The Friends We Keep. Susan Mallery

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СКАЧАТЬ received her first email from his assistant. The following Friday, Andrew had brought home his schedule for the upcoming week. Because that was the kind of man Andrew was. He didn’t want her to worry. He didn’t want her to be concerned about anything.

      From the night they’d met until their wedding had been nearly a year. He’d told her about his first marriage and what he thought had gone wrong. She would have sworn she knew everything about him. But until that night in their small apartment, she hadn’t really understood what he’d been saying.

      Candace hadn’t cared. She hadn’t bothered to keep track of his travel schedule or asked when he would be home. She’d rarely made time for Makayla. Her work was her one true passion. Gabby could understand loving a career, but not at the expense of people.

      Now she looked at his schedule and saw the various meetings he had.

      “Daddy’s going to be home all week,” she told the twins.

      “Yay!”

      “Can we make him brownies?” Kenzie asked.

      Gabby thought about her inability to fit into her dress the previous Friday. Since then she’d been thinking she had to do something. “Um, sure.”

      She could ignore the brownies, she told herself. Just because they were in the house didn’t mean she had to eat them.

      She sorted through Andrew’s suits and shirts. Even with the pile of shirts to go to the dry cleaner’s on Monday, there were still plenty to choose from. She held up a gray suit with a pale blue shirt.

      “Which tie?”

      Only Kenzie considered the question. “The one with the blue and pink stripes.”

      Gabby found it. She hung the suit, shirt and tie and moved on to the next selection.

      While Andrew was perfectly capable of picking out his own clothes, she liked doing this for him. It was a connection, a way to quietly say she was thinking about him and that she cared. Like him leaving her his schedule.

      When they were done, she led her posse back to the kitchen. She didn’t need her wardrobe laid out and Makayla wasn’t back yet from her mom’s. Even if she had been home, she’d made it clear she didn’t want or need the help. She was fifteen, after all.

      Gabby briefly wondered if she’d been difficult at that age and figured she probably had been. It came with the territory. But knowing that didn’t make her any more eager for Makayla’s return. Sunday nights after Candace weekends were always difficult. The visits rarely went well and Makayla usually came home both hurt and angry. She needed someone to pay for what she’d been through and that person was usually Gabby.

      She’d tried talking to Andrew about the temper, the snide comments, the door slamming. But Makayla was always careful to act out when her father wasn’t around and if Andrew had a weakness it was his daughters. Not just Makayla but all three of them.

      A trait she admired, Gabby reminded herself. So she would take the high ground. Or at least try. It was the only advice her own mother had given her when Gabby had been getting ready to marry Andrew.

      “Being the second wife is hard. I’ve watched several of my friends go through it. Think before you speak and take the moral high ground whenever you can. It will make things easier.”

      Gabby had appreciated the advice and the love behind it, so she’d listened. She tried to keep her Makayla-based whining to a minimum and be as patient as possible. She wasn’t perfect, but she did her best.

      The dryer buzzed. She left the twins coloring at the kitchen table while she carried a load of clean clothes to the master. Although it wasn’t her day for whites, she’d wanted to have the special crop pants done when Makayla returned. She wasn’t sure if the gesture would be seen as caring or taunting, but she knew her motives were pure and told herself that would be enough.

      Andrew strolled into the bedroom and crossed the carpet to help her. He picked up impossibly small socks and smiled at her.

      “Remember when they were even smaller?” he asked.

      “I know. They’re growing so fast. I can’t believe they’re starting kindergarten.”

      “How many days?”

      She smiled. He wasn’t asking about the start of school. Instead he was inquiring about her start date.

      “Fifty-four days.”

      “You excited?”

      “Yes, and nervous. What if I don’t remember how to hold down a job?”

      “You will. You work hard and you’re brilliant. They’re lucky to have you.”

      She would be working for a nonprofit, part-time. The job wasn’t anything spectacular, nor was the pay, but it was in her chosen legal field of immigration and she would be helping people who didn’t have anywhere else to go. Plus there was the whole pee alone thing.

      “I’m lucky they’re willing to take a chance on me.” She’d been out of the workforce for just over five years. That was a long time. Although she’d taken a few online classes to keep current on changes in immigration law, she’d been worried about anyone wanting to hire her.

      “You’ll be amazing,” he assured her, setting down another pair of socks, then reaching into his jeans front pocket. “I have something for you.”

      He handed her a Nordstrom gift card.

      She took it, then looked at him. “I don’t understand.”

      “You’ll need new clothes for work. Everything you have from before the twins is five years old. I want you to feel good on your first day back.”

      A sweet gesture, she thought, even as her mind replayed his words. Fear joined horror. Her work clothes were five years old. They were pre-twins, which meant there was no way any of them fit. The being out of style part was the least of it.

      She turned the gift card over in her hands. “We have a charge card at the store.”

      “I know, but this is different. You can buy anything you like without me seeing the bill. You know I don’t care what you spend, but you always want to justify every purchase. This is guilt-free shopping.”

      She stared into his blue eyes and felt a rush of love. “Andrew, you’re very good to me.”

      “I want to be. I love you, Gabby.” He took the card from her and slid it into her shorts back pocket, then rested his hands on her hips. “So, how much time do you think we have until we’re invaded?” he asked, his mouth lowering to hers.

      He kissed her deeply, sweeping his tongue against her bottom lip. She felt his passion, which ignited her own. Their evening together on Friday had been all about slow, sensual lovemaking, but Andrew was fairly spectacular at the “we have three minutes” quickie.

      “It depends on when Makayla gets home,” she said, already eyeing their bedroom door. “The girls are coloring. Five minutes, maybe ten.”

      He was already unbuttoning her shorts. “Think you can come in СКАЧАТЬ