Under The Mistletoe With Me (A With Me in Seattle Novella)(5)

“He is, Stace.” Jules nods. “I know he loves you and Sophie more than anything.”

“That doesn’t mean that he’s not having an affair,” I whisper.

“C’mon, let’s get out of here. I think we’ve done enough damage to my credit card for one day.” Jules sets the few things we’d picked up on a rack and we walk through the store and out to the car.

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” I whisper.

“Well, your first step is to talk to him. Ask him.” Natalie says from the back seat behind me. Jules is driving, where I don’t know, and I’m in the passenger seat.

“I did ask him. He told me to drop it. This morning he told me to have fun today and we’d talk tonight. Oh, God, he’s going to tell me he’s leaving me.” My stomach convulses and I start to pant.

“Stacy, don’t be dramatic.” Jules rolls her eyes and merges into traffic, heading toward my house.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re going to your place.”

“I don’t want to see Isaac yet. I need to calm down and think.”

“No, you need to confront my brother and find out what the hell he’s doing.”

I twist my fingers in my lap and bite my lip until it bleeds. “Maybe you can confront him and let me know how it goes.”

“Oh no, this is all you. But if you want us there with you, we’ll stay. Are you afraid of him?” She looks over to me with narrowed eyes.

“No! No, I’m not afraid of him, I just don’t know if I want the answer to my questions.”

“Stacy, I’m telling you,” Natalie says firmly. “Isaac is not f*cking around.”

“I wouldn’t have ever expected him to.” My God, we’ve had ups and downs, but never, never would I have suspected that he could ever do this to me.

“So, to recap,” Jules starts as she pulls into my driveway, “He took a mysterious phone call at Nat’s last night that he doesn’t want to talk about, and today he sent you dirty texts.”

“Yes.”

“This does not make for an affair, Stace.”

“I know, but it’s so not him.”

“There are no photos of naked women, you haven’t caught him in bed with anyone…”

“No.”

Jesus, I’d die if I found him in bed with another woman. Correction: the other woman would die. A slow, painful death.

“I think this is a misunderstanding,” Natalie says gently. “But, where is this insecurity in your marriage coming from? This isn’t like you, honey. You are not this insecure.”

“I know.” I bite my lip again and fight tears. I haven’t felt like myself since the baby came. Our marriage hasn’t felt the same. “Since the baby was born, our sex life hasn’t been the greatest. We’re both really tired all the time.” I shrug and look down at my hands in embarrassment. “I know our marriage isn’t perfect, but I’ve never felt this disconnected from him. If I’m not satisfying him, someone else will. You’ve seen him.”

“Oh, for the love of Moses, Stacy, listen to yourself. I think you need some hot sex and a vacation, girl,” Jules comments, making me laugh.

“Yeah, that couldn’t hurt.”

Isaac’s truck is in the driveway of our pretty two-story home. It occurs to me that he put the Christmas lights up today, which just makes me more emotional. This is Sophie’s first Christmas. What if we don’t get to spend it as a family in our home?

Jules cuts the engine and pops the trunk.

“C’mon, let’s get your stuff inside.”

We carry my plethora of bags full of gifts for the whole family, and way more than Sophie will ever need or remember for her first Christmas, into the house. Isaac is packing a diaper bag and has the car seat by the door.

“Ladies, you’re back sooner than I expected.” He flashes us a wide happy smile, but all I see is the bag he’s packing.

“Where the hell are you going?” I ask. I hear the desperation in my voice, I know I sound like a complete lunatic, but I can’t make it stop.

“Uh,” He frowns at me and pushes his hand through his soft, dark blonde hair. “Nowhere. I was going to ask Jules if she would take Sophie home with her for a few hours so you and I can have some alone time.”