Page 15 of No Child of Mine

He looked past Deborah. Now, there was Nicole. Standing in the doorway. Looking at him. Looking at them. She laughed, a brittle sound of disbelief. She slapped her hand against the doorframe and turned to go.

“Nicole. Wait.”

He pushed Deborah back even as she pulled away.

Nicole stopped.

“I just came to tell you Benny’s caseworker is here.” Deborah glanced at Nicole, her cheeks stained red. “Samuel said you wanted to talk to her.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Daniel rubbed his eyes, trying to get them completely open. His wife stood there frozen, like a deer trying to decide if the hunter could really see her. “I’ll be out in a minute, Deborah. Could you tell Mrs. Thigpen?”

She squeezed past Nicole and disappeared down the hall.

Nicole moved. Leaving. Right behind Deborah.

“Nikki, don’t walk away. She’s telling the truth. I was asleep.” The awful truth twisted in his gut. It didn’t matter that Nicole was seeing someone else. She was his wife, and he still loved her. He couldn’t let her go without a fight. “Stay and talk to me. Please.”

“I’m leaving, and I’m taking the kids with me.” Icicles hung from the words, but her eyes snapped at him with brilliant, white-hot electricity. “What you do is your business.”

“What I do is our business because we’re married. This other guy is just your way of getting my attention.” Phoebe had been trying to tell him, and he’d instinctively cut her off. Postponed the inevitable.

“Joshua isn’t some guy on the side. He’s an attorney from the office. A very nice corporate attorney. He’s divorced. He has two daughters.” She might have been reading from one of those dating service profiles. Finding the perfect date. “He likes to golf and sail and he attends the church I’ve been attending since we separated.”

“If he’s so perfect, why did you come today?”

“To tell you. I tried at the last counseling session but you were so upset by the time it was over, I couldn’t do it. Now it’s not hard at all.” She pivoted and flounced down the hall.

“Deborah’s a friend.” Vertigo spun the room around him. He stumbled after her. She was almost to the front door. “Nikki.” He grabbed her arm and jerked her around. “I don’t care about that guy. I don’t care about anything else. Just you and the kids. If you want to be mad, be mad, but don’t give up on us. We have an appointment Monday with Pastor Wilson. Please be there.”

Tears left tracks in her makeup. Her nose was running and her skin blotchy. She still looked beautiful to him. He tried to wipe the tears away, but her hand caught his fingers. “It’s too late, Daniel.”

Not Danny. Daniel. “I’ll be waiting for you in Pastor Wilson’s office.”

She didn’t nod. “Come on, kids, it’s time to go home.”

For the first time, Daniel became fully aware of Phoebe and Christopher on the couch, Marco between them. His sister-in-law sat cross-legged on the floor with his sister Lily, a stack of papers between them. Susana stood in the doorway that led to the kitchen. She had a telephone in one hand and an address book in the other. They all seemed frozen in their spots, an audience electrified by the performance of two.

“I want to stay here until they find Benny and bring him home.” Christopher’s knuckles were white around the glass he held with both hands.

“Christopher. Move.” Nicole grabbed her purse from the coffee table without looking at Susana, Lily or Piper. The trio of Martinez women would make even the bravest soul tremble in her high heels. Nicole showed no fear. “Now!”

Christopher smacked the glass on the coffee table and made a beeline for Daniel. “Can’t I stay here, Pops?” He burrowed against Daniel’s shirt. “I want to be here when you get Benny back.”

He encircled the twelve-year-old with his arms and let the optimism in his son’s face soak through his aching body. “Squirt, I know you do, but right now, it’s best that you go with your mom. It’s been a long day and it’s gonna be a longer night.”

He let go and caught his chin with one finger, forcing Christopher to look up at him. “I love you, kiddo. Call me before you go to sleep, okay?”

Christopher nodded. His eyes looked suspiciously bright. He didn’t cry in public anymore, but Daniel could see the tears pooling. “Go on, it’s gonna be fine.”

Christopher let the screen door slam behind him. Daniel turned to Phoebe. The surly look on her face and the tense way she held her shoulders told him she wouldn’t be as easily convinced. “I’m older,” she began before Daniel could. “I don’t need as much sleep. I can help my aunts make coffee and serve it. I can be useful.”

Daniel glanced at Nicole. A miniscule shake of the head gave him his answer. “Honey, it’s sweet of you to offer, but your mom needs you at home.”

“No, she doesn’t.” Phoebe threw her mother a hostile glance. “I’m sure she’ll have plenty of company.”

Nicole propelled her toward the door. “Your dad has work to do. He’ll call you later.”

The screen door slammed again.

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