Page 21 of No More Lies
I’m sorry, I’m going to be later than I thought. Raincheck on dinner? Not sure what time I’ll be home. Don’t wait up.
She hit send before she could change her mind, imagining the disappointment on Steve’s face when he read it. This morning had been so perfect. After what he’d said yesterday, getting that text from him had been a relief. Breakfast had been just what she’d needed. They weren’t going to discuss work or their marriage in front of their daughter. It had been like old times. There was nothing better than the sound of your child’s laughter to warm your heart and make you forget your problems. Until the damn text. Steve had known right away something was wrong. He read people well; it was part of his job. She couldn’t take another conversation with him right now. This was her job, her problem, and she needed to deal with it.
Megan’s ninth birthday was in two weeks. Diane should be focused on giving her daughter the best birthday party ever. Planning a theme, writing invitations, choosing a cake. Normal mom things. There was nothing more important than being a mom. That had been nagging at her more and more lately. She’d been failing at that, too.
Finally, her hands stilled enough to start the engine. Her phone pinged, and her heart sank as she read the text.
I will wait up for you to come home.
Oh shit. He was pissed. No Angel, no I love you or don’t work too hard. She’d given him positive signals, and now she was backtracking. Again. If it was the other way around, she’d be pissed, too. Even she was struggling to fully understand how she was feeling. She loved her husband, and she wanted to be with him, but she was so unhappy. It felt like her life was falling apart around her. Everything seemed to be escalating, rising up, threatening to choke her, but she did not know how to fix it. She should talk to Steve. Yet she couldn’t. Which was ridiculous because Steve would listen. He’d been asking her to talk to him for weeks. So why was she so afraid to talk to him?
Because then you’ll be admitting you’ve failed.
Sighing, she steered the car into the traffic and headed to her office. It was going to be another long day.
***
STEVE THREW THE PHONE on the table, irritated by Diane’s text. Everything was so good this morning. Don’t wait up? What the fuck?
“Daddy, are you OK?”
Steve forced a smile. “Yes, Pumpkin. Listen, Mommy is not going to make it for dinner today, so it’s just you and me. What would you like to do?”
“Ummmmmm. Burgers?”
“I can make burgers.”
“No, not your burgers. Jerry’s burgers.” She smiled at him and as always, he couldn’t resist. Did she even realize how tightly she had him wrapped around her little finger?
“Burgers at Jerry’s bar it is then.”
“Yes!” Megan flung her arms around his neck and hugged him. It never failed to amaze him how he thought he might burst with love.
“Alright, we’ll have an early dinner. In the meantime, you have softball practice this afternoon. Go get your stuff ready. Daddy needs to make a phone call.”
“Okey dokey.” She gave him another hug before running off to her room.
He stepped onto the back deck, out of earshot of his daughter.
“Hey, Stevie boy, heard you took some time off.” Mackie answered on the first ring.
“Yeah, something like that. Listen, I need a favor.”
“Name it.”
Steve smiled. That was his team, his brothers. No favor too big or too small.
“If I wanted to retrieve text messages from a phone, can that be done without the phone?” Steve had no idea on this techy stuff, but Mackie... Damn, the man knew his shit and never failed to impress him with what he could do with a computer.
“Duh, yeah. Assuming it's backed up, which most are. We’d have to run it past Sam. What phone?”
Steve hesitated. “And if I don’t want to run it past Sam?”
Without hesitation, Mackie said, “Yeah, I can do it, but not at the Farm. Everything gets logged there. But I can do it from my home computer. I have the same software loaded.”
“Mackie, I don’t want to put you in a bad position.”
“So long as we don’t get caught, you won’t.” Mackie’s voice held a hint of humor.