AllFreeNovel
Share Us
m by bringing out a bag of flour and swiftly preparing some flour tortillas that she prepared herself.
Who was this woman?
Had he ever known her?
After having rolled out the last of the dough, he watched her place the tortillas on a plate, then after covering them with a clean towel she retrieved from a drawer, she set them aside on the counter. The contraption cooking the potatoes started to beep, and she made a happy sound under her breath before murmuring, more to herself than him, “Perfect timing!”
She peered into the window of the machine, clucked her tongue with satisfaction, then retrieved the patties from under the grill. He watched as she moved around, getting dinner ready to plate up, and he knew he couldn’t withhold the words any longer. Knew that he had to put her mind at rest where this situation was concerned.
“I’ll help.”
He watched as tension invaded her, stiffening her muscles, making her movements jerky when they’d been smooth before. He couldn’t see her face, and she had her back to him, but it didn’t matter. He knew he’d interrupted, destroyed the happy place she’d found ever since she’d started cooking. Though he felt bad about that, he knew some of that tension was probably founded in relief.
That belief was confirmed when she whispered, “Thank you.”
Back in his office when she’d revealed Jamie’s parents had the mistaken belief they were having an affair, with the worst timing in the world, her babysitter had called and told her that they had a family emergency and that she had to leave. Like a flash, Samantha had been on her feet, telling the sitter to hold on for a few minutes while she arranged for one of their bodyguards to watch over Erin until she made it home.
Josh could have let her go, let her deal with the situation. But, and, he didn’t know why, he’d felt compelled to follow her. Maybe he needed confirmation. Visual feedback, almost.
And if that was what he wanted, he’d received it.
Any hope he’d had that there was some kind of mistake where Jamie was concerned, had been washed away the minute he’d seen his best friend’s wife and son in their natural environment. Without the stress Jamie had brought them, they were like different people.
Happier people.
Saddened by the lies Jamie had told the world, and knowing that anger would soon be a part of the grief he felt, Josh focused on anything but that.
He listened as Samantha called out, “Erin! Dinner is ready. Clean your hands, and come and sit at the table.”
Josh immediately heard the pounding of tiny feet as the small boy complied with his mother’s request. He doubted he’d been as well-behaved at Erin’s age with a box full of toys to play with.
“He didn’t even hesitate,” Josh remarked, amused by how swiftly Erin had obeyed.
She sucked in a shaky breath, and the noise was one he’d grown to be wary of since the meeting had begun. But she didn’t say anything, remained silent, just kept her face turned away from him so he couldn’t see her expression.
He knew he could have left it. Knew that by her silence she had no intention of saying another word on the subject, but like mosquito bites that he just couldn’t stop scratching, he had to know.
“Why? What are you not saying, Samantha?”
She half turned, then stopped. Tension invaded her limbs. She tilted her head so she could see him over her shoulder. The look in her eyes broke his heart. The sorrow buried within was enough to make his stomach clench.
“Jamie didn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Those seven words did more than make his stomach clench. “You said he never hit him.”
She flinched at the accusatory tone. “He didn’t. Not physically, anyway. He was just very exacting.”
Josh was becoming aware that Samantha had been desensitized to violence over the span of her marriage. Bearing that in mind, what did ‘very exacting’ actually mean?
Before he could ponder it too much, happy giggles sounded down the hallway as Erin raced in. The sound was exactly what he needed to hear to quench the mountain of guilt bearing down on him.
There was no way he couldn’t help Samantha. Not knowing what he did now. He didn’t care if Frank and Janice were upset by his intrusion into the situation, didn’t care if his presence confirmed the suspicions that he’d been having an affair all along with Samantha.
The only thing that mattered was ensuring that that little boy carried on giggling.
Chapter 5
Samantha
