him and Nick and Olivia and Mia. The drinks flowed rapidly. He and Nick handled their booze like pros, but the girls were getting a little loud and laughing at everything they had to say to each other.
After about an hour, he got Nick alone. “Hey, Nick, why don’t you show me that great deck?”
“Sure, great night to be outside.” Nick headed toward the French style deck doors. Mia and Olivia danced to some classic rock, and as he hoped, Nick didn’t bother asking them to join in.
Not only did the porch stretch the length of the house, it was quite deep. Jackson leaned his forearms onto the railing with clasped hands and scanned the view. A light breeze blew, lifting the jagged wisps of hair that fell just above his eyes. “This is remarkable.”
“Yeah, this place is fantastic,” Nick said as he surveyed the property.
“You said earlier Kinsley left. Will she be back?”
Nick’s facial expression tensed as he turned from him and looked out onto the water. “I wasn’t thinking. We’re separated.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
Nick leaned back and held the railing to keep from falling backward. “She’s been gone a few months. Took off to Florida to live with a guy she barely knows.” His eyes lowered. It was a while before he looked out onto the lake, silent again. “She’ll be back.”
Not if I have any say in the matter. “What’s she like?”
“She’s great. A little needy though—the family thing; she’s always wanting more of me. There’s a certain aspect to this lifestyle she just doesn’t get. You follow?”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“I made a few slip-ups here and there. One nighters mostly. None meant anything. Mia on the other hand. Now that’s a sticky situation. If Kinsley found out about her? I love Kinsley. I do. But her running off the way she did doesn’t go over well with me.”
“I bet.” He had to say something, or his mouth would have hung in awe.
“The situation is starting to get embarrassing. Stuff like this doesn’t happen in our circle, and it’s getting hard to cover for her. I’d like things to work out. Who wants their family separated? But I’ve had about enough of her childish behavior.”
“Ever thought of going after her?”
Nick’s brows drew together and his jaw set. He leaned forward propping one foot on the railing, as his stiff arms distanced his body from it. “Sure, but going after her wouldn’t work. She wanted me to come back before she left. When I didn’t, she took off. I thought she’d be more patient. I should’ve come back. She hasn’t contacted anyone here in three months. I was just being selfish, and I wanted to teach her a lesson. A woman doesn’t ask her husband to leave. She did. So now, she needs to come back on her own. Otherwise, she’ll be the one calling the shots, and that isn’t going to happen.” He stayed quiet a few minutes. “We’ve had issues, but
they usually pass. Well, at least I thought they did. I thought that once before, too, though. Big mistake—she took a bottle of pills right in front of me. I couldn’t believe she’d do that to me.”
Jackson didn’t say anything, but his mouth did hang open a bit this time. Did Nick really just say she did it to him?
“I didn’t talk to her for months. I forgave her though. She’s a good mother and wife. Until she decided to leave. Not to mention, she’s a great—well.” He smirked, his head slanting, and eyes following along to meet Jackson’s. His smirk faded to a reminiscent smile. “A man doesn’t just throw that away. Just like a women doesn’t give up millions by not looking the other way, if you get what I mean. She has everything she wants with me.”
Except a husband who loves her. More than ever, he wanted to love her and tell her whatever she thought she needed from Nick, he could give her. But at this particular moment, all he desired to do was wipe the smirk off the face of this man who called himself her husband. “Everything she wants, huh.” He clamped his mouth shut before he said something he’d regret.
The music increased in volume. Olivia came out onto the deck and Mia followed. They seemed to be making fast friends. Jackson was leaning against the railing when Olivia came up against him like lightning. He had to steady himself. She was loaded by this point. Mia,