3. Luke
Luke
Holding my brand-new niece in the hospital had been the highlight of my day.
Even better than slapping the cuffs on Ryan Redmond’s wrists.
The pang that hit my chest when I looked down at her was entirely expected.
I was overjoyed for Wyatt and Maeve. A second daughter, expanding their family to four.
It was only a little over a year ago that Wyatt had drunkenly stumbled upon Jane, abandoned and alone.
Now, he was engaged to the love of his life, the adoption of Jane had been finalized right after her first birthday, and baby Veda was the perfect addition to their family.
I didn’t want to be envious of him, but I couldn’t help it.
I wanted to start a family right after Jules and I got married, but she’d wanted to wait.
Spend some time together as a married couple before we added to our unit.
That was five years ago. I had brought it up a couple more times over the years, but the answer was always the same.
She needed more time. She wasn’t where she wanted to be in life yet.
I wasn’t where she wanted me to be in life.
Scarlett and I left the hospital together.
Before she could head home, I turned to her, asking if she wanted to grab something to eat.
I was starving from skipping dinner and then spending a few hours at the hospital.
Plus, I was stalling. I had no desire to go home, back to Juliet and the accusations that swirled in my brain.
“Oh, wait, you just had dinner not long ago with Edmond,” I said.
“Eddie,” she corrected, like I really didn’t remember the dude’s name. “And I can still grab dinner with you. I’ll just get something small.”
We hit up a drive-through outside of town and sat in the parking lot, me with my burger and shake, Scarlett with her fries.
Scarlett popped a fry in her mouth. I could feel her eyes on me. “You didn’t answer my question earlier.”
“What question?”
“Is everything alright? You’ve seemed upset this week.”
It would be so easy to talk to Scarlett about what had been going through my head, but I wasn’t ready to get into it yet.
“Yeah. I’m good. I’ve had some things on my mind. But hey, at least I got to lock up Redmond this morning.” I smiled at her. Tension creased her forehead, and I wanted to rub my thumb along it to smooth it out for her.
A small smile pulled at her lips, and she nodded. “Okay, good. Just looking out for you.”
“That’s my job, Letty. Keeping you safe from boring cheese aficionados who only look ‘nice’ and ‘sweet.’”
She laughed. “It’s both of our jobs, Luke.”
I couldn’t help but notice that she seemed happy.
I should be happy for her. Scarlett was one of my best friends; she deserved to find what she was looking for.
The fact that she was finding happiness at the same time my marriage was falling apart was messing with my head and making me cynical.
I would have to lay off the Eddie jokes though—for as long as she was seeing this guy, anyway.
I had stalled long enough, so after we finished our food, I dropped her back off at the hospital to get her car.
“Night, Luke.”
“Drive safe, Scarlett. Text me when you get in,” I told her, waiting until she had driven out of the lot before turning toward home.
Juliet’s car was in the driveway, and I pulled my SUV up beside it.
My good mood from huffing the scent of newborn baby disappeared as I made my way to the front door.
I hadn’t confronted Jules yet about what Reid had told me.
It had shocked me initially, but the more I processed things, the less surprised I was.
We had been nothing more than roommates for far too long.
The door snagged on something as I opened it. I pushed it forward, dragging shoes and boxes from one side of the threshold to the other.
I had no idea that Juliet was such a messy person until we moved in together a month before the wedding. It didn’t matter how much I straightened up after her. It was like a tornado followed her around, dumping everything she owned on the floor at her feet.
She wasn’t in the living room or kitchen.
It was probably best that she didn’t wait up for me.
I wanted to confront her about the allegations, but I also didn’t.
The door to the bathroom opened just as I was passing it on my way to the bedroom.
Jules’s eyes widened at the sight of me, like seeing me in my own house surprised her.
I guess with how little we’d seen each other lately, it was surprising for us to both be in the same space at the same time.
Juliet’s eyes were rimmed red and glassy. She swiped a tissue below her pink nose as she sniffled.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. My desire to accost her was set aside when I saw the tears fall from her eyes.
“I have to talk to you,” she said. The cagey look in her eyes sent my internal alarm bells off.
“Really? That’s new,” I replied. “I need to talk to you too.”
“You go first.”
She was clearly stalling. But that was fine because I was pretty sure we both intended to talk about the same thing. Her affair.
“Are you sleeping with someone else?” I asked, with absolutely no preamble. On the outside, my voice was calm and steady, the clench of my jaw the only visible sign of my anger.
Her eyes searched mine for something, no denial coming to her lips.
“Who told you?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.
My jaw hit the floor. I didn’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t that. “That’s what you have to say? You want to know who else knows you’re screwing someone who isn’t your husband?” I combed my hands over my short, cropped hair in frustration.
“We haven’t been together in months, Luke.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I have never stepped out on you, Jules. I would never do that. I made this commitment to you, and I meant it,” I said.
“You have though,” Juliet shouted. “Maybe not acted on it, but the moment you fell in love with someone else, Luke, you broke that commitment. You broke my heart.”
“What are you even talking about? I loved you. I married you.”
“Oh, please. Even right now, you said ‘loved’ in the past tense. It has been a long time since I was the woman who held your heart.”
“That is utter bullshit. You think you can spin the narrative so you can be the victim in this, but I have been entirely faithful to you through all the ups and downs.” I was fuming.
Who did she think I gave my heart to if not my wife?
The vows I told her meant something to me.
I saw my parents’ marriage before my mother passed.
The love, the adoration. They were soul mates, if such a thing existed, and I had wanted that for me and Juliet.
“I’m pregnant.”
Juliet’s bomb exploded through my skull. The room spun. My vision dimmed. Like Juliet just stated, it had been months since she and I were intimate. Many months. There was no chance that that baby was mine.
“Who is he?” I growled.
Who the fuck was it who stole my wife? My family? My future?
She hesitated before she answered. Her words came out strong, controlled, but the fear in her eyes gave her away. “I can’t tell you.”
“What?” My throat rumbled, my voice hitting a register lower than ever before.
“I have to talk to him first, Luke. I just found out when you got home.”
Holy. Shit.
My world was imploding, and she was worried about some other guy.
I had nothing to say to that. I had nothing to say to her.
I turned my back to walk away. There was no point in continuing this fight. Nothing was going to change.
“I want a divorce,” she called to my back.
“No shit.” I didn’t bother turning around as I stomped out the door and back to my SUV.
My hand connected with the steering wheel.
A haze of anger rolled off me in waves. I had no destination in mind as I roamed the streets of Calla Bay.
My mind drifted to Scarlett, but she just got home after a long day, and it was already past 10:00 p.m. Using the Bluetooth voice recognition, I called Reid.
It rang until the voicemail picked up, so I disconnected without leaving a message.
Not two seconds later, ringing filtered through my car’s speakers, Reid calling me back.
“Hey,” Reid cheered into the phone. Revelry and laughter echoed in the background. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“You sound busy. It’s not important,” I told him.
My piss-poor mood must have tipped him off because his tone changed to serious in a flash. “Never too busy. What’s up?”
“Some shit just went down with Jules. My head’s not on right.”
“Wyatt and I are at Wes’s place. Come by.”
“What is Wyatt doing there? He just had a baby four hours ago.”
“Just come by here,” Reid said, disconnecting the call.
Wes’s house was a cabin-style home. Wide wooden planks in natural oak made it look like a log cabin.
The large front porch showcased the same vaulted ceilings that ran through the living room.
It wasn’t a big house, but it was enough for just him.
Besides, he had the king of all garages just steps away from the house.
Wes had established the garage as a sort of man cave. A television, refrigerator, and a couch were set up inside, along with his police scanner. They weren’t illegal, but I still hated them.
Wes lived alone and could easily host people in his house, but we almost never went in there. I think he liked it better that way, keeping his house as his sanctuary.
Reid’s and Wyatt’s trucks were both parked in front of the garage, so I pulled up on the grass to the side and threw my car in park.
Reid was on the couch when I walked in. Wyatt was leaning against a workbench with a beer in his hand. Wes was sitting in his camping chair, a can of Coke in the cup holder.
“Luke,” Wes greeted me.
“Hey, brother. You want something to drink? Beer, soda, water?” Wyatt asked.
“Yeah. I’ll take a beer.” Wyatt grabbed one from the fridge and passed it to me. “Thanks.”