The Wrong Sister (27 page)

She swallowed, because she did remember that day. “I remember it,” she said softly. They had all gone to see the old military fort that was a few miles from the house they rented. It was built in the early nineteen hundreds with several other forts to protect the entrance of Puget Sound. It was a large, concrete cavernous structure buried into the earth, overlooking a peninsula-like piece of land. The views went on forever each way of dark blue waters, islands on the horizon, and big, white-capped mountains of the Olympic Mountains, and the picturesque Port Townsend across the water.

They picnicked there and explored it. The kids climbed up and down the old ladders and scared themselves silly descending into the deep, cool, dark depths of the old ammunitions storage structures. They all screamed “echo” and made ghostly sounds. All of them, adults included. Micah was a running monologue of history. He loved old military stuff and read up well enough to be their tour guide. She teased him the entire day about it. He teased her back by pretending to be a cold, monotone-voiced guide. But several times, he pulled her into one of the dark tunnels and kissed her senseless for a few seconds, only to release her with a wicked smile as their kids made loud, obnoxious noises outside. He gave Kylie piggyback rides and put Ally on one of the guns to take pictures, even though it was strictly forbidden.

All the while, Vickie was upset. Her shoes, a heeled pair of sandals, hurt. She didn’t want to walk anymore. She was hungry. Thirsty. Tired. She sat down at a picnic table, and her look of extreme boredom was enough to keep Tracy away from her. As Donny carried Julia, he stopped to feed her. He preferred to be with Tracy’s family and her parents rather than sitting with bored Vickie.

She closed her eyes. It was, in essence, a commentary on exactly who she and Micah were as a couple. Prim and proper outside, but fun, hot, sexy and sweet inside. Micah was the only one Tracy allowed to see those sides of herself.

“I knew then, I would never get to walk around with my family, and tour anything, or vacation and have fun like you and your family simply because Vickie would never do that. You know, be how you guys were.”

“Yes. I always strove to be what one would consider ‘a good wife.’”

He laughed a dry, sarcastic sound. “Shit. That’s not what I was thinking at all that day.”

“Isn’t that what you just said?”

“No. I said, I realized I married the wrong sister.”

She gasped. No. He did not just say that. What? What was he
saying
? They were talking about a year ago, not six months ago. Not when she and he were so screwed up, they were vulnerable to making a multitude of mistakes, including being attracted to each other.

“He told me things. Micah told me a lot about you. I learned over the course of our friendship, things with you weren’t always how you presented them. I found that intriguing. You never noticed. I watched you. I noticed you. I started to really see the complicated, interesting woman that so enthralled Micah. He never thought he was good enough for you. Did you know that?”

Her mouth was open, but no sound came out. She had no idea what to say or do. What was this? “N-No.” Her voice came out as a small squeak. She buried her head on her knees as she felt the flushing warmth of a blush filling her cheeks.
Oh God! This was not happening.
Did he say he married the wrong sister?

Meaning what? She was the right one? No. No way. He could not be saying this to her
.

His knee started to bounce next to her. “I began to see what Micah saw in you. Shit. No that came out wrong. That came out as an insult, like before that, I couldn’t see it. I’m trying to do the opposite. You come off like this innocent, sweet, nice woman. I love that about you. It’s a huge part of who you are. But, you’re so much more. There’s so much that you hide from everyone. Maybe because you only felt the need to share it with Micah. Well, anyway, after that, I began to see it. That also highlighted all the things that were lacking in Vickie with regards to being a spouse, and worst of all for me, a mother. That doesn’t mean I wanted you. What I mean is: I started to realize maybe I didn’t really love Vickie after all.”

“No shit! You married her after a four-month whirlwind of unbridled sex. You had no idea what you felt for her. You didn’t even remotely get to know her.”

“Yes, that dawned on me last year. Vickie seems like the interesting sister. I guess, I started to see she wasn’t all that interesting. She’s pretty straightforward with what she has to offer. Beyond the surface... she’s not very interesting.”

“Sex, you mean?”

“No, it wasn’t all that superficial. She had that helpless, kind of lost, little girl act going on.”

“You would have looked right over a resourceful girl like me.”

He sighed. “I began to see that day that you were the interesting, compelling sister whose layers would take years to get through. Quite simply, you had the personality that keeps a man interested. Not your sister. It was a shock for me to realize that.”

“What kinds of things did Micah tell you? He didn’t really have guy friends. I never knew he talked to you.”

Sex? No. No way
. Micah would never betray her like that. Would he? Then again, a year ago he was knee-deep in treacherous lies and desperate. What wouldn’t he do?

Donny shrugged and his gaze left her. She felt like she could breathe a little easier. “You deserve better than him.”

She let out a strangled breath. “I just want him.” Her voice cracked. “I still just want him. If he returned… I’d take him back without a second thought. I’d beg him to stay with me. I would. Nothing he’s done would stop me from wanting him still. How can I be so pathetic?” Tears filled her eyes. “I should hate him, but the worst of this is I just want him to come back to me.”

The desperate, sad confession flew from her lips. She shook her head, hating herself for her weakness. She sniffled as snot filled her sinuses. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to stem the flow of tears. She could not bear to look at Donny and see the pity and repulsion in his eyes at her helplessness and outright weakness. For not being stronger. For not knowing she deserved better. For being a desperate housewife willing to take back a man after he does the unthinkable. For still feeling that way.

“Tracy. That’s not pathetic. That’s grief.” Her name on his lips sounded soft and kind. Strong. Lifting his arm, he dropped it over her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. It had been so long. It felt like years, not months, since she’d been in a man’s embrace. Donny tugged her so she was against him, crying. He didn’t stop her. His hand rested easily on her shoulder.

Donny.

He was there for her in a way no one else had ever been. Not because others hadn’t tried, but he just totally “got” it. What she was feeling. The agony that churned in her gut. His pain was so similar, yet different enough that they could still help each other out. They could comfort each other. They could talk to each other. They could say things they dared not say to anyone else.

Donny strangely evolved from being Tracy’s platonic, kind of okay brother-in-law, to… her best friend. The only friend she wanted right now.

Donny’s arm was around her. His mouth was near her ear, kind of soothing her with his shushing. He let her cry on him over a man who didn’t deserve it. Micah damn well didn’t deserve that. Her loyalty. Her love. Her grief. Her tears. Anger started to boil in her chest. Micah did not deserve anymore of this. Not from her.

She stiffened her spine and simultaneously, angrily, lifted her head. Her motion was so quick and surprising, it put her mouth suddenly right near Donny’s. His neck jerked back an inch in bewilderment, until their eyes fastened on each other’s. Her breath caught in her throat, and she gulped to swallow.

Donny had very long eyelashes. Why had she never noticed them before? The thought drifted through her brain. It was such a stupid thought to have just then. He had pretty eyelashes? But he did. Thick and long, they swept over his brown eyes. Warm eyes. Eyes that smiled with kindness and concern for her often. Her best friend. Surprisingly, her dearest friend now. His looks did not attract her before, not beyond the usual, but he was generically hot. He had a nice body with wide shoulders, a thick neck, a well-shaped head, and healthy, full, shiny brown hair. But now, she noticed the different glimmering lights in his brown irises. Sometimes, his eyes crinkled kindly in the corners when he held Julia, or talked to her kids, and even to her. Sometimes they burned in anger. When he voiced his opinions. No shrinking violet this one. Though, when Tracy was with him, neither was she.

But now, his face looked different to her. Her heart lifted and reacted in a physical way to his features. His look just now as she caught his eye was hard. It was probing. Awkward. Hot. Real. It provided the most excitement she’d felt in a really long time.

The muscles around his mouth tightened. His eyes left hers and narrowed on her mouth, which stupidly, albeit, predictably, parted.

“Tracy,” he said again, but this time, his tone was husky. Soft. A strange intensity was present in it.

His head moved and she saw his mouth getting closer to hers. She could have moved. Or sat up. Or stood up. Or run away.

No. She just sat there. Staring in shock. In awe. In horror. In the throes of temptation.

His mouth touched hers in a soft joining of lips. Of breath. Of sighs. His mouth fit over hers and tasted her wet, soft heat. She moaned after a moment, shifting towards his chest, as her entire body became pliant and fell against his. His mouth opened, and the tip of his tongue touched her lips. She groaned and tightened her hand in the folds of his sweatshirt. He shifted forward, pressing his mouth harder on hers. His hand left her shoulder to cup the back of her head and tilt it closer to his.

Her entire body started to heat up and her core nearly ignited. She opened her mouth and tilted her head more so his tongue could more deeply enter her mouth. He groaned as the kiss went far beyond what they might have written off as silly mistake between friends. Or things gone too far.

Now? This was making love to each other’s mouths. This was two tongues twisting together rapturously. Teeth scraping. Hands holding each other tightly, demanding more from the other.

His hand ran from her shoulder, to her chest, over her breast and down her bare legs. His fingers stopped and tapped on her thighs. Waiting. Seeing. Wanting her to stop him. Instead, she moaned and shifted her hips towards him, offering him easier access.

His hand gently, slowly, slid up under the hem of her shorts where they stopped mid-thigh. He touched her. The seam of her panties stuck to her skin from the sudden wetness now filling her. She opened her mouth to be devoured by his as his hand pushed further, and his fingertips slipped to the side of her panties and came inside her. She opened her legs and pushed herself towards him as his mouth consumed hers. His tongue was in her mouth, her throat, and her lips. She rubbed herself against his hand. Then he touched the right spot. It was nothing. A finger. How could it do so much? Make her feel so much? So deep? So hot? So explosive?

His mouth lifted from hers. He kissed her cheek, and her neck, moving down to her collarbone. “This is what you were doing down here, wasn’t it? Touching yourself? Missing him?”

She gasped and closed her eyes as his fingers plunged deeper inside her. She moaned and his words registered in her mind.
Oh God! He knew.

“Fuck him, Tracy,” Donny said softly that was at odds with the hot, sensual, dark assault of his hand inside her and his mouth over her skin. His words were uttered between his tongue on her skin. “Fuck him,” he repeated as he kissed her lips, her cheeks, her neck and back to her mouth. “He doesn’t deserve you anymore. I’m starting to think he never did. Forget him. Feel me
. Feel this
.” His pressed his palm up against her harder as his fingers plunged deeper inside her. Her body forgot to care that this was wrong. This was not how things were supposed to go. Her body responded to his fingertips in a hot, swirling mess of heat and colors behind her closed eyes. She helplessly clung to all the sensations ruling her body and exploding through her mind.

He shifted so she was cradled in his lap, and nearly holding onto his neck. His mouth was on hers again and she was lost to everything except the thrilling sensations inside her. Then, nearly crying and shaking, she was coming in his arms. It went on and on as he pressed and plunged in just the right spot to prolong the intense, blinding feelings in what felt like minutes… forever.

And then it was done. She closed her legs as he pulled his hand from her. His mouth stayed on hers until their passion slowed and faded. Their lips finally touched and separated one last time. He rested his forehead on hers.

That simple act, so small and minor, filled her eyes with tears. That simple contact was what she was starving for. Craving. Desperate to experience. The contact that led to this. This was the emotional connection that she lacked with Jim and why she could never, not even once, come with him. She closed her eyes and never wanted to open them again. She knew when she did, she’d have to face where she was, and what she’d done. And most difficult of all, was whom she did it with.

****

“Oh my God. What have we done?” Her voice was low and garbled as her forehead lowered and rested on his shoulder. He could feel her chest taking in a deep breath and imagined her pale, freckled skin turning bright red in shame.