“Stacy, don’t be dramatic.” Jules rolls her eyes and merges into traffic, heading toward my house.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to your place.”
“I don’t want to see Isaac yet. I need to calm down and think.”
“No, you need to confront my brother and find out what the hell he’s doing.”
I twist my fingers in my lap and bite my lip until it bleeds. “Maybe you can confront him and let me know how it goes.”
“Oh no, this is all you. But if you want us there with you, we’ll stay. Are you afraid of him?” She looks over to me with narrowed eyes.
“No! No, I’m not afraid of him, I just don’t know if I want the answer to my questions.”
“Stacy, I’m telling you,” Natalie says firmly. “Isaac is not fucking around.”
“I wouldn’t have ever expected him to.” My God, we’ve had ups and downs, but never, never would I have suspected that he could ever do this to me.
“So, to recap,” Jules starts as she pulls into my driveway, “He took a mysterious phone call at Nat’s last night that he doesn’t want to talk about, and today he sent you dirty texts.”
“Yes.”
“This does not make for an affair, Stace.”
“I know, but it’s so not him.”
“There are no photos of naked women, you haven’t caught him in bed with anyone…”
“No.”
Jesus, I’d die if I found him in bed with another woman. Correction: the other woman would die. A slow, painful death.
“I think this is a misunderstanding,” Natalie says gently. “But, where is this insecurity in your marriage coming from? This isn’t like you, honey. You are not this insecure.”
“I know.” I bite my lip again and fight tears. I haven’t felt like myself since the baby came. Our marriage hasn’t felt the same. “Since the baby was born, our sex life hasn’t been the greatest. We’re both really tired all the time.” I shrug and look down at my hands in embarrassment. “I know our marriage isn’t perfect, but I’ve never felt this disconnected from him. If I’m not satisfying him, someone else will. You’ve seen him.”
“Oh, for the love of Moses, Stacy, listen to yourself. I think you need some hot sex and a vacation, girl,” Jules comments, making me laugh.
“Yeah, that couldn’t hurt.”
Isaac’s truck is in the driveway of our pretty two-story home. It occurs to me that he put the Christmas lights up today, which just makes me more emotional. This is Sophie’s first Christmas. What if we don’t get to spend it as a family in our home?
Jules cuts the engine and pops the trunk.
“C’mon, let’s get your stuff inside.”
We carry my plethora of bags full of gifts for the whole family, and way more than Sophie will ever need or remember for her first Christmas, into the house. Isaac is packing a diaper bag and has the car seat by the door.
“Ladies, you’re back sooner than I expected.” He flashes us a wide happy smile, but all I see is the bag he’s packing.
“Where the hell are you going?” I ask. I hear the desperation in my voice, I know I sound like a complete lunatic, but I can’t make it stop.
“Uh,” He frowns at me and pushes his hand through his soft, dark blonde hair. “Nowhere. I was going to ask Jules if she would take Sophie home with her for a few hours so you and I can have some alone time.”
“Of course I’ll take Sophie!” Jules says from behind me. “Nat, will you help Isaac finish loading the baby’s bag while I help Stacy upstairs with her stuff?”
“On it.”
Isaac looks at the three of us like we’ve lost our minds. “What’s going on?”
Jules just leads me up the stairs as I hear Natalie say, “You guys really need to talk, you dumb ass.”
Chapter Three
“So, talk to me.” Isaac walks into our bedroom and crosses to me, planting his hands on his lean hips. Jules and Nat just left with Sophie and we’re all alone.
“No, you start talking. I want to know who you were talking to last night. And who the hell did you intend to send those text messages to today?”
Yes, I sound like a nagging, bitchy wife, but I can’t stop it. I pull my coat off with jerking movements and throw it on top of the bags on our bed and turn back around to face him, crossing my arms over my chest.
“Stacy, what are you accusing me of?” he asks in a low voice, his blue eyes narrowed.
“I’m not accusing, I’m asking. Again. I’ve been asking since last night.”
“I spoke to Brynna last night at Luke’s, Stacy. She was in trouble and is on her way here.”
What? Brynna is my cousin, but we were raised as sisters.
“She’s on her way from Chicago?”
“Yes.”
“But the kids…”
“Are with her.”
“Is she driving?”
“Yes.”
“What the hell, Isaac? Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”
“Because I didn’t want to worry you. It was Soph’s first Thanksgiving, and Matt and I have it taken care of.” He runs his hands through his hair and paces away from me toward the bathroom.
“Why is she coming here?”
“I don’t know all the details yet, I just know that she was scared and said she needed to get out of there fast and was heading here.”