When the Heart Falls

When the Heart Falls

Kimberly Lewis

All Rights Reserved © 2012 by Kimberly Lewis

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Cover Design © 2011 by Kimberly Lewis

Edited by: Jennifer Pitoniak

ISBN-13: 978-0-9852752-0-4

For Drew,

with all my love,

forever and always
.

CHAPTER
1

Tears welled in her eyes as she realized that life as she knew it was over. Automatically her mind went into a whirlwind of thoughts.
How could he do this? What was he thinking?
And
what did I do wrong?
Moments ago Misty Prescott watched as her husband of ten years tenderly embraced another woman and pulled her in for a kiss; a kiss that undeniably made it clear that this woman was his lover.

Sadness overwhelmed her as she watched. He hadn’t shown that much affection to her in nearly a year. She missed the days when he would stare into her eyes and she knew that he loved her. This woman was beautiful; yes she had to admit it. But would her husband really throw away ten years of marriage for blonde hair, creamy skin and a perfect body?

She looked over in the passenger seat at the lunch she decided to surprise him with because he had been so busy at work lately. No time for small talk on the phone, business meetings, and late nights at the office. Now looking back, her sadness was replaced with anger and embarrassment. How could she have been so naïve to not realize what was going on? Yes they were having their share of marital issues, but don’t all couples go through that phase? She looked at the ring on her left hand and a tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped her eyes, put the car in drive, and headed home.

Misty pulled in the driveway and parked her car under the shade of the big oak tree. She rested her head against the steering wheel for a brief moment. With a sigh, she lifted her head and stared out the windshield towards the house. Her eyes wandered over the features of the home from the pale red shade of the brick, to the arched windows, to the white picket fence surrounding the large back yard. She had once considered this her dream home and had hoped that she would one day watch her children play in that yard. But that dream was long gone now.

Misty walked up the flower lined concrete path to the front door and let herself in. The door slammed shut behind her and she took a deep breath. Looking around her, all she saw were pictures of her and Brad in their happy days from wedding photos, to parties and family gatherings. She felt the lump in her throat start to rise but quickly shook her head and controlled her emotions. She took the lunch that she had packed for Brad and threw it in the trash. Glancing around the room she noticed the clock on the wall read two o’clock. She expected him home in only a few hours. Working with what little time she had, she decided to collect her thoughts and think of her next step.

***

It was about nine o’clock when she heard Brad’s car pull in the driveway. He had called earlier to say that he had an unexpected dinner meeting and would be home late. “
Poor guy, he works so hard,”
was how she had once described him. Now the only thing that came to mind was
lying, cheating bastard.
The keys jingled in the door and she braced herself for what she had to do. He had just hung his coat up when she met him in the hallway.

“
Hi, sweetie. How was your day?” she asked, trying to make it seem like nothing was wrong.

“
Fine…busy,” he mumbled.

“
How was your meeting?”

“
Fine”

“
Just 
fine
?”

Brad gave her an irritated look. He wasn’t in the mood for chit chat, and he especially didn’t appreciate being bombarded as soon as he entered the door. He’d have to listen to her one way or another, so he decided to get it over with.

“
Yes, just fine.” There was an edge of harshness in his voice as he loosened his tie and unbuttoned his top collar button.

“
Are you sure there is nothing you want to tell me about?” she pried. She could feel the anger and rage building in her body, radiating down her arms to her finger-tips. She wanted to slap him across his perfect face for making a fool of her.

“
Misty, I’ve had a long day so if you have something you want to say can you please just get it over with?”

She could tell he was quickly becoming annoyed with her. Her hand automatically formed into a fist, but she held herself back. 

“
I saw you,” she accused.

“
What?” He asked the question as if he didn’t hear her correctly.

“
I saw you today.”

“
Oh really. Where?”

“
At your office. I had some errands to run so I thought I’d bring you lunch, thinking you’d be too busy to grab anything. So I drove to your office and saw you walking with that blonde receptionist.” She couldn’t read the blank look on his face so she continued. “I watched as you wrapped your arms around her. And I watched as you bent down and pulled her in to kiss her.”

Brad’s face finally shed its lack of emotion and it was replaced with a look of…relief? Was he not ashamed of his foolish actions? That did it. Before he even got any words out of his mouth Misty swung her hand around and smacked him across the face.

“
What the hell, Misty?”

“
What’s the matter with you? I’ve just told you that I caught you cheating on me and you don’t even look ashamed?” She could feel her cool starting to slip. The tears she had been holding back were starting to blur her vision. “How could you?”

Brad just sat there rubbing the side of his face as a definitive red hand print started to appear.

“
How long have you been sneaking around with her, Brad?”

Brad took a deep breath and replied, “About eight months.”

He was irritated, she could tell. She had never hit him in the past but had never had a reason to. The irritation was clearly there in his voice when he spoke again.

“
Misty come on, you should have known something like this was going to happen. I mean we’ve been living more like roommates this past year than like husband and wife. Can you blame me for going elsewhere for affection when I’m not getting it at home?”

Was he really trying to make 
her
 
feel bad? She did have to admit there was a certain lack of affection in their marriage. The stress and strain of trying to conceive a child with no luck can do that. They had been trying on and off for eight years with the hopes that one day they would have a family. If only Brad had agreed to visit the fertility doctor with her. It was always the same excuse.
“I don’t need some doctor to tell me what I need to do. If you aren’t getting pregnant then there is obviously a reason behind it, and maybe it’s a sign that we aren’t meant to have kids.”
 

“
I sure as hell can blame you!” she yelled. “We are husband and wife, Brad. And I don’t exactly see you trying to show affection with me either. So you can’t put all the blame on me.”

“
You turned it into a chore, Misty. You were in baby making mode all the time and it became more of a job than an intimate time with my wife.”

“
Well excuse me for wanting a child! I thought it was what we 
both
 wanted, but obviously I was wrong.” She was openly crying now. The tears fell down her cheeks and she wiped them away with a swipe of her fingertips.

“
Yes Misty, you were obviously wrong.” He stared at her and became very quiet.

She looked at him with shock and confusion. Had he just told her that he had no intentions of wanting a child? All these years of trying to conceive and 
now
 he tells her.

“
You don’t want a family?” she asked bewildered.

“
No Misty, I don’t,” he confessed in a calm easy voice.

“
You knew. You knew back in high school when we were dating that it was my dream to someday have a family. I made that very clear. If you knew all of that than why the hell did you marry me?”

“
I married you because you got knocked up!” His voice boomed over hers.

The truth was out. They had dated all through junior and senior year, and they were very much in love. They had this passion for one another that neither could resist. And that passion resulted in a surprise pregnancy. It completely shocked and overwhelmed them when they found out. They were to attend college that fall, but now with a baby on the way those plans would have to be put on hold. When he proposed to her she thought that it had truly come from his heart. She thought that although this pregnancy was a surprise that he was happy about it. But now, she finally knew the truth.

“
Getting pregnant was not just my fault! I believe you had a big part in that as well. And you didn’t have to ask me to marry you.”

“
Yes I did!” he interrupted. He ran his hand through his dark blonde hair and took a deep calming breath before he spoke again. “After my parents found out about you being pregnant they told me that we either needed to take care of it or get married because they weren’t going to have a bastard grandchild. And I knew I’d never be able to talk you into getting rid of it so I had to marry you. If I didn’t my parents would never have helped us out financially like they have. I wouldn’t have the job I have. We wouldn’t have this house. And we wouldn’t have the cars we drive. I can go on and on Misty. So I did the honorable thing and married you.”

He took another deep breath and she noticed he was shaking. She had never seen him so infuriated before. She stood there stunned. He had never told her any of this. She knew his parents had helped them, especially when they were starting out. After all, they were only eighteen when they were married. 

“
You 
never
 wanted to marry me, did you?” she asked in a whisper.

“
Come on Misty, we were eighteen. We were going to college in the fall. Separate colleges at that. Did you really expect us to stay together? Sure we may have made it a few months but seriously. I was sure to meet someone else and you were too.”

“
You made me believe that you wanted the same things that I wanted. You made me believe that you were happy about getting married and having a baby.” Her voice shook when she said the word baby.

“
I made you believe those things because I had to. I did love you Misty, but none of that was ever part of my plan.”

“
If you felt this way all these years, then why did you even bother sticking around after I miscarried the baby?” She yelled and her voice cracked.

The miscarriage was something they never talked about. They had been married for two months and she was five months along when it happened. It still hurt her to think about it now. 

“
I stuck around because after you lost the baby I thought that things would go back to the way they were, just you and me. And things were great for the first two years, but then you were so determined to have a baby. Once I realized you were never going to give up,” he paused taking in a deep breath. “I had a vasectomy. I wanted it to be just you and me and I thought that we would be happy. But you never gave up and kept pushing and pushing and ended up pushing me away, Misty.”