The Woman He Married (39 page)

“Out planning the derailment of conservative judicial candidates who, if elected, will trample the constitution and abolish our civil rights,” Gina said.

Brian snickered.

After sending a clearly strained smile to Bobbie, who’d been beaming proudly up at his father since he’d walked in, John leaned over to Josie and said, not so quietly, “What’s
he
doing here?”

Resentment replacing shock, Josie said, “The question is, ‘What are you doing here?’” She couldn’t believe that John had picked today, of all days, to finally show up. “Brian’s my boss, and we came over together after work.” Josie glared at John, who returned the sentiment. “He’s been helping Bobbie with his karate.”

“Really?
And how
long
 
has
that been going on?”

“That’s not a problem, is it,
John
?” Brian answered for Josie.

“Well, let me see. Since I’m his daddy, wouldn’t that be my job?”

“Maybe the question you should be asking yourself is, ‘Who’s better suited to
do
the job?’” Brian came back smugly.

John eyed Josie. “I see, and what else do you
assume
to be better suited at handling with regards to
my
family?”

“Well, I don’t know, let me think.” Brian leaned forward, turning to face John, and paused for a moment, pretending to reflect. “If I had Josie alone on a tropical island, she wouldn’t be sitting by herself in
our
 
hotel
room making calls to her ex-lover.”

“Is that a fact?” John’s eyes narrowed at Josie while blood stained his cheeks and neck red.

Brian continued. “Not to mention that I took Josie all over the world and never got a scratch on her. You took her on one vacation in over a decade, and she came back with broken ribs.”

Through clenched teeth, John hissed, “Maybe this is a discussion we should finish outside?”

Brian kept his voice low, yet belligerent.
“Fine by me!
I’ve been waiting eleven years to kick your ass!”

Josie felt like she was having an out-of-body experience watching John and Brian go after each other.

Dash jumped in, “Come on, Brian, John. Think about Bobbie. He wants both of y’all here. This should be about him, not—”

“Dash is right,” Josie choked out before turning to Brian with a
cut-it-out
look. “No one’s kicking anyone’s ass.”

Brian’s blazing eyes sent a shiver down Josie’s spin, but she didn’t back down—her only concern was for Bobbie. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave if you don’t back off.”

“
Me?
 
Why should I have to leave? He’s the one—”

“John is Bobbie’s father,” she said. “And like it or not, Bobbie is ecstatic that he finally decided to
show
up
, so I can’t ask
him
to leave. This is about Bobbie, not you, not John.”

Josie could see the tendons in Brian’s neck constrict as he shot her an irritated stare before crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair. Behind her, she could hear Gina stifling a laugh and thanked her lucky stars that
she
hadn’t joined the conversation. Then, for about fifteen seconds, everyone sat quietly until…

“For someone who’s been waiting eleven years to do something, you sure give up easy,” John said, refusing to let it go.

Josie felt Brian stiffen, and she turned to John with a warning. “This might be a good time for me to mention that Brian has a black belt in karate.”

Regarding the seriousness in Josie’s eyes, John abandoned his chiding and sat back quietly as Bobbie took the mat.

Thirty agonizing minutes later, Bobbie proudly donned his new blue belt, and while both men tried to pretend the other wasn’t there, posed for a picture with John, and then with Brian.

Once outside the studio, the night air swirled cool while the tension continued to boil.

“Well, I have to say this was the most ‘entertaining’ karate testing yet,” Gina said, giving Josie a quick squeeze before turning to leave. Right behind her, Dash looked apprehensive to leave before both Brian and John had driven away in one piece.

“Uh, huh,” Josie said with narrowed eyes for Gina. “See ya, Dash.”

At her side, Bobbie was pulling on her hand. “Can I ride home with Daddy? Can I? Can I?”

“Of course you can, son,” John said, keeping one eye on Brian who was leaning casually against Josie’s van—waiting. Turning to his wife, he asked, “Where are Jack and Beth?”

“At my momma’s.”

“Fine, I’ll pick them up, and then I’ll see
you
at home,” he said.

When they drove away, Josie turned to Brian who was now regarding her ambiguously. “What did he mean, ‘at home?
’”
Uncrossing his arms, Brian pushed up from the van and asked, “Is he living back in
y’all’s
house?”

“In the guest house.”
Josie shrugged, averting her gaze.

“So, all the time that you two have been ‘separated’…” Brian threw up his hands. “That little detail would have been good to know. If I had, I never would have—”

“Kissed me.”
Josie finished.

“I should have known that you’d never leave him.” Brian looked as if he had more to say but he swallowed it back, turning instead to leave.

“Come on, Brian, that’s not fair.” Josie stepped in front of him. “What was I supposed to do? The kids missed him, and he didn’t have a place to go.” She stopped when she realized how pathetic she sounded. Plus, it had been more than two weeks, and she hadn’t asked John to move back out. Only now was she wondering why.

“It’s always going to come back to the kids, isn’t it?” he said, shaking his head. “Like tonight when you took
his
 
side
.”

“He’s their father,” Josie replied, offended that Brian would imply she took John’s side for any reason other than what was best for
Bobbie.

“I don’t want to be the
other
man, Josie.” Brian’s eyes showed anger with a hint of disappointment. “I guess you best be
gettin
’ home to your husband,” he said, pushing past her and stalking off to his car.

And just like that, Josie was left standing, abandoned, on the sidewalk and confused as to how she managed to get herself into such un-fortuitous situations. Brian’s words left her feeling cheap and manipulative. After he drove away without looking back, she climbed into the van, shut the door, and leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Brian was pretty livid but he usually got over being angry with her fairly quickly.
Even so, is this what
I can expect from the rest of my life?
Caught between two men, raising children in two households, possibly with four parents?
What’ll happen when John starts bringing a woman around the children?
How could
I have neglected to consider the complications that would arise
after
becoming divorced? Is this the life
I wanted?
 
She sighed. Her shoulders and head started to ache.

Pushing those thoughts aside for now, first she had a few things she needed to get straight with John.

* * * *

Outside the kitchen door, Josie took another moment to compose
herself
. John’s jealous husband routine was unacceptable, and she refused to tolerate being ordered around like a child.

In the kitchen, John was pacing. The kids were nowhere to be seen. Immediately after Josie crossed the threshold, he started in, saying, “What are you doing bringing your
boyfriend
around
my
son? Bobbie has a daddy!”

“Brian is
not
my boyfriend!”
Is he?
 
“Maybe if you were around more, I wouldn’t have to ask someone else—”

“Well, maybe if my wife wasn’t drunk all the time, I
would
 
be
around more,” John spit back, before she could finish. When Josie’s jaw dropped open but no rebuttal came out, he continued. “Do you know how many times I’ve had to make excuses to friends and co-workers for you? How many times I have had to carry you to bed after coming home and finding you passed out somewhere?”

Josie tried to keep her voice low even though internally she wanted to scream. “Maybe if I had a husband that wanted me, I wouldn’t have needed to
drink
all the time.”

“Oh, I wanted you. I wanted you plenty,” John said, pointing a finger at Josie. “You were the one who put
me
off.
Who
never wanted to be
touched.
”

“Okay. First of all I wasn’t referring to sex, but since you brought it up.” Josie lowered her voice again. “I wanted you to, but was it too much to ask for you to spend just a few minutes talking to me first?”

“‘Talking?’ You mean, listening to you complain.”

What?
John’s the one who insisted that she stay home with the children; the least he could have done was listen when she needed to talk about it. “You try being surrounded by little hands all day. Always wanting something from you and then when you finally get them down, your husband comes home and all
he
wants is to paw you, too.” Crossing her arms defensively, Josie added, “Just a little adult conversation was all I needed.”

“Yeah well,
you
 
try
spending fourteen-hour days under the gun trying to prove yourself to clients and partners—to provide a good living for your family. Then, after a long day, coming home and listening to your wife complain about how hard her life is, like nothing I ever did was going to be good enough, would never make you happy.” He pointed a self-righteous finger at himself. “I worked my ass off to provide a decent life for you, a good home, security and what do you do? Turn into a drunk.”

He still didn’t get it. “Did you ever think that
all
this—this house, this lifestyle,” Josie motioned around the room, “is
not
what I wanted? I wanted you to
need
me.” Talking about how John cut her out of his life hurt, but she swallowed back her emotions and continued. “I wanted to be your partner, to be a part of you—part of your dreams.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’re my wife, the mother of my children—”

“Great, go ahead,” Josie said. “Discount my feelings the way you always have. At least you’re starting to act
normal
again.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately. All of a sudden you’re talkative, attentive, coming to the kids’ activities—calling me ‘babe.’”

“
Me?
What about you?” Shaking his head, John said, “Since the trip, you’ve become opinionated, sarcastic, and…
interesting
.” Then with wistful eyes he said, “A lot like the woman I married.”

“The woman you married?”
Oh, I don’t think so!
“The woman you married was the Judge’s daughter, and the only reason you married her was to further your career. Then, when you got everything you wanted, you proceeded to have an affair with the woman you
really
wanted to marry in the first place!”

“Is that what you think happened?” John asked, as if nothing could be further from the truth. “I may have had an affair, but it takes two to screw up a marriage, Jocelyn. I didn’t do this all by myself.”

“Oh yeah?
Well, no one held a gun to your head, forcing you to sleep with Trisha.”