CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Blair
Then
Sutton’s little legs pumped ferociously as she headed down the soccer field, or pitch, I was told.
She was doing well for her age and was one of the best players on the team.
Not that any of them are amazing. The team was made up entirely of five- and six-year-olds.
They were all still learning the basics, but they’d come so far since the start of the season.
It was the final game—the championship game—and Scott wasn’t here. I was worried. This wasn’t like him. He used to make more of an effort to attend the kids’ events, but something had changed. I had reminded him multiple times since he’d been so distracted lately.
I looked towards the parking lot again, but I still didn’t see Scott’s truck anywhere.
What was he doing? Where was he? I’d seen Sutton’s little face turn to look at the sidelines several times.
I’d waved each time. She’d smiled a few times, but it was written all over her face that she was upset her dad was absent.
Meanwhile, I was trying to corral the twins, keep Sophia entertained in her stroller, and watch the game. It was almost impossible, and I was exhausted. I could have used his help. I had sent him several texts, but they all went unanswered.
Where the hell was he?
My phone finally buzzed, and I pulled it out of my pocket hurriedly.
Scott: Sorry. Something came up. I got caught at work.
I blinked at the text. Caught at work? The office closed at five. He was more than an hour and a half late.
Blair: It’s the championship game.
Scott: I hate that I’m going to miss it.
I stared at my phone, almost sure I must’ve misunderstood. He had to be on his way. He couldn’t mean that he wasn’t going to make any of it. Right?
Blair: It’s going to be over soon.
The three dots appeared briefly before disappearing. I waited, but they didn’t appear again.
Blair: Scott?
Nothing. I blew out a frustrated breath, mad at him. Almost immediately, I felt bad about it. If he was having to work this late, it must have been an emergency. He wouldn’t purposely miss Sutton’s game without a good reason.
Would he? My thoughts flicked to Scarlett, but I tried to quash them. He’d told me she was just a co-worker, and I wanted to believe him. I needed to believe him.
I put the phone away. I wanted to focus on the rest of the game.
But there was a little tickle at the back of my mind that sparked a sense of unease in me.
***
“Did you see me, Mommy?” Sutton asked, smile wide. She was missing one of her two front teeth, and I knew the picture I’d gotten of her holding her championship trophy would be adorable.
“I sure did.” I smiled and booped her on the nose. She bent down to kiss Sophia’s forehead.
“The twins are being crazy,” she said in a loud whisper as she rolled her eyes.
She wasn’t wrong. They were in the ball pit, and I cringed when I thought of all the germs that had to be floating around in there. One or the both of them would probably be sick within two or three days. “Just enjoy your time with your teammates. I’ll handle the twins.”
She looked at me doubtfully before putting her tiny hand in mine. She gave it a squeeze before running back to the table with her friends. I was so relieved that she seemed too distracted by the celebration to pay much attention to Scott not being here.
We were at Pizza Palace, and the kids were probably stuffed by now.
They’d had a blast. It was one of only two restaurants in our town that catered specifically to children.
There was a pizza buffet the employees kept full of fresh pizzas, though they’d had a hard time keeping up since half the soccer teams in town decided to come celebrate the end of the season tonight.
There were a few trampolines, a couple of ball pits, and an indoor playground—all of which were terrible for kids to play on after they ate.
We’d been here forever. They’d had an hour of playtime, eaten plenty of pizza, and had started finishing their ice cream cones.
I wasn’t at all sad that things were wrapping up.
I strolled Sophia around with me as I delivered the hand-decorated sugar cookies I’d made for Sutton’s team. They were big and round, decorated like a soccer ball, and I had piped the name of each of her teammates on them.
“Ooh, this is so sweet! You just make the best cookies. So creative. So… where’s Scott tonight?
” Gloria Brunson, team mom and gossip of the century, asked while I was bent over picking up one of Sophia’s toys.
I’d known Gloria most of my life. She’d been a bitchy gossip in high school, and she was a bitchy gossip now.
“He had a dental emergency,” I said shortly, tempering my tone with a brief smile. I didn’t want to be rude, but I sure as hell didn’t want to have a conversation with her.
“That’s too bad,” she’d said, but I caught the gleam in her eyes. Gloria had never gotten along with Sadie, Melinda, Carrie, or me, and her need to compete with us hadn’t gone away now that we were adults. “It’s strange, too,” she said.
“What do you mean?” I asked, barely paying attention. Sophia was now making a game of throwing her favorite toy out of her stroller so she could watch me pick it up.
“It’s just that the dental office had the ‘closed’ sign up in the window when I passed by.”
Good lord. “It’s always turned to ‘closed’ at five. That doesn’t mean he’s not still working in there.” I sounded defensive, and there was an edge to my tone. I could hear it.
“Really? Huh.” She stared at me, dying for me to ask her more.
I bit. “What?”
“It’s just… the lights were off and the parking lot was empty.
You know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the car I think belongs to that fabulous looking woman he has working in his office.
I know she’s there, though, because I had an appointment last week with your hubby.
” She sidled up to me closer. “Girl, he is hot as fire! You’re a better person than I am.
There is no way in hell I’d let a woman who looked like that within a mile of my husband. ”
I tried to keep my face neutral, but I sensed she could see through my act. Why was the parking lot empty? “He’s probably on his way here,” I said in his defense.
“Hmm. I don’t think so,” she said slowly, looking out the window.
I stood back up and followed her gaze. My heart stuttered, and I let out a gasp before I could help myself.
Gloria looked pleased. “I guess he’s not working on a dental emergency after all,” she said smugly. She gave me a fake look of pity, but she wasn’t fooling anyone.
Scott was next door, in the parking lot of Donovan’s Steakhouse, one of the nicest restaurants in town. They served upscale food, and it was one of our favorite places to eat in Indigo Falls. But it was rare these days that he took me there. I couldn’t even remember the last time.
I watched him in disbelief. He’d lied to me. He was talking animatedly with a blonde woman whose back was to me. She was holding a bag that probably held her leftovers.
And then the woman turned, and I closed my eyes briefly. Just as I’d feared, it was the office manager. Scarlett.
I felt anger wash over me. Scott had eaten there with her instead of coming to his daughter’s last soccer game of the season.
As I stood in the window of Pizza Palace watching them chat in the parking lot, everyone began leaving the restaurant.
I followed suit, my face flushed red. I could only hope I made it to the SUV before Sutton spotted her dad.
I didn’t want her to know that he’d eaten dinner with Scarlett in lieu of coming to her game.
I’d almost made it across the lot and to our car, when Sutton let out a happy shriek.
“Daddy!” she skipped over to the adjoining parking lot, still holding her ice cream cone.
“Wait,” I cried hurrying after her. “You know not to run off from me in a parking lot, Sutton Hastings!
I kept the twins ahead of me while I jogged after them pushing Sophia’s stroller.
When I reached her, she had a look of intense concentration on her face. “Daddy?” she yelled again, sounding less happy, less sure of herself.
Scott heard her this time, his head jerking towards her voice. His face went pale when he saw us, and he looked guilty. “Hey, little one,” he called.
I looked around, seeing that everyone on our team, their parents, and their grandparents or other family members were all watching. They stared at Scott with Scarlett in disbelief. I wished they’d all go to their cars. I wished none of them had seen this.
I held my head high and closed the distance between me and Scott. Sutton stayed close to the stroller as we walked the rest of the way.
“Why’s Daddy with that pretty lady?” she asked loudly.
I winced inside. The dark look on Sutton’s face was easy to read. She knew something wasn’t right about this.
“I don’t know,” I replied, purposely not looking at Scott.
“I’m afraid that’s my fault,” Scarlett said as if she was talking to a toddler. “I was having a bad day and your daddy made it better.”
I could feel Scott’s eyes on me. I looked at him, and he flinched at the anger he saw there. “And how did you do that?”
Scott cleared his throat. “Scarlett doesn’t know many people in town, and she was upset to have to go out to eat alone.” He shrugged. “So, I said I’d eat with her.”
“How long were you there?”
Scarlett answered before Scott could. “A couple of hours,” she chuckled. “Once Scott and I start talking, we lose track of time.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Is that so?” I asked Scarlett but never took my eyes off my husband. He was rubbing the back of his neck and looking uncomfortable as hell. It might be dark out, but the lights in the parking lot made it almost as bright as day.
“Yes,” Scarlett said. She laid her hand on his arm. They both seemed comfortable with the gesture, and I wondered how many times she’d done that before. And what else they might be doing. I felt sick.
Sutton frowned at Scarlett and turned to Scott. “You want to see my trophy, Daddy? You missed my game,” she said sadly.
I pulled it out of my bag and handed it to her so she could show it to him.
He looked ashamed as he took it from her. “I’m sorry I missed it, honey, but it couldn’t be avoided.”
Was he kidding? I stared at him. “Couldn’t be avoided?” The words slipped out before I could hold them back.
“Um… that’s right.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes.
I was over it. “Scott, why don’t you take Sutton home in your car so she can tell you about the game.”
He shook his head. “Ah, sorry, Sutton. I’ve got to take Scarlett home. You should probably go with Mommy.”
Scarlett beamed. “Scott is so nice. My car is in the shop, so he’s been picking me up and taking me home.”
“Oh, really? How long has your car been in the shop?” I was going to go ahead and guess it was the same amount of time he’d been leaving extra early and coming home extra late.
“Two weeks.” She rolled her eyes. “The part should be here soon, though.”
“Scott, could you give me a hand with the kids?” Could I have managed getting the kids in their car seats on my own? Absolutely. I could probably do it blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back. I’d been doing it at least twice a day for what felt like forever.
I just needed him to come with me so I could find out what was going on without Scarlett being a part of the conversation.
“Oh,” Scarlett grimaced and looked at her watch. “I’m afraid I have to get home as soon as possible.”
“It’s not a problem,” Scott said and opened the door for her. I gaped at him as he came back around to the driver’s seat. “I’ll see y’all at home,” he said with a quick wave, not even acknowledging that I’d asked him for help. “Great job today, Sutton.”
I stood and watched as he left me and his four children in the parking lot so he could take his office manager home.
When I turned, I saw Gloria watching, holding her cell phone to her ear. She was talking a mile a minute, her face flushed with pleasure at my misfortune.
By morning, all of Indigo Falls would think Scott was cheating on me.
And I didn’t even know if they’d be wrong.