The doors had barely opened when she bolted from the lift and sprinted down the hallway. Mindless of the time of night, she pounded on the door as loudly as her knuckles would allow. Seconds later, it opened.
“Thank God—”
“Where is she?” Joanna said as she charged past the woman who had answered the door.
“In the bedroom,” Luce said, pointing across the lounge. “Through those doors.”
Joanna rushed across the room and into the bedroom, her heart dropping when she saw Addison passed out on the bed. Hearing a noise behind her, she said, “Did you manage to get her to drink any coffee?”
“No, I tried, but she kept spitting it out. Said she wanted to sleep.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Joanna said, jumping to her feet. “Where’s the loo?”
“What?”
“The loo! Where’s the bloody loo?”
“Oh, it’s right in there,” Luce said, watching as Joanna hurried into the bathroom. “What the hell are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” Joanna said as she ran back to the bed with the small bathroom bin in hand.
Luce tilted her head to the side, and a moment later, she blanched. “Oh my God, you’re not…oh shit, you are,” Luce said, closing her eyes an instant before the sound of heaving filled the room.
***
Joanna stood in front of the bathroom mirror, slowly washing her hands as she tried to get her heart rate to slow. An hour earlier, she had received a call on her mobile from Addison, but when Joanna answered, she found herself talking to a stranger out of her mind with worry. Joanna didn’t know who the woman was, but she did now, and while they had yet to exchange names, more than a few names had already occurred to Joanna. Tossing the hand towel aside, she walked into the bedroom, barely glimpsing at Addison before heading to the lounge.
“How is she?” Luce said, placing the coffee carafe back on the serving cart.
“She passed out as soon as she stopped heaving,” Joanna said. “Do you have any idea how many pills she took?”
Luce shook her head. “All I know is that last night there were three left in the bottle, and now it’s empty.”
“Last night?” Joanna said, crossing her arms across her chest. “So, you were here last night, too?”
If Luce had been closer to the door, she would have already been on the other side, but it was a dozen steps away, and Joanna was in her path. With no escape, Luce let out a long breath. “This just got really awkward, really quickly.”
“It’s awkward for you? Imagine how I feel.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call, and since I know Addison trusts you, when I saw your name come up in her contact list...well, I figured if she trusts you, so could I.”
“What do mean she trusts me?”
“I...I know about your marriage.”
Joanna’s body stiffened, her spine stretching to its extreme as her casual perusal of the stunning redhead morphed into a glowering stare. “Pillow talk?”
“Look, this isn’t what it seems.”
“No?”
“I mean it is, but it’s isn’t.”
“Have you been drinking, too?”
“No, but honestly I think I could use one,” Luce said, setting down her coffee cup. Going over to the courtesy bar, she opened the cabinet and pulled out a bottle of gin. “Would you like something?”
“No, thank you. Coffee’s fine for me,” Joanna said as she went over and filled another cup. As she took a sip of the hotel’s finest, Joanna looked over at the woman across the room and almost instantly, she felt her annoyance surge. Why in the hell did she have to be so damned attractive?
Joanna put down her cup and strode over to the bar. “I’ve changed my mind. Whiskey, please.”
Luce grabbed a tumbler and splashed some single malt into it. Handing it to Joanna, she said, “I want you to know that if I thought she had taken any more than three, I would have called emergency services. I just didn’t think—”
“No, you did the right thing. I just don’t understand why you let her take them to begin with.”
“I didn’t!” Luce said, slamming down her glass. “I left to go home. I got halfway to the bloody lift when I remembered that yesterday there were three pills in the bottle and when I put it away tonight it was empty. I came back in, tried to wake her up, and then I called you.”
“Do you think she did it intentionally?”
“Absolutely not,” Luce said, shaking her head. “She was royally sloshed. I doubt she even knew her own name.”
“Speaking of names,” Joanna said, holding out her hand. “Joanna Kane.”
Taken aback by the sign of civility, it took a few seconds before Luce extended her hand. “Luce Gainsford.”
Joanna sized up Luce as they shook hands, and she liked what she saw as much as she didn’t. Curvy, slender, and with flowing red hair, Luce was a beautiful woman, and the sprinkling of faint freckles across the bridge of her nose added an earthy wholesomeness that irked Joanna to no end. No sooner had their hands dropped to their sides when Joanna asked, “So, what do you mean by this isn’t what it seems?”
“Sorry?”
“A few minutes ago, you said this isn’t what it seems. Care to explain?”
“Oh,” Luce said, taking a sip of her drink. “I meant me being here isn’t based on...on love. I care about Addison, but I’m not in love with her.”
“You’re not?”
“No. I just...um...help her...help her unwind.”
Joanna raised an eyebrow and placed her glass on the bar. “Is that what they’re calling it nowadays? Unwinding? Why not just call it what it is...shagging.” Joanna stopped long enough to give Luce a cool once-over. “Or do you prefer fucking?”
“Maybe I should leave,” Luce said, stepping around the bar.
“How long has this been going on?” Joanna said, blocking Luce’s way.
“What?”
“How long have you helping my wife unwind?”
Luce would have expected jealousy from a wife who was truly a wife, so Joanna’s question gave her pause. Why was this woman jealous? Why was this woman raging jealous? Why did this woman even care? Thinking back to her earlier conversation with Addison, two words popped into Luce’s mind. Oh. Shit.
Escape was only ten paces away, so sidestepping Joanna, Luce headed for the door.
“Not so fast,” Joanna said, once again getting in the way of Luce’s retreat. “I asked you a question, and I want an answer.”
“Look, I’m not sure I should—”
“How long have you been helping Addison unwind?” Joanna barked.
Luce hesitated, running her tongue over her lips to replace the moisture that had somehow just disappeared. “Um...ten years, give or take.”
Joanna’s eyes bulged. “Ten years?”
“It really isn’t what you think.”
“You honestly don’t want to know what I’m thinking right now,” Joanna said, marching past Luce. “I’m leaving.”
“Wait. What about Addison?”
Joanna spun around and glared at Luce. “You’re her unwinding buddy. You take care of her.”
***
Monday morning, Joanna sat at the kitchen table scanning the newspaper. Noah was busy hunched over a gourmet cookbook, and Evelyn was nibbling some toast when the quiet of the room was interrupted by Evelyn’s mobile vibrating on the countertop.
Evelyn picked it up, read the message, and frowned. “That’s odd.”
“What?” Joanna said, looking up.
“It was text from Addison. She said she won’t be home until next week. Something about a business trip to Spain.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Joanna said under her breath.
“And she didn’t come home this weekend either. Did she?”
Joanna turned the page of her newspaper. “I didn’t notice,” she said without looking up.
Evelyn glanced at Noah, and he returned her confused look with one of his own. Typically, their mornings were filled with friendly banter over morning coffee, but Joanna had hardly said a word since walking into the room. Picking up her coffee, Evelyn went over and sat at the table. Noticing Joanna had turned to the classifieds, Evelyn said, “You’re not looking for a job. Are you?”
“What if I am?”
“I doubt Addison would approve.”
“What makes you think I need her approval?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Joanna wanted to retract them. They were harsh. They were loud, and they were wrong. “I’m sorry, Evelyn,” she said, raising her eyes. “That was totally uncalled for and terribly rude of me.”
“Apology accepted,” Evelyn said softly.
“And I’m not looking for a job,” Joanna said, returning her attention to the newspaper.
Evelyn’s curiosity got the best of her. Leaning forward, she squinted to read the upside-down classifieds. “Um...are those the personal ads?”
Since opening the paper, Joanna had yet to read a word. She had turned page after page because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re looking through a newspaper, but the articles and sales ads had gone unnoticed. The only thing on Joanna’s mind was Addison...and Luce.
Joanna glanced at the ads in front of her and shrugged. “As a matter of fact, they are. Why?”
“Joanna—”
“Relax, Evelyn. I’m not in the market for a friend with benefits,” Joanna said, folding the newspaper in half. “Besides, these things creep me out.”
“Then what are you looking for?”
Joanna leaned back and slowly exhaled. “I don’t know, but I just can’t...” Her words faded away as an image of Luce Gainsford began to invade her mind, and before the portrait was complete, Joanna’s jaw had set. “Why does she get to have a life, and I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“How come Addison gets to do whatever and whoever she likes, and I’m stuck here living like a cloistered nun?”
Noah’s and Evelyn’s heads both snapped back in unison.
“What did you just say?” Evelyn said.
“I know about Luce,” Joanna said, casting a quick look in Noah’s direction. “And by both of your reactions, it appears you do, too.”
“How did you—”
“It doesn’t matter, but if she can have a fu...a friend with benefits, why can’t I?”
“Is that what you want?”
“No!” Joanna said, raising her voice. “But I feel like I’m atrophying. The bloody rain won’t stop. I’ve read every book we own three sodding times, and believe it or not, there’s only so much shopping I can do. Look, everyone here has been great, but you have something to do, and you have lives outside this house. I have nothing but this house, and I’m lonely.”
A pained look crossed Evelyn’s face. “I don’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay,” Joanna said, offering Evelyn a soft grin. “I’ll figure something out.”
Letting out a sigh, Joanna returned to the newspaper, scanning the classifieds for jobs she couldn’t apply for and for dates she didn’t want. Turning the page, she kept skimming the columns until an ad caught her attention. Biting the inside of her cheek, she pondered the consequences. “Do we have a driver today?” Joanna said, raising her eyes.
“Yes, George is here. Why?”
“I’m not sure where this place is,” she said, getting up from the table. “Could you call him, please? Ask him to bring a car around?”
“Um...of course, but where are you going?”
Joanna smiled as she picked up a nearby pen and circled the ad. “Here,” she said, tossing the pen on the table as she headed out of the room. “Please tell him I’ll be down in ten minutes.”
As soon as the kitchen door swung closed, Noah said, “That was a quick mood change. What’d she find?”
“Let me look,” Evelyn said, turning the paper around. Taking a sip of her coffee, it promptly spewed from her mouth when she read the tiny advertisement. “Oh, no!”
***
When Addison had awoken at the Langham on Sunday morning, she had found a note from Luce. It was the first time Luce had ever felt compelled to leave a message, and as Addison sat on the edge of bed reading what Luce had written, a torrent of emotions enveloped her. She was embarrassed she had drunk so much and stunned she had taken the pills. She was grateful Luce just didn’t walk away, but the shame she felt knowing Joanna now knew about Luce was like an anvil on Addison’s chest. She had never before felt so common...or so dirty.
Addison spent Sunday in a trance, sitting alone in her suite and trying her best to make excuses for her actions, but the humiliation she felt was far more painful than the pounding in her head. Every lame excuse was a lie, and she knew it. Refusing to face the truth, she did the only thing she could. She ran.
She spent a week in Spain, her days filled with work and her nights filled with rationalizations, so by the time Addison climbed out of the Rolls and walked up the steps to her home, she was as confident as confident could be. In her mind, her lies had become the truth. She answered to no one. She had no feelings for Joanna. She came and went as she pleased, and if Joanna didn’t like it, that was too damn bad.
Just as Addison reached the door it swung open so quickly, she stumbled back a half-step.
“Welcome home!” Evelyn said in a tone loud enough to wake the dead.
Addison eyeballed Evelyn for a moment before walking inside. “What are you doing here?” she said as she took off her coat. “It’s after eight.”
“Yes, well, I had some odds and ends to take care of and...and I wanted to make sure you got home all right.”
Addison narrowed her eyes and looked around the foyer. “What’s wrong?”
“Wrong?” Evelyn said, her voice raising an octave. “Why would you think anything’s wrong?”
“Because you’re answering a question with a quest—” Addison’s ability to speak came to a grinding halt when she saw what appeared to be a long-haired rodent scampering up the hall leading from the parlor, and on its heels was Joanna, laughing as she tried to catch up.
“Sorry,” Joanna said, scooping up the puppy. “He’s a quick little guy.”
“What the hell is that?” Addison shouted.
“He’s a Yorkie-Shih Tzu mix I got from the shelter. His name’s Chauncey,” Joanna said, holding up the puppy. “Isn’t he cute?”
Addison’s face turned scarlet. “His name is going to be Haggis unless you get him out of my house!”
“Lower your voice. You’re scaring him,” Joanna said, holding the pup to her chest.
“Ask me if I care? Now, get him out of here, or I will!”
In two quick steps, Joanna was within inches of Addison, and looking her in the eye, she said, “He’s mine, and he’s staying, and if you harm one hair on his head, the deal is off.”
Addison lowered her chin and glared down her nose at Joanna. “What did you say?”
“You heard,” Joanna said, never wavering from her eye lock on Addison. “I only married you because of my father, but now he’s gone. I have no problem walking out that door right now and not looking back. I won’t live like this, and I won’t live like you.”
“So much for your word being worth anything,” Addison said with a snort as she eyed Joanna up and down.
“I don’t break promises easily, Addison, but you’re giving me no choice. My father’s gone, so there’s nothing left for me here except four walls and a roof, and that’s not enough.”
“Well, that’s all you’re going to get. Now get rid of him.”
Joanna moved even closer, and when she spoke, it was in a whisper. “I think you forget who I am. I’m your wife and the woman who stuck her fingers down your throat when you took too many pills while your mistress looked on. Or did you forget that?”
“So I owe you. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Call it whatever you’d like,” Joanna said, giving a half-shrug as she took a step backward. “But I think this win is in my column, or am I wrong?”
Only minutes before, Addison had walked into her house confident Joanna meant nothing to her, but it seems distance has a way of skewing perspective. Addison couldn’t help but breathe deeply the scent of the woman’s perfume, and the sight of Joanna in tight-fitting jeans, her eyes smoldering with defiance, was like a match to Addison’s flame, turning her single-mindedness into cinders instantly.
Addison was torn. She was bothered her backbone had weakened so easily, but after spending eight days hardly talking to anyone, she found herself enjoying the conversation no matter how heated. She already knew Joanna was going to get her way, but Addison couldn’t make herself give in just yet. Squaring her shoulders, she said, “I don’t like dogs.”
“Why not?”
“They shed.”
Joanna smiled. “He’s a Yorkie mix. He shouldn’t shed that much.”
“They bark.”
“I’ll do my best to keep him quiet.”
“He’ll pee in the house.”
“He’s been here a week, and he’s almost housetrained.”
“Almost?”
Joanna nodded. “Yes, almost, but it should only take another few days.”
Having refused to give the puppy even a cursory glance, Addison finally lowered her eyes and stared at the ball of fur barely filling Joanna’s hand. “He’s too small. He’ll get stepped on.”
“My problem, not yours.”
Standing off to the side, Evelyn had remained quiet throughout the contest of wills, but seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, she stepped forward. “And I’ll help,” she said. “I’m not a stranger to dogs. Between Joanna and me, Chauncey will be walking the straight and narrow in no time. I promise he won’t get in your way.”
Addison looked at Evelyn and then back at Joanna before letting out a sigh and heading toward her study. “Fine,” she said, turning around as she reached the door. “But I don’t want to hear him, and I don’t want to see him. He gets in my way, and he’s gone.”
***
Addison climbed the spiral stairs slowly. For the fourth night in a row, she had exercised until her muscles could take no more, but her exhaustion only added to her loneliness. Joanna had yet to say another word to her, and each time Addison had offered a “good evening” when Joanna appeared in the dining room, Joanna had ignored her, just as Addison had done to her so many times before.
The missing candelabra had gone unmentioned, and the scrumptious meals Noah prepared hadn’t caused Joanna to comment, and Addison was at a loss. Stalemate was a place she’d never been before.
When she reached her study, Addison slumped into the chair behind her desk, and staring at the decanters on the credenza, she frowned. Even the taste of scotch had turned foul. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and listened to the rain beating against the windows. She was thankful for the noise it was producing, but it seemed even Mother Nature was against her as the storm suddenly went quiet. The winds died, and the rain ceased to fall and in that moment of calm Addison heard a noise nearby. It wasn’t rain, and it wasn’t wind, and in a flash, Addison opened her eyes.
She scanned the room only to find it empty, but then she heard the faintest of whimpers. Pursing her lips, she got to her feet without making a sound and peered over her desk. She had found the intruder.
“Get out,” Addison said to the puppy sitting on the floor.
Chauncey’s response was that of a happy baby canine, and his entire body wagged in time with his stumpy tail.
Addison folded her arms across her chest. “I said get out. You don’t belong in here.”
Lying down, Chauncey stretched to his fullest and then raised his butt in the air so it could continue to wiggle.
With a sigh, Addison walked around the desk and looked down her nose at the tiny ball of fur. “Perhaps I didn’t make myself—”
“There you are!” Joanna said, rushing into the room. Scooping up Chauncey, she said, “You scared me to death.”
Addison never thought she would appreciate Chauncey’s existence, but her opinion changed in an instant. Intent on the well-being of her dog, Joanna hadn’t paid any attention to Addison, which gave Addison all the time in the world to pay attention to Joanna.
Addison’s admiration of beauty, like most, had always been based on the end result. Hair had always been styled, and makeup always applied, but it wasn’t until now when Addison truly understood what beauty was. Barefoot and wearing only a plaid robe, it was obvious Joanna had just gotten out of a bath. Her hair was wet and had not yet returned to its natural waves, and void of makeup and freshly scrubbed, her face positively glowed. Never again would Addison base her definition of the word beautiful on anything else.
“Sorry, I must have left my door open,” Joanna said as she hugged the pup.
Intent on giving Chauncey all her attention, it wasn’t until Joanna realized Addison hadn’t responded that she looked up, but whatever she was going to say, promptly got stuck in her throat. At the Langham, saturated with alcohol, Addison’s face had been puffy and her hair, a mess, and beyond that, Joanna hadn’t noticed. She hadn’t been there to admire or to even peruse, but now, standing only a few feet from her wife, Joanna found herself doing both.
Accustomed to seeing Addison in a suit, to see her dressed so casually took Joanna by surprise. In place of pressed trousers were loose-fitting black track pants hanging low on her hips, and barely covering her torso was a nylon hoodie. Unzipped and loose, there was no need for Joanna’s imagination to take charge as she could clearly see Addison’s toned, flat stomach and a white sports bra that wasn’t as opaque as the wearer probably wished.
Joanna’s body reacted instantly, jolting her back to now with a jerk. “Well...um...we should be going. I hope he wasn’t too much of a bother.”
“He wasn’t a bother. He wasn’t in here long enough to—”
Addison’s words were cut off by the slam of the door, leaving her feeling more alone than she had been a few minutes earlier.