Love War (Battlefield of Love Book 1) Read online

  “You’re welcome, Lee. Thank you again for dropping off the materials. I can’t wait to finally have a bedroom again.”

  Nodding, “Sir, Ms. Harris...I’d best be goin’. See you next week.” He walks around us to avoid the confrontation that is obviously about to happen.

  I wait until the door shuts before asking, “Seriously Doug, what’s this about?” I cross my arms, a little ticked off that he thinks he has a right to pry into my personal life.

  “Reece told me all about Andie and her daddy and how much you like him.”

  “You have no idea what you are talking about, Doug. Seriously back off. Reece is in the other room.” I’m started to get pissed.

  “What I do know is,” he takes a couple steps closer, “I don’t like it.”

  “If you don’t think I can take care of Reece and protect her then I call my attorney right now.” I reach for my phone. “I’m a great mom, Doug, and I would never, I repeat NEVER, do anything to put her in harm’s way.”

  “That’s not what I’m saying. You are a great mom!” He comes a couple more steps closer. “I don’t like you being with another man. Him touching you, seeing you, hearing your laugh.”

  “What the fuck, Doug? Seriously? Now you want to say this shit?”

  “I didn’t know, A.J.” He uses the nickname he gave me in college.

  My grandmother used to call me Aubrey Jane and one time, while lying next to me in my dorm, he overhead, and ever since called me A.J. for short. Well, until our marriage started falling apart.

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “What? You don’t like it? You always used to like it. Remember that one time?”

  “No, I don’t remember.”

  “Yes, I believe you do, A.J.” He takes one more step, too close for comfort.

  “Doug—”

  And before I can finish, his mouth smashes into mine, arms pulling me in. I should stop him, but I don’t. I stand there, mouth closed, the kiss completely one-sided. Not giving in, he grabs the back of my hair, yanking my head back and causing me to gasp. My body fails me and my mind is overwhelmed as I kiss him back.

  Something doesn’t feel right. It’s just a kiss. A kiss that means nothing.

  “Stop,” I try to get out, but he doesn’t hear or just doesn’t stop. “Doug!” I break free of his embrace and push him back. “I said STOP!”

  “What the hell, Aubrey?”

  “We. Are. Divorced.” I stress the words he needs to hear. “I’m moving on and so should you!”

  “Sure didn’t seem like you wanted to move on right then.” He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “Just shut up! Seriously, I didn’t want this.” I’m all over the place now, pacing. Something is coming over me. “We are divorced. Just because we were married and had a child doesn’t mean you can come here whenever you feel the need to get a piece.”

  “That’s not what happened and you know it.”

  “Do I Doug? Because what I think happened is you got tired of your assistant and now since you found out that I may have an interest in someone else, you come over here, lift your leg and piss all over your property.” I can’t stop. The feelings I should have had when Niki told me about the affair are rearing their ugly head. “I. AM. NOT. YOUR. PROPERTY.”

  Outraged.

  “You have no idea what you are talking about,” he argues.

  “I do! You had been having an affair with your assistant for quite a while.”

  “That isn’t exactly true—”

  “Oh come one now, Doug. We are divorced, why not be honest with me...with yourself?” I interrupt him. “You know what? I don’t need to know about that. It’s not why we divorced and it won’t change a thing.”

  “Aubrey—”

  “Don’t Doug! Don’t stand there and try to make excuses for what happened.”

  “I’m not, but something sparked inside of me when I thought you moved on.”

  “Excuse.”

  “It’s not an excuse, it’s a feeling, Aubrey. You know, that thing you didn’t have while we were married.” He hits me with a low blow.

  “Don’t you dare blame me for that. I can’t control how I feel.”

  “Maybe not, but you can control how hard you try.”

  Doug doesn’t stop. He just keeps going and going and the more he talks the more I shut down. I did try. I did feel. I was happy. Something just changed one day and no matter how hard we both tried we couldn’t make it work. He knows that. I know that. But right now he is trying to make me doubt for reasons I don’t know.

  Detached.

  “Doug, please leave,” I say calmly. “Please go in there and let Reece know you are going and then leave.”

  “One day you will see. You will wake up from whatever dream you are living in and realize this was your one chance to make this family whole again,” he says before he disappears into Reece’s room.

  Disbelief.

  Standing there, I let the moment get to me. I know I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not the one who didn’t put the family first. I’m not the one who cheated and I’m not the one who stopped trying. I AM the one who decided that this wasn’t healthy for me, for him or our family. I AM the one who made the decision, but HE is the one who didn’t put up the fight. HE AGREED.

  Coming out of Reece’s room, he storms past me, grabs his keys off the counter and heads out the door, but before the door shuts, he turns around. A conflicted look crosses his face.

  “A.J.? For what it’s worth, I loved you. I still do,” he confesses. The door shuts and he’s gone.

  Contradiction.

  “Mommy? Are we almost there?” Reece is bopping around in her seat.

  “Yes, baby girl. Just right around this corner.” We turn on the park road.

  “LOOK! There’s Andie and her daddy. Do you see them Mommy? Do you see them?

  “Sure do.” I smile weakly.

  “Mommy?”

  “Yes, baby girl,” I answer while pulling into the parking lot.

  “Are you sad today?” Her face is worried.

  “No, why would you think that?” I put the car in park and turn in my seat.

  “Well, you are acting funny after Daddy came. I thought maybe he told you what I did.”

  “Daddy didn’t tell me anything, but do you need to tell me something?”

  “Well, I kindofgotintroublewhileatDaddy’s,” she says so quick I almost don’t catch it all.

  “Uh-huh, go on,” I encourage her.

  “Well, after Daddy was in bed I snuck down to the kitchen and ate the donuts he bought me for this morning, but I couldn’t tell which ones had the pudding in the middle so I stuck my finger in all of them until I found mine.”

  “Reece, what did I tell you about that?”

  “I know. That I should wash my hands first.”

  “Well that’s good too, but what else did I tell you?”

  “Keep my hands out of other people’s things?” She looks at me, hoping she got this one right.

  “Yes, exactly, and if your daddy said those were for the morning, then they were to be left alone.”

  “I know Mommy, but you know those are my absolute favorite.”

  “I know baby girl. What is the lesson you learned from all this?”

  “To always listen to Daddy.”

  “Yes. What Daddy says goes when you’re at his house.You got it?”

  “Yes Mommy.” She withdraws, the rehashing making her feel guilty all over again until she sees her friend running toward her. All is forgotten.

  “Look Mommy! It’s Andie and she sees us! And look! Her daddy is waving. See that Mommy? He’s waving at us.” She hurries to unbuckle her seatbelt and jumps out of the van, running and waving.

  Reaching in the backseat, I grab the picnic lunch and head over to the playground.

  “Hey there.” Drew leans in, giving me a peck on the cheek.

  “Hi.”

  “Let me get that for you.�
�� He tries to take the basket from me.

  “I got it,” I reply, jerking the basket back.

  “Aubrey?” He stands in front of me, checking to see where the kids are before turning back. “What’s wrong?”

  This is where I could lie and say everything is good, hold it in and pretend he has nothing to worry about, or I could just tell him the truth and hope he believes what I have to say.

  “I didn’t want to bother you with it, but Doug said a few things when he dropped Reece off and it got to me.” I grab hold of his hand to reassure him. “I want to tell you all about it, but not in front of the girls. I want this day to be fun and ‘totally epic’ as Reece would say.”

  “Babe, that’s fine. I just don’t want you to have to go through anything alone. I’m here and nothing you could tell me will scare me off.” Drew pulls me in for a hug. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Reeses, my daddy likes your mommy,” we hear Andie whisper to Reece.

  “Really? Does that mean they are married?” Reece asks, trying really hard to use her inside voice.

  “Do you hear them?” Drew looks down at me with a smile.

  “Umm, yeah. So how do we explain this?”

  “Confession time. Andie saw us kiss at the Dream Cream and I may have already talked to her about you.” Drew’s brow crinkles with worry. “But before you get upset, this was the day after the kissing incident and I meant to tell you, but then the whole avoiding thing happened and, well, you know the rest.” He secures his arms around me tightly, seemingly worried I might leave.

  “I guess I better have the talk too.”

  “With the girls being friends, I think it’s the only choice.” He bends to kiss my nose.

  “Reeses look! It’s my mommy! Daddy, Mommy is here.” She points over to the parking lot where a silver SUV is parked.

  “Munchkin, that’s not Mommy. Hers is black.” He turns to me. “She has a black Range Rover that looks like that silver one over there.” He turns me in his arms and points to what the girls are looking at.

  “No Daddy. Something was wrong with the radio. It kept going in and out so she borrowed Grandpa Jo’s,” Andie shouts from the slide. “That’s Mommy! Can I take Reece over there?”

  Drew’s body goes rigid. “Why would she be here?” He lets go of me. “Andie, stay there, I don’t think it’s Mommy.” He jogs over to where the car is parked, but as soon as he takes off, the SUV pulls away and leaves.

  “Drew, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.”

  “That SUV has circled a couple times since you got here. I just thought it was someone who was lost, but now I’m not so sure.”

  “Do you think it was Andie’s mom?” I question. He did say she could make his life difficult.

  “Honestly, I don’t think so. She borrowed her dad’s SUV last week when the radio shorted out. Really, I think Andie is getting her times mixed up.” He takes the basket from me. “Either way, it’s making me uncomfortable, especially with the girls. How about we head over to the shelter to have lunch and just play the rest of the day by ear.”

  “Whatever you think is best. I’ll go get the girls.” I agree, then walk over to the slide to round them up. “Who is ready for some lunch?” I shout loud enough for them to hear me.

  “Me! Me! Me!” Reece slides down. “Come on Andie!”

  “I’m not hungry yet. I want to play.” She crosses her arms and plops down.

  “My mommy packed you Reese’s peanut butter pie and Andes Mints for dessert!”

  “Coming!” Andie caves, running down the slide, scaring the heck out of me, and jumping into my arms. “Thank you!” She squeezes my neck and jumps down. “Come on Reeses, we got pie to eat.” They skip off toward Drew, who is setting up.

  Standing there alone, an uneasy feeling overcomes me. Something about this situation isn’t right. I’m not sure if it’s what happened earlier today or the SUV that seemed to be lurking, but something feels off.

  “Come and get it!” The girls holler, freeing me from my thoughts, as they come running toward me. Each grabs a hand and pulls me along to where is Drew standing, grinning from ear to ear.

  This is what happiness feels like.

  Contentment.

  Aubrey

  SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL DRAMA SUCKS! So, what does one do? Call their bestie who just so happens to deal with kids nine months out of the year.

  “Hey skank!” Niki shouts causing me to turn the volume down on my headphones.

  “Niki, thank GAWD you answered. I need a minute to vent before I head home and by the way, stop answering your phone like that. What if I was Reece?”

  “Calm your tits. She isn’t the one who called so either take your grouchy ass home and go to bed or tell me what the hell is going on.”

  “I’m not grouchy, I’m worn out, but yeah...I’m going to ignore that for right now.” I turn around making sure Reece is still asleep in the backseat.

  “On with it.” I can hear her ruffling clothes around her closet, metal hangers being dragged across the steel pole at lightning speeds.

  “What are you looking for? Going out?”

  “Actually, I’m not at home.”

  “Oh crap! Are you at work? I didn’t think you worked tonight since the club section was closed,” I say, worried I’m going to get her into trouble.

  “Last night I quit,” she says, like it’s no big deal.

  “You did what? Did I hear you right?”

  “I quit,” she confirms. “I got a job offer I couldn’t pass up, but the catch was I had to quit the club today.”

  “Are you going to tell me or do I have to come over there and drag it out of you?”

  “Don’t be judgy OK?”

  Oh crap! This isn’t going to be good. I love the hell out of this girl, but she doesn’t know the meaning of being truly happy, always searching for love in all the wrong places.

  “Am I ever?”

  Which I’m not. Concerned for her, yes. Judgy, not so much.

  “Well, suit and tie guy came into the club and offered me a job to be his personal assistant for the rest of the summer.”

  “That’s wonderful, Nik. Now you don’t have to work all those nights.” I congratulate her, knowing as much as she loved the club, sometimes the nights got to her. Especially when it gets closer to the school season.

  “Not exactly. It’s a 24/7 job.” I hear a door shut and she gets quiet. “I have to be wherever he is, so that means traveling, but the best part is I’ll make fifty thousand for just the summer.”

  “Holy shit! Who is this guy?”

  “Aubrey, you can’t tell anyone. It’s for...”

  Niki stops talking when I hear a door open on the other end. “I thought I told you to have my suit laid out in the bathroom.”

  “I’m sorry, I received a phone call and lost track of time,” she tells who I’m assuming is her new boss.

  “Are you on the phone? I don’t pay you to make personal calls. I pay you to take care of what I need. Now get off the phone and get the suit I need.”

  Geez. What an asshole. I already don’t like him.

  “Aubrey, I gotta go,” she whispers in the phone and hangs up.

  So much for venting.

  Putting the car into gear, I head home and wait for Drew.

  “Mommy, why wouldn’t Andie’s mommy let her spend the night? Her daddy said she could,” Reece cries.

  “Baby girl, go back to sleep. You had a long day and are exhausted.” I try to soothe her as I walk through the house to her bed.

  “Mommy, please. Can you call her? If she can’t come here can I go there?” The tears fall faster. My shirt is drenched. Laying her down on the bed, I pull the covers up. “Lay with me Mommy. I’m sad and need you to love me.”

  How can I say no to that? “Sure, baby girl.” I climb in, lying on top of the covers, hoping not to disturb her when I finally get up.

  “Mommy, does Andie’s mommy not like me?”

  “Oh
honey. That isn’t it at all. Her daddy didn’t know that her mommy had plans for them. He didn’t think it would be a big deal, but to her mommy those plans were special,” I try to explain.

  Honestly, Drew seemed pretty ticked off that she wouldn’t let her stay, but I tried to explain to him from a mom’s point of view that needing to know the parent and the environment is important and that I totally understood and didn’t take offense to her saying no.

  “So, she is with her mommy like when I’m with you and she is with her daddy when I’m with my daddy?

  “Well, kind of. Her daddy has her every Sunday when yours has you on Wednesdays, but when you are at your daddy’s on the weekends she is at her mommy’s.”

  “Can we make a calendar so I know when I can talk to her? I miss her so much.” Her cries turn into a whimper.

  “Sure. We can do that tomorrow.”

  “I’m happier now.”

  “Great, because when you’re happy, I’m happy.”

  Bringing a hand out from under the covers she begins to count. “One, two, three, four, five. Do I get to see her in five days?”

  “Well, she goes to her daddy’s in five days, but I’m sure we could work out something,” I reassure her.

  “If we can’t. I’ll need you to buy me and her a phone so we can FaceTime or really, really strong walkie talkies so we can talk whenever we want.”

  “We will talk about this tomorrow, but for now you sleep. OK?”

  “OK! I love you Mommy.” She closes her eyes. “I’m sleeping now. Can you see?”

  Fighting back a laugh I let her know I love her too. “Right back at ya, baby girl,” I whisper.

  Drew

  “DADDY, WHY COULDN’T I spend the night with Reeses?” Andie lays her head against the window in the back seat of my truck.

  “Munchkin, I didn’t know your mom had plans for you and it was wrong of me to tell you that you could when it wasn’t my night to even have you.”

  “I told Mommy that I wanted Reeses to spend the night and she said she didn’t think that would ever happen.” Her eyes begin to water. “Do you know why, Daddy?”

  “I don’t know, munch. I’ll have to talk to your mom when I get there.”