That wasn’t the case with us. Nick encouraged me to spend time with my friends. That way, he wouldn’t feel so bad leaving me for as long as he had to.
As far as working went, Nick had never been anything short of amazing when it came to supporting my dreams. He’d even put his own teaching and research career on hold, started working for a PR firm that dealt with educating the public on various museums, so I could start my own business.
If he were the manipulative man I often felt he was, he wouldn’t do all that. Would he?
“I’m so glad you’re home, Daddy!” Imogene reached her little arms toward him.
Face lighting up, Nick swooped her into his embrace, her body tiny compared to his.
I couldn’t stop the smile from tugging on my lips as I watched him shower her with affection. If he were such a bad person, he wouldn’t dote on our little girl the way he did.
These were the types of arguments I often had with myself, constantly at war with my thoughts. Just when I was certain there was something off about Nick, he’d do something that contradicted everything I convinced myself had to be true.
Like the time he designed a website so I could take online orders for all the baked goods I’d been making and delivering to friends up until that point, the first step in realizing my dreams of having my own bakery.
Or when he completely gutted our kitchen and had all state-of-the-art appliances installed so I could be more efficient when it came to preparing orders for my thriving business.
Or when he drove me to an empty storefront in downtown Charleston and told me he’d leased it so I’d finally have my own brick-and-mortar bakery.
Like I’d always dreamed.
If he were truly a horrible person, he wouldn’t go above and beyond to do all these things for me. Would he?
Then why couldn’t I shake this unsettled feeling inside me that something was off about my husband?
“And how about my wife?” Nick asked as he slowly walked toward me.
With every step he took, my heartbeat kicked up a little. Not in desire, as once happened whenever I saw him. But something I couldn’t explain. Something that had grown stronger since Imogene was born.
“Is my wife happy to see me?”
I forced a smile. “Of course.”
“Then show me.”
I stood on my toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, not lingering longer than necessary.
“Come now…” He carefully lowered Imogene to her feet. “Is that the best you can do after your husband was gone for two weeks?” There was a teasing quality to his voice. But within the frivolity and lightness, I heard something else.
A warning.
Without giving me a chance to protest, he looped his arm around my waist, pulling my body flush with his. His lips covered mine, forcing them apart, his tongue sliding against mine. His kisses once filled me with so much want. So much hunger.
Now, though, it felt forced.
Most marriages went through this kind of thing. Right? We weren’t the carefree people we were before marriage and a kid. A kid who was in and out of the hospital the first year of her life. That would put a strain on any marriage. And it had. During those early days of Imogene’s life, all my focus had been on her health. I never noticed Nick growing distant until he came to me in tears, confessing he’d been unfaithful.
Any other woman would have been upset.
Not me.
I was actually…relieved. Saw a way out of what I knew in my heart was a mistake.
But, somehow, I’d agreed to counseling instead.
“That’s better,” Nick remarked once he brought the kiss to an end.
It made me feel like he was grading me on my performance.