Chapter 2
Ridge
The past few weeks felt like living in a different dimension where my wife wasn’t the same open, charming, honest person I’d been enamored with for the past decade.
The woman who was once always home when my workday was done suddenly wasn’t.
Not only was she gone more often than not, she never bothered to update me on where she was headed.
Sharing our locations, destinations, and full agendas had never been a requirement in our relationship, but it was often done out of courtesy or to avoid scheduling conflicts.
Violet had never given me reason not to trust her before.
Her secretive movements, hushed conversations, and vague dismissals of late had begun to fray my faith in my wife and our marriage in ways I never imagined possible.
She was gone again this morning before I even woke up to go to work, and that was saying something, since my alarm went off every morning during the week at half past five without fail.
I glanced down at my phone as I sat at a stoplight and there was still no response to the text message I'd sent her before I left.
Ridge: Good morning, beautiful! Had to run to work. Where are you and what are you up to today? I was disappointed you were gone when I woke.
It had been thirty minutes since I sent the text.
The person behind me beeped their horn, indicating that I'd missed the light changing over to green.
The minute I started to pull forward, my eyes scanned to the side street to make sure nothing was coming, and I saw my cousin, Moreland, standing there.
It appeared as though he was waiting for someone who was still inside the bakery, but with all the crap they had painted on their windows, I couldn't tell who.
Another beep from the asshole behind me meant that I couldn't hesitate any longer.
Moreland's attention flashed my way as the car behind me beeped again. Rather than raising a hand and waving, he ducked out of sight like someone who didn’t want to be seen.
"I feel like I'm in the twilight zone," I said to myself. Then I asked my car to call Moreland. It rang straight to voicemail, which made me feel even more off about the day. Instead of overthinking things, I called Aunt Gale. If Moreland was in town, she would know.
“To what do I owe the honor of speaking to my favorite nephew this morning?"
"I'm your only nephew," I reminded her as part of our usual game.
"Oh, yeah. So, you are. Well, what can I do for you, honey?"
"Is Moreland in town? I could have sworn I just saw him at the bakery I passed on the way to work."
She hesitated a moment and then sighed. "I'm not sure why he'd be in town and not inform his mother," she stated, but there was something off about her tone. It had lost the playfulness of our earlier banter.
"Okay, I guess maybe I was seeing things, then."
"Most likely. You know my boy is a hard-working sailor, and today might be Friday, but that's still a workday in the Navy, last I checked."
"That is true," I agreed. It would also explain why my call went straight to voicemail. If he was on the ship this morning, he wouldn't have his phone with him as he worked in a secured space. After I hung up with my aunt, I decided to let it go. Everyone had a doppelg?nger in the world, and that’s probably all it was. If I’d been thinking, I could have snapped a pic and sent it to More. He’d get a kick out of some dude walking around our hometown looking just like him.
Then again, he might also want to ask the guy to take a DNA test, because they could have been twin brothers.
After the usual morning hustle died down, I took a moment to sit back and stare at the wall as my brain attempted to puzzle out what in the hell could be going on with my wife and my best friend.
Despite trying earlier to justify the fact that my cousin might have a doppelg?nger out there, I knew what I saw.
It had been him, and he didn’t want me to notice that he was in town for some reason.
I was so lost in thought; it completely missed me that my assistant had stepped into my office and shut the door behind herself.
"I don't want to overstep, but it seems like something is on your mind. Is there anything I can do? You obviously have some heavy stuff taking up your focus, and I hate seeing you so distracted.”
“That obvious, huh?” Fiona returned a pointed look but didn’t say anything as she waited for me to decide if I wanted to confide in her.
Fiona's denim blue eyes sparkled with what appeared to be empathy. Then, I remembered there really wasn't anyone else I could talk to about the two most important people in my life suddenly behaving very out of character. Despite the way I’d tried to convince myself that Moreland must have a twin out there, I knew in my heart that wasn’t true.
My cousin’s mom was of Haitian descent and his dad, my uncle by blood, was of Scottish and German heritage.
It would be farfetched to think another man possessed the same facial structure, coloring, and overall bearing.
Granted, the last was due, in part, to his military service.
Still, I didn’t buy the fact that it wasn’t him at the bakery when I passed by.
"A few people in my life have been distant and mostly unavailable lately, and I've been trying to figure out what's going on."
"Is one of those people your wife?"
Part of me knew I shouldn't answer that question. Violet would not appreciate me talking about our private life with my assistant. There was also the danger of opening a door with Fiona that should never be opened. Sometimes, if you gave an inch, the other person would step forward and snatch a mile. I knew that. Still, when Fiona spoke again, I found myself frustrated enough with the situation to give a little detail in the hopes that I might gain some insight from a third party’s view.
"I only ask because she hasn't been around much the past couple months. I didn't know if you guys were having a spat or if she just got busy with other things."
I blew out a harsh breath. My assistant had also noticed my wife's absence from my life. It wasn't so much that she was gone completely, but that it was so often lately it had become notable, and not just to me.
"I'm not sure why," I admitted cautiously.
"We haven't had any arguments. She seems distant lately but behaves normally when we're together.” I didn’t want to say the rest, but part of me needed to get it off my chest. It was my hope that someone else’s perspective would highlight the fact that I really had no good reason to doubt my wife.
“She’s been mostly normal, anyway. Until I ask where she's been spending her time when she's not with me.
" I felt sick admitting that out loud to another person.
The grunt of disgust or displeasure Fiona made didn't alleviate that feeling at all.
"What was that noise for?"
"Noise?" she asked coyly, almost as if she hadn't realized there had been a reaction for me to note.
"Yeah, you know what I'm talking about."
Fiona took a deep breath and looked away. "That was my first red flag that my last serious boyfriend was cheating on me."
Her reluctant admission made me pause, but then I blew that thought off. I scoffed at the idea that Violet would ever step out on me. There might have been something off with her of late, but no one could convince me that cheating would be the reason.
"I'm not saying that's what Violet is doing,” Fiona stated with a slight roll of her eyes as if she didn't believe her attempt to alleviate any discomfort her opinion might have caused me.
"It triggered my reaction because that was the first thing I noticed when Jeremey started a relationship with someone else behind my back.
Then, when I'd ask again, he would change the subject or deflect it back to me in kind of an accusatory tone.
It was almost like he projected his guilty conscience onto me. "
Something in my stomach twisted. Violet had sort of done that the last time I'd questioned her. My beautiful wife, who was always calm and collected, had snapped and asked if she should give me the same inquisition over where I'd been all day, and with whom.
"I'm sure that's not the case for Violet," I finally managed to get out after a minute of stunned silence.
"No, probably not. Why on Earth would she cheat on you, anyway? I bet you have an ironclad prenup in place that would protect your assets in cases like that. She'd be stupid to…" Fiona's voice trailed off when she saw the look of absolute horror that crossed my face.
"Sorry, it's something I worried about after what Jeremey did. I'd never marry without one now." Fiona started to fidget nervously before she finally turned and walked back to the door. "I'll be at my desk tidying up before I leave in thirty minutes. Let me know if you need anything."