“No, you shouldn’t.” He heaved himself off. “What you should do is relax and get some rest while I clean up in there.”
“What? No, Micah. Come on, you don’t have to do that.”
“Course I do.” He winked his way out the door. “It’s what any good husband would do.”
He was gone before I could argue some more, leaving me with my flipping stomach and spinning head.
What was I supposed to make of his offer? Unlike what he assumed, I wasn’t putting on an act, so if he was really willing to hold out as long as I did, he’d be holding out forever.
Or until the anniversary party. Whenever the hell that was, and whatever the hell the three of them meant by getting rid of me for good.
Could they have been talking about serving Sue with divorce papers?a voice asked.
I shook the question away. Why would they want to put themselves and Nari through a potentially messy divorce when I already said on tape that I would take a far smaller price to walk out of their lives for good?That’s a deal any scorned husband would jump on. It doesn’t make sense for them to escalate a situation I already defused.
Then, what did the three of them mean when they were speaking in the hall, and what does Micah mean by this strange offer only a few hours later? And then the even bigger question, what are the ethical, and mostly legal, ramifications of sleeping with a man who believed I was someone else?
I tossed those questions back and forth in my mind for so long, I passed out before I got an answer.
Chapter Ten
“Hello? Hello, is this Mrs. Prado?”
Crackling came through the speakers, followed by a thin, weedy voice. “... is this?”
I checked the screen, clicking my tongue at the weak signal. Reception wasn’t so great deep in the trees—which is where the founders of Lantana Little Learners Day School insisted on building the elementary school.
I climbed out of the passenger seat, waving around the phone and moving farther and farther away from the car trying to catch a signal.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” I asked. “This is Ms. Kim of Kim Manor. I’m calling to speak to Mrs. Prado.”
“Mrs. Eleanor Prado?” came back clearly. “Is that who you need?”
“Yes, it is. Are you her?”
“I’m her daughter,” replied a smoky voice. “Mom’s out walking the dogs, but she should be back soon. Do you want to wait, or call her back?”
“I’ll wait. Thank you.”
I strolled the length of two parking spaces, eyeing Micah out of the corner of my eye. He loitered outside the school entrance with the other pickup parents, chatting up three attractive, well-dressed moms who were hanging on his every word.
That they were fawning over him, despite all boasting wedding rings, did not surprise me. What did surprise me was actually being there to watch.
I woke up that morning with the surprise of my life—Micah’s arm thrown over me, and his chest warm and steady at my back. I ended up slipping out from under him to sneak back to my room—which was clean and vomit-free just like he promised.
After showering and getting dressed, I went downstairs into the dining room and discovered Lily munching on buttered toast and cinnamon oatmeal. Micah set a bowl and plate down on the table for me before I even asked.
Together the three of us ate with the conversation focused on Lily and the activities they had planned for her at school. When we were done, Micahinvited me to join them for drop-off, but I was so weirded out by his sudden and complete turnaround, I mumbled something about needing to spend time with Omma while she was up and semi-alert enough to eat her breakfast.
He accepted this, but then several hours later, he found me in Omma’s disused office, searching her papers for Mrs. Prado’s number. His consulting client rescheduled on him and he was free to pick Lily up from school. He invited me to join him, and thus was the story of how I ended up in the Lantana Little Learners parking lot watching married women flirt with my sister’s widower.
You’d have thought I’d have spent that time crafting the very clear and direct speech I’d give to him, Rhodes, and Alex on how it was best they consider their physical relationship with Sue terminated, just like they considered their marriage to her terminated. There would be no sex with her—or anyone who may happen to look like her—at all. Ever.
Yes, you’d have thought I’d have that speech ready to go...
One of the women said something, and Micah threw his head back laughing. His long, thick hair caught the wind, which tried to carry it away—taking it only so far as the strong, warm hands that captured, then smoothed it down, would let it. Without his hair hiding his cheeks, they revealed the deep, teasing dimple above his chiseled jaw.
...but you’d be wrong.
