Page 22 of The Wife Stalker

He kissed her on the nose. “They’re going to love you just as much as I do when they get to know you better.”

She nodded but felt a gnawing doubt.

When they left shortly afterward, Evie said a nice thank-you, but Stelli simply ran out the door without a backward glance. The boy was going to take some work, Piper reflected, but Leo Drakos was worth it. She cleaned up and was about to go upstairs and read when she noticed a bare space on the shelf displaying the animals. She’d bought a collection of the big five: elephant, buffalo, leopard, lion, and rhino. The rhino was gone.That little...

She stood there, staring straight ahead, trying to think. Obviously, he’d taken it, but she didn’t want to upset Leo by accusing his son of stealing. She told herself to practice pausing and breathing deeply. She was too angry right now—she’d wait at least an hour and then give Leo a call.

Making herself a cup of peppermint tea, she took her book of affirmations and sat outside on the porch. By the time she’d finished reading and reciting a few to herself, she felt much better. Maybe Stelli hadn’t meant to steal the rhino. He could have just put it in his pocket absentmindedly.

She punched in Leo’s number, and he answered on the first ring.

“Missing me already?”

She chuckled. “You know it. Just wanted to say what a pleasure it was meeting your adorable children. I hope they had a nice time.”

“They did. Thank you for going out of your way for them.”

“Um . . . I was wondering, by any chance, did my glass rhinoceros end up at your house?”

“What do you mean?” His tone became serious.

She laughed nervously. “The kids were looking at the animals, and I can’t find the rhino. Maybe one of them put it down somewhere, and I just can’t find it? Would you mind asking?”

“Sure, hold on.”

She paced while she waited, hoping Stelli would come clean.

“No, sorry. Neither of them knows what happened to it. Stelli said he put it back next to the lion.”

She forced a casual tone in her voice. “No worries. It probably fell behind the shelf. I’ll find it.”

They chatted amiably for a few more minutes, but Piper’s heart was beating furiously. The kid was a little liar, and Leo was blind to his flaws. She intended to clear his vision.

18

Joanna

Even though it had been a month since I’d signed the papers, I still held out hope that the children might be the vehicle to getting us back together. Of course I never said anything to them about it, but I knew that if I made their visits special, they’d go home and tell Leo how much they wanted me to come back. We’d walk to the beach playground a few blocks away, and I’d push the tire swing as we talked about their day. Some days, we’d go over to the little store and get candy. I did whatever I could to make them happy in the few hours before Rebecca came back to pick them up, and I forced myself to put on a brave face so they wouldn’t be too upset.

I knew that Leo was still seeing Piper; I’d seen his car at her house on a few occasions when I’d driven by. But he never seemed to spend the night, and that gave me hope that this was just a mad fling. The children had also mentioned their visit to her house a few weeks ago. I kept my voice casual and asked what the occasion was. They both shrugged and said it had been boring. But I knew if Leo had introduced the children to her, that meant it was getting serious.

The only thing that helped the time pass was the unrelenting pressure of taking care of Mom all day, after which I’d fall into bed exhausted every night. She needed help to get to the bathroom, to get into the shower, and to get dressed. She was terrified of falling and breaking another bone. Over the past weeks, I’dbarely had any time to myself. Between visiting with the kids and taking care of her, everything had gone by in a blur. Mom was getting better, and I was hoping that by the time her leg was fully healed, Piper would be out of Leo’s system and he’d realize he wanted me back.

I was waiting outside their art camp one afternoon, having told Rebecca I’d pick them up and take them for ice cream. My heart lifted, and I opened my arms as they came down the sidewalk toward me. Stelli came crashing into me first, burying his head in my shoulder.

“Hi, sweetheart. I’ve missed you!”

“Me, too,” he said, his eyes filling with tears.

I held my hand out to Evie. “Come on. Let’s make this a fun day. We’re going to get ice cream and then we’ll go to the playground.”

We drove to Carvel and I ordered them each a cone and then one for myself.Why not, I thought. We sat in chairs outside the small building, and they both looked contented as the vanilla ice cream with chocolate sprinkles dripped onto their hands.

“So, how was camp today?”

Evie’s eyes brightened. “We finished our collages.”

I smiled. “Wonderful! I can’t wait to see them.”

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