Chapter 2
Miranda
Sitting on my back deck with the baby monitor on the table so I’ll know if Kingston wakes up, I chew the inside of my cheek as my best friend Emma digests what I just showed her on Bowie’s computer.
Which is way more than I saw earlier today.
In fact, there are weeks and weeks of texts back and forth between Bowie and Naomie, the woman he’s been seeing. For at least the last two months, when Bowie told me he had to work late, he’s been with her. And last weekend, when he was supposed to be fishing with friends, he was actually at a cabin he must have rented for the two of them to get away.
“That motherfucker,” Emma whispers after a long moment, lifting her pretty green eyes off the computer screen to look at me. “How fucking stupid is he?” Like any good best friend, her outrage on my behalf doesn’t surprise me. Just like it didn’t surprise me that she knew something was off when I called her this evening while making dinner, and she told me without hesitation that she was coming over with wine as soon as I got Kingston to sleep.
“I’m guessing he doesn’t realize how stupid he is. He probably doesn’t know that his texts can be read from his computer. Or if he does know, he didn’t think about me using it, because I have my own and wouldn’t normally use his.” I take a sip of the wine.
“Who is Tucker?”
“I have no idea. Her husband or boyfriend, I guess,” My throat gets tight, wondering if he knows or if he’s going to be as blindsided as I was.
“She knows Bowie’s married.”
“I know.” She referred to me more than once, asking if he thought I suspected anything. She also asked about Kingston like she knew him and cared about his well-being. What a fricking joke. “As easy as it would be, I refuse to put the blame on her. I’m married to Bowie, not her. He should have been the one to walk away.”
“You’re a better person than me.” Her eyes go to the glass sliding door, where you can see into my living room and the family photo of Bowie, Kingston, and me that is hanging on the wall above the fireplace. A picture we took a month ago, looking at it now and the smile on Bowie’s face makes me sick to my stomach. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Leave him.”
“Good.”
“Is it?” I shake my head. “Should it be so easy to get to that answer? Shouldn’t I at least be thinking about working things out or trying to for Kingston’s sake?”
“Fuck no, M. You should not be thinking about working things out. We both know how that story ends. You confront him, he promises to never do it again, then a year or five or even just a month from now, you find out he’s screwing someone else. Fuck that!”
Closing my eyes, I lean my head back on my shoulders and scrub my fingers through my hair. “I need to get a job. I need to get an apartment or a house for Kingston and me. I need to… I have so much I need to do.”
“You know Polly always has a chair at the salon for you, and I have a client who works in real estate who I’m sure can help you get a place. You’ll be okay.” She reaches for my hand. “When are you going to tell him you know?”
“I need to get things sorted out before I confront him. You know he can be?—”
“A dick?” she inserts.
“—difficult when he’s backed into a corner.” I lightly kick her, and she presses her lips together. She never liked Bowie. None of my friends or family did, but they all love me and knew I was in love with him, so they put their own feelings aside. But Bowie never liked any of them either, so there was no love lost. I just had to learn quickly to carefully juggle each relationship.
“He’s going to fight you.”
“I know.” And he will every step of the way, and I’m sure he’s going to put me through the wringer when it comes to visitation and everything else to do with Kingston. He will probably make it difficult for me to leave as well. “That’s why I need to make sure all my ducks are in a row before I confront him. Otherwise, I’ll be fighting an uphill battle.”
“I would offer for you to stay with Eli and me, but our place is?—”
“I know,” I cut her off. The studio she and her boyfriend live in is small, and there is no way two extra people could stay there.
“But I can give you a loan if you want, you know, to help you get into a place of your own.”
Tears fill my eyes for the first time today, and I drag in a shaky breath. “Thank you.”
“You know I’m here for whatever you need.”
“I know.” I hug her back after she gets up and wraps her arms around me.
“You’ll get through this, M. You’re the strongest person I know,” she whispers, and my eyes slide closed.
I am strong, but sometimes it sucks having to be so strong.
Especially when it’s because you don’t have any other choice.