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She blanched, then let out a soft sigh. “Douglas and I’ve been married about six months, but I found lipstick on his shirt last night, and I snuck a look at his phone while he was in the shower. He’s cheating all right.”
I forced myself not to grimace. “Do you know why he might be wandering?” I tried to use words and phrases that wouldn’t trigger my customers, unless I thought it necessary. I couldn’t advise her on what to do unless I understood some of the reasons why her husband had become a philanderer.
“Several years back, before I came into the picture, they were a couple. She dumped him, and he eventually met me. I thought we were happy,” she said, her eyes tearing up. “I thought that he’d left all that behind. As far as I know, she didn’t contact him until he was married to me. She’s engaged, and the four of us became a social foursome. But a month ago, he stayed out late and came home drunk. As I was helping him undress, I found…nail marks on his back.”
“Well, one thing I can tell you is this: you can’t change someone to make them love you, or to make them faithful to you. It must come from within. Is there anything missing that you think he’s getting from her?”
Prying was a delicate matter, but once again—magic wouldn’t work unless you knew the specifics of a situation. A prosperity spell wouldn’t help, long term, when you were dealing with someone who spent every dime they got.
Tammy worried her lip. “Crap,” she said quietly. “He’s getting something different all right. Early on, when we were discussing our exes, he said that she was a private dominatrix at one point, and she tried out various punishments on him.”
I blinked. This wasn’t going to be easy. Fetishes were usually deeply engrained and part of the personality. It wasn’t an easy hill, trying to turn chocolate into vanilla. “You think he misses the kink?”
Tammy nodded, tears in her eyes. “I know he does. He looks at porn when he doesn’t think I’m watching and it’s all women dressed up in leather, spanking and whipping men. But I can’t do that! It’s not who I am. I didn’t know he was reallyintoit until after we were married.”
I groaned. “You mean, you didn’t discuss it when you talked about sex? What about when you were…” I stopped, realizing I was walking into territory she might be uncomfortable with. But if she really wanted her marriage to work, we were going to have to discuss all the aspects. “What about when the two of you were in bed?”
Tammy blushed. “I didn’t…we didn’t…I didn’t want to sleep together until after we were married. His family was pressuring him to ask me. Apparently, I’m the closest fit to their ideal vision of a daughter-in-law, and since he’s from money, he’s expected to produce an heir. Now here we are, four months into the marriage, and I’m pregnant and he’s cheating on me with some slut.”
The words that came out of her mouth were sharp, not at all in fitting with the woman sitting in front of me, but emotions could derail everything else. I had the sneaking suspicion that Douglas’s love stretched to her simply because she was a good fit for the ‘proper’ mother image he needed to appease his family.
There were only so many things I could do. Magic couldn’t change someone’s innate nature without breaking them. And if his preference for kink was engrained in his nature, I wasn’t going to be able to drag it out of him.
“Have you’ve thought of even trying to join him—not with her, but the two of you? Finding a middle ground that will work for both of you?” But I knew the answer by the look on her face.
“No,” she said, staunchly shaking her head. “I can’t imagine doing that. And I’m pregnant—even if I thought I could, how the hell am I going to take care of a baby and play a kink queen? He’s not going to be helping me with the child. I knew that when I married him.”
A little alarm rang in my head. “Whydidyou marry him? I know you didn’t realize he had a fetish, but…”
“I love him,” she said.
There was something else she wasn’t saying. I waited.
She blushed, playing with her handbag. It was a designer clutch.
After a moment, she said, “I come from a poor family. We were rich at one time, when I was younger, but then something happened to my father’s business and suddenly we weren’t. But we’re still considered one of the original families of Starlight Hollow.”
“So you have the breeding he was looking for, but not money.”
“Right. I’m twenty-four, and there was no chance for me to go to college. I tried for scholarships but they’re not easy to come by and I’m not smart. I know it—I admit it. I have a sister and two brothers, all in their teens. One brother can probably get a full ride because he’s good at football. But Nanda and Rick? They’re smart but they can’t spend their spare time volunteering or whatever else gets you a grant. All three work after-school jobs to help the family survive.”
I sighed. “And your marriage will help your siblings, because your husband will fund their schooling?”
“I’m the only one whocanhelp. My father ignores everything in favor of his drinking. He’s one of those genteel, social drinkers. My mother can’t work, she’s disabled.”
“So you are the family’s hope.”
“Sometimes, you have to accept your place in life.” She shrugged. “I caught the eye of a blue-blood. He works for his family business, and makes a good living. He’s in line for a significant trust fund when he turns thirty. He’ll be a good father, and I’ll keep my figure and looks, and play the pretty wife on his arm at functions. He won’t divorce me because his family doesn’t believe in divorce. Everything will beoh, sorespectable.” She hung her head, her eyes welling with tears. “But it’s humiliating. He invites his mistress to dinner, and I sit there, knowing what’s going on.”
I had no idea what to say. How could I make things any better? “Does her fiancé know about the affair?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Let me think for a few days,” I said. “I’ll see if I can come up with some plan.” I handed her a tissue and she dabbed at her eyes. “Meanwhile, hang in there. Spend time with people who love you—your baby will need a calm Mama.” I walked over to one of the shelves and found a Peace of Mind candle, a spray to clear negative energy, and a beautiful rose quartz worry stone. I set them in front of her. “These will help over the next week or so as I try to figure out the best way to help.”
She blew her nose. “How much do I owe you?”
“Let me ring you up,” I said, stepping behind the cash register. I had to teach myself not to continually give away items. It was hard, but I was managing to do better—remembering that they had come to me for help in the first place, and I wasn’t obligated to give them anything. “That will be twenty-seven dollars and fifty-two cents.”
