Maybe he would let her out of bed for a drive. Take her somewhere nice for dinner. They could cruise around and start looking for somewhere new to live. He also wanted to talk with her about what he might do next. All he’d known was the military, enlisting straight out of high school. At least Ellen had her nursing degree. Mac had no idea what he wanted to do. He was smart but had been an indifferent student. He’d just passed his thirtieth birthday. It was time to put on his big boy pants and figure out his life—and their future.
Maybe they could get a dog first. Then move up to kids. They hadn’t even talked about starting a family. Mac had assumed Ellen would want one. This might be the time to bring up the subject and negotiated how many kids they’d want running around the house.
Dropping his bag by the door, he tiptoed through the dark down the hall to the closed door of the bedroom. He heard something, almost like a moan, and grinned. Ellen talked in her sleep sometimes, making all kinds of weird noises.
He’d give her something to moan about.
Mac pushed open the door and was confused by what he saw. A bulky shape hovered over Ellen. Thrusting. The moan came again. Except it wasn’t just any moan. It was a cry of ecstasy.
“Harder. Harder. Faster.”
No mistaking her voice. That was Ellen in their bed.
With another man.
Mac felt for the light switch on the wall and flipped it on. He’d never get that picture out of his head. The broad, tanned back. Ellen’s leg wrapped around it. Her flushed face. The cry of the pair as they climaxed together.
Then they fell silent as they became aware of him. He saw Ellen’s eyes. Not frightened.
Satisfied.
Mac turned and walked out.
◆◆◆
Mac woke, disoriented, then remembered where he was.
In the bed where his wife had betrayed him. Betrayed them.
He lay there, hurt washing over him like it was yesterday and not almost a year ago. He was such an idiot. The real reason his wife had wanted him to stay in the army was because she’d begun an affair with a doctor at her hospital. So, Mac did what she wanted. He went back to the only family he knew and stayed there. Angry at the world. Finished out his enlistment.
He hadn’t responded to her emails or texts for weeks. Didn’t make any calls to her since the thought of hearing her voice only brought fury. Finally, he’d chosen to see what she’d sent as he decided to get the ball rolling for divorce. Unless what she’d sent him were those very papers.
What he’d read shocked him.
Ellen had an aggressive form of brain cancer. She’d been diagnosed three days after he’d seen her in bed with her lover. She begged Mac to come home. He hadn’t.
And she’d died.
Today was her funeral. He’d returned for it, leaving the details to her bossy sister, Edie. Mac decided he owed it to Ellen for the good times they’d once had. His gut told him it was the right call but, then again, he wasn’t too trusting of his gut these days.
Mac showered and shaved but he couldn’t eat. He put on his dress uniform because the few civilian clothes he had weren’t funeral appropriate. He found the key to Ellen’s battered Toyota. He’d need to get rid of it. The house rental was good for another two months. He’d finished his deployment and had waffled on re-upping. He didn’t know why. His family was gone. He’d lost both parents and his sister in a car wreck his senior year in high school, which had spurred him to leave Texas behind and enlist two hours after graduation. It puzzled him why he’d hesitated to continue in the military when he had nothing to come back to. Nothing tied him to San Diego. That was Ellen’s stomping grounds.
He pulled into the funeral home’s parking lot and cursed. Getting out of a gray car was Edie, her louse of a husband, and her parents. Mac opened his car door, deciding he’d be civil and speak. When he saw the murderous look in Edie’s eyes, he knew it had been a mistake to come.
“You show up now, you son-of-a-bitch?” She marched over to him, shaking her finger in his face. “You left Ellen alone at the time she needed you most. What kind of husband does that? What kind of man are you?”
Edie slapped him and flounced off, grabbing her mother by the arm and hustling her away. The two men followed and the four entered the funeral home.
Mac wondered if they knew of Ellen’s affair and the real reason he’d stayed away. He doubted it. Ellen had always been the golden child in her family. No one would believe she would do something like cheat on her husband.
He entered and was greeted by a somber man in his late forties. Mac told him who he was.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Randall. Would you like to come into the chapel and see how everything has been set up?”
“Sure.”
The moment he entered, he saw the mass of flowers. The stateside smell of death. It was different in the field. Mac knew the scent of real death. He’d lost too many buddies to IEDs and bullets. He stood in the back and glanced at the slideshow that started up. It opened with pictures of Ellen as a baby. In her swimsuit. Wearing Mickey Mouse ears at Disney. It progressed through her teen years playing basketball and soccer. Graduation. A few shots with people he didn’t recognize. Then nursing school graduation. Her enlistment ceremony. In fatigues.
The next picture hit him hard. It was Ellen in her wedding dress, standing beside her sister. She hadn’t wanted to spend much money or time on a wedding after their whirlwind romance. He’d teased her that the scar on his shoulder would always remind him of her. Mac wondered if he ever really knew his wife. War heightened emotions. Serving together, they’d grabbed whatever minutes or hours they could until the enemy blew off her leg.
He blinked and saw a photo of Ellen at the beach that he’d taken on their two-day honeymoon. She had a knock-out figure, her blond hair and sky blue eyes set off by her perpetual tan. Just like he liked his women. Another shot from the honeymoon came up, this time of Ellen sipping a drink, a twinkle in her eye.
The next slide jolted him. It showed her standing with her prosthetic leg and several medical professionals. Ellen looked determined and confident despite being pale. A group shot came up next, everyone in scrubs. Ellen had her arms around the two guys standing on either side of her. His gut clenched.
The Asshole stood on her left.
So, he worked with her. Mac never knew that. Hadn’t wanted to know. Didn’t care who the guy was as long as he never saw him again, naked or otherwise. He hoped The Asshole wouldn’t show up today. He’d hate to start a fist fight at a funeral—but he wouldn’t hesitate to do it.
The slides started at the beginning again and it hit him. He hadn’t been in a single photograph. As if he’d been wiped clean from Ellen’s life. That was definitely Edie’s doing. Mac turned away in disgust, wondering if he should leave.
The funeral director touched his shoulder.
“The family is gathering in the back, Mr. Randall. Follow me.”
Mac did and the moment he entered the room, conversation ceased. Everyone gave him the once-over and then the cold shoulder, pointedly leaving him out of their conversations. After ten minutes, they were led by another guy in somber attire back into the chapel and the service began. Edie spoke first, her eyes swollen from crying, all passionate about her loving sister and how many lives Ellen touched and how she was the best person on the planet and would be missed by family and friends alike.