Don't Ask My Neighbor Read Online Free Page B

glass to the center of the table and stood up. I walked, taking slow and calculating steps toward him. I passed him and began making my way up the stairs. Before the third step, I stopped and looked at the photograph of Gage and me, taken as the sun was setting on our wedding day. My eyes stung. I wanted the night, this nightmare, to be over, but not until I shared with Gage exactly what I was thinking. I was certain he was curious.
    “All th is time I thought I had been sleeping beside my husband. Nights I thought I was falling asleep to your truths, I had actually been falling asleep to your lies. You promised to love me until death do us part. I guess your love died, and I didn’t even notice,” I said, laughing nervously. “You know what is the worst thing? Time spent loving you is time I can’t get back?”
    “So loving me has been a waste of your time?”
    “After tonight, should I be thinking of it as something else? I don’t need you to validate this, but I’ve been a damn good mother and wife, and this is how you show your appreciation. But we are entitled to at least one mistake.”
    “Yes,” Gage responded as if I had asked him a question, or if I even needed him to concur.
    “So, you can call Samantha your mistake, and I can call you mine. What happened to your standards?”
    “My standards? My standards?” he repeated.
    “Oh, so you heard me.”
    Though the tears came again, they remained hidden by the darkness. I knew he could hear the cry in my voice. I couldn’t hide the quiver that cloaked every word that fell from my lips. I had been preparing for this night all month long. I anticipated his lovemaking. I’d hope that, this night especially, he was lusting for me just as much as I was lusting for him. A night that I hoped would end with me falling asleep in the arms of the man I’ve always loved was ending with me hurting by the man I’ve always loved. 
    “You have some explaining to do,” I said, continuing my ascent.
    I walked with my head tilted toward the steps, as if I weren’t walking a familiar path.
    “I told you…” Gage began.
    “I know,” I interrupted. “I’ve heard your pitiful apology. But I wasn’t talking about me. I was talking about Alexis and Cody. They’ll want to know why they aren’t seeing their father around anymore, and since you’re breaking up the only home they’ve ever known, you should answer all the questions they’re going to have. Hopefully, you can come up with something better than ‘I’m sorry’, because they deserve more than that. I may know you don’t know any better, but they haven’t realized that about you, yet.”
    Surprisingly, I spoke in a quiet tone.
    “And I don’t want my babies greeted by suitcases when my mother drops them off tomorrow, so as you pack, walk them to the trunk of your car immediately. You win.”
    “What did I win?”
    He assumed a familiar position at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at me. He expected a response, but silence was all that greeted him.
    “What did I win?” he repeated a little louder.
    My muteness did more to him than any reply I could have mustered in all my anger. Grandma Oliphant used to say silence was golden. It took me all these years to find out exactly what she meant.
    I opened the door to the guest room and slammed it behind me. I removed my dress and silver bracelet watch. I stood, looking in the wall mirror that hung above the six-drawer dresser, with my fingers secured around my wedding ring as my wedding day, June 23, 2002, replayed in my mind. I slowly removed the ring, and waited for that one last tear to fall. I made my way to the bed and lay thinking about my husband and Samantha’s betrayal. She’s said it before, “I would give anything to be loved by a man like Gage”. I guess I should have paid more attention to her announcement. It seemed Samantha was ready to give love—or lust—another try, and the best person to experiment with was my husband. She