Morgan spent the entire weekend at her house, only going home Monday morning to get ready for work and the groundbreaking ceremony. The weekend was a whirlwind of emotions, from elation to guilt to pure joy. In the end, she was simply happy. Happy to be in Morgan's arms. Happy to be caring about someone and having them care for her in return. Happy to be starting her life again. She had gone so long trying not to feel anything that now she relished every emotion that pumped through her, each one making her feel more and more alive.She stared at herself in the mirror over her dresser, her blond hair framing her narrow face, her cheeks pushed up as her lips curved into a continuous smile. She stood there, but not in her stark gray business attire. Instead, she wore a bright lavender blouse with a darker lavender skirt that never reached her knees. Her jewelry was shiny and caught every light that winked at her. She felt alive and she was going to dress with that liveliness.Today began
"Are you fucking Edwin?" Glen Lansky stood in their kitchen, palms down on the Formica counter, his eyes begging Cherish to say no and just laugh it off.She didn't laugh it off, however. Instead, she became pissed. Really pissed. "What the hell are you talking about? Faith's the one fucking Edwin. Not me. He barely talks to me anymore, too busy bending my sister over his desk more than likely. Where the hell did that come from, anyway?" How the hell did their evening escalate to him accusing her of having an affair? Glen came home just like always, played with Jordie for a bit, the two of them on the floor playing with plastic dinosaurs all over her living room, the living room she just finished cleaning, actually. Of course, they didn't clean up after themselves, assuming Mom would do it just like she always did. Not that Cherish didn't bust her ass all day at Rutherford Construction. Hell, she had to do twice the load at work with Faith on the West Coast with Morgan, not that Edwin
Glen's head hurt, his stomach a twisted mess, his heart… His heart broke. He kept taking deep breaths, doing his best to keep the tears from falling. Everything made sense now. All the time Cherish spent working late, the weekends where she had to go in suddenly, the texts and late-night phone calls. He should have known, should have seen it happening. Yet, he had closed his eyes and stuck his head in the sand, ignoring the signs and pretending his family wasn't falling apart. But it was falling apart, collapsing around him. He turned down New Haven Avenue, heading to the one person he knew he could talk to about Rutherford Construction and the drama that was Edwin Coldwell and the Driscoll sisters—Selby Greer. Glen tried Selby's house first, but he wasn't there, so Glen assumed his brother-in-law stayed busy at the bookstore he owned while Faith was in Tampa. Glen stopped, bought a six-pack of Shock Top, and headed downtown for advice more than company. Faith and Selby were the happ
Cherish sat on the couch, sipping wine, when Glen finally returned home. He said nothing, at first, just dropped his keys on the small table by the front door and went into the kitchen and pulled a beer from the fridge. She decided not to start any conversation, waiting to see where his mood was at the moment. She didn't want to start another fight. She heard him pop the top and take a long swallow before he returned to the living room and plopped down into the recliner. He still said nothing, the silence deafening.For a moment, Cherish debated asking where he went, but only for a moment. She didn't want to know, wasn't even sure she had a right to ask right then. Instead, she decided to just pretend nothing happened earlier and life was normal. Deny all accusations, even when the evidence stared you dead in the face. She took a sip of wine, and then said, "Mom called while you were out to talk about Jordie's birthday. She's offered her house for the party again.""Now, there's a gre
Thursday morning dawned just like every other morning. Glen had breakfast with his family, even if his mood was more sullen than usual, and then went off to work. Cherish played the dutiful wife, saying all the right things at all the right times, going through the motions, but her mind was anywhere but on what she did. Faith was due back tomorrow, and that only gave Cherish one day to get Edwin back in her grasp. So far, nothing she attempted that week had worked. She followed him around the office, brought him lunch, even stayed after work hoping to get him alone. Yet, he seemed to do everything in his power to avoid her. He went home early. Left the office for lunch on some trumped-up business meeting. Arrived to work late. He did everything he could to avoid her, and so far, it worked. Today would not differ from the looks of things, either.By the time work was over, Edwin Coldwell was nowhere in sight, and she had no real reason to hang around. Nessa Sanchez, the part-time office
Glen spent all day trying to shake the feeling that his wife had betrayed him, sneaking around behind his back for some sexual adventure with her boss. Yet, the feeling never went away. The worse part was that since he arrived home, the feeling only grew into a nauseous knot in the pit of his stomach. All Cherish did was bitch about her sister and how Edwin immediately went all gooey when she returned. She didn't even care that Glen dropped Jordie off at his Grandma Lansky's for the night. Barely even noticed it, actually. She obsessed over Edwin and his infatuation with Faith. You just don't talk about someone that much unless there's something happening between you. Glen knew. He knew his wife cheated on him, even if she hadn't admitted it the other night, and now he just couldn't take hearing it anymore."You're fucking Edwin," he whispered. It wasn't an accusation. He didn't yell. He merely made a statement."Are we really going to do this again?" She glared at him.He shrugged. "I
When she woke, still crumpled on the floor in the hallway, she had a text from Glen. I dropped Jordie off at your parents' home. You can pick him up there. Don't worry. I didn't tell them anything. But what did he tell Jordie? That was the question rattling around in her brain right then. She moved, every muscle screaming at her for the way she slept last night. She deserved the agony. She deserved worse. All she had wanted was to feel again, to have the adventures she used to have that made her feel alive, even those adventures in the end left her high and dry. She wasn't sure when she fell asleep. When Glen left, all she could do was crumble to the floor and cry until no more tears flowed. It felt like forever ago.Cherish heard the front door open. "Anyone home?" It was Aubrey, their neighbor, which meant Cherish slept all night on the floor with the front door unlocked. Glen always made sure to lock the house up before he went to bed."I'm here," Cherish said as she forced herself
Glen dropped Jordie off at the Driscolls' and sent Cherish a note telling her she could pick him up there. He just didn't want to face her again, didn't want to listen to more of her justifications and hurtful words. He didn't think he could take any more pain. Not from the woman for whom he sacrificed everything.Instead, he texted Brent Dodson, his partner at Melbourne Docks and Piers, and told him to meet him for a beer. Of course, Brent, always up for a cold one, said no problem, and thirty minutes later, they sat around a bar table at Grill's, overlooking the Indian River, Glen pouring his guts out to his friend. The night before, he gave his parents a quick synopsis of what transpired between Cherish and himself. Both said he was free to stay at their place as long as he needed, his mother seeming as if she knew this would happen and felt justified in her feelings toward Cherish, which had never been accepting. Glen spent the night sleeping next to Jordie, but not really sleeping