Page 3
He moved toward the door. “Neither is coming in here to attack me while I still have work to do.”
“That isn’t—”
“As I said before, don’t wait up,” he said over his shoulder, and then he was gone.
Tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision as I stared at the desk while his footsteps echoed down the hall. I needed a moment to pull myself together, so I rounded the desk and sat down. Then I pressed the heels of my hands under my eyes until the need to cry passed.
The butcher’s invoice was still face down. I turned it over and stared at the name of the winery at the top. I’d been a part of the Cromwell family for nine years. Five years ago, when their previous chef accepted another offer with notice, I’d offered to help run the kitchen until they could hire someone else. I’d had a rising career in LA, but my family had needed me, so I pitched in.
My boss had given me a tight timeline for how long I could be away from the restaurant, which was understandable. And when it ran out, I felt like I couldn’t abandon the winery when Harrison and his parents needed me.
But I couldn’t even sign off on a bill for wagyu beef because it exceeded my authority.
As I pushed the clipboard away, the tablet next to the keyboard dinged with a notification. I glanced over at the sound, and the screen lit up, flashing a name I didn’t recognize.
Brie
I missed what the notification banner said and wouldn’t normally have thought anything of it, but I recognized the slight crack in the corner. The tablet was my husband’s.
Then another message came through, and since I was already staring at the screen, I saw the preview.
Brie
When will you be back in town? I miss you.
The screen went dark again, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to think of a reasonable explanation for what I’d just read. But I couldn’t come up with an innocent reason for why a woman I didn’t know felt comfortable sending my husband a message like this.
2
CELIA
Ineeded to know more, and the perfect opportunity sat in front of me. Standing, I circled the desk again and walked across the room to shut the door. Then I turned the lock. The last thing I needed while spying on my husband was one of his parents walking into the office and catching me.
Now that my privacy was ensured, I snagged the tablet from the desktop and sat on the loveseat that lined the wall opposite the desk.
Balancing the tablet on my knees, I looked at it for a moment and considered what I was about to do. Reading my husband’s texts was a violation of his privacy. If it turned out that there was an innocent explanation for Brie’s messages, then I would be the one who damaged our relationship. Yet if my suspicions were proven correct, my marriage was over.
I felt like I was staring down a lose-lose situation. There were no good outcomes here, so I decided to trust my gut.
Hoping I’d regret invading his privacy, I entered his passcode, our anniversary.
Which made it hurt all the more when I found the texts between him and the reason he’d been so distant lately.
I sagged against the cushions when his device unlocked. Then I braced myself and clicked on the messages icon.
Finding the thread with Brie was easy since it was right at the top. The text I’d already seen on his notifications was the most recent, but as I scrolled up, I quickly discovered it was on the tamer side compared to other messages this woman had sent my husband. And Harrison’s replies were just as bad.
One in particular jumped out to me.
Brie
I miss your dick.
Harrison
You’ll get plenty of it soon. Told my wife I’m needed at the winery so we have all night.
I set the tablet down and took a moment to cry as quietly as I could. Pressing my palm over my mouth to hold back my sobs, I let out some of the pain. Then I stood to grab the bottle of bourbon my father-in-law kept hidden away in the cabinet behind the desk. After pouring a shot into one of the crystal snifters, I gulped it down. It burned going down but helped settle my nerves.
