Page 37 of The Amendment

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

AINSLEY

“Alright, guys. What movie are we watching tonight?” I asked as I cleared away the last of our plates from pizza and ice cream.

“I think I’m just going to go to bed,” Dylan said with a yawn.

“What? No family movie night?” Peter crooned. He’d worn the same dumb, sickly satisfied grin since we’d had sex hours before. Deep inside myself, I was fighting the urge to slap it off his expression.

Something had changed between us, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I’d always put up with Peter’s lies, knowing I could discover the truth easily enough. As much as he’d like to think otherwise, he was a terrible liar. But this time, this lie—hiding the true reason for his coworker’s visits late at night—had flipped a switch inside of me.

It was exhausting.

Constantly chasing the truth, wondering when and why the next lie would come…

Spending time worrying about his lies when I should’ve been focusing on our children, who had obviously noticed my distraction.

Why had I put up with it for so long? Why wasn’t I good enough to see the real him no matter how hard I tried?

“Nah,” Dylan said. “I’m tired. Julie’s coming down tomorrow morning, so I want to be rested.”

My back tensed. “What? Julie’s coming here?”

“Yeah?” Every eye in the room was on me, and I realized I’d said that entirely too loudly. “Why?”

I stared at my son. “I thought we’d agreed this weekend would be just for family.”

“She’s not spending the night. Her parents are going to drop her off for the day and come get her after dinner. Dad said it was fine.” He jutted a thumb to a bewildered-looking Peter.

“I did?”

“I asked you when we were loading everything into the car this morning, and you said it was fine.”

Peter was slow to nod, and I knew he wasn’t actually recalling any such conversation. “Right. Yeah. Sorry, yeah. I did say that.”

Liar.

“Why does it matter?” Dylan asked. “She’s just coming to hang out with me. It’s not like she’s going to bother you.”

I teetered between punishing him and letting it go. Was it worth the fight? “It’s not that. I just wasn’t planning on having company. I was hoping to get the three of youto myself this weekend. How long’s it been since it was just the family together?”

“Like…every night? Come on, Mom. It’s bad enough we had to come out here with no service. You can’t honestly expect me not to talk to my girlfriend for three days.”

“Oh, come on, now. Don’t be dramatic,” I said, setting the plates back on the table. “You talked to her this morning before we left and you’ll talk to her Sunday when we get home. I think you can handle one day without talking.”

“You can’t honestly expect me touninvite her now. Dad said it was fine! I’ve already told her she can come.” He was on his feet then, his voice high-pitched and panicked.

I sighed, wanting to fend off any argument if I could. “Fine, Dylan. It’s fine. Whatever.” I waved my hand in the air and picked the plates up again, starting to walk from the room as I realized Peter wasn’t planning to back me up in the slightest. “What time is she coming in the morning? Does she have any allergies I should know about? I was planning to cook pancakes for breakfast. Is that okay?”

“Could you make them gluten-free?” he asked, wincing.

I shook my head. “It’s fine. We’ll do eggs. Any other requests for tomorrow?”

Maisy and Riley shook their heads gently as Dylan trudged from the room.

“What about you two? Are you going to stay up and watch a movie with me and your mom?” Peter asked.

“I was planning to go to bed early and read,” Maisy said. “I need to finish my summer reading list before school starts back.”

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