Beneath the Broken - Excerpt

Chapter Two

Devan

"Jack, go get your shower," she barely managed to say when they were safely in the house. Devan needed some alone time and air...lots and lots of air.

"But...but..."

"Now, Jack. Get to it. If you're fast, maybe we'll have time to rent a movie OnDemand." He immediately perked up, flashed her a grin and sprinted toward the bathroom.

Instead of congratulating herself for her quick thinking, Devan went to the kitchen, threw open the freezer door and stood in front of it. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire and the hairs that had broken free of her ponytail were now plastered to her sweaty neck. What the hell was wrong with her? Yes, she had been embarrassed as hell, standing there admitting to her new neighbor that she had shattered his window, but breaking into what felt like a full-blown hot flash? Stammering on his stoop? Blushing like a fool? Gawking at a man in front of her own son? She had never lost control like that before.

That's what happens when you go years without sex. You lose your shit.

Her eyes drifted to the contents in the freezer.

You lose your shit and eat ice cream.

Devan snatched the gallon of Breyers chocolate ice cream and slammed the freezer door shut. By the time the sundaes were made, Jack was showered and dressed. Like usual they clinked their bowls together to toast their night and settled on the coach. Jack already had a movie lined up. "Again, Jack?" she asked as the familiar music filled their small living room.

"Yep!" he said, snuggling into her.

She had seen this movie more times than she could count. It was one of Jack's favorites. She would endure it as many times as he wanted if it kept him smiling and cuddling up beside her. But within minutes of the movie starting, her mind began to drift, no longer on two-ton T-rexes and the sundae that was melting and becoming a pile of mush, but on the sexy neighbor who had awakened something inside of her.

***

Devan woke the next morning refreshed. She attributed her sound sleep to the salty air and the sea breeze that drifted in through her window screens. As a kid, she had loved falling asleep with the windows open while on vacation with her parents and two sisters. Every summer her family would rent a bungalow at the Jersey shore for a week. The rentals weren't anything fancy. Devan and her sisters would usually have to share one bedroom and the homes they could afford were never air-conditioned. But it hadn't mattered. Because during that week, her parents didn't fight about money and her and her sisters didn't engage in their typical sibling quarrels, mainly because they were too busy swimming in the ocean and building sandcastles. For one week out of the year, everything was right...perfect.

And then they would return home to Philly and the fighting would start up again. Her dad's gambling would resume and her mom would accuse him of squandering away all their money.

Devan sat up in bed. She didn't want to think about what had gone wrong. Her focus had to be on the here and now. Her seven-year-old son and their new home in Avalon, New Jersey. Devan threw on her robe and shuffled down the hallway. She cracked Jack's bedroom door open and peeked inside. As usual Jack was half on the floor and half in bed. He had always been a restless sleeper...just like his mom had been.

An image of Stephanie, her beautiful face, the smile that could light up an entire room when she entered it, flashed in her mind. A wave of sadness washed over her. Would her sister be pleased with how she was raising Jack? Devan knew that Jack's basic needs were being met. As a financial analyst, she was of course careful with money. And because of some wise investments over the last several years, she and Jack were more than comfortable. Unlike her own childhood, Jack would not have to watch his parent struggle to make ends meet or witness the electricity being shut off due to nonpayment.