Secret Indiscretions by Trice Hickman Read Free Book Online

some serious changes.”
    Samuel knew his brother loved him and that he wanted the best for him, but a part of him also felt that Joe was jaded. His brother had suffered two failed marriages and, as it stood, was in a dating slump. “Can’t you just be happy for me?” Samuel said. “I love Vivana.”
    â€œWhy?” Joe asked.
    Samuel had to think for a moment before he finally answered. “Because she’s fun, and exciting, and she balances me out. She’s good for me.”
    â€œDo you think she loves you?”
    â€œShe wouldn’t be marrying me if she didn’t.”
    Joe gave him the side-eye. “People marry for all sorts of reasons. Just like you’re doing.”
    Samuel wrinkled his forehead in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
    â€œYou didn’t mention love as a reason for marrying her.”
    â€œBecause that’s a given.” Samuel could see that he wasn’t going to make any headway with his brother so he ended the conversation and the house tour. Now, as he thought back on that brotherly exchange and many others they’d had in recent months, he had to admit that Joe had been right.
    â€œI should’ve listened to my brother,” Samuel mumbled to himself.
    Samuel looked at the digital alarm clock on Vivana’s nightstand, noting he had only ten minutes before his food would arrive. He quickly undressed and showered, glad to wash away his worries. He emerged smelling good from the expensive bath products he’d used, feeling more relaxed. He walked back downstairs to the spacious family room wearing baggy gym shorts and a Sandhill t-shirt. A stack of documents lay beside him in a neat pile on the couch. Normally, he didn’t mind the extra work his job required, but tonight was different. And just as he didn’t want to eat late, he didn’t want to work late, either. But since he was all alone, with no one to share his evening, the tedious paperwork suddenly turned into a welcome distraction until his food arrived.
    Samuel’s career was one of the bright spots in his life, and he felt blessed to be able to do what he loved. This month made seven years that he’d been the principal at Sandhill Elementary School. When he’d first started, the morale of the teachers, students, and staff had been low, the result of years of sub-par test scores, underperforming students, and a mismanaged administration.
    A county investigation revealed corruption in the front office. The principal was fired, amidst scandalous charges of sexual misconduct, bribes, and kickbacks. Samuel happened to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right credentials and the right connections. He was the assistant principal at a large public school in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and was looking for a change from the grind of city living to a slower pace of life. His fraternity brother, who happened to be a member of the Amber school board, phoned Samuel one night and told him to apply for the position. The rest was history.
    It only took Samuel three years to turn Sandhill around from the lowest performing elementary school in the county, to the second highest. Thanks to his steady leadership, the school that had once been marred in scandal now boasted a full enrollment with a waiting list of children whose parents were willing to pay money to get them in.
    As Samuel thought about his accomplishments at Sandhill and the new projects he had planned for the upcoming academic year, he felt disappointed and frustrated that Vivana wasn’t going to be with him tomorrow night for the staff and volunteer open-house meeting. If it hadn’t been for his wedding band, he knew that most people wouldn’t even know he was married. And because he’d stopped wearing it several months ago, due to the strain of his and Vivana’s lackluster relationship, he knew people would be even more in doubt about his marital