A Family Affair: Spring: Truth in Lies, Book 2 (12 page)

“Please. Don’t insult me.”
Drugging and photos? “Nice company you keep.”

He ignored her. “I know she did it. What I haven’t figured out is who helped her, and why.”

“Why don’t we call her up and ask her?”

He threw her a disgusted look. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with her but she’s avoiding me.”

“Hmm. Well, she wasn’t avoiding me. Obviously.” The whole scene was too much. Adultery, lies, betrayal. “It doesn’t matter.” Her gaze slid to his belt and she imagined Natalie undoing it, reaching for his zipper…Her stomach lurched and for the first time since he’d entered the house, she thought of the baby. Pain and loss seared her heart.

“What do you mean
, it doesn’t matter?” he asked. “It
does
matter. We have to talk about it, get it out in the open, and deal with it.” He touched her hand and she yanked it away. “Like adults.” He paused, his words spilling out in what seemed like pain. “Like people in love.”

Christine dragged her gaze to his. “I need time.” She flipped to business mode because that was her comfort zone
; that’s where she couldn’t get hurt. “I’ll move out.”

“What? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ll move out,” she repeated, not looking at him.

“You
can’t
leave. We have to get this straightened out.” His voice cracked. “I love you. I did not touch her.”

“I hear what you’re saying, but I know what I saw. I need time away from you to sort this out.”

“And I don’t have a goddamn say in any of this?” Anger seeped through his desperation.

She wanted him to feel her pain, know what it was like when someone ripped your heart apart. “You’ve done enough, don’t you think?”

Nate backed away. “What are you going to do when you find out this was all a set-up and you didn’t trust me enough to believe me? How are you going to fix us then?”

“Nathan?”

It was his mother. Damn. Christine hadn’t been gone two hours and Miriam was at his door, and he’d bet she had a thing or two to say to him. He should have gone straight to Jack Daniels instead of beer; that way he’d be so mellow by now, he wouldn’t care what his mother said. Hell, he probably wouldn’t even
hear
what she said. But he hadn’t. He’d sat around like a fool, nursing a beer and hoping his mother had convinced Christine to come home and talk it out. That’s what married people did, wasn’t it? Forget married, wasn’t that what people in love did, so they stayed in love?

“Nathan.” His mother stood before him, hands on hips, frown on her lips. “How
could
you?”

How could I?
His own mother thought he’d done the deed with Natalie. “Hi, Ma,” he said, lifting his beer and taking another swig.

She advanced on him, the frown deepening. “You’re my son and I love you with my whole heart, but dear Lord, what have you gone and done?”

It was a sad commentary when your own mother thinks you’re guilty of a crime you didn’t commit. What about faith in humanity, trust, and commitment to one another? Was that only good so long as there wasn’t a speck of doubt?

“Answer me, Nathan.”

“What did Christine tell you?”

“When she could talk between her hysterical crying, she told me about you and Natalie.” Her voice shook with anger and disappointment. “And the pictures,” she spat out. “You and Christine were perfect together. Why did you have to go and ruin it? Could you not let yourself be happy, just this once?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ma. Every son should be so lucky to have you by his side.”

She shook her head and paced the room as though she were a ball of energy about to explode. When she landed near him, she touched his arm and said in a gentle voice, “A mother knows her children, their good qualities, and their weaknesses. I love you, Nathan; I’ve loved you when you were hard to love and when you didn’t even like yourself. And I will love you until I draw my last breath because that’s what a mother does, but I can’t stand by and watch you destroy the best thing that’s ever happened in your life.” She clutched his hand, squeezed. “Christine’s heart is breaking right now, she doesn’t know what to think, what to feel.” She sighed. “And neither do
I.”

Nate sucked in a deep breath and looked into her eyes.
Bloodshot, puffy. She was trying to keep the tears in, but he’d bet she’d already shed a fair amount, and he was the cause. Seeing her like this reminded him of all the times Charles Blacksworth left her behind and all the tears she shed for him. “I didn’t do it, Ma.”

Her bottom lip trembled, and she nodded. “But how do you explain the photos, Nathan? That’s what’s so hard to get past.” He glanced at the manila folder lying on the floor where he’d thrown it. The truth was in those photos and he’d find it.

“I knew that Servetti girl was trouble the first time I laid eyes on her at St. Gertrude’s. She was still in high school, but you’d have thought she was twenty-two with the way she wore her makeup and those skirts hiked up to her behind. And the men that trailed after her like she was offering a piece of candy,” she paused and scowled, “which I’m sure she was.”

“Do we have to talk about this now?”

She threw him one of her “if you had used better judgment, we wouldn’t have to talk about it” looks. “Yes. We do. Your refusal to have a real relationship made you think you could call her when you wanted something”—the look again—“and discard her when you didn’t. I’ll bet she didn’t see it that way. I’ll bet she thought since you went back to her after Patrice, you’d end up with her again after Christine.”

“I don’t care what she thinks. She can go to hell. I’m not interested.”
I have a wife, a woman I love.

“This is a big mess, Nathan
, and I don’t know how you are going to get out of it, but you’d better find a way.” She sighed, rubbed her temples. “I have no idea what to tell Lily.”

“You can’t tell her.”

“She’s no fool. How long do you think she’ll buy Christine’s ‘I missed you and wanted to spend time together’ before she starts asking more questions?”

“Don’t tell her.” Lily was all that was good and pure and he would not have her heart tarnished by something as nasty as this.

“I don’t plan to, but you better think of something.” She shrugged. “Tell her you’re sanding the floor or painting or doing something that would require Christine to stay at the house. And you’d better come for dinner and spend a little time there or Lily will get suspicious. You know how she is.”

“And Christine’s okay with this?” She didn’t want him in the next state, let alone
at the same dinner table.

“I’ll talk to her. In the meantime, you
’d better find this Servetti girl and get your stories straight.”

What did she mean by that?
“Ma? You don’t think I cheated on Christine, do you?” When she didn’t answer, he knew she didn’t believe him. “I see.”

“You and Christine are good for each other. I don’t want to see bad judgment on your part ruin your lives.”

Bad judgment? She really thought he’d done it
.
“Don’t you think it’s odd that Natalie waited until now to come after me? Why not before Christine and I got married? There was plenty of time and Natalie was around. She was shacked up with Alec Mentino until a few months ago.”

Miriam sighed. “Which only goes to show you should never have taken up with her in the first place.”

He was not going to have a discussion with his mother about his past hook-ups. “I think somebody put her up to it.”

“A set-up?”
Her hazel eyes widened at the possibility. His mother was so naïve to the darkness that lived in people.

He nodded.
“Yeah, a set-up. Think about it. If somebody wanted to come between me and Christine, what better way than to insert a woman from my past, have her drug me, and take pictures that reek of infidelity.”

“Nathan, do you know what you’re saying?”

Her tone implied he was either desperate or a hair short of crazy. It did not imply she believed him.

“Natalie was too anxious to get me to have that beer. I was on my way out the door, but she insisted, said for old times’ sake and all that crap. I know she did it. You don’t black out after one beer and wake up not remembering anything. She had the perfect opportunity to do anything she wanted.”

His mother’s expression softened as though she wanted to believe him. “That woman has never been one of my favorite people, but drugging someone and taking pictures? That’s a pretty big accusation.”

“She didn’t act alone. I’ll bet it wasn’t even her idea, but I plan to find out who’s behind this, and when I do, it won’t be pretty.” His gut filled with the gnawing possibility that Gloria
Blacksworth was behind this trouble, and if intuition proved correct, heaven help her.

***

There was no escaping him. He’d be here any minute and unless Christine wanted Lily to find out what was going on with Nate, she’d have to pretend Miriam’s story were true: Christine was spending a few days with them so Nate could refinish the oak floors.
He doesn’t want your sister in the dust and mess,
Miriam had said.
She’ll stay with us for a little while; won’t that be nice?

Lily hadn’t looked farther than her own desire to have Christine to herself and dove right into pleading for a checkers and card game partner. It was easy to pretend the truth when the source of the conflict was miles away. Stories could be stretched and reworked to resemble whatever truth a person wanted
, even when they bore no resemblance to the truth at all. But when the source of the conflict was in the same room, breathing the same oxygen, well then, the pretending was not so easy. In fact, Christine had no idea how she would smile and make idle chit-chat with her husband when she could barely stand to look at him and certainly didn’t want to hear his voice. Or smell his woodsy scent. And what if he tried to touch her? She glanced out the kitchen window, eyeing the empty spot where his truck would be.

“Is Nate here yet?” Lily called from behind her. “I’m hungry.”

Christine forced a smile. No matter what she had to do, Lily was not going to find out that two of the people she cared about most were miserable because one of them had broken his vows.

“He’ll be here soon. And your mom will be back from the dentist any minute. Why don’t we get the drinks ready?”

“Nate will have iced tea.” Lily moved to the cupboard and pulled down four glasses. “Do you think he’ll like the spices we put in the tea?”

“I think so.” But what did she know? She’d thought her husband loved her enough to remain faithful and look how that had turned out. He hadn’t even made it a year. The photos of Nate and Natalie lived in the center of her brain, making her question everything she thought she knew about him.

“And I know he’s going to like the chicken pot pie,” Lily chatted on, “because that’s one of his very favorites. Mom says he’s going to turn into a chicken pot pie one of these days.” Giggle. Giggle. “How would you like to be Mrs. Chicken Pot Pie?”

Oh, Lily. The child did not deserve the sadness threatening to burst into her young world if Nate and Christine couldn’t work things out. And yet, how could Christine live with a man she didn’t trust? It had been almost twenty-six hours since she’d seen the photos. Anger had seeped through the numbness, settled in her gut and lay in wait, ready to attack. She would have her say, and she would find out the truth, even if she had to pull it from his lying mouth to get it.

“They’re here!” Lily banged open the screen door and ran outside as Miriam’s station wagon pulled into driveway with Nate’s truck close behind. Was it coincidence that they both arrived at the same time, or had they met up somewhere to talk?

When Nate stepped out of the truck, there was a half second when Christine’s heart swelled with longing as she took in the red T-shirt, jeans, the wind-blown hair. How many times had he come home like this, framed her face with his strong hands, and kissed her “hello”?

“Nate! Nate!” Lily flung herself at him and he hefted her into his arms, laughing as he twirled her around. He set her down, kissed the top of her head, and glanced toward the back door. His smile slipped when he saw her. “Come on, Nate.” Lily grabbed his hand. “Let’s go inside. I’m hungry.” She yanked him toward the door with Miriam following behind.

Christine sipped in air as her husband entered the kitchen and faced her. “Hi.” It was a gentle tone, filtered with uncertainty, so unlike Nate.

“Hello.” How could a simple word be so difficult to say?

“Come on, Nate.” Lily clutched his hand and laughed. “You have to kiss Christine like you always do when you see her.” He paled, cleared his throat, and leaned in. The kiss was feather-light and quick, so quick Christine didn’t have time to prepare for it.

“No, that’s not right.” Lily grabbed her brother’s hand and placed it on Christine’s right shoulder. “Now put your other hand on her other shoulder and hug her like you always do.” Nate complied, jaw clenched, mouth clamped shut.

“That’s right, and now you have to kiss her on the mouth for a long time. And then, you kiss her behind the left ear until she giggles. And then—”

“Lily, that’s enough.” Thank God for Miriam’s interruption. “Can’t you see your brother is tired? He’s had a long day and he’s hungry.”

“But
, Mom, he always kisses Christine like that.” Her dark brows pinched together. “Even when he’s tired. And that time when he was sick.” Her voice hitched and faded as she repeated, “He always kisses Christine like that.”

Nate mumbled something under his breath, clutched Christine’s shoulders
, and pulled her to him. The kiss was hard, possessive, and over before she could decide if she wanted to respond or not. He trailed his lips along her neck, settled on the soft spot behind her left ear, and kissed it. Once, twice, his tongue circling the flesh until she squirmed and giggled, like she did every time he touched her there.

Lily clapped her hands. “That’s it! Christine giggled.”

Nate pulled away and stepped back. “I’m hungry,” he said, his eyes still on her.

Miriam jumped in. “Good. Chicken pot pie is meant to be eaten when it’s fresh out of the oven, not sitting around so the crust turns to mush.”

“I wanted pizza, but Mom said we had to make chicken pot pie for you.” She scrunched her nose at him and he mussed her hair. “Spoiled boy.”

“Right.”
Nate sat down next to Christine. “You, Miss Lily, are the most spoiled young lady in Magdalena.”

She grinned and added, “In the state of New York.”

He shook his head. “In the United States.”

She threw her arms wide and said, “In the world.”

“Lily.” Miriam gave her daughter a stern look. “Not at the dinner table. You and your brother can continue your silly shenanigans after supper.” Lily flashed a grin at Nate who smiled back. They bantered like this often, and for just a second, it felt like any other day. Normal. Relaxing. Peaceful. And then Christine remembered it wasn’t.