No Ordinary Girl

Chapter Fifteen

This surprised me a little. On the surface, Jenna seemed so straight-laced; a list maker, a rule follower, a person who has no time for fun. But I had spotted an orange aura around her when we'd first met, it was hard to decipher under the darkness that enveloped her, but somewhere in there, under the polished woman; the pressed clothes, the perfect hair and makeup, and the expensive jewelry, there was a fun whimsical girl.

"We bantered for hours... I completely ignored my friends," she added with a laugh. "He was so funny when I first met him..."

When I first met him...

I was close enough to read between the lines, between the happy recollections, there was darkness she wasn't talking about. Mason was a man with a temper. A hard man. But he was also a kind, happy man. The dichotomy was probably what made their relationship so complex.

This made me wonder. Was he a violent man? I couldn't quite sense that. And if he was, would he hurt his own children? Could a single rage-filled, impulsive hit have turned to tragedy?

"Can I hold your hand?" I asked quietly.

She nodded, and I reached out to her. I studied our intertwined hands; hers, pink tipped and perfectly manicured, a diamond shining, and mine, bare and ordinary.

"Does he love you?" I asked, going purely on instinct – I'd never done this before. I really had no clue what I was doing. A little part of me wanted to ask Leo for his advice. He'd done this before, after all. I'd received little to no preparation for this. All the questions I was meant to ask had already been asked.

I saw Mason kiss Jenna tenderly, and smile widely at her as he pulled her up to him at the park. I saw him stroke her hair when she was sick. She didn't need to answer. I knew he did.

"I... think. I think he's always loved me."

"And he loves his children?" I asked.

Again, only the sweetest images came to her mind; Mason on the floor with his boy, pushing a miniature Hot Wheels car along a play mat. Kissing the top of Haley's head.

"Yes," she said. "Unequivocally. He loves them more than anyone. He's never..."

She didn't finish her thought, but I knew where she was going. He'd never spoken harshly to his children, as far as she knew. "He's nothing but kind to them."

I shifted and looked over at Leo. He was leaning into us, his elbows propped on his knees – he was riveted.

"He loves them both equally," she added.

These words intrigued me. Why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't he love them both equally?

The next question I asked her took me by surprise. I was still holding her hand. "Do you love him?"

"Uh..." She faltered a little before finally saying, "Uh... yes, of course."

I saw it all then – her emotions were too strong. She had been guarded up to that point, but that question just broke her. She didn't love him anymore. She had at one point. She had been crazy in love with him when they'd first met. But after years of verbal abuse, walking on eggshells, she no longer loved him.

But that wasn't all of it. There was someone else. He was fuzzy. I could barely see him, dark and handsome, a scruffy jaw, messy hair, and large brown eyes, the polar opposite of her husband. There was something about his eyes. He was the one she loved.

She had been unfaithful.

I don't know how I knew this. I just knew. This man was no longer part of her life, but she still loved him.