The master bedroom was at the end of the hall. Charlie didn’t ask why she and daddy didn’t sleep in the same room anymore. He now believed all mothers slept in rooms next to their children to keep them safe from monsters. Was she screwing the poor kid up, or what? Derry moved past her door, loosening her silk robe as she approached the master bedroom. For all the pain of these past three months, she enjoyed a twisted pleasure in tormenting Alec. Look but you know you can’t touch, and I see you looking. She smiled, picturing a helpless Alec watching as dozens of men ogled the new super-sized boobs that would be hers in three months.
The door to the master bedroom was half-open and Derry knocked. This is what it’s come to, Alec, me knocking on our bedroom door. You did this.
“Come in.”
“I need to talk to you,” she said, closing the door behind her. Alec lay on the bed with a pillow propped behind his head reading Forbes. Derry smoothed the robe with her hands, letting it slide open to reveal a pink and black lace nightgown, the one she wore in Hawaii last year. He watched her, his gaze intent. He remembered, too.
“Okay.” His voice turned cautious, just like the lawyer he was.
But she had the control. She sat on the edge of the bed and pretended not to notice the way the nightgown rode up her leg, revealing a long slit of tanned thigh. “I’m going away for a while.”
He said nothing, merely folded the magazine over his bare chest and waited.
If she didn’t know him so well, she would’ve taken his response for casual interest, almost disinterest. But the tightness around his mouth, the slight tensing of jaw, told her she’d gotten to him. She shrugged, looked away, “I’m not sure where yet, maybe I’ll drive up the coast, see some sights.”
“Alone?”
“Probably not.”
More silence. Then, “How long is this going to go on, Derry?”
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