Totlandia: The Onesies, Book 1 (Fall) by Josie Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

trotted off, stroller in hand.
    She could hear Clarisse panting to catch up, but she refused to slow down for her.
    Clarisse certainly wasn’t waiting for her either, so why bother?
     
    11:33 a.m.
    Jillian couldn’t remember a time Scott had been home mid-morning on a Friday since he’d started at Colby & Trask, not even when he was sick with a cold.
    In truth, he was barely home at all anymore.
    He must have heard the front door open, not to mention the click of the stroller’s wheels as she rolled it over the granite floor of the entry foyer, and yet he didn’t bother turning around.
    Instead, he stared out the big picture window, at the bay out beyond the Palace of Fine Arts.
    The run up the hill was like a sleeping tonic for Addison and Amelia, so she left them in the stroller but whispered, “Honey, what’s wrong? You don’t have a fever, do you? The girls couldn’t have given you something, because neither is sniffling—”
    When he turned around, she realized it had been too long since she’d truly looked at his face. The grooves in his forehead were deeper than she’d ever remembered. The hair beside his temples was completely gray.
    And his eyes were red and damp. He sighed heavily. “I want a divorce.”
    If she hadn’t still been holding onto the stroller, she would have collapsed to the floor.
    “What? Why?” She looked down at the girls in a useless attempt to collect her thoughts. All she could think about was how she should take them out of their tiny jackets before they got too overheated, and then go through the motion of preparing their lunch—
    Anything but listen to Scott explain why he wanted to destroy the life they’d built together.
    “I’m sorry, Jillian. But the truth is that I’m in love with someone else.” He refused to look her in the eye, but he guessed her next question. “It’s Victoria.”
    His assistant.
    Ah, now it all made sense.
    It was always Victoria who stayed late with him at the office. And it was Victoria whose calls he took at all hours of the evening, with the excuse that “the China deal has a few details that we’ve yet to pin down…” or “It’s a conference call with Singapore. The investor has questions on the prospectus.”
    Lies, lies, lies.
    “She’s pregnant, Jillian.”
    “Pregnant?” Jillian couldn’t believe her ears. She had to ask, “Boy, or girl?”
    “It’s—a boy. Not that it matters.”
    “You’re lying.”
    He flinched but didn’t deny it. Instead, he rubbed salt in her wound, the worst way possible. “I love her, Jillian. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you if I stayed with you–”
    “ Fair?   Don’t talk to me about fair! I gave up college and waited tables for you!”
    So he couldn’t see her cry, Jillian looked down into the stroller. Amelia was fussing in her sleep. Jillian knew she should pick her up, peel her out of her coat, and stroke her back to calm her down—
    But no. She’d wait until after he left. Then she’d grab both girls and run with them up the staircase.
    He didn’t deserve to see them ever again.
    He didn’t deserve them at all.
    Not that he’d care. Now that he was getting the boy he’d always wanted, he wouldn’t ever make time to see them anyway.
    But he’d make time for his son.
    Just like he had made time for Victoria.
    “Enjoy the view. It’s the last time you’ll see it. I’m keeping the house.”
    “Yeah, I figured as much. And with what you’ll be getting as alimony once the lawyers get involved, I guess I’ll be paying for it, too.”
    “You better believe it. Not to mention the property taxes. That’s what I call ‘fair.’” She was proud that she was able to keep her voice steady.
    As he walked passed her, he murmured in her ear, “Then I guess we both got what we wanted.”
    No! she wanted to scream. I wanted you. I wanted us. I wanted this.
    And all these years, I thought you wanted it, too.
    Her slap left him reeling. It echoed off the two-story-high