WMIS 01.5 Under The Mistletoe With Me (2 page)

“Uh, huh.”
I eye him, knowing he’s keeping something from me, but then I hear Sophie cry
inside. “We should go. Soph is ready for bed.”

“Okay,
let’s go.”

Chapter
Two

“Are you
sure you don’t want me to take Soph to my mom’s?” I ask Isaac as I bustle
around the kitchen, putting breakfast supplies away.

“Nah,
we’ll be fine.” He cradles her against his chest, bouncing her slightly and
smiles at me. “Have fun today. Don’t worry about us.”

“I intend
to have fun. And shop my ass off. I am bringing a change of socks to refresh my
feet half way through.”

Isaac
shakes his head and laughs. “I don’t get Black Friday.”

“It’s a
challenge that involves shopping. It’s not for you to understand.” I switch my
phone to vibrate and shove it in my pocket, throw my keys in my purse and
glance up at my husband. “Hey, question.”

“Okay.”

“What was
going on last night at Luke and Nat’s?”

Isaac
frowns and sighs. “Stace, don’t worry about it. Have fun today, and we’ll talk
later.”

“We don’t
keep secrets.”

“I’m not
keeping one now. I want you to have fun today. We’ll talk later.”

“If you
say so.” He leans down and kisses me chastely, then grips my jaw in his hand
and deepens the kiss, making my toes curl. He smells like coffee, his body wash
and just Isaac, and when he pulls back and gives me that cocky grin with his
bright blue eyes smiling at me, I can’t help but sigh, even after being with
him all these years.

“I’ll see
you later,” I whisper when I hear Jules honk her horn outside.

“Be safe.”
He kisses my forehead. I lean in to kiss Sophie’s cheek and I’m out the door.

***

Sometimes,
you just need a day out with the girls, and I’ve realized today that it’s been
far too long since I’ve taken time away from the baby to just enjoy my friends.
We have been all over Seattle, following sales and just enjoying each other’s
company.

“You
scored on that watch for Will at Macy’s.” Jules comments as she holds a sweater
up.

“I know, I
hope he likes it.”

“He will.
Besides that man needs a watch. He’s always late.”

My phone
vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out to check the text.

nipples.

Huh? Isaac
has sent me a text that just says
nipples
? Is he talking about nipples
for Sophie’s bottle?

“Oh, look!
The baby section. C’mon, guys, I wanna look.” Natalie leads us to the brightly
colored baby section to look through clothes and other gear.

My phone
vibrates again.

I luv
it when u ride me and I can play with ur

My husband
has lost his mind. Or someone has stolen his phone and is sending me obscene
text messages.

I vaguely
hear Jules and Nat chattering around me, but I’m not paying attention to what
they’re saying or even what they’re looking at. I’m just mindlessly following
them through the store, winding through clothes racks and around a loud Santa
and elves and kids yelling and crying.

It’s
really, really loud in here.

nd cum
in ur mouth.

What the
hell? I stare down at my phone and frown.

“Oh,
Stace, Sophie would be so cute in this!”

I tuck my
phone in my pocket and look over at Jules holding up an adorable black romper.
“Oh, that’s adorable! I’ll take it.”

My phone
vibrates again, so I pull it out and check the text.

You
make me so hard.

Isaac
hasn’t talked to me like this in years.
Years.
Before I can shove my
phone back in my pocket, it vibes again and another text from him pops on the
screen.

I want
u kneeling in front of me with ur pretty pink lips around my cock. I’m gonna
pull your hair a

That’s it.
The last of the text is cut off again. This isn’t
my
husband. We haven’t
done the dirty talk thing since before Sophie was born. Hell, since before
Sophie was conceived.

“Stacy?” I
hear Nat calling my name, but before I can answer, one more text comes through.

This is
what I’m gonna give you 2nite. Be ready.
And… it’s a picture of his dick.

“Stacy?”
Jules lays her hand on my arm to get my attention, and I meet her concerned
blue gaze with my own.

“What the
fuck is up with your brother?”

“What are
you talking about?” Jules asks.

“He’s
sending me obscene text messages, which I’m starting to think aren’t intended
for me, given that he hasn’t talked dirty to me like this in years, and last
night at Nat’s he took a
private
call that he won’t tell me about and
was talking about some woman with Matt. Jules, if your brother is fucking
around on me, so help me God…”

Jules
laughs and shakes her head. “Stacy, you know he’s not fucking around.”

“As of
right this minute, I’m not so sure.”

And the
magnitude of that statement paralyzes me. I stare at my friends and replay last
night and this morning in my head, his evasiveness, telling me to drop it, but
kissing me to cover it up. I feel my eyes widen and my heart rate triples.

“Fuck.”

“Stacy,
I’m sure there’s an explanation. Isaac is nuts about you.” Natalie rubs my back
in large circles, trying to console me.

“He is,
Stace.” Jules nods. “I know he loves you and Sophie more than anything.”

“That
doesn’t mean that he’s not having an affair,” I whisper.

“C’mon,
let’s get out of here. I think we’ve done enough damage to my credit card for
one day.” Jules sets the few things we’d picked up on a rack and we walk
through the store and out to the car.

“I don’t
understand what’s happening,” I whisper.

“Well,
your first step is to talk to him. Ask him.” Natalie says from the back seat
behind me. Jules is driving, where I don’t know, and I’m in the passenger seat.

“I did ask
him. He told me to drop it. This morning he told me to have fun today and we’d
talk tonight. Oh, God, he’s going to tell me he’s leaving me.” My stomach
convulses and I start to pant.

“Stacy,
don’t be dramatic.” Jules rolls her eyes and merges into traffic, heading
toward my house.

“Where are
we going?”

“We’re
going to your place.”

“I don’t
want to see Isaac yet. I need to calm down and think.”

“No, you
need to confront my brother and find out what the hell he’s doing.”

I twist my
fingers in my lap and bite my lip until it bleeds. “Maybe you can confront him
and let me know how it goes.”

“Oh no,
this is all you. But if you want us there with you, we’ll stay. Are you afraid
of him?” She looks over to me with narrowed eyes.

“No! No,
I’m not afraid of him, I just don’t know if I want the answer to my questions.”

“Stacy,
I’m telling you,” Natalie says firmly. “Isaac is not fucking around.”

“I
wouldn’t have ever expected him to.” My God, we’ve had ups and downs, but
never,
never
would I have suspected that he could ever do this to me.

“So, to
recap,” Jules starts as she pulls into my driveway, “He took a mysterious phone
call at Nat’s last night that he doesn’t want to talk about, and today he sent
you dirty texts.”

“Yes.”

“This does
not make for an affair, Stace.”

“I know,
but it’s so not him.”

“There are
no photos of naked women, you haven’t caught him in bed with anyone…”

“No.”

Jesus,
I’d die if I found him in bed with another woman.
Correction: the other
woman would die. A slow, painful death.

“I think
this is a misunderstanding,” Natalie says gently. “But, where is this
insecurity in your marriage coming from? This isn’t like you, honey. You are
not this insecure.”

“I know.”
I bite my lip again and fight tears. I haven’t felt like myself since the baby
came. Our marriage hasn’t felt the same. “Since the baby was born, our sex life
hasn’t been the greatest. We’re both really tired all the time.” I shrug and
look down at my hands in embarrassment. “I know our marriage isn’t perfect, but
I’ve never felt this disconnected from him. If I’m not satisfying him, someone
else will. You’ve seen him.”

“Oh, for
the love of Moses, Stacy, listen to yourself. I think you need some hot sex and
a vacation, girl,” Jules comments, making me laugh.

“Yeah,
that couldn’t hurt.”

Isaac’s
truck is in the driveway of our pretty two-story home. It occurs to me that he
put the Christmas lights up today, which just makes me more emotional. This is
Sophie’s first Christmas. What if we don’t get to spend it as a family in our
home?

 Jules
cuts the engine and pops the trunk.

“C’mon,
let’s get your stuff inside.”

We carry
my plethora of bags full of gifts for the whole family, and way more than
Sophie will ever need or remember for her first Christmas, into the house.
Isaac is packing a diaper bag and has the car seat by the door.

“Ladies,
you’re back sooner than I expected.” He flashes us a wide happy smile, but all
I see is the bag he’s packing.

“Where the
hell are you going?” I ask. I hear the desperation in my voice, I know I sound
like a complete lunatic, but I can’t make it stop.

“Uh,” He
frowns at me and pushes his hand through his soft, dark blonde hair. “Nowhere.
I was going to ask Jules if she would take Sophie home with her for a few hours
so you and I can have some alone time.”

“Of course
I’ll take Sophie!” Jules says from behind me. “Nat, will you help Isaac finish
loading the baby’s bag while I help Stacy upstairs with her stuff?”

“On it.”

Isaac
looks at the three of us like we’ve lost our minds. “What’s going on?”

Jules just
leads me up the stairs as I hear Natalie say, “You guys really need to talk,
you dumb ass.”

Chapter
Three

“So, talk
to me.” Isaac walks into our bedroom and crosses to me, planting his hands on
his lean hips. Jules and Nat just left with Sophie and we’re all alone.

“No, you
start talking. I want to know who you were talking to last night. And who the
hell did you intend to send those text messages to today?”

Yes, I
sound like a nagging, bitchy wife, but I can’t stop it. I pull my coat off with
jerking movements and throw it on top of the bags on our bed and turn back
around to face him, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Stacy,
what are you accusing me of?” he asks in a low voice, his blue eyes narrowed.

“I’m not
accusing, I’m asking. Again. I’ve been asking since last night.”

“I spoke
to Brynna last night at Luke’s, Stacy. She was in trouble and is on her way
here.”

What?
Brynna is my cousin, but we were raised as sisters.

“She’s on
her way from Chicago?”

“Yes.”

“But the
kids…”

“Are with
her.”

“Is she
driving?”

“Yes.”

“What the
hell, Isaac? Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”

“Because I
didn’t want to worry you. It was Soph’s first Thanksgiving, and Matt and I have
it taken care of.” He runs his hands through his hair and paces away from me
toward the bathroom.

“Why is
she coming here?”

“I don’t
know all the details yet, I just know that she was scared and said she needed
to get out of there fast and was heading here.”

I just
stand and blink at him. Brynna, the person I’m closest to in the world, is
coming home and is in trouble and I’m just now finding out?

“Isaac…”

“Yeah, I
know, in hindsight I probably should have said something, but you would have
worried, and I wanted you to enjoy the holiday.”

Okay.

“Where is
she now?”

“I’m not
sure, she’s taking it slow because of the weather and the kids, but she should
be here by the middle of next week. Matt’s keeping close tabs on her.”

Isaac’s
brother Matt is a Seattle cop, and I know he’ll do everything in his power to
help Brynna. The Montgomery men take care of their family, and because of me,
Brynna is family too, so I trust that she’ll be safe.

“Now,
about the texts,” Isaac mumbles and my anger sparks again. “Let me see your
phone.” He holds his large hand out expectantly.

“Why? So
you can delete them?”

“Jesus,
Stacy, what is wrong with you? Just give me your phone, please.” He appears
exasperated and worried, but not like he’s feeling guilty, which gives me hope,
so I hand him my phone. He locates the texts and frowns as he reads through
them.

“You got
them all out of order.”

“You
think?”

“I hate
being on two different cell services.”

“Isaac, I
don’t think the fact that we have two different plans is the point right now.
Who did you intend to send those to?”

“You.” He
passes the phone back to me with a frown. “Who else would I send sexy messages
to?”

“You tell
me.”

“What has
gotten into you? I just wanted to send you some fun texts to spice things up a
bit. I’m fucking flirting with my wife, that’s all!” Now he’s pissed; fiery
blue eyes, jaw set in a grim line, hands back on his hips.

I feel
like a complete idiot. I close my eyes and sit on the edge of the bed, lowering
my head and bracing my face in my hands.

What is
wrong with me?

“Baby,
talk to me.” Isaac kneels in front of me and pulls my hands away from my face.
He cups my cheek in his hand, brushing his thumb along my skin and I feel tears
well in my eyes.

“I
thought…”

“I know
what you thought, and it pisses me the hell off, but tell me why you went
there, Stace. This isn’t who we are.”