Love Far Away (A Spicy Contemporary Romance) (2 page)

With a sigh, I turned the key in the ignition and headed off
to do preschool pickup. My little girl was hanging out by the door, waiting for
me.

“Mommy!” she cried, running over to give me a hug. “Did you
get the cake for my party tomorrow?”

“I sure did, honey,” I said, holding her tight. “You’re
going to love it. But it’s a surprise; you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to
see it.”

Olivia was so excited she started to hop up and down, and I
had to calm her down enough to get her buckled in to her car seat. Then we
headed off to pick up Henry from first grade, before we could finally head back
home. I sent the children ahead in to the house while I made trip after trip
from the garage to the kitchen, hauling groceries, beer, the juice dispenser,
cake, cookies, the picture and mat for signing, and finally hiding all the
mylar helium balloons in Bradley’s office. I worried that they would have
started to lose their helium-ness by the party tomorrow, but filling them today
was the only way I could make it work unless, I delegated the task. Bradley was
supposed to be golfing with client’s tomorrow morning- he’d assured me he’d be
back in time for the party- and my friends would have their hands full with
just attending. So the day before it had to be.

Since it was a nice day out, and I didn’t want Olivia
hanging around the kitchen hoping for a glimpse of her cake, I suggested a bike
ride. Sunscreen and bike helmets were found, and off we went for an hour around
the neighborhood. Henry wanted to ride much faster than Olivia could keep up on
her training wheels. I had to constantly go between the two of them,
simultaneously encouraging Olivia to keep pedaling. All the while urging Henry
to go slow down and look around him at the nature that could be found in our
suburb.

There was still dinner to get through- Henry begged for
hamburgers, no matter how many times I reminded him there would be burgers at
Olivia’s party tomorrow- and bath time, and stories, and bedtime. I checked my
phone every few minutes for the time, or a text from Bradley, or anything. He
usually came home sometime around seven, in time to help with bedtime a bit
before we would eat together. If he was going to be late he’d typically let me
know and I would eat with the kids instead of waiting for him. But I checked my
messages at seven, seven-thirty, seven forty-five, eight o’clock...and there
was nothing.

“Where’s Daddy?” asked Olivia, as the three of us settled
down with a story once the kids were in their pajamas.

“Daddy’s at work,” I said.

“I want Daddy to kiss me goodnight,” said Henry. “Will he be
home soon?”

I paused. I didn’t want to lie to my son. “I’m not sure
exactly when he’ll be home,” I said. “But not too long. If it’s after you’re in
bed, he’ll come in and give you a kiss while you’re asleep.”

Olivia stuck out her lower lip. “Daddy said he’d bring me a
princess crown to wear at my party tomorrow,” she said. “What if he forgets?”

I already had a birthday princess crown downstairs, so I
just smiled at her. “I promise you’ll have a birthday princess crown tomorrow.
Now let’s get to bed, and the sooner you fall asleep, the sooner it will be
your party!”

Luckily, Henry and Olivia both accepted that, and I tucked
them both into bed with a hug and a kiss and a promise that Bradley would come
in after they’d fallen asleep. As soon as they were both in bed, I headed
downstairs to pour a big glass of wine and call my husband.

His phone went to voicemail. I was starting to get worried,
and called again. This time he answered. “Hello?”

“Where are you?” I demanded. “Why are you late? The kids
have been asking for you. I had to cover for you. They wanted to see you before
they fell asleep.”

“Oh, shoot,” said Bradley. “I didn’t realize how late it
was. I got caught up in some work and had my phone on silent in my jacket and
didn’t realize what time it was already. I heard it vibrating against the chair
when you called. Sorry, Jules. I’ll leave right away.”

He hung up, but I felt like something was off. Bradley had
people calling him all day long. Why would he leave his phone in his pocket and
ignore his messages? I tried to push the thought aside. Tomorrow was Olivia’s
birthday party, a day I’d been working hard to plan for months. We could have a
talk after that. Maybe even take our little reconnecting trip away sooner
rather than later. It would work out. I’d been in love with Bradley Sutton ever
since I was sixteen years old. We’d been voted Most Likely To Get Married and
Live Happily Ever After in high school. We had too much history, too much of
everything invested for us to be in trouble.

Still. I took another sip of wine, then called my best
friend.

“Everything okay?” asked Megan.

“I think so,” I said. “I’m really stressed about everything
going well at the birthday party tomorrow. I’ve been planning it forever. I
just have visions of the cake falling on the ground or everyone getting food
poisoning or something.”

“Relax,” said Megan. “It’ll be fine! It’s just a kid’s
party, not the Royal Wedding. Hey, want to come over? Ashley and Becca were
going to come too. We were thinking of going out to see a band play downtown.”

“Hmm, I guess I could leave the goldfish in charge of Henry
and Olivia for a few hours,” I joked.

“Juuuules,” Megan groaned. “I meant when Bradley finally
gets home! Get out a little bit and relax. It would do you good.”

I actually considered it- going upstairs right away to
shower and change into something other than yoga pants and a tank top, putting
on makeup, doing my hair, feeling beautiful- and waiting for Bradley to come
home so I could breeze out past him. But then I remembered the goody bags that
needed filling and the balloons that had to be blown up, and I wanted to
connect with Bradley in some way as well. Maybe we could find a good show on
Netflix and sit in front of it together while we filled the goody bags and blew
up balloons until we got light headed, then have impromptu sex on the couch. It
had been a while since something like that had happened.

“I’ve got to pass, I think,” I said. “Birthday party stuff
and I need to talk to Bradley.”

“Well, okay,” said Megan. “Offer’s always on the table, you
know. If he gets home soon you can always leave him on birthday party prep duty
and come join us.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll let you know, okay?”

“Sure thing, girl,” said Megan, and we hung up. I picked up
my glass of wine and the bag of balloons that needed attention, and headed into
the living room to wait for my husband.

I
woke up on Saturday morning feeling hungover and
exhausted. I’d drunk too much wine last night and the last thing I felt like
doing right now was playing host to a children’s birthday party. I wanted to
drink a big glass of water and go back to bed for another hour or two.

Bradley had finally come home about an hour after I’d called
him. He said he’d been tying up loose ends at the office before his golf
“meeting” on Saturday morning. I’d tried my hardest and met him at the door in
my robe with a glass of wine and 16 empty good bags that needed filling. He’d
brushed me off and said that he was beat and just wanted to get some sleep
because he had to be up early tomorrow morning to go golfing. We’d argued;
didn’t he care that tomorrow was his baby girl’s birthday party? Of course he
cared, he’d said, but if I was going to be going around planning elaborate
birthday parties someone needed to earn the money to pay for it all.

I’d ended up making my way through the bottle of wine while
I blew up balloons and filled the goody bags all by myself.

“Mommy. Mommy.”

I opened my eyes to see Olivia standing next to my bed. She
was wearing her pajamas with her princess crown and a huge smile. “What is it,
honey?” I croaked out. I sat up and cleared my throat. “I mean, good morning,
Olivia! Happy birthday!”

“Is today my birthday party?” she asked.

“It is!”

“I gonna be a princess today?”

“You sure are, sweetheart,” I said.

“Is Daddy coming to my party?”

“Of course he is,” I said. Under the covers, I gave Bradley
a little kick. He was still lying with his head under the blankets. “Aren’t
you, dear?”

Bradley let out a kind of low moan that sounded like the
death throes of a large dinosaur. I checked the clock beside the bed.
Six-fifteen.

I sighed. When we were younger, weekends used to mean
sleeping in. Kids didn’t understand that concept, so up I got. Downstairs, I
poured Olivia a bowl of cereal and turned on cartoons for her while I brewed
myself an extra-large cup of coffee. I thought about texting Megan or my mom,
but then I remembered that, like normal people without small children, they
were probably sleeping in on Saturday morning.

Around seven Henry came downstairs, followed by Bradley. He
actually helped me set out some folding chairs and tables in the backyard
before disappearing back upstairs to change and get ready for his golf meeting.

“Do you really have to go, Daddy?” asked Olivia.

“Sorry, honey,” Bradley apologized. “It won’t be long. I’ve
just got to meet some men and talk to them for a little while. I’ll be back for
your party.”

“Promise?” she asked.

“I promise,” he said. He gave her a kiss on the head, and
hugged Henry, and then came over to me. “Sorry about the timing of this, Jules.
I completely forgot Olivia’s party was this morning when I agreed to go. You
know how it is. It would look really bad for me if I backed out of this.”

“You don’t need to convince me,” I told him. “I can hold
things down here if this is what you need to do. I’m sorry we argued last
night. We all appreciate how hard you work to take care of our family.”

Maybe I was imagining things, but the expression on
Bradley’s face suddenly looked extremely pained. It was fleeting, though, and a
minute later he was kissing me on the cheek. “Thanks, Jules,” he said. “I love
you all. I have a great family.” With a wave, he was out the door.

Now that I was on my own, I called my mom and begged her to
come over and watch the kids so I could decorate for the party. I knew Megan,
Ashley, and Becca would be tired from their night out last night, and although
they loved Henry and Olivia I knew they weren’t always super comfortable around
kids.

My parents both showed up half an hour later, bringing two
kinds of pasta salad with them. “Just stick the bowls in the fridge,” I
directed, “and keep the kids out of the backyard.”

“I can give you some help with set up,” my mom offered.
“Your father will hang out with the kids inside.”

“Sure!” said my dad.

“Mom, I want to play golf outside,” said Henry. “Just like
Daddy does.”

“Another time, Henry,” I said, frazzled. “Go into the other
room with Grandpa and you guys can play for a while. Grandma and I have work to
do.”

With my dad and the kids safely in the playroom doing some
coloring, my mom and I went in to Bradley’s balloon filled study to gather the
balloons and tie them in to bunches. “It’s too bad Bradley couldn’t be here and
help you get things set up,” said my mom. “What did he have to do this morning,
again?”

“Some golf thing,” I told her. “I guess there are people in
town from another branch and they all had to go golfing together this morning,
or something.”

“He sure works hard,” my mom said carefully.

“I know,” I said. “He works really hard to give Henry,
Olivia, and I a comfortable lifestyle.” My mom didn’t reply to that, and I
kicked myself. I’d spoken without thinking. Growing up, my parents worked so
hard to keep my brother Josh and I fed and clothed with a roof over our heads.
A birthday party like the one I’d planned for Olivia was far more elaborate
than anything my parents had been able to give us.

My mom and I worked for almost an hour and a half
constructing an intricate balloon arch that lead to the backyard, setting out
food on the patio, and setting up an area in the backyard where Olivia’s
preschool classmates could run around and play. Bradley was due to arrive back
home half an hour before the party started. At fifteen minutes before the party
was supposed to start, he still hadn’t come home. I couldn’t wait any longer
and told Henry and Olivia that it was time to get changed into their party
clothes.

“Isn’t Bradley supposed to be coming back soon?” asked my
dad.

“Yes,” I said, staring at my phone. I willed it to ring.
Should I call? I’d called last night. I didn’t want to embarrass him in front
of his coworkers.

Dad waited to see if I was going to say anything else, but
when I didn’t he just offered to turn on the barbecue. “If Bradley’s not back
in time I can be in charge of grilling the burgers,” he offered.

“Oh, thank you, Dad,” I said, relieved. “I’m just going to-
I think I’m going to call him and see when he expects to be home. It would be
great if you could turn the grill on.”

With Dad outside turning on the grill and Mom upstairs
helping Olivia in to her party dress, I sat down at the kitchen table and
called my husband. It rang three times, and I had almost given up and figured
I’d be getting voicemail again when he picked up.

“Bradley! Where are you? Olivia’s party starts in fifteen
minutes. You’re supposed to be here already. My dad has already said he’ll take
over grilling if you can’t handle getting here on time.”

Bradley sounded annoyed and only mildly apologetic. “Look,
Julia, I’m sorry. There’s not a lot I can do about it. Car trouble. I might be
calling triple-A. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Goodbye.” And with that, he
hung up.

I laid my phone on the kitchen table and stared at it
silently. What was going on? Why had my husband spoken to me like that? Against
my will, tears filled my eyes. I couldn’t cry, not now, not right before my
daughter’s birthday party.

The back door opened. “Hello?”

I’d never been so happy to hear my best friend’s voice
before. “Megan!” I yelled. “In the kitchen!”

She came through the doorway, holding her platter of
brownies. She looked great- well rested and not at all hungover. Lucky girl.
When she saw me sitting at the table, she immediately set down her brownies and
came over to give me a hug. “Oh, girl,” she said. “What’s going on?”

I couldn’t bring myself to look her in the eyes, so I just
focused on my phone. “Bradley’s not going to be able to make it,” I said in as
neutral a tone of voice as I could manage. “He had some car trouble and he’s
going to miss the party. The start of it, at least. Livvie’s going to be
crushed.”

“Wait, what?” Megan sat down next to me. “He’s not
coming
?
Why isn’t he here
now
?”

“He had some golf thing this morning,” I said. “Some golf
meeting thing. He said he’d be back in time, half an hour before the party
started, but I guess he had car trouble. He’s going to try and make it back as
fast as he can,” I added, not quite sure why I was defending my husband.

“Huh,” said Megan. “Okay, we can do this, right?
Everything’s set up?”

“Yeah, my parents came over this morning and my mom helped
set up while my dad hung out with the kids,” I admitted. “I don’t need his help
for anything, just...you know. It’s Olivia’s birthday party. He should be here!
I’m going to have to explain to everybody who comes where he is.” I buried my
face in my hands.

“Jules, don’t even worry about it,” said Megan. “You go
upstairs and get changed. Then pour yourself a big glass of wine and go out to
the backyard with Olivia and show her the party setup. I will stand by the
front door and greet everyone and tell them Bradley will be joining us late.
Okay?”

I opened my mouth to protest, to say that I could do it-
that I could do everything, handle everything by myself like it seemed I always
did around the house these days- but Megan shook her head and pointed towards
the stairs. “Jules. Go change.”

So I did. “Thanks, Meg,” I said, but she shrugged and went
to take up her position at the door.

I’d never been so grateful to have such good friends. Maybe
we were in a different life stages right now, and even if she said she did, I
knew she didn’t fully understand why I couldn’t just get a babysitter. And go
hang out with the girls as much as I used to, but she was there for me when I
needed her to be. That was more than you could say for Bradley right now, at
least.

I showered quickly and blow dried my hair, put on a little
bit of makeup, and threw on a maxi dress and sandals before looking in the
mirror and deciding I looked presentable enough. I swung by Olivia’s bedroom to
pick her up and take her downstairs. She was in her party dress, with her
princess crown perched on top of her wild mane of curls. “Is my party ready,
Mommy?” she asked.

“It is,” I told her. “We’re going to go downstairs and see
it. Grandma and I worked hard to set everything up. Now, Livvie, Daddy’s not
here right now-“

The instant the words came out of my mouth, Olivia looked at
me and her face fell. I felt terrible. She had always been a bit of a daddy’s
girl, and she looked absolutely heartbroken. “Daddy not here, why not?”

I did my best to cover for Bradley, again. “Well, you know
he had to have a meeting with some men this morning. His car is having trouble
starting, so he’s calling someone to come and fix it. As soon as it’s fixed,
he’s going to hurry home to see you because he really doesn’t want to miss your
super cool birthday party.”

Thankfully, Olivia accepted my explanation without any fuss,
and we all went downstairs together. I covered her eyes as we stepped out the
back doors on to the patio, and when she opened her eyes and saw the backyard-
the balloon arch, the table covered in food, the chairs and tables set up for
guests to eat at, another table covered in party favors- her eyes lit up. “Oh,
Mommy, I love it!” she shrieked, and ran around in excited circles looking at
everything.

I sat down in a chair and watched her, worn out from the
busy morning I’d had. It was worth it. It had been a lot of work and stress and
I was still worried about Bradley making it home in time, but it was worth it.

Ashley and Becca showed up then- Ashley was wearing big
sunglasses and her voice sounded a little creaky for 11am, but I was happy to
see them anyway. “What’s this about Bradley ditching you?” she asked, ignoring
my hello.

“Ash!” exclaimed Becca. “Geez. You can’t just start in like
that. The party looks great, Julia,” she said to me. “The kids look like they
love it. I would’ve gone nuts for this when I was a kid. Didn’t our mothers
just take us to the bowling alley with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake or
something?”

“Yes, yes, food looks great, decorations are great, blah
blah blah,” said Ashley. “Now. Bradley. Where did he go? Why isn’t he here?
Megan just said he couldn’t make it.”

“He got stuck at a golf meeting thing this morning,” I said.
“Another branch was visiting and he had to go with them, or something. And then
he had car trouble. He’ll be here soon,” I added with as much confidence as I
could muster.

“That’s so weird. That’s not like him at all,” said Becca.
Like me, the girls had known him since high school. “He’s always been such a
family person.”

“He’s been working really hard lately,” I found myself
saying again. Why did I keep defending him when he hadn’t sounded upset about
missing Olivia’s party at all? “He’s been working really hard- we have the new
house, we’re supposed to take a vacation together this summer, that kind of
thing.”

“It takes pretty much zero effort to go to your daughter’s
birthday party, at your house, on the weekend,” said Ashley. “All he had to do
was walk outside.”

“He couldn’t get out of the work thing,” I repeated myself.
“Anyway. Let’s just forget about it and enjoy the party.”

Ashley seemed annoyed to have her gossiping thwarted, but I
just couldn’t bear to sit there and talk about why my husband wasn’t there. I eventually
got up and circulated around the party a bit talking to everyone, and at noon
people began to eat. I got a text from Bradley saying that he was headed home
and should be there soon.

How soon?
I typed.
Everyone is eating now. Cake
will be after people finish up eating. Liv will want to wait for you.

Half an hour I’d say
, he replied.