Emma's Secret: A Novel

Peter’s coffee in front of him before sitting down in one of the room’s chairs.
    His head jerked up, and he spilled the coffee he’d just grabbed. “What? No.”
    Megan’s brows rose as she took a sip of her coffee and stared at her husband.
    His message notification sounded again.
    “I realize you’re working from home this morning, but would you mind turning your sound off for a few minutes?”
    Peter jabbed a button on his keyboard with his index finger, and then pushed himself away from his desk and stood up. Megan watched as he stretched his back, working the kinks out of his tired muscles.
    “So if it wasn’t a client, who was it?” Megan waited until he sat down in the opposite chair before she asked again. She had an idea who it was, but it would be nice if he told her himself.
    Peter held the cup in his hands and stared into it. The silence in the room stretched until it wrapped itself around Megan like a suffocating blanket.
    “Is there an issue?” As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice. Peter caught it when his head lifted, and he looked at her with tired eyes.
    “No,” Peter shook his head. “It was Sam. But it’s not what you think…which is why I…you tend to overreact when it’s her—”
    “That’s not an excuse,” Megan interrupted him.
    Peter leaned forward. “I know.”
    That was all he said.
I know.
As if that would make any difference.
    She let the silence stretch between them. She wanted him to tell her on his own accord, without her fishing it out of him. She wanted the truth for once. Lately, that seemed too much to ask for.
    “Figured you might want one of Jan’s cinnamon buns.” She indicated the plate on the tray.
    She watched him take a few bites, savoring the pastry but refusing to look her in the eye.
    “You’ll never believe who I ran into at the bakery.”
    Peter took another bite of the bun and looked at her quizzically.
    “Detective Riley.” She watched as he struggled to swallow. “He wanted to make sure you got his message.”
    A pin could have dropped on Peter’s desk and the neighbors would have heard. Megan wanted to wipe the shocked look off her husband’s face with her cinnamon bun, but she liked Jan’s baking too much to waste it like that.
    As she took a bite of her own cinnamon bun, Peter struggled to clear his throat.
    “Listen, I wanted…” Peter’s struggle was obvious. “I didn’t know…”
    Megan had no sympathy as he struggled to explain himself to her. It was all she could do not to let her anger take over. Even Kathy would be proud of how she was handling herself right now.
    “Just tell me the truth, Peter. That’s all I ask.”
    Peter let out a deep breath. “The truth?”
    “I deserve that much, don’t I?” She angled her body toward him and waited. A tangle of emotions crossed Peter’s face as he searched hers. What was he trying to find? Acceptance?
    “He’s an old man, Megan.” Peter leaned forward. “He’s lost everything, and I…just didn’t think he was a threat to Emma. So I asked Detective Riley to drop the restraining order. It wasn’t necessary.”
    Megan leaned back in her chair. “You didn’t think to discuss this with me first?”
    “No.”
    The impact from that one word hit her hard. It wasn’t that he forgot, but that he purposely didn’t want to talk to her about it first.
    “Why not?”
    Peter clasped his hands together and stared off into the distance. “Because you’re not willing to let go and see past your own anger. All you concentrate on is keeping Emma safe from anyone and anything that could hurt her.”
    Megan’s chest tingled as she stared at Peter and tried to wrap her head around his words.
    “That’s not fair,” she whispered. “I’m trying, Peter. I’m really trying.”
    Peter blew out a puff of air. “I know. And you’re right, I should have told you. I need you to trust me on this. He’s not going to hurt her, not the way you’re afraid of. Don’t you see how much she misses him?”
    Megan nodded. “I do see. And I hate it. I hate that he had the opportunity to mean so much to her. It’s not fair.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    Megan wiped the tears away and looked up in surprise.
    “For what?”
    “For not trusting you enough. I should have told you.”
    Megan tilted her head. That was the problem, wasn’t it. “Yes, you should have. But you didn’t. Why? What aren’t you telling me? You’ve seen him, haven’t you? So has