Against all the odds, she and I have forged a life together. A life that is full of love and laughter.

I pull up into the Coopers’ driveway and kill the engine. It’s past nine and a little late to be going to someone’s house, but this is not a social call. I’m desperate to speak to my wife.

I go up to the door and knock on it. A minute later, I hear footsteps, and Jason opens the door.

“Hey, man,” he says, his voice cold.

“Hey,” I say. “I’m here to see Marian.”

“She doesn’t want to see you,” Jason says.

“She’s my wife, Jason, and I’m not leaving until I talk to her,” I say.

“It’s fine,” Marian says from behind him.

He moves to the side, and she comes into view. Her eyes are red and swollen, and something squeezes my heart painfully. My arms itch to wrap around her and hold her close.

She steps out of the house and closes the door behind her. She follows me to my car. I unlock it, and we enter.

“What’s this about, Marian? Is it Leonard?” If that bastard has done something to hurt her.

“No. Leonard agreed to part amicably. His attorney is couriering down some documents tomorrow for me to sign,” she says, her voice dull.

“That’s good news, isn’t it? It’s what we wanted, right,” I tell her.

She looks at me. I can’t see her face clearly in the semi-darkness, and I hate that.

“I know that you don’t want to be married to me,” Marian says softly.

My jaw drops. That’s the wildest and most inaccurate accusation that has ever been directed at me. I could laugh out at the ridiculousness of that statement, but she’s dead serious.

“Where did you get that from?” I’m relieved that’s what it is because I can say for sure that being married to Marian is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

“I had lunch with your mom today,” Marian says.

That wipes my smile and confidence. I blink several times as I absorb the news. “You did?” She hadn’t mentioned lunch with my mom. I curse inwardly. If I knew, I would not have let it happen. I don’t trust my mother.

“She told me about the dinner with Ruby,” Marian says.

“Which dinner—?” Then I remember. “I didn’t have dinner with Ruby.”

“Please, Declan,” Marian says. “I know your mother wouldn’t lie to me.”

That’s where she’s wrong. My mother lies by omission, which is the same thing. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“This is getting us nowhere,” Marian says and reaches for the door handle.

“My mother lied to you.”

She pauses.

“She called and invited me for dinner but failed to mention that she’d invited Ruby as well. So, when I went and found her there, I refused to have dinner with them and went back to my apartment. So yeah, I was there, but I didn’t have dinner with them.”

“Why would she tell me something like that if it’s not true?”

I inhale deeply. How can I explain my mother to Marian when I don’t understand her myself? “Ace and I have disappointed my mother. She’s always believed that being our mother gave her the right to make decisions for us, and I’m sorry that I let her get away with it for so long.”

I lean my head back on the headrest. “She wanted us to marry the girls we had grown up with. But Ace and I chose different paths.”

“Does your mother get along with Lexi?” Marian asks.

“Nope. Ace and Lexi came to terms with it, and so will you and me. You’re an awesome person, Marian, but my mother won’t see it.”

She’s silent for a moment as she absorbs what I’ve said. “It was very cruel of her to imply that you and Ruby were together.”