“You’re not a nag. Do you and your husband go out?”
“Nope. Elijah likes to go out with other people. I guess it’s working for us. I don’t know. Also, I do nag.”
Robin didn’t for a second believe it was working for her friend. If anything, it sounded like Anne was incredibly lonely, and she’d been working at the library for a few months now, only to discover her friend was … hurting. She felt sad and a little selfish. Not once did she really take the time to think about what Anne was going through. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Although, he may hit on you. I’m not sure though. He’s never done it when I’m around, but if he does … unless you want to, that is—”
“Anne, I’m not going to try to date your husband or hook up with him. I’ve got my own problems and besides, you’re the closest person I’ve got to a friend right now. There’s no way I’d betray your trust like that, believe me.”
“You’d be surprised how many women want him, and even some of them claimed to be my friends as well. They would smile to my face and screw my husband behind my back.”
“They’re not your friends. You’ve had shitty friends. I’ll show you what a good friend is like. It’s fine. I won’t even look at your husband. I promise.” Her friendship with Anne was far more important than any man. She didn’t want to meet Elijah. He sounded like one of the worst kinds of men to be attached to.
Arriving at Anne’s house, she was taken aback by how big it was.
“Yeah, I think my husband’s draw is that he makes a lot of money,” Anne said.
“Your house is beautiful.”
“You’ve yet to see the inside.”
“Are we bragging now?” she asked.
“Little bit. Come on. At least I have something to brag about and you’ll have a nice place to stay at with me.”
Robin grabbed Bethany from the car. This was only a temporary accommodation until she was able to move into an apartment. She’d already gotten the details on a place and put herself on the waiting list.
The moment they entered Anne’s house, noise and chaos started. It wasn’t bad either. It brought a smile to her lips. She felt it was a nice change after the quiet stillness of Preacher’s place. Silence didn’t offer her any kind of comfort.
A young boy, he couldn’t have been older than ten, charged toward his mother, holding her. “Emma’s being mean again.”
“Of course she is.”
“She’s saying when she goes to college I’m going to be forgotten.”
“Ignore your sister.” Anne ran her fingers through her son’s hair. “There’s no way you can be forgotten. Your farts stink too bad.”
“I should fart in a jar for her. Let her take it with her all the way to college.”
“Robin, I’d like you to meet my son, Elijah Junior. Junior, this is my friend Robin.”
Elijah Junior pulled away from his mother. His face went beet red as he mumbled something to her. He left only for two of Anne’s daughters to come down to greet them.
Robin didn’t recognize either of them, and then there was Elijah, Anne’s husband.
“What took you so long?” Elijah asked. “I expected you back an hour ago, and who is this?”
One look at him, and she didn’t like him. Maybe it was knowing he’d cheated on Anne and made her put up with it or what, but Robin couldn’t stand him. Then of course there was the way he spoke to her, as if Anne had purposefully annoyed him.
“This is Robin Keats. She works with me. How about I get you settled?”
“Sounds great.”
“Wait, Keats? You’re Bishop’s wife?”
Robin looked at him. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t owe this man any other kind of explanation.
“Is she deaf?”
“No, I’m not deaf, I don’t have to say who I’m married to or not.” It was also kind of embarrassing. Reaper had never once told her his real name. How … strange was that? She didn’t know his real first or last name, so her marriage certificate had been granted to Reaper. She had no way of knowing.
“Anne, I think we need to talk about this,” Elijah said.
“What? This is my house as well and I can invite whomever I want to stay over. Robin needs a place to stay, and well, she’s a friend. Besides, I thought you had a PA to go screw, or should I keep my voice down so the kids don’t know?” Anne asked.
“You’re … we need to talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. You get to do what you want, and now I get to do what I want. It’s fair. Come on.”
Robin followed close behind Anne as they walked upstairs to one of the many rooms.
“Here you go. It was an office, but after everything happened, I threw out all of his office stuff, and now it’s a spare bedroom for any occasion.”
“Is this where you sleep?”
“No, no, I have my own room, but this should do, right? I pulled out the old crib for you. I’ve been meaning to throw it out. I’m not having any more kids, but I don’t know, I couldn’t seem to part with it.” Anne stroked the crib. “It was a different time in my life.”
“How are you coping now?”
“I’m coping. For the kids. I think it’s easier on them if I’m home and acting the part of doting wife.”
“They have no idea he cheats on you?”
“They don’t need to know, you know. It’s one of those … things. The bed is comfortable. I’ve also picked up some milk and food for her. She looks big and strong. Can I hold her?”
“Of course.”
Robin held the car seat with two hands as Anne grabbed Bethany out of it. When it was empty, she placed it in the corner. Anne clearly didn’t want to talk about her life with Elijah and she knew all about the pain of not wanting to know her past, so she left it.
“I’m going to go and get the bags. I’ll be back.”
She left Anne holding her daughter as she rushed out of the house, grabbing the two cases she’d been able to pack, and made her way inside.
After flicking the lock into place, she turned around to see Elijah standing there, watching her.
“You better not take any advantage of my wife.”
Robin couldn’t help it, she laughed. “You’re talking to me about taking advantage. You need to look in the mirror to know what advantage looks like.” This man was clearly crazy. He had to be to think she would take advantage when this guy was doing it every single day.
“She told you?”
“Yeah, and besides, if she didn’t, there was already a whole load of gossip around town. You think this place doesn’t know how to spread rumors? Nearly everyone knows what you do, and with who.”
“I don’t like you being near my wife.”
“And I don’t like men like you who take what they want and hurt whoever the hell they want to in the process, but we can’t always have what we want, can we?”
“Your husband is a criminal.”
“And you’re a cheating scumbag who humiliates his woman all the time. You make a mockery of your marriage to Anne and you take all of this for granted.” Robin took a deep breath. “Are you done with the judgment? Can I go? This can go any kind of way you want it to.”