THE AFFAIR (44 page)
Authors: Dyanne Davis
“Chance asked you about me and Larry?”
“Yes, and that’s all I’m saying on that subject also.”
“Blaine, you know you’re not any help at all, don’t you?” I looked at him and glared, miffed that he might possibly have the information I sought and not give it to me.
“Okay, Michelle, what do you want me to say?”
“Tell me he’s going to give in eventually.”
“I’ll tell you that he loves you so much that he didn’t want to live without you.”
“Yeah, that I already know, except now it seems he’s finding a way to do that.” I flicked my hair behind my ears feeling a little annoyed with Blaine and with Larry.
“He tried to give me away. Did I tell you that?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe about a thousand times.”
I glanced at Blaine. “Are you getting sick of me?”
“I’m getting sick of your pissing around. You know the answers to your questions and you’re doing nothing to find them.”
I was a bit taken aback. It was the first time Blaine had ever spoken to me in that tone of voice.
“I’ve done everything I could think of,” I told him. “What else am I supposed to do?”
“If you don’t know, don’t ask me,” Blaine replied and turned his back on me.
“Keep your information, Blaine. I don’t need it. I’m going home. I have a key and I’m moving back in.” I stalked angrily toward the door.
Blaine’s voice stopped me. “I told you that you knew the answer.”
I stood for a long moment staring at him, blinking in total surprise. Of course. He was right. It was what I should have done weeks before. I gave Blaine a quick hug and hurried out to my car to go home.
I pulled into my drive, trepidation filling my heart. I’d not been home in almost two months. I took time to look around, knowing I was stalling for time. It was now or never
,
I thought as I got out and walked toward the door.
I spotted Larry’s car in the garage a second before I began to dig in my purse for the key to my home. I stuck it in and held my breath as I turned it.
I twisted the knob, nothing. I brought the key away and looked at it. Again I inserted it and this time I shoved at the door with quite a bit more force. Again nothing.
I must have tried my key a dozen times before a light went off in my befuddled brain. Larry had changed the locks. Maybe I’d made a mistake after all. Maybe he didn’t want me back.
I thought to turn and leave, but I’d come this far. I wasn’t leaving without seeing my husband. I rang the bell and waited.
Larry answered, a look of surprise on his handsome face. He smiled warmly at me. As he stared at me his smile grew even wider. I held out the key toward him, my body trembling in anticipation.
“My key didn’t work,” I said.
“I changed the locks.”
“I thought it was something like that,” I mumbled stupidly, “you know, that you changed the locks or something.” God, I sounded dumb.
“Come on in, Mick.”
“So why did you?” I pointed toward the door. “You know, why did you…?”
“I thought it was about time I made some changes in my own life. This time there are only two sets of keys to the locks.”
I looked at him biting my lips, not knowing how to handle this. I felt awkward, but there was warmth in Larry’s eyes and in his voice. He was glad to see me. I wasn’t mistaken about that.
“You know, Mick, I’m a slow study. It took me twenty-six years to hear you. I waited until it was too late, but finally I did. I want you to know that. I did hear you, Mick.”
“It’s not too late, Larry,” I whispered.
I looked at my husband, trying hard to remember the exact words I’d spoken to him when we first met. “Let’s start over,” I said as I walked closer to him.
I stopped inches from him and looked up at him. “Hi, my name’s Michelle. My God, you have the most beautiful eyes.”
Larry looked at me. Then his gaze fell to the floor before coming back to rest on my face. His eyes were filled with tears.
“Do you still love him?”
“Yes, I have no control over that. He’s a part of me. He’s a part of my past. But I love you too. And you’re the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Not because of any promise?” Larry said, his voice breaking.
“Not because of any promise,” I answered, my own voice breaking as well.
“Not because of your sense of commitment?” he almost whispered.
“Not because of my sense of commitment.”
I reached my hand out to touch his cheek, my heart bursting with love for my husband. This was right, this was meant to be.
Larry held my hand to his cheek. “Not because you pity me?”
“No, Larry, not because I pity you.”
“Why then, Mick?”
“Because I can’t imagine living the rest of my life without you in it.”
I watched as he closed his eyes and swallowed several times, seemingly having come to some conclusion.
“There will have to be some changes, Mick.”
“What kind of changes?” I asked.
“I want us to go to a sex therapist—” he started to say when I interrupted him. He was embarrassed as hell to say it and I didn’t want him to be.
“We don’t need…”
“We do,” he continued. “I want to learn how to please you. I want to rock your world and have you screaming out my name. I want us to reach the peak together. I don’t want you thinking of him when you’re with me. I want to know you’re not faking it.”
“Larry, I didn’t.”
I stopped when I saw the stubborn set to his jaw. He was mentally pulling away from me. So I stopped myself from the answer I was going to give and said instead, “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s not only what I want, it’s what we need,” he said with authority.
“What about everything else?” I asked, “Our past baggage?”
“I’ve already started going to counseling,” Larry answered.
“Larry, I’m sorry for everything that’s happened to us. I should have spoken up, said something. I’m as much to blame as you are.”
I felt my body begin to tremble, this time accompanied by the same tingle of excitement I’d felt in the hospital. These feelings were for my husband.
“Larry, I love you, I always have. I guess I forgot just how much for a while. Do you think you’ll be able to forgive me?”
I watched as he walked toward the mantle and reached for a set of shining new keys and handed them to me. They had a gold name plate that said,
Mick
.
“I’ve already forgiven you,” Larry answered one second before his lips closed over mine. I felt the beat of his heart against my own.
Regardless of what had happened in the past, that was not where I was, or where I belonged. I belonged here, now, in this time, with this man, in his arms. He was my destiny.
I thanked God as Larry twirled me around, both of us crying. It seemed we stood like that forever before Larry let go of me.
“One more thing.” He went across the room and flipped through a bunch of papers. “I got this for you,” he said with a smile.
“What is it?” I asked, holding out my hand for the rumpled paper.
When I looked down and saw Viola’s number and address, my eyes filled again with tears.
“I got that for you. I thought you needed it. Mick, I just want you to know, I didn’t cheat her.”
“I know you didn’t,” I said knowing in my heart that he hadn’t. I’d never thought that he had. I clutched the paper to me. “Thank you.”
“Can I ask you a favor now?” He smiled hesitantly at me. “I want to go with you to see Viola.”
“Larry,” I moaned, going once again into his arms. “Oh, Larry, thank you.”
“I’m sorry, Mick. I should have tried harder to listen to you. I should never have forced you to break a promise.”
“Its okay now, it’s in our past.” I glanced toward the stairs. “Let’s forget it for now.”
His eyes followed mine and I watched as his filled with raw longing, making my toes curls with desire.
“I think as much as I want you right now, that we need to excise all our ghosts first. Let’s visit Viola.”
“When?” I was looking at him, totally awe struck.
“How about now?” he replied.
I made the call and within a couple of minutes we were heading for Viola’s. Once there we walked hand in hand up the rickety stairs to ring Viola’s bell.
A feeling of absolute peace filled my spirit. For the first time in my life I was truly happy. This was indeed my destiny. I was home. And it was time for both Larry and me to live again.
Epilogue
Today is my twenty-seventh anniversary. I awake and my arm snakes over to the opposite side of the bed seeking my husband’s warmth. He’s not there.
That’s only one of the changes we’ve gone through in this past year. We no longer wake at the exact moment every day. Sometimes, but not every day. Perhaps this comes from the months of sleeping in separate beds alone.
I have the feeling I’m being watched. I open my eyes slowly and smile at Larry. He’s sitting in a colorful chair, the kind Hawaii is famous for.
We’re on vacation—just the two of us, on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. “Hi,” I say sleepily to Larry, watching him, his love for me evident in his eyes. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve been watching you sleep and thinking how much I love you.” He smiled. “I was also thinking how very lucky we are. For a while there, I doubted that we would make it.”
He moved toward me. I adjusted my body so he could lie beside me. He kissed me gently, and then with a sense of urgency, the kiss deepened. I tasted the pineapple he’d been eating.
That’s another thing we’ve changed. We’ve relaxed the rules on our sex life. We no longer have to brush our teeth or shower before we make love.
I also quit my job. I thought it was best to keep myself out of the path of temptation and our marriage didn’t need the extra strain. As for Jeremy and Dimitra, they know their time together will come again.
My relationship with the children is slowly changing. Larry and I have been to see Derrick twice for a couple of days. We also went to see Shannon, just to check out her living situation.
I relented and am now sending her boxes of food each month, no extra money, but I don’t want her to go hungry either.
Beth and Brigid call often and always speak with me for a couple of minutes before asking for their father. As for Erica, that’s going to take a bit longer.
Blaine has been spending a lot of time out of town on speaking engagements. He calls often and when he’s in town we see each other.
Larry has met with him twice. While I can’t say that he likes him, he doesn’t hate him, so that’s a start. I think the fact that they were both abandoned by their mothers and shuffled from foster home to foster home gave them each a better understanding of the other.
As for the counseling, we’re making tremendous progress. The sex therapist hasn’t hurt either. Now more times than not when Larry climbs the peaks, I’m right there along with him.
I feel Larry’s hand sliding beneath the flimsy gown I’m wearing. I turn to him trembling with want and need. I’m so amazed at what I almost lost. I bury myself in my husband’s love, determined not to ever forget the things I’ve learned this past year.
The Beginning
Here’s a sneak peek of the second book in
the Undying Love trilogy
,
The Gift
by Dyanne Davis
Coming 2011 from W.D. Publishing
Blaine sat on the jet, his eyes closed behind the dark glasses he wore so often now. It had taken him less than a week to survey the damage in his San Francisco apartment and start the rebuilding process. In the meantime he needed a place to live. So he was heading to his spacious suburban home forty minutes west of Chicago
Funny when he’d flown to San Francisco he’d had thoughts of staying. Problem was, even with a psychic, life didn’t always turn out as planned. For assurance he’d even drawn Tarot cards for himself. Too bad he hadn’t asked if he would be burned out of his west coast apartment.
