A Love We Deserve (True Love Book 2)

A LOVE WE DESERVE

Book Two in the
True Love
Series

BETSY ANNE

OTHER BOOKS BY BETSY ANNE

MINE, NOT HERS

Book One in the
True Love
Series

A MODEL ROMANCE

Book Three in the
True Love
Series

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©
2015 Betsy Anne

All Rights Reserved

This book is dedicated to my loving parents, Stan and Mary Ann, who have always made me feel like I could do anything.

I love you both with all my heart.

Chapter 1

I can’t believe how much he
reeks
of her, whoever “her”
is this time. White Diamonds cologne, I think my grandma wore that, and a foul smelling hootchie. God only knows if she’s diseased. Good thing he and I haven’t had sex in, well, I can’t remember when the last time was. I wish he showed me a tiny bit of respect by at least showering the sex smell off before he comes home. Benny, our golden retriever, smells it on him, too. His nose is up in Chris’ crotch as soon as he walks in the door. He used to care more about hiding the evidence of his trysts, but recently it’s like he’s trying to slap me in the face with it.

What can I say? I was once the “other woman,” too. Of course, I was
unaware
of that status since the subject of a wife never came up. Isn’t there an old saying
once a cheater, always a cheater
? I guess it’s true. I feel so stupid.

“Nice of you to call, Chris.”

I huff as I rise from the sofa and head to the kitchen to refill my wine glass. He looks indignant, as usual.

“I
told
you I was going to be late. You were aware of that, so no need to call to tell you something you already knew. Big client meetings all week. I’ll be late again tomorrow as well, so I won’t need the third degree from you then either.”

Asshole. I guess his “big meeting” with the grandma with gonorrhea went so well he has to go back. Whatever. I made my big lonely bed; I guess I have to lie in it. One of these evenings, I’ll summon the courage to tell him to go straight to hell and not bother calling when he gets there. If it weren’t for our boys, I would have been gone long ago. Who am I kidding? If I hadn’t gotten pregnant, we wouldn’t have lasted longer than a few weeks. Telling a man you’re pregnant after only a few weeks of screwing isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but when he comes back with an “I’m married,” that’s even harder.

He heads up to bed, and, hopefully to shower, and I plop back down on the sofa; wine glass full to the top. I feel like calling Katie, but I don’t want to disturb her and Jason this late. Katie is my neighbor and best friend in the world. We only met a short time ago, but I feel as if I’ve known her my entire life. She and her family moved into the house two doors down from us. An elderly woman had lived there for fifty years. After she died, her son remodeled the house from top to bottom, inside and out. Jason snapped it up pretty quick. Our neighborhood is beautiful, but there aren’t all that many kids around and it’s hard when my boys want to run and play.

The day I saw the moving truck, I was so excited. A minivan followed the truck, and I saw two kids, a boy and a girl, get out. My boys ran right over and introduced themselves. That gave her and me an excuse to talk right away. I offered to let her kids stay at our house while the movers did their thing. We’ve stayed by each other’s side ever since.

She and her husband, Jason, were high-school sweethearts. Whenever I’m around the two of them together, I can
feel
the love between them. It’s a very intimate relationship. He adores her like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and she him. They went through a terrible time over the past year. A crazy woman had been stalking Jason for years, and it all came to a head. He had been trying to protect Katie and the kids, but the woman wouldn’t take no for an answer. Poor Katie went through hell trying to find out what was going on. The two of them made it through and are even closer than they were before. I know for a fact that my marriage could never have survived such a nightmare. Now I wonder if my marriage can survive another week.

Chris barely spends time with our three boys as it is, but if he were out of the house, I know they would rarely see him. He is so self-absorbed that unless you’re right under his nose, he forgets about you. I guess that’s how he can cheat so easily. No guilty conscience to get in the way. I struggle with the divorce decision everyday. Is it better to have a “dad” who’s barely around but still married to your mom, or one dedicated parent no longer making lame excuses for the other? Boys are so impressionable, and as they get older they may notice the details and mimic his lying and cheating. Boys want to be like their dad, even when their dad’s a complete jerk. I don’t know what to do.

For now I head to the guestroom, which is now my bedroom, to try to get some rest. The wine has made me sleepy, but has also given me a major headache. I pop a handful of Advil PM and pray for sleep. Asshole.

When I wake up, my head is pounding even harder than it was last night. I don’t think I ate dinner last night, come to think of it. The boys went to my sister-in-law’s house for pizza and a sleepover around 6. All I remember is waiting for Chris. He never told me that he was going to be late; he’s so full of shit. I was hoping we would have a chance to eat, just the two of us, and talk. He’s been on the road continually for about three weeks, and he never calls when he’s gone. I don’t think we’ve had a conversation of more than five sentences in months. I’ve hit my limit.

I go upstairs to freshen up and see if he’ll sit down with me for coffee. I open the door to the bedroom, and he’s gone. What the fuck. Gone? It’s Saturday fucking morning, where could he have gone? I call his cell, and he picks up quick.

“Mel, what do you need?”

Cold as a rotten, stinking fish.

“Where are you? I thought we could spend some time together today.”

“I
told
you, Melanie, I have clients here. I have to go now.”

Click.

His voice was dripping with condescension. My name oozed out of his mouth slowly like he was speaking to someone who couldn’t compute two plus two. He clearly has no respect for me anymore, and why would he? He’s been obviously trying to get me to leave him, and I haven’t taken the bait. Well, this must be his lucky day.

A strange sense of calm washes over me. I’ve made the decision to leave my husband, and I know it’s right. I’ve pled for years to go to counseling and spend more time together. He resisted all of it. Truth be told, he thought he was screwing a young assistant and could wash his hands of her when he’d had his fill. I know he never envisioned a house in the suburbs, three kids and a second nagging wife. Definitely not in his life plan. I ignored the red flags that were warning me that he wouldn’t be in it for the long haul. I had wanted so badly for it to work, I fooled myself for way too long.

I need to talk to Katie. I skip calling, and run over to her house. I knock on the back door, and Jason answers.

“Hey, beautiful, what’s up?”

I realize he’s being sarcastic, especially since I know I look worse than whatever the cat puked up, but I know it’s just in fun. He has a huge, perfect-teeth smile and is one of the most gorgeous specimens God ever put on this planet. Katie’s not jealous, we kid about it all the time. Women gawk at him like crazy everywhere we go. I’m trying hard not to stare because he’s not wearing a shirt and he resembles a statue of a Greek god. Jesus Christ.

Katie gets up from the table, and swats his butt.

“Go put some clothes on before she melts on the garage floor, will you?”

We all laugh, and she gives me a giant bear hug. Right away she knows something’s wrong. Her face is full of concern.

“What’s wrong, Mel? Tell me, I can see it in your eyes.”

She pulls me into the house, and I see Jason come back downstairs with a shirt on. I can’t help but laugh.

“Don’t worry, sweetie, you’re safe with me,” I say to him with a laugh in my voice.

“It’s me I’m worried about when you’re around, babe!”

He pretends to clutch his heart, and fall back. He laughs again, and gives Katie a huge kiss.

“I’m going for a run, sweetheart. You girls look like you may need some privacy.”

He kisses the top of Katie’s head, and pats me on the back. Jeez, can they clone this one? Katie turns her attention back to me.

“OK, now, what’s going on?”

“I’ve decided to leave Chris. I can’t take it anymore, Katie. The lies and indifference are killing me. He came home last night smelling so bad of twat it almost made me sick. God help me, but I have to get out. If my boys learn to treat women like their dad does, it would kill me. I, no,
we
, deserve more than that asshole.”

I get it all out before the tears begin. She scoots her chair closer to mine, and holds my hand while I cry. I’m not sure how long my boo-hoo session lasts, but at the end I feel all cried out. I’m determined to never cry over him ever again.

We discuss the “how to do it” for a while, and I know that I should treat it like ripping off a Band-Aid. No apologies, no excuses. Pack him up, and throw him out. One and done. Now’s the perfect time since the boys are at their aunt’s house. I adore Chris’ sister. She talks more crap about him than anyone. She knows what a jerk he is, and I know I’ll have her support.

Katie and I go to my house to start packing his things. He has some clothes, and a few books but everything that means anything to him is in his office. He never helped me decorate the house. I look around and don’t see one item I think he would want. Katie and I carry three large suitcases down the stairs, and set them by the front door.

“Now I wait, I guess. I have no idea what his plans are today.”

She looks at me with sadness. There’s not a moment when she and Jason don’t know where the other is. They are kind and respectful of one another. I would kill to have a fraction of that in my life. As luck would have it, the front door opens. Timing is everything.

“Forgot my glasses. Hello, Katie.” he says with as much warmth as a polar bear’s ass. His foot catches the first suitcase, and he looks down. The expression on his face indicates he understands exactly what’s happening. He looks like he’s won the lottery. He catches himself, and rights his expression appropriately. Now he appears stunned and upset.

“Is this what I think it is? Are you leaving me?”

“Take a closer look, Chris, those are
your
bags. Technically, you’re leaving me. I want you out as soon as possible.”

He pauses for a moment, then walks over and kisses my cheek.

“OK. I’ll draw up the papers.”

That was it. That’s all he had to say. I guess he’s had that stored in his mind for when the time finally came. He didn’t mention the boys, or custody. My heart is breaking. Not for the loss of his sorry behind, but for three great kids whose father doesn’t give enough of a shit to mention them. They deserve so much better. Sadly, their lives really won’t change much. They rarely see him now as it is.

He picks up his bags and walks out. I look over at Katie and tears are flowing down her face.

“Why are
you
crying?” I ask as she’s staring off into the void Chris just left. She looks over at me, horrified.

“Oh, Mel, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to watch. Doesn’t he care at
all?
”

She comes over and hugs me tight. I feel great. I feel a smile forming already. She pulls back, sensing that I’m happy.

“Are you OK? You look a little crazy right now with that joker smile on your face.”

“I’m really OK Katie. I can’t believe I waited this long to free myself. I’m going to be just fine.”