Tethered (64 page)

I smiled at her. It was a genuine smile, but I still resented her.

“No, it’s not a problem,” I said.

“Mrs. Scrooge McDuck over here,” Emmet said with a grin as he tossed Rosa’s outerwear onto the couch.

“What?” I asked with a serious expression. “Doesn’t everyone have a room full of gold to swim in?”

Emmet chuckled, which made me smile, and said “I’m sure you have enough money by now to buy a small country.”

“How do you know I didn’t?” I laughed.

“Do all of your residents have to abide by the no white after Labor Day rule? Do you literally have Fashion Police?”

“The Labor Day thing is just a myth,” I said with an air of superiority. “And if any of my deputies were here, they’d arrest you for that garish sweater you’re wearing.”

“I…bought him this sweater,” Casey cut in softly. I had forgotten she was even standing there, and now that I looked at her, she looked like she knew that we had forgotten she was standing there.

“Oh,” I said and looked at her apologetically. “I want to lie to you and tell you I didn’t mean it but…” I shrugged helplessly.

“Miss Fashionista would explode into a million shreds of polyester before she’d lie to someone about their fashion mistakes,” Emmet said to Casey without taking his eyes off of me.

“Really, Emmet,” I said with a huff. “Polyester?”

We both laughed and I loved how it felt to laugh with Emmet again. We had some laughs the day before, but this time it felt more…free and real. Whatever pieces of our binding that was frayed had begun to mend. They always did, and always would.

“Well, I can’t compete with a supermodel,” Casey said with a tight smile as she crossed her arms across her chest. I felt like she was saying more than what she was actually saying, like I had to read between the lines to understand her meaning.

“I can’t compete with a wife,” I smiled tightly, too. “So, buy all of the sweaters you want. Excuse me, I’m going to go check on Emmy.”

I leaned in and kissed Rosa’s cheek and hurried from the room.

*~*~*

“This spa visit is going to cost more than I make in a year,” Mayson said as we checked our coats in the foyer of the spa.

She tapped a boot on the marble floor and spun in a small circle taking in the high ceilings, the beautiful art and the tropical looking plants that helped bring ambiance to the place.

“Depends on which job you’re talking about,” I said as I handed over my coat. “The one at Sterling Corp or your night job on the street corners of Camden?”

“Oh, you would know all about that, because I service your husband every night, sweetheart,” she retorted.

“That explains the crabs.”

“You two are disturbing,” Emmy said, even as she shook her head and laughed.

“Come on preggo, let’s get those eyebrows tweezed,” I said with my hand on her shoulder.

Her mouth flew open and her fingers flew to her brows. Before she could say anything, Casey cried out “Oh my god!” Her claw closed around my forearm and she held my hand to her face.

“Where did you get this?” she asked in a high voice and there was no doubt her tone was rather accusatory. “I’ve seen this bracelet before,” she added sharply before meeting my eyes. Her eyes were full of questions and accusations.

“Probably,” Emmy said, eyeing Casey with one eyebrow up. “She’s had it since she was what…seventeen? Eighteen?” Emmy asked me.

“Sixteen,” I answered quickly and swallowed and tried to pull out of her grasp, but Casey held tight. Her eyes narrowed.

“I saw this,” she said slowly, but forcefully. “But not on your arm, not on anyone’s arm.”

“Casey,” I said her name quietly. “If you don’t let go of my arm…” I trailed off, but my tone and my death stare was enough to make her release me and murmur an apology.

“Emmet gave Donya and me almost the same bracelet when we were kids,” Emmy said to Casey. “I lost mine, but Donya has always had hers. You probably saw it in pictures or something.”

I could tell by her expression that she didn’t quite believe that, but she nodded anyway. “Yeah, I guess so,” she said. “Sorry, Donya.”

“No problem,” I said, forcing a smile. “You just really need a good day at the spa. I’ll make sure you get the full package.”

She forced a smile, too, and the rest of the girls that had watched the whole thing moved on. Casey followed after them, leaving me and Emmy to bring up the rear. Emmy looked at me with her mouth in a flat line and her eyebrow raised slightly.

“What?” I whispered to her, irritated by her look.

“I haven’t seen that bracelet on your wrist in a few years,” she whispered back. “What the hell was that about?”

I looked away from her and said nothing.

Soon we were all wrapped in fluffy towels and wearing comfortable slippers. The other girls went to go sit in a steam room while Emmy and I sat down so that some hunky guy could rub her feet. She couldn’t go into the steam rooms or hot tub or get a traditional massage, but fortunately the place I chose catered to pregnant women, and this was one of those perks.

“Spill it,” Emmy said after her massage therapist found a rhythm she enjoyed.

“Spill what?” I asked dumbly.

“Where did the bracelet disappear to in the first place and why are you wearing it now?”

I could have given her some bullshit response, but that wouldn’t have been fair. We had been hiding enough secrets from each other over the years.

“The year before Jerry and I got married I took him to Louisiana to meet the parents. I didn’t know Emmet was going to be there. Long story short, when Fred took Jerry out for some night fishing, Emmet started this huge fight with me and after he took off I put the bracelet in an envelope and mailed it to him.”

Emmy’s mouth was hanging open. “But…you and Emmet hadn’t been together in a long time when you met Jerry. Right? Or is there a whole chunk of shit you failed to tell me again?”

“Don’t do that,” I said, sighing.

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t try to make me feel guilty for not telling you every nuance of my life. Some things are just private and between me and Emmet, just like there are some things that are private and only meant to be between you and Luke.”

“There are no private things between you and Jerry?” she asked dryly.

“There’s plenty,” I snorted.

“Okay, I want to know about the bracelet. I’m not absolving you from the rest of it, but I want to know about the bracelet.”

“This morning one of the girls from the front desk at my hotel brought me a little manila envelope that was left there for me. When I opened it up, it was the bracelet.”

Emmy’s eyes narrowed. “You’re leaving a lot of shit out,” she snapped. “What happened to make him give that back to you today of all days?” She gasped. “Did you guys do something while you were out yesterday?”

“No we didn’t ‘do something’,” I said, irritated. After a sigh, I recounted what happened in the car, the bakery, and reluctantly, I told her what happened after Rosa went to sleep in my hotel room.

“Oh my god,” Emmy said in a whisper, and then snapped “But you’re still not telling me shit!”

“Someday, eventually, I will tell you everything. I just don’t want that day to be today.”

Emmy sighed and relaxed a little in her seat. “Fine, okay. So, do you think Casey saw the bracelet in Emmet’s possessions?”

“Probably,” I admitted. “And now she’s freaking out because she knows it wasn’t meant for her.”

“It’s like that part in
Love Actually
when Alan Rickman bought the bracelet for the slutty office chick and Emma Thompson’s character thought it was for her but then she never got it.”

“Umm, yeah, kinda,” I answered slowly.

“Can you imagine how she feels?”

“Emma Thompson?”

“No, asshole. Casey. She’s probably seen it over and over again and maybe she expected him to add more charms or something before giving it to her and then one day she finds it on
your
arm, the ex-fiancé.”

“I don’t think she knows that we were once engaged.”

“Oh, she knows,” Emmy nodded. “She’s mentioned it to me before. Why wouldn’t she know? She’s his wife and it’s not like you’re some random girl. You’re family. She was bound to find out. You really didn’t think she knew?”

I mutely shook my head.

“She’s not stupid you know,” Emmy said and looked at me as if I was the stupid one. “I don’t know what is happening between you and Emmet. For that matter, I don’t even know what is happening between you and your husband these days either, but whatever it is, keep the drama away from my wedding day or I will cut you.”

Her expression softened and she reached for me. I put my hand in hers and suddenly felt like I was going to bawl.

“Don’t go down that road, Donya,” Emmy whispered, shaking her head softly as her eyes burned imploringly into mine. “Take it from me. You do not want to go there. It will tear everyone around you apart. Do whatever you have to do to end this before it can really get started.”

I shook my head as I blinked back tears. “But we didn’t…”

“Cheating isn’t always physical, D. An affair of the heart is so much worse than a physical one. When you’re ready to talk about what’s going on between you and Jerry, I will listen, but in the meantime, you need to let Emmet go.”

Casey and Mayson stepped into the room and the conversation halted, but Emmy gave my hand a squeeze and gave me an encouraging, yet sympathetic smile. I excused myself, found the restroom and locked myself inside to cry.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Emmy’s and Luke’s wedding was incredible. My own wedding was much larger and grander, but their quaint wedding was more personable and their vows were built on the purest, real love while mine was built on false pretenses. There was no comparison – Emmy had the better wedding.

After the bride and groom were announced at the reception and were seated at their table at the front of the room, I went to find my own seat and cursed when I realized the seating arrangements. Jerry, Rosa and I were at a table with Mayson and her mom, Tabitha and Emmet, Casey, and Owen. The only open seat was between Jerry and Owen. At least it was Owen and not his father, who I had been actively avoiding since I left the spa the night before. When I had picked up Rosa, I kept conversation to a minimum and averted my eyes. I knew that he knew that I was pulling away from him, but with Casey right there, he didn’t challenge it. It was easier to avoid him while getting myself and Emmy ready to get married, but sitting two seats away from him at the reception was going to be harder to accomplish.

The second my ass hit the chair, Jerry passed Rosa to me. I was so accustomed to the handoff that I didn’t think anything of it until I felt Emmet watching us. I dared a quick glance and found him looking at me and Jerry with his brow furrowed. Then he looked at Rosa and his expression softened some before he turned his attention to Mayson after she asked him a question. I sat quietly looking around the room while Jerry sat quietly on his phone.

Soon dinner was being served, but I pushed my plate away so I could feed Rosa first. She liked to feel included and eat when everyone else was eating or she squealed like a banshee, but since there were no high chairs, I had to hold her and feed her. Again I felt Emmet watching me on occasion, but I avoided meeting his gaze. I chatted with Owen while I fed Rosa and jumped into Mayson and Tabitha’s conversations from time to time. Even after I finished feeding Rosa, I didn’t eat, because I would spend more time taking food out of her little grabby hands. Jerry was now chatting with a couple of Luke’s friends at another table, talking about the upcoming baseball season. When he finished with his dinner, he told me he was going up to the bar, and together him and the men went to the bar.

Emmet suddenly stood up and walked around Owen. Without a word, he took Rosa from my arms. His expression was dark.

“Eat your dinner,” he said quietly. He found a smile for his son and reached out his hand. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go look at the fishies.”

Before taking the kids to the large aquarium at the back of the room, Emmet cast me a brief look that was heavy with his past words.
He’ll never give up anything for you.

I pulled my plate closer, picked up my fork, but only pushed the food around on my plate.

“Where is your bracelet?” Casey leaned toward me and asked quietly while the other women were deep into a conversation that had them laughing loudly.

I looked at my naked wrist. “It just didn’t seem like a good idea to wear it,” I answered honestly. I grabbed my purse and pushed away from the table. “Excuse me.”

I went outside and joined a couple of other guests in the front of the building for an after dinner smoke. I was smoking more and more since I had Rosa. At home, the moment she went down for a nap, I would grab a cigarette and stand at a window in the kitchen and light one up. At night after she was in bed, I would take the baby monitor out onto the back deck with me and smoke and drink a whole bottle of wine.

When I went back inside, Emmy and Luke were just making their way to the floor for their wedding dance. I scanned the room in search of my daughter and was relieved to see Fred had her and not Emmet. I stood between Fred Jr. and Charlotte at the edge of the dance floor and watched the couple dancing as close as Emmy’s pregnant belly allowed them to get. She looked more at peace with herself and the world than I have ever seen, and anyone looking at the way Luke was looking at his new wife could see that the man was deeply in love. Had I looked that way when I married Jerry? Did I look at Jerry as if he was my one and only and I would need no one else ever again? Did he look at me as if he would happily drown inside of me?

The song ended and I clapped obligingly. When Freddy asked me to dance, I almost said no. I wanted to go sit in a corner somewhere and think about my life, what was wrong with it and how to fix it, but this wasn’t the time or place. This was my best friend’s wedding day and she deserved every bit of happiness I could conjure and share with her.

“Sure, big brother,” I said to Freddy and gave him my hand.