Hello and welcome to week two of my sharing from my upcoming release called Blessed Betrayal.   Last week we were with Cali as she got the news she wasn’t pregnant. Based on everyone’s comments, I think we all agree her husband, Kevin, is a jerk.   Let me know how you feel after this scene.

Excerpt:
Cali lowered herself slowly into the driver’s seat of her sedan. The over-the-counter pain medication she had taken this morning had long since worn off, leaving her body aching. As much as she hurt today, she was still better than yesterday. She had called in sick the day before, for the first time in her two years of teaching third grade at Franklin Elementary school, electing to stay home to give her strained muscles time to recover. She had been achy all day, but her co-workers just thought she was still recovering from the aftermath of the flu. They never needed to know it was the aftermath of an especially long and strenuous Kevin Bennett exercise session that had her in pain.
The house was quiet when she entered the kitchen through the garage. She didn’t expect her husband home until much later tonight. He had gratefully been out of town on business the night before, allowing her body a night off to recover. She knew better than to hope he would be detained another night.
Life had been particularly hellish in the two weeks since her last visit to the doctor. She prayed this was the month she would get pregnant. Things would be so much better once they had a baby on the way.
At first, Cali hadn’t understood Kevin’s big rush to have kids, but she had since found out the details of her grandfather-in-law’s will. The man was as egocentric as they came, wanting to leave behind a legacy of decedents. It was so important to him, that his grandchildren would inherit shares of the sizable estate based on the size of their families. Considering they already lived in a house much too big and owned three vehicles for two people, Cali didn’t understand her husband’s urgency to get a bigger piece of the family pie.
Once upstairs, she swallowed another dose of Tylenol before slipping into a steaming hot bath until the ache of her muscles had eased.
After her bath, Cali fixed a simple grilled cheese sandwich, settling in to grade papers and read a good book. The sound of her cell phone startled her. It was his ring.
“Hello Kevin.”
“Hey. I’m gonna be stuck here another night. I won’t be home until tomorrow night now.”
Conflicting emotions invaded. Relief won. “That’s too bad. I haven’t taken my ovulation test yet, but it’s gonna be any day. Do you think you’ll be home tomorrow night?”
“Yes, Calista. I’ll be home tomorrow night in time to service you properly. I haven’t forgotten my duty as sperm donor.”
His words sparked her anger. She was always so much braver over the phone than when he was there in person. “Do you even hear yourself? We’re married, Kevin. I’m your wife. I think you’re supposed to be a little more than just a damn sperm donor in my life.”
“Dammit Calista, I’m not going to have this discussion over the phone.”
“If not over the phone, then when?”
She heard a shuffle at his end. “Listen Calista, I know things have been kind of rough for us these last few months. I have my reasons for being so stressed. You’re right. We should talk when I get home tomorrow.” He spoke in the gentlest voice she had heard in months. It reminded her of the Kevin she had been in love with once.
Hot tears prickled. She was tired of being afraid. She wanted to trust her husband. “I’d like that Kevin. We can’t go on like this anymore. Things have to change.”
He was quiet long enough that she’d begun to think they’d been disconnected. “I can’t do this right now, Cali. I should be home early tomorrow. Why don’t we go out to Rivers for dinner?”
Damn him. Just when she had her protective walls built around her heart, he would show her a glimpse of the Kevin she had thought she was marrying. His split personality seemed to be on the same biological clock as her menstrual cycle. Two weeks of hellish rutting followed by two weeks of making love. Her heart was developing a case of whiplash.
“I’d love that, Kevin.”
“Go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He didn’t wait for her reply. The call dropped.
It took her a few minutes to realize what was so different about their exchange. It was the first time he had called her Cali in months… even in private.
She dozed off thinking of how happy she had been when he had proposed at Rivers over two years ago and how much had changed since that magical night. Could they get back some of that magic tomorrow night?
*****
Blessed Betrayal  is part of an Erotic Collective Anthology called Twist and is due out on May 15th.
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