Underestimated Too (43 page)

“Nothing really.”

“Talk to me, Morgan. Please.”

Great, now he thought I was upset over us. I wasn’t.
I was so in love with us and our little family. “Nothing is wrong. I promise.
I’m just feeling a little tired tonight, that’s all.”

“Okay, but I don’t know if I believe you,” Drew said
running his hand up my shirt and around my stomach.

“Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Standing, I pulled Drew up by his hands, kissed him
and led him to our room.

“Drew, stop. I’m on my period,” I had to say, moving
his hands from my ass.

“So, we don’t need that.”

“Can we just go to sleep tonight? Please,” I begged,
rolling away from him, snuggling up to his chest, not waiting for a reply.

“I don’t want you to take anymore pills when you’re
done.”

Nope. Not going there. “Night, Drew.”

***

I was a nervous wreck all morning. I needed to get
away from Drew. Where the hell was Celeste? Of all days for Drew to start work
later, it had to be that day. Any other day I would have loved it, just not
this day.

“I’m going to Alicia’s now,” I stated, rather than
asking.

Drew looked up from the puppy book he was reading to
Nicky, puzzled. “Aren’t you going to wait until I go to work? It’s not lunch
time. Why do you need to go now?”

“I don’t need to, Drew. I want to.” I should have
just waited. I hadn’t planned on this turning into a big argument.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Stop doing that, Morgan,” Drew warned, set Nicky on
the floor and came to me. “Let me see your phone.”

“Oh, my god, Drew. There’s nothing in my phone. I
just want to go hang out with Alicia.”

“Because you don’t like the company here? Give me
your phone.”

Slamming my phone to his hand, I glared at him.

“You need to stop.” Drew smirked. “What does this
mean? This last message. The eagle has landed? What is that?”

“I don’t know. It’s Alicia. She is probably trying
to tell me that Celeste is on her way over and I can come now.”

“Why couldn’t you go before Celeste left?”

“Because I have a ridiculous husband that tells me
what I can do. I would have left already if I was
allowed
,” I smartly
replied, forming quotation marks in the air.

“Should I take Nicholas? Marta asked, placing the
tray with two cups of coffee on the table. Nicky instantly saw them and went
after them. Marta scooped him up and blew raspberries on his belly, causing him
to giggle and squirm.

I said no. Drew said yes at the exact same time.
“I’m taking him with me,” I assured Drew. Marta didn’t wait for permission. She
could feel the tension. Anybody could have felt the tension, it was thick.

“You’re not taking Nicholas. I thought you were
going out to lunch. What are you really up to?”

“I am taking Nicholas, we are going to hang around
the pool for a while, and then Jackie is going to keep the kids while we go
have lunch.”

“No, she’s not. Nicholas can stay right here with me
and Marta, and you can leave when I tell you, you can leave.”

“Great, Drew. That’s just great. This is it, isn’t
it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this is my life. You’re always going to be a
controlling idiot, and I just wasted a ton of MY money on Deidra. You’re never
going to change, and you know what, Drew? I’m not sure I want to stick around
and wait for it not to happen. I’m tired of hoping for an outcome that is so
obviously doomed to fail.”

“What does that even mean, Morgan? You’re planning
on leaving me? Because I assure you if that is what you’re saying, you’re sadly
mistaken. And if you insist on that, you will never see your child again. You
got that, Morgan? You will never see Nicholas again. You’re not going
anywhere,” Drew vehemently spoke right in my face.

I didn’t even think. It just happened. “Fuck you,” I
spit. Literally. I spit right in his eye and then grabbed my own eye when the
back of his hand came in contact. I might have deserved that one a little.

“Morgan, I’m sorry,” Drew instantly responded,
pulling me to him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. Go to Alicia’s
for a while. I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t sure I could go to Alicia’s anymore. Not
because of my eye, that didn’t hurt. Something else happened. I’m not sure what
it was. I just felt something when Drew hit me, something abnormal. I’m not
sure what it was but something just didn’t feel right. I brushed past Drew,
grabbed my purse, and tried to keep my eyes focused. The room was a blur and I
probably shouldn’t have driven.

Sitting in the car, I looked in the mirror at the
puffiness already forming. Shit. Alicia was going to give me her lecture about
it, we’d end up arguing, and I would tell her to mind her own business. What
the hell was going on? Why was my vision suddenly blurry?

I was okay after a few minutes and drove the short
drive over to Alicia’s. Waving at Celeste as we crossed paths, I pulled into
the circled drive. I should call Drew. He was probably beside himself. No. No.
I wasn’t calling Drew. This was his fault. All I did was tell him I wanted to
leave. Well, that spit in his face. Okay, it was a little bit my fault.

“Hey, I can’t stay. Do you have it?” I asked, looking
down at the new tiled floor in the foyer—not because of my new shiner. It was
more; I was trying to keep my balance from the blurred room again. I should
call Dr. Tharp. Something didn’t feel right.

“What do you mean? I thought we were doing lunch?
Where are you going?”

“I’m just not very hungry.”

“Morgan?
What the hell? Drew hit you again, didn’t he?” Alicia asked, lifting my chin.
Whoa, that was a quick movement. I needed to sit down.

“Don’t, Alicia. Do you have it or not? I’m in a
hurry.”

“Hurry for what? What the hell’s going on, Morgan?”

“Nothing. We had a fight. I just want what you
have.”

“Are you okay? You look funny?”

“Funny? You mean because I have a blossoming black
eye? Give me the damned box or whatever it is. It’s none of your business.”

“Yeah, okay, Morgan. You’re right. It’s none of my
business,” Alicia reluctantly agreed, turning away from me. I sat on the bench
beside the door. I had to, something wasn’t right.

Looking up, I stood, took the brown taped up
envelope, and smiled. “I’m sorry, I’ll call you later,” I apologetically said.

“I’m worried about you. Open it here.”

“No, I’m fine. I promise. I’ll call you later.”

I took my prize, turned on my heels, and got the
hell out of there. Sitting in my car, I looked over to the envelope. What was
it? I didn’t find out right away. I wanted to get out of there, go somewhere
alone. Where was that? Where could I go that I could see what I’d anticipated
seeing for months? I couldn’t go where there were people. What if it was
something that was going to cause a reaction?

I drove the way Drew wouldn’t want me to go, feeling
nauseated. I wasn’t sure if I was feeling sick because something was wrong or
if it was nerves. Hoping it was just nerves I shook it off, focusing on the two
yellow lines running down the middle of the road while I rubbed the sharp pain
in the side of my head with the tips of my fingers. I was going to call Dr.
Tharp as soon as I laid this to rest.

I didn’t drive far when the curiosity got the better
of me, that and I was having a little bit of double vision. I needed to pull
over. I parked in a parking lot of some factory. Employees sat around picnic
tables, smoking cigarettes and eating lunch.

I knew, feeling around the envelope that there was
another key. Great. If I had to do this again, I’d surely lose my mind. Pulling
off the copious amount of tape, I wondered why so much. It wasn’t like someone
couldn’t just tear the paper. I blinked trying to clear the focus in my eyes. I
blinked again trying to rid the dots and blurriness. I carefully opened the
trifold letter with a
Desert Springs Hospital
header. That was strange.
Why would Drew get a bank security box for that? What was it?

Unfolding the sticky note wrapped around the key, I
read it first:
Downtown store, safe in utility closet.

What did that mean? There was something else at the
store downtown? Why wouldn’t he just put it at the bank with this hospital
letter?

I screamed, jumping clear out of my skin when someone
tapped on my window.

“You can’t park here. We have trucks coming in,” the
burley looking man explained.

I started my car and nodded, letting him know that I
was leaving.

Hell, I’d already come this far, I may as well go to
the strip store and finish it. Drew was probably going to kill me anyway.

I jumped clear out of my seat again when my phone
rang. I didn’t answer Drew. I couldn’t. I would lose my nerve if I did.
Instead, I turned my phone off, not wanting him to be able to track me, pulled
out, and headed to the jewelry store on the strip.

“Hello, Mrs. Kelley. What brings you in today?” one
of the well-dressed men asked when I entered. My head hurt and I fought hard to
feign a happy smile. It wasn’t a normal headache. The pain was more of a
burning sensation right behind my eye.

“Hello, Norman. How are you?” I smiled. He bowed,
returning the smile as I made my way back to the office, feigning smiles as I
passed the staff in their extravagant work attire.

“Mrs. Kelley, pleasure to see you.” Johnathan stood
from behind the desk.

“Hello, Johnathan. Do you have the key to the closet
here? I just need to pick something up for Drew.”

“Um, Drew didn’t call. What is it?”

“I’m not sure that is your business. No. I know that
it’s not.”

“I should call Drew.”

“You should give me the key. You technically work
for me, not my husband. If you’d like to continue your employment with Callaway
Jewels, you should probably do as I say,” I threatened.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded and handed me the key from
the top drawer, leaving me alone.

Closing the door, I blinked again. I’m not sure why
I kept doing that. It was doing nothing to help my vision. Opening the door to
the supply closet, I looked around, spotting the safe in the back of the
closest. I inserted the key, gratefully it opened. A small size box with an
envelope was all that was there. I retrieved the items and thanked Johnathon on
my way out.

I didn’t even remember driving to the cemetery. I
sat, parked in the center of the cemetery, trying to recall the direction to
Michael’s gravesite. My head was on fire, my vision was blurred, and now I felt
like my balance was off. “What the hell am I doing?” I asked myself, walking in
the direction I thought was right.

I sat between Michael and Drew’s mother, more out of
need than anything. I was going to fall if I didn’t sit down.

I opened the legal envelope first. A handwritten
letter? This wasn’t Drew’s writing. If this was some love sick letter from
Skyler, I may end up in prison for murder.

Andrew,

            Know that I love you, son. I
know that when a mother has a child her goal in life is to nurture, protect,
and care for that child. I didn’t do that with you. I’m not sure that I ever
knew how, Andrew.

“Oh, my god. This is a letter to Drew from his
mother,” I said out loud, blinking again. I shouldn’t be reading this. This was
personal.

I know that you think I left this world
because I couldn’t live without Michael. That wasn’t the case. I did love Michael
in my own way, I guess, but it was all for you. I’m sick, Drew. I’ve been sick
for a very long time. I don’t want you spending your life, taking care of a
mentally ill mother. You deserve better. I knew Michael would leave you
everything. You deserve everything. There is something else that I need for you
to know about me, something that shames me too much to live with for one more
day.

I knew, Andrew, I knew. What kind of
mother does that make me? It makes me the kind of mother that doesn’t deserve
to breathe. I should have done something. I should have run away with you.. I
knew what he was forcing you to do, Andrew. I knew, and I didn’t stop it. Why
didn’t I stop it? I have no excuse for that. I let Michael brainwash me. The
first time I found the photos, Michael laughed and told me he was teaching you
how to be a man, and do what needed to be done to get what you wanted.

I didn’t understand that. He was hurting
you. I saw it with my own eyes. I believed him when he told me that you liked
it, and that he would never hurt you. He told me that he was teaching you
everything you needed to know to takeover once the time came. I knew it was
wrong, Andrew. I knew it and I let it happen. You were just a small boy, and
the hollow look in your eyes in the photos that I saw, I knew it was wrong and
should have been enough to die for you. I’m dying for you now son. I’m dying
because I want you to live. I’m dying because you deserve that. Michael is
dying because you deserve to live.