Papers for Roses

Chapter Thirty Seven

Chapter Thirty Seven

"David was here this morning. I feel like he knows something... If he does, there's a fat chance this thing between us will be in the news! Have you told anyone? I swear to god... if you sell me out..."

"You stood me up!" She huffed. "You're not answering my calls, too. How is this fair? Are you still mad that I talked to Reed? I just gave him a piece of candy for Christ's sake. Answer my calls. Goddamn it!"

"Fuck you! You motherfucking son of a bitch." Heavy breathing. "You told him! We had a deal, Ben, and you told him! David just threw me out of the house. You think I wouldn't bite back, do you? Well, news flash, I'm fucking ready." A sigh. "Oh, Ben..."

"Huh. You came clean to your wife as well? That doesn't change a thing, Ben. Your wife knew you'd been screwing other women behind her back for as long as you're married. Your kids, on the other hand..."

"Hi! I've just had a shitty day. Just calling because I know you wanna hear about it." Some rustles. "David told me yesterday if he sees me with you one more time, he's going to take actions. I saw your family today and told Mariana the same thing. Good-naturedly, of course, since she's your wife and all..."

x.x.x

Megan

"What—"

"I'm done listening," Megan said as she grabbed the player from Wade. "I get what you're saying now."

Wade didn't reply.

"But these are mere words, Wade. Sure, my mom sounded crazy... but this is bullshit—"

"These are pieces of evidence."

She looked at Wade. "Have you talked to your lawyer?"

Megan sensed his hesitancy. She knew they were treading dangerous waters. There was a pile of doubts, fears and thoughts they still hadn't said. She knew that. By the way her heart clenched, she was guessing it wasn't clear to it yet.

"Since the case is already a decade old, the chances of Emily behind bars are slim. But... if I turn these over, which I did, we can come up with different angles to approach this. Your mom dropped a lot of clues."

Megan frowned. "You... you turned these over already?"

"I did."

Something cold and uncomfortable crawled through her arms, to the back of her neck then to her head. She closed her eyes. Inhaling. Exhaling. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips.

She felt like drowning. All this information was too much to take in at once—from not knowing to knowing too much. A headache began to brew behind her lids.

She looked away from Wade.

This man wanted to throw the people who gave her life behind the cell. She should refuse to be righteous at this moment, be at their side, and tell them what was happening. But she knew they would only shrug him off. Tell her not to worry and they would deal with it, just like what they'd been doing for twenty-three years.

Wade wanted to seek the truth through legal means. He meant no harm. He wanted her to be involved, to know the process.

"What's going to happen now?"

"We'll go to the mansion together, ask Father about this, then we'll go on a date." Wade's lips twitched slightly. "Then eventually, we'll have sex."

Megan shook her head. "Charming. Sounds like a plan, I guess?"

Wade gathered her into his arms and kissed her forehead. Her eyes closed as she savored the warmth of his skin.

For the first time since she left their mansion in Florida, she felt out of balance, like her world was swept away from her feet. The freedom she had and the life she built for herself crumbled and all she could do was watch. She was being pulled to two opposite directions yet she felt like there were no options at all.

She just wanted to forget it all and travel through another time. She sighed heavily. "Tell me about them."

The arms around her stiffened. There was a ringing in her ears as the silence continued. Then, Wade took a deep breath then played with the dark tendrils of her hair. "Reed was five years younger and also a complete opposite of me. He had blond hair, like ma's. He was a ray of sunshine and the popular jock in school. But unlike your ex, he was smart."

Megan pulled back. "I've always wondered. How did you know about Aaron?"

He gave her a patronizing eye roll. " Did a thorough background check before I approached you, of course."

She huffed and then she was back in his arms. "I knew it."

She felt the vibration of his chuckle against her cheek. "Yeah? I've discovered lots of interesting things about you."

Megan reared back a little then she frowned. He couldn't have known some crazy facts such as you drink fish oil because Vogue says it's good for your hair. She shook her head. "You're telling me about Reed, I suppose?"

He laughed. "Don't worry, they're not that bad."

"Reed was doing sports?"

He laughed again then squeezed her against him good-naturedly. He felt his lips brushed against her head. "Yes, he did. Ma signed us up in different leagues when we were kids. But she realized early on that I couldn't kick a ball to save my life." They both snickered. "Reed, though, he was good at nearly everything. He could do football, basketball, tennis... but what captured his interest the most was softball. He was a pitcher.

"He was... life, you know. While I'm the quiet guy in the family, Reed was loud. He liked to crack lame jokes, do silly faces... he also had no problem dancing for you if you ask. I'm telling you though, he had two left feet."

"And you?"

She could almost feel Wade smirking. "I don't like dancing."

She scoffed but chose not to reply to that. "How about your mom? What was she like?"

Wade was silent for a moment. "Ma was like Reed. A ray of sunshine. She liked to invite neighbors to our house whenever there where occasions, give them food because she just felt like it. She was loud too, louder than Reed, like she wanted the whole neighborhood to hear about anything and everything under the sun." Wade snickered softly. "She never missed any of our school performances or awarding so you could imagine."

"You must've had a fun childhood," she muttered softly.

Wade's words were equally soft. "I had."

Somehow, his fingers found hers and he squeezed, as if he wanted her to know that he understood all the things she was hiding under her skin.

She closed her eyes and sighed softly. "I'm so sorry, Wade," she whispered so low she doubted if he heard her at all.

The fingers holding hers tightened. "Not your fault."