Chapter Five
Logan
Jess arrives at the building at three thirty, just like her text said she would.
Myles and River both go to a great private school near our house. Myles started kindergarten this year, and River’s in preschool. That’s probably part of why Jess wanted to go back to work. She’s never been the type to take Pilates classes or sit around watching TV.
The Unity Building has seven floors. We rent the fifth one. The rest are normal businesses. The ground floor has a café-restaurant and a daycare.
Building management clearly knew what they were doing.
It takes us less than fifteen minutes to sign the boys up and walk through an entirely unnecessary tour. Jess and I already checked the place top to bottom when we approved it as our company daycare.
Myles and River are both excited, especially when they hear that Jess and I will be just a phone call away.
Jess greets me with a kiss like nothing happened.
When I first told her about Lenore, she was more shocked than angry. Then she read the texts between us.
I hadn’t even thought before handing my phone over. At the time, they hadn’t seemed problematic.
But when she read them out loud to me, I knew I’d fucked up.
Hindsight is a bitch.
I crouch down in front of the boys in my office while Jess talks quietly with Mackie near the doorway.
“So,” I say gently, “do you guys like the daycare?”
River bounces on his toes. “It’s so big!”
I smile, then glance at Myles, who’s gone unusually quiet.
“What about you, buddy?”
He hesitates, twisting his fingers together. “Will Mommy stay away like you did?”
The question hits me right in the chest.
“No,” I say immediately. “No, buddy.”
He watches my face closely, like he’s trying to decide whether to believe me.
“It means that…” I pause, choosing my words carefully. “It means we’ll all be together more.”
His eyes light up.
“You and River will be just downstairs. Mommy and I will be right here. We’ll have lunch together, and we’ll go home together.”
He blinks. “All of us?”
I nod. “Yeah, buddy. All of us.”
“Yay!” he shouts, jumping up.
River copies him instantly. “Yay!”
“What are we yaying about?” Jess asks, walking toward us.
I stand. “How about we go out for dinner tonight?” I say, then add, “Olive Garden.”
Jess tilts her head. “Okay.”
“I want the never-ending pasta,” Myles announces.
“Me too,” River echoes.
I narrow my eyes. “How do you even know about that?”
Myles grins. “YouTube.”
I smile tightly. “Of course. YouTube.”
The boys immediately launch into a discussion about what kind of noodles they’re going to get.
I glance at Jess. “What did Mackie want?”
She gives me a strange look. “She’s actually nice. Just… na?ve.”
My brows lift.
“I talked to her,” she clarifies.
I nod, but my expression gives me away because Jess crosses her arms. “What?”
I glance at the boys. “Can we talk tonight?”
She hesitates, then nods. “Fine.”
We walk out of my office and nearly collide with one of the new hires, Hanson.
He looks down at the boys. “And who are we?”
Myles straightens proudly. “Myles West.”
“Oh,” Hanson says, then his eyes lift and land on me standing behind them.
His spine snaps straight. “Sir. Good morning, I mean, afternoon.”
I give him a short nod.
Jess shakes her head and steps forward, offering her hand. “Jessica.”
Hanson shakes it a little too eagerly.
I add calmly, “West.”
He drops her hand like it’s on fire and nods rapidly, eyes darting between her, the kids, and me. “Yes, sir. Ma’am.”
I decide to put the poor guy out of his misery. “Get to work.”
“Yes, sir,” he says, practically sprinting toward the break room.
Smirking, I usher the boys toward the elevator.
“You enjoy that way too much,” Jess says.
I glance at her. “Can you blame me?”
She smirks back. “No. I’d enjoy it too.”
Chuckling, I slip an arm around her waist, already looking forward to dinner with my family.
My phone buzzes in my pocket.
I check the screen.
Mackie.
Deciding not to let her ruin my night, I let it go to voicemail.
We’re in the parking garage when Jess’s phone rings.
Leaving her to take the call, I get the kids buckled into their seats while she finishes up.
When I climb into the driver’s side, she looks over at me. “It was Mackie.”
I blink. “She called you?”
“She said you sent her to voicemail.” Jess waves a hand. “It’s fine. I told her to courier the documents we’ll need for the work-from-home setup next week. She also asked if she could still come into the office since her roommate’s a nightmare and she lives right around the corner.”
She searches my face. “I told her it was fine.”
I nod, starting the engine. “I already told everyone it’s not mandatory. Just a safety precaution.”
The boys have a blast, stuffing themselves with pasta and breadsticks. I end up finishing both their plates when they give up halfway through.
Jess smiles the whole time.
But I know better than anyone that smiles don’t always mean everything’s fine.
It’s nearly nine by the time we get home and get the kids and the dogs into bed.
When I come downstairs, Jess is lounging on the sofa with a glass of wine. I stop by the thermostat, turning it up a notch before joining her.
“It’s getting cold,” I say.
She nods. “I’m looking forward to the snow.”
“At least we’re stocked.”
I lift her legs gently and settle them across my lap. She doesn’t protest, just wiggles her toes.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asks.
I start rubbing her feet, buying myself a second. “I’ve been thinking about… us. And I feel like there’s this distance that wasn’t there before.”
She studies me carefully. Not defensive. Just wary.
I wet my lips. “I’m not blaming you. I just… I don’t think we ever really got through what happened. We just kind of… moved around it.”
Her jaw tightens slightly, but she doesn’t pull her feet away.
“I know therapy didn’t help last time,” I continue. “But then everything was still raw.”
Silence stretches between us.
“I know you say you’re fine,” I add. “But I don’t think you are. And I don’t blame you for that.”
She pulls her feet from my lap. I can’t tell if she’s pissed or actually thinking about it.
Jess looks down at her hands, her hair falling forward and covering her face. Her voice is so small I almost don’t hear it when she says, “You should blame me.”
My stomach drops.
Her eyes look shattered when she finally turns to me. “You’re right. Therapy didn’t work last time because I wasn’t honest about how I felt.”
Jess looks away as she continues. “The kiss… I forgave that because it wasn’t your fault. I mean, she came onto you and you turned her down. I never doubted that. Not even for a second.”
She wipes at her eyes.
“Then I read those texts.”
I open my mouth, then shut it again. This is her moment. All I can do is sit here and listen, no matter how much it hurts.
“The fact that…” Her voice breaks. “You were texting her while I was sitting right next to you. I remember those nights. You’d be on your phone, and I believed you when you said it was work talk. But it wasn’t.”
She lets out a shaky breath. “Telling her how scared you were about the business going under. Losing our house. That wasn’t work talk, Logan. You were vulnerable with her in a way you were never with me. And it made me question… everything.”
Her eyes meet mine briefly before she bites her lip.
“I looked into it.”
I frown. “Looked into what?”
She swallows. “I knew which hotel you stayed at. It wasn’t that hard to find out. And it was even easier to get the security footage from your floor. The hotel had cameras everywhere except inside the rooms.” She lets out a bitter laugh. “I’m guessing that’s why you chose that place.”
My heart starts pounding.
“I watched the footage of the two of you going into the suite. Laughing. And neither of you left until the next morning.” Her voice crumbles. “And it got me thinking.”
“Jess,” I say, my own voice cracking. “I didn’t sleep with her. I swear on our kids.”
She lets out a humorless laugh that turns into a sob. “I knew that here.” She points to her head. “But here?” She presses a hand to her chest. “This was broken.”
The tears on her face gut me.
“I’m so-” I start.
She cuts me off. “Just let me finish.” She wipes her cheeks and takes a shaky breath. “You have to understand. I thought you slept with her. I thought you had an affair and-”
“I didn’t have an affair,” I say desperately.
“Dammit, Logan,” she snaps. “I’m trying to tell you something.”
“What?” I ask.
Her voice drops to a whisper.
“I slept with someone else.”
Jess
The silence after my confession is deafening.
I thought telling him would bring relief. I imagined the weight lifting, imagined finally being free of the secret that’s been sitting in my chest for eleven months.
Instead, all I feel is dread.
Logan is frozen on the couch beside me, staring straight ahead like he didn’t actually hear the words.
Finally, he speaks.
“What?” he asks hoarsely. “What do you mean?”
I swallow hard.
Then, quieter, “Who?”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t matter, I-”
He cuts me off by standing so fast the couch shifts.
“Doesn’t matter?” he spits. “It doesn’t matter who my wife screwed?”
The words hit like a slap.
I close my eyes and cover my face with my hands, unable to look at him, unable to watch him stare at me like I’m something filthy.
“When?” he asks, his voice suddenly deadly calm.
My right leg starts bouncing uncontrollably. I keep my eyes on the floor.
“Right before we stopped therapy,” I whisper.
“Right,” he says slowly. “Therapy.” Then, harder, “I want a name.”
“I don’t-” I start.
He cuts me off again. “What, are you protecting him now?”
“No,” I say quickly.
“Then tell me his name.”
“I don’t know it,” I yell before I can stop myself.
The room goes still.
Logan stares at me like he’s seeing me for the first time.
“…Wow,” he says.
I stand too, reaching for him on instinct. “Logan-”
Before my fingers can even brush his arm, he rips away from me. The rejection hurts but nearly as much as I hurt him.
“I was drunk,” I choke out. “I was angry and I just… I wanted to hurt you.” Tears blur my vision. “I’m sorry.”
He lets out a bitter laugh. “Well. You sure as hell succeeded.”
I bite my lip, trying to hold the sobs in.
“I can’t even look at you right now,” he says, turning toward the door.
“Wait,” I say, scrambling after him. “Where are you going? Logan, we have to talk about this.”
He stops with his hand on the doorknob.
“Isn’t this exactly how you reacted?” he asks coldly. “When I kissed another woman? You walked out.” Then he laughs again, darker this time. “Let me see if I can find a bar that’s open.”
“Logan-”
The front door slams shut before I can finish.
I stand there in the middle of the living room, frozen, listening to the sound of his engine roaring to life before his car pulls away.
And I’m left alone with the mess I just made.