Sharp Edges (5 page)

I reached into the freezer and grabbed the frozen ones. “Here, thirty
-five seconds in the microwave per pancake. You know where the butter and syrup are.” Then I grabbed my keys and purse and left the kitchen.

Trying to remain calm,
I opened up the garage door and glanced outside. It wasn’t quite ten o’clock and the humidity was back. It certainly didn’t help the hysteria that was building inside of me, either. I was a nervous wreck as irrational thoughts started crowding my brain.

Is he cheating?

Would he honestly do that?

I knew one thing, I felt his love. Sure, we hadn’t been able to spend a lot of time together
, lately, because of his job…

Oh, my God
– maybe it wasn’t his job keeping him away?!

Choking back a sob, I shoved
my keys into the ignition and pulled out of the garage. It was then that I noticed Jake. He was in his yard, bent over the lawnmower, presumably ours, and washing it off with the hose. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his tan, sinewy body glistened in the sun. He noticed me backing out of the driveway and stood up.

“Hey!” he waved and
then began jogging over towards me while I tried to compose myself

Crap.

“Are you okay?” he asked a few seconds later, standing outside of my window.

I forced a smile. “
I’m fine.”

He stared at my face.
“You looked like you were panicking there for a second. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay. Prying is a habit of being a cop. I guess.”

I
should have been a cop.

“It’s okay
,” I answered, not meeting his eyes. “Look, I have some errands to run…”

“I understand. I was just going to ask if it would be okay if I took your law
nmower blade in to the hardware store to get it sharpened. I’ll pay for it, of course. It’s getting pretty dull.”

I turned back to him and forced a
nother smile. “I’m sure Scott will appreciate it. I’ll let him know.”

“
Lindsey, are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, frowning.

No, I’m not sure.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I answered, trying not to break under his obvious scrutiny.

He nodded and then stood back. “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” I answered and then backed away as he continued to watch me. It was obvious I hadn’t fooled him, even though we hardly knew each other. I had a horrible poker face and even my children could tell when I was bluffing.

Scott, on the other hand, was
a great negotiator and salesman – qualities that could also make someone a skilled liar, if they were bent on being deceitful. I’d never doubted his honesty in the past, but after the last twenty-four hours, I was beginning to wonder if I was just a gullible wife. I could only hope I was just being a paranoid one.

“I’m probably being stupid,” I stated out loud,
now speeding towards downtown. “And both of us will laugh about this tonight when we’re toasting our anniversary.”

I could only hope
.

Driving a few
miles over the speed limit, I made it to Scott’s office building in less than fifteen minutes, and luckily, without a ticket. The security guard, recognizing who I was when I walked through the glass doors, greeted me with a warm smile.

“Hello
, Mrs. Shepard.”

I smiled.
“Hi, Harry. Is Scott upstairs?”

He nodded. “I believe he is. Would you like me to let him know you’re coming up?”

I shook my head, vehemently. “It’s a surprise,” I said. “It’s our anniversary and I wanted to give him his gift early.”

Great, now I was the one lying.

His eyes crinkled with amusement. “Oh, well happy anniversary.”

“Thanks,”
I answered, feeling rather deceitful myself.

As I stepped
onto the elevator, my heart was pounding and my hands were shaking. I was terrified of what I’d find and almost talked myself out of it. When I finally made it to Scott’s floor, I stepped off the elevator and walked slowly towards the entrance leading to his advertising agency. Gathering the courage to move forward, I took a deep breath and went in search of my husband.

The main door
to his corporation was unlocked and most of the lights were off, save for the hallway leading towards Scott’s office. As I moved hesitantly towards it, I heard a woman’s behind me.

“Can I help you?”

I turned around to find an attractive blonde stepping towards me carrying a bottle of champagne. She wore an expensively tailored navy-blue suit, which hugged her perfect body, and heels that showed off slender legs. I could feel the blood rushing to my ears. “I’m here to see my husband,” I said in a tight voice.

Her eyes eyebrows shot up
. “Scott Shepard?”

I nodded.

She smiled, but there was nothing warm about it. “Well, Scott’s in his office. Why don’t you go on in and surprise him?”

I
nodded, pushed the door open and took a step inside.

“What took you so long?”
murmured my husband, who was apparently too enthralled in what was happening in his lap to notice me. “Get over here and join the party.”

“What?”
I gasped in shock as my brain tried to register what was happening right before my eyes. Scott, loving husband and devoted father, was sprawled out on a black leather sofa, naked from the waist down, while another woman was bent over him, her mouth wrapped around his very delighted penis.

He turned around and his face crumbled
right before my eyes. “Shit!” he choked, pushing the other woman away from him. “Wait! Lindsey, this isn’t what you think!”

I backed away in horror
. “Oh, God…Scott? How could you? How could you do this?!”

He picked up his pants and began pulling them on. “
Wait! Lindsey, don’t leave, please. I…I can explain!”

“No!
” I yelled, moving past the blonde who looked nothing less than amused.

“Lindsey!” hollered Scott
.

I ignored the elevator and scurried down the stairs to the park
ing ramp. By the time I made it to my SUV, I was sobbing so hard, I couldn’t even see straight. I got in, covered my face and bawled in misery.

How
in the hell could he do this to our family?

Memories
flashed through my mind, ones I’d once cherished but now only felt like painful lies. The first time we’d met, the love in his eyes on our wedding day, and the way he’d wept holding our children for the very first time. He’d been everything to me, my very own prince charming; the man of my dreams.

Bastard!

I slammed the side of my fist against the passenger seat several times, wanting to lash out at something, wishing it was his face. Then my cell phone began to ring, startling me back to reality. I grabbed it, knowing before I checked the caller I.D. that it was him. Swearing, I ignored his call and dialed Darcy instead.

“Happy
anniversary,” she sang into the phone.

“Darcy!” I choked.

She paused. “Lindsey?”

“I need…Scott…he…o
h, my God!” I wailed, losing it all over again.

“What happened? A
re you okay?”

“Scott…
he…”  I could barely talk, I was sobbing so hard.

“Honey,
” she interrupted, her voice cracking. “Where are you?”

“D
owntown.”

“Okay,
okay, calm down and tell me what happened.”

I took a deep breath. “Scott…
I caught him cheating on me today, just a few seconds ago.”

She groaned. “
Oh, sweetie, I’m so… sorry. That fucking asshole! It’s your
anniversary
for God’s sake!”

I wiped my face
with the back of my hand. “I know.”

“Lindsey, can you drive? Do you want me to come and get you?”

I shook my head. “No,” I said. “That’s okay. Can…can I come over?”

“Yes,
of course. Come over, honey.”

“
Okay,” I sniffed, trying to calm myself down enough to drive. “I’m on my way.”

“Be careful on the road
. Just remember, I’m here for you. Lindsey, everything’s going to be all right. Remember that, sweetie, okay?”

“Mm hm
m,” I answered, although not really believing it as I hung up the phone. It certainly didn’t feel like everything was going to be “okay.” All I felt at the moment was pain and insufferable misery.

I jumped
in my seat as the ringing of my phone broke the silence.

Scott
.

I ignor
ed the fucker and started the engine.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” mumbled Darcy, holding my hand as I broke down and told her everything, starting from what I’d seen yesterday.

I shook my head and grabbed a tissue from her coffee table. “No. A woman was giving him head and they were obvi
ously waiting on the other one to join them.”

“This is crazy. You have
to talk to him. Do you want me to be there with you when you confront him?”

I shook my head
, vehemently. “No, I don’t want to even talk to that bastard right now! I don’t want any explanations or excuses. I just want
him
as far away from
me
as possible.”

She sighed.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen the way you want it to. I’ll follow you home so you don’t have to face Scott by yourself. My mom has Max and I think it would be a good if you weren’t alone, especially tonight. In fact, you can either stay here or I’ll stay with you at your house.”

I nodded. “Thanks. I don’t know what to do, Darce,” I said as I wiped my face. “What do I tell my kids?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t say anything just yet. Why don’t you see if they can stay with friends tonight or have Scott’s parents keep them overnight?”

I closed my eyes
and groaned. “Crap, I forgot about the party. Just like he apparently forgot he was married. Oh, hell…”

“Well, o
bviously this party needs to be canceled.”

I nodded and blew my nose
with another tissue.

She stared out of the window, a pensive look on her face.
“When the kids are gone, you should change the locks and pack his shit up. That’s what I would do.”

I put my head in my hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve loved him for so long. How could he do this to me?”

She turned back to me and smiled bitterly. “People do crazy things. Seriously, I’ve known Scott as long as you have and I’d have never guessed he’d do something like this, especially with
two
women? Maybe he has a sex addiction or something.”

“
Maybe, but it certainly hasn’t benefited me if that’s the case.”

She sighed.
“Well, beyond all that, I’m sure he’s waiting at home for you right now.”

I n
odded. “I just don’t know how I’m going to face him. I keep picturing that… that… slut going down on him and it’s like a knife twisting in my gut.”

“Well, you
know, you
have
to talk to him. You can’t ignore this kind of thing. It has to be addressed.”

“I know.”

An hour later, Darcy followed me home. Fortunately, my bitterness and tears were now replaced by rage, which gave me the courage to face him.  By the time I arrived back at the house, I was so livid I wanted to slash the tires on his Saab, which was now parked in the driveway.

“Ready
?” asked Darcy, squeezing my shoulder.

“Yes, I guess so,
” I said, although I could barely breathe.

She followed me to the porch and b
efore I could get my key into the door, it swung open from the inside.

“Lindsey,
thank God,” said Scott, reaching for me.

I shot him an evil look as I
brushed his hands away and stepped around him.

He sighed and mumbled
, “Well, hello Darcy.”

“Scott,” she replied in a frigid tone.

He closed the door. “Lindsey, please, we obviously need to talk about things. Alone.”

I stared at the man I’d been married to for fifteen years
and it was as if I was looking at a stranger. Everything I’d been so sure about yesterday morning was now gone.

“
Actually,” I said, feeling disgusted now that I was face to face with him. “I can’t talk about this right now,” I said, in a shrill voice. “I want you to pack your stuff and just get the hell out.”