“Ivy could come to our house,” I said, surprising him. I didn’t want to interfere with their friendship, even if it made things complicated.
“I’ll come get her before dinner, if that works?” Will asked.
“No problem,” I said politely and took the kids back to my car. I felt like I was turning switches on and off with my emotions; I couldn’t keep up with which Natalie I was supposed to be, the perfect mom hosting playdates or the bad wife wanting to get under the hot divorced dad.
Will texted me around five-thirty, saying he’d come by to pick up Ivy. When he arrived, the girls were upstairs, and James was playing Legos in his room. We were alone.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
“Not here,” I said.
“Then call me later,” he replied. “Or…is your husband home tonight?”
I nodded. “I’ll call when I can.”
Our eyes met, and once again, I had to look away.
Later that evening, I called Will from Jason’s office—somehow, I’d ended up there, trying to justify what I’d done or was about to do by digging for evidence of Jason’s own probable indiscretions. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for. Maybe just a reason to be mad. I shuffled through the papers on his desk but couldn’t focus on anything I was looking at. My mind kept drifting back to the kiss, to Will’s touch, and the feeling of intense desire that I couldn’t shake.
Will answered, “Hi, I wasn’t sure if you were going to call.”
“I shouldn’t be calling,” I said, sounding almost angry. What was I angry about? Him? Me? This?
“I think you feel the same way I do. We’ve both felt it since we met.”
“Will…” I said, then paused, trying to find the words. “When I was sixteen, my parents divorced, and my dad remarried right away. I hated my stepmother. I never want to be that to someone’s kids, and you have four children. I have two. I can’t imagine merging our lives like the Brady Bunch.”
Will sighed. “Six kids… It’s a lot,” he admitted.
“I think we’re just drawn to each other, and I’m letting that pull me in too far. We need to step back.”
And before he could even answer, right on cue, my phone buzzed. It was Jason calling.
“I have to go. I am sorry,” I said, and I hung up.
I switched over to Jason. But it wasn’t him.
“Hi, it’s Danny,” he said, surprising me. “Jason passed out, but I wanted to let you know he’s okay. We just had a little too much to drink. I didn’t want you to worry if he was supposed to call you tonight.”
I thanked him, feeling a mix of relief and frustration.
The words of my conversation with Will were still lingering.
There was only one thing to do. Call my sister. Meredith listened to me spill out everything and she said simply, “I’m booking a flight and coming to see you tomorrow.”
My sister was on her way, my lifeline in the mess I felt like I was drowning in.
CHAPTER 28
UNDER THE INFLUENCE
NATALIE
My sister Meredith is a freelance photographer, mainly in fashion. When I worked in design, she did some design photos, and they turned out beautifully, but fashion was her thing. In a way, it always has been.
She was gorgeous with full lips and long curly dark brown hair. She took after my dad, while I took after mom, but we both had long hair and once gave each other haircuts so horrible that to this day I watch my kids whenever they have scissors to make sure no one gets out of hand playing beauty salon.
Meredith and I have always been close, but we got even closer during my parents divorce. My parents were never happy together. Dad made a lot of money selling insurance, and I guess that was good for a while, but eventually, my mom had had enough and left him, or rather all of us. She left right before I turned sixteen and Meredith was fourteen. Then, my father remarried.
