Read Online Tell Me Lies by Jennifer Crusie - Free Book Online

her fists against her chest to keep from hitting him, needing to make it clear to him, needing to make it clear to herself. “I’m not doing this again, Brent. I won’t do this again. I won’t. If you’re cheating, I’ll leave you, I swear V\l leave you this time.”
    Brent glanced at Em, who had stopped on the porch and was watching them. “Nothing’s wrong,” he said, and his voice was too loud. “You’re confused. You just hit your head.” He dropped his voice. “You’re upsetting Emily. Knock it off.”
    “I found underpants,” she said to him under her breath. “Black lace crotchless underpants. You tell me now, you explain that.”
    Em said, “Mommy?”
    “Just a minute, honey,” Brent called back to her. He lowered his voice again. “You know I wouldn’t cheat on you. I promised you. How long are you going to make me pay for Beth?”
    Maddie took a step back, confused. He was so rational. “What about the pants?”
    “I don’t know.” Brent’s exasperation made his voice rise. “Somebody’s idea of a joke.”
    “It’s not funny,” Maddie said.
    “It sure as hell isn’t.” He stepped away from her and went to the porch to Em. “Mommy’s feeling bad,” he told her, and when Maddie followed him to the porch and said, “Wait a minute,” he said, “Not now,” and turned back to take Em’s hand. “Mommy needs a nap. Come on, Em, I’ll take you to Aunt Treva’s so Mommy can rest.”
    Em looked close to tears. “Mom?”
    Maddie drew a deep breath. She’d never wanted to scream at anybody more, but not in front of Em. Never in front of Em. “Daddy’s right. You go stay with Mel tonight. Stay all night. I’ll be okay.”
    Em swallowed. “Are you sure? I could take care of you.”
    Maddie blinked back tears. “Thank you, honey, but I’m just going to take my pills and go to sleep. Honest. You go with Daddy.”
    Em nodded, her head wobbly on her neck. “Okay, but I’m not staying all night. I’m coming home tonight so I can help you when you wake up.”
    Maddie put her arms around her and pulled her close, feeling how stiff Em’s body was against her. “I’m all right, Em. You can stay with Mel.”
    “ No .” Em’s voice cracked and Maddie held her tighter.
    “All right.” Maddie patted her back and rocked her a little, as if she were a baby again. “All right. Daddy can bring you home later, after bowling. Everything’s going to be all right.”
    Maddie watched as Em went down the walk to the car, her face turned back to look at Maddie, her hand in Brent’s hand. Brent, the son of a bitch who was using their daughter as an excuse to escape. She wanted to scream at him, You come back here and talk to me, but instead she waved as he backed the car out of the drive. Then she took a deep breath and went inside.
    She took a painkiller and put the pill bottle on the kitchen windowsill so that the light made it glow amber. Pretty. Then she sat down for a moment so her head could clear, trying not to think about Em or black lace or divorce or her car or anything else that was confusing her.
    It was so nice that she didn’t have a concussion. What the hell did she have? She looked around her. Well, she had an ugly kitchen. They’d put gray linoleum in because Brent had gotten a deal on it, but she was the one who’d painted the walls yellow. Yessir, that was her choice. They certainly were yellow. She felt as if she were trapped in a pound cake.
    At least the black lace had cut through the yellow.
    She got up carefully and moved into the hall. The hall was white. Boring but not offensive. Sort of like Brent. Until today. Today he was offensive and unbearable. She pulled herself up the stairs using the banister, and the strain made her dizzy, so she leaned on the wall until she got to the bedroom. Peach. Why had she thought peach would be a good idea? The quilted headboard was especially ugly. When you got right down to it, she hated the whole room. The whole damn house.