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Twenty
Briar
Today is one of those days when I don’t want to get out of bed. I don’t have to get up for Abby since she’s still with Caleb’s mother, Melanie, and I have nothing on my schedule.
It’s just past nine when I hear movement downstairs. Perking up, I glance at Caleb’s things on the nightstand. His watch and wallet are still sitting in the exact spot he left them.
Maybe he’s going in to work late today.
After climbing out of bed, I get cleaned up quickly, hoping he might leave before I go down and I’ll miss him. After throwing on some plain yoga pants and a loose tank top, my phone buzzes with an alert on the bathroom counter.
It’s your lucky day! Your first fertile day of the week. You know what to do. *Winky face*
“Ugh,” I groan around my toothbrush, fighting the urge to toss my phone in the toilet.
There won’t be any of that today.
After he saw Dean and I getting out of the car yesterday, Caleb and I awkwardly avoided each other for the rest of the night. I had nothing to confess to, and he didn’t bother accusing me.
Why didn’t he?
Does he care so little that he wouldn’t at least fight me for more information? I obviously want my husband to trust me, but it would be nice to see him get a little fired up, too. Especially when it pained me so much to turn down whatcould havehappened with Dean.
It wasn’t even about the physical stuff with him. We have an emotional connection that I’m denying myself for a husband who barely acknowledges me. I’m so lonely in my own marriage it hurts.
Quickly, I jog down the stairs to find Caleb sitting at the dining room table with his laptop open. His eyes are framed with dark circles underneath, as if he didn’t get much sleep last night.
“You’re not going in today?” I ask as I pull the coffeepot from the machine.
“No,” he mutters lowly.
I pour myself a cup of coffee and try to ignore the suffocating tension between us right now. I know he’s staying home because he doesn’t trust me alone with Dean.
But I’m not just going to tiptoe around this and pretend like everything is fine. I’m tired of sweeping things under the rug and letting the fuse go out. Dean has awakened something inside me that won’t let me be passive anymore.
I’m tired of pretending our life is perfect while it falls apart.
“So, are you just going to work from home until he moves out?” I ask, gripping my coffee cup so tightly I’m afraid it could shatter.
“If I have to,” he argues as he glances my way with a stern expression.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I don’t feel comfortable leaving my wife alone with another man,” he replies, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Maybe instead of always trying to protect us and bear every burden alone, you could justtalkto me,” I snap.
“Talk about what?” he replies. “You won’t tell me what happened.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust me?”
“Should I?” he snaps back. The silence stretches out before he adds in a cold tone, “You’ve cheated before.”
My eyes pop open in surprise. “Caleb,” I bark at him. The pain of those words is etched on my face. I slam my coffee cup down on the counter. “I can’t believe you would say that to me.”
He stands from the table but keeps the island between us as he places his hands down on the granite surface. “It’s true, though, isn’t it?”
“How dare you use that against me now,” I spit back, my voice growing louder. “I cheated on a terrible boyfriend to be withyou.”
