Page 30 of Falling Again
“There’s the prodigal son!” Alice shouted, raising her now-empty glass at her brother.
Natalie turned to see Anthony standing in the doorway, tie askew and his eyes dark and tired. She knew he’d be exhausted after the laundry list of meetings he had today. Before Natalie could greet him or give him a glass of the quickly dwindling wine, Alice continued her ranting.
“Good news for you though, Tony. Despite your wife’s efforts to get out of the lake house trip, you still get to pack up the house.”
“What?” Anthony asked, stepping closer and taking the glass of proffered wine from Natalie’s shaking hand.
Alice slurped, seemingly oblivious to Natalie’s presence.
“Yeah. She tried to get me to go instead of you guys, but here we are. I’ll stay and watch the kiddos while you drag poor Nat to a week of manual labor.” Alice snatched the bottle and drained the last of it into her glass.
Anthony turned to Natalie, his gaze searching hers before he frowned. Placing his glass on the counter, he side-stepped his wife and sister and headed for the living room. “That’s not really how it went down,” Natalie started to say, but Anthony was already hugging his mother and shaking his father’s hand.
As Natalie was about to lose her mind, she stomped into the living room to clear up the confusion. It was clear from Anthony’s expression that he misunderstood the situation. She wanted time alone with him more than anything.
When she joined the group in the living room she reached for Anthony’s hand. She knew if they could just have a moment alone together she could set the record straight. But judging from how he shrunk away from her touch, she had her work cut out for her.
*
All Anthony had wantedwas to come home to a Norman Rockwell painting—was that too much to ask? His day of meetings could not have been more boring if Anthony tried. The only thing that kept him moving was the promise of alone time with Natalie. Whether it was her intent or not, her text had filled him with a sense of hope. Hope that they were getting back on track.
After the kiss at the diner he needed more of his wife, and not just physically. He wanted to tell her about his day, he wanted to ask about hers, he wanted to get the kids ready for bed early and try to watch that damn Netflix show again. Anthony wanted to do everything, and he wanted Natalie by his side for all of it.
But his excitement died when he saw Alice and Natalie in the kitchen. His sister’s shoulders were hunched and her lips were tinged red, likely from the empty wine glass she held in front of her.
Anthony was so happy to see Natalie that he missed his sister’s greeting. Taking a wine glass from Natalie, Anthony made the poor assumption that the drama had been handled by his parents.
He was wrong.
“What?” he asked his sister to repeat herself.
“Yeah. She tried to get me to go instead of you guys, but here we are. I’ll stay and watch the kiddos while you drag poor Nat to a week of manual labor,” Alice laughed, without realizing the bomb she’d detonated.
Anthony looked at Natalie, hoping he could find an ounce of her normal spark. Instead he saw only discomfort. Discomfort at being found out.
Beyond the ringing in his ears, Anthony heard his parents in the living room. Feeling his throat tighten, he knew he needed to leave the kitchen. Breaking out into frustrated sobs in front of his wife and sister was Anthony’s idea of Hell.
“Excuse me,” he muttered, stepping away from Natalie.
Greeting his parents, Anthony fell into the familiar conversations about the kids and work. Beside him, Natalie’s hand folded into his, but he couldn’t enjoy the sensation. He shook free, trying to remember where he’d put his wine glass. Just as he was going to find it, the doorbell rang.
“That’ll be dinner,” his mother said with a smile. She got to her feet and met Natalie at the door. Anthony watched as they carried the bags into the kitchen and the kids scampered down the stairs.
“Daddy!” Madeline screamed when she saw Anthony.
Seeing his little girl brought a much-needed smile to his lips, and Anthony scooped her up into his arms. “Maddie.” He kissed her cheeks twice before carrying her into the kitchen. Otis sauntered in after them, apparently not as excited by the company as Madeline.
“We watched two movies,” she said, holding up two chubby fingers. “One had cars in it for Otis, but we watched a princess movie for me, too.”
“That was very nice of you to share like that, Maddie. Good girl.” He kissed the top of her head and went to the fridge in search of juice boxes. Opening one for each kid, he got Otis settled in his spot. “You have a good day too, buddy?” Anthony ruffled his son’s hair and kissed his forehead. Even though he wasn’t the baby he had cradled in the wee hours of the morning anymore, Otis still smelled like baby shampoo, and it melted Anthony’s heart.
From his side, he felt Natalie’s hand on his back. “Do you want spicy noodles or fried rice?” she asked. It was a simple question and didn’t mean anything, but Anthony leaned away from her touch.
“I’ll get it,” he muttered, pushing in Otis’s chair before walking around the kitchen island.
Anthony knew that he was being cowardly and childish, but he couldn’t stop himself. Being close to Natalie, especially after this recent development, was killing him. All day he’d fantasized about what they would do when they were finally alone; meanwhile, Natalie was plotting a way to get out of their trip. How could he have misread the situation so badly?
“How’d the power grid meeting go?” Steven asked through a mouthful of spicy noodles. Anthony wanted to ask how he knew about that, but then again, his father still managed to know everything and everyone in Buckeye Falls.
