Read Online Almost Broken by Portia Moore - Free Book Online Page A

look forward to now. It’s been two weeks since we were with him. He sends them in the morning and usually around four. We started Skyping the day after I got back home. I think it’s helped to ease the awkwardness of the whole situation. It’s never long, only about five to ten minutes. It’s usually him talking to Caylen and me answering him about her day.
    We talk through Caylen.
    But the texts I look forward to them more than the skyping. They’re specifically for me. Well not really. Things like this make me feel pathetic. He didn’t say “how are my girls” or ask about me in particular, but it still makes my day.
    I think about the conversation I had with Raven earlier. She’s right. God she’s right. Still I can’t shake the tingling feeling shooting up my neck, or the way my day seems to start to feel better when I get these simple texts. How did I end up like this? I know there are so many reasons I shouldn’t feel like this, why I shouldn’t let myself feel like this about them, but not one of those reasons stop the feelings that wrap around me like chains. Chains I don’t want to get rid of, but that I need to get rid of. I take a deep breath and quickly text him:
    Caylen’s great
    Short, direct, and to the point. Well, the smiley face was to let him know I wasn’t being a B. I want to ask him how his day was. What he did, if he thought about me, but of course I don’t ask any of those things. I grab my pillow and pull it closer to me. I think about how Cal and I used to text when we first got together. They weren’t like this though, Cal’s would start off cordial enough and ended with how good he was with his tongue and all the places he wanted to put it. Not much later he’d be at my door to show me. Then when things got bad his texts made me want to break my phone to substitute for his face. My phone alert goes off again. It’s one word.
    Good.
    I roll my eyes. I scold myself for being disappointed. I don’t know what I expected him to say, but the one-word reply was annoying with Cal, and with Chris, it’s no better, but Chris should only be sending me one-word replies. He has a fiancé who gets the long replies. Who gets the smile when she texts him. Those aren’t meant for me. I’m just his wife, after all. A little voice inside of me tells me that title is on borrowed time. I shuffle through my bed to find the remote to my television. When Cal was here there was never a TV in our bedroom. He said the bedroom was meant for two things, sleeping or getting put to sleep. Now the only thing puts me to sleep is usually a marathon of Property Brothers or a season of Real Housewives .
    I watch about half an episode before falling asleep, and the alert goes off again. I grab it and a smile creeps across my face once I see what it says.
    How are you?
    I type back thinking of you and immediately erase it. He wants to know how I’m doing. That’s a first for us. A good sign, right? Or maybe he’s just being polite.
    Had a good day. Nick Jr., gym, good Chinese food. What more can a girl ask for ;)
    I send it and think that it was too much. Ugh. I feel like I’m in high school, overanalyzing a simple sentence. Then my alert goes off again.
    One to ten. How good was the Chinese food?
    I laugh at that, remembering how much he ate while I was with him last time. I quickly type out:
    You sure you want to know?
    UGH That GOOD Huh?
    LOL. Yes. THAT Good.
    Our Chinese food sucks here
    I roll over on my stomach and glance at the mirror seeing the goofy smile on my face. I haven’t seen that smile in a while. I get butterflies in my stomach when the message goes off again.
    Are you busy?
    I wonder why he asks that?
    He’s probably about to call.
    No he’s not going to call me. He knows Caylen’s sleep now. Or maybe he doesn’t. Before I get hopelessly optimistic, I decide to avoid the disappointment.
    Caylen’s sleep right now.
    A few moments’ pass, and I’m disappointed when my alert