Evelyn, After by Stone Victoria Helen

Author:Stone, Victoria Helen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503938717
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2016-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

BEFORE

That night her most important ally failed her. After Evelyn had gotten through the long, tense quiet of Saturday, she’d rewarded herself with an early dose of her medication. The sleeping pill had done its job quickly, thanks to Evelyn’s emotional exhaustion. She’d fallen into her solitary bed at nine and had sunk thankfully into sleep, expecting to wake to a new day, maybe find a little hope waiting.

Instead, she’d awoken to darkness and anxiety, sweat dripping from her skin. She couldn’t remember whatever demons she’d been fighting in her sleep, but there were plenty more crouched and waiting for her when she woke.

She squinted at the clock as she wiped a hand over her wet forehead. Only 3:00 a.m. She should still be drugged and groggy. Why was she wide eyed and panicking?

Aware of the clammy dampness of the sheets under her, she shifted to the middle of the bed and wrapped the covers around her. It wasn’t as if there were a husband nearby to disturb. He was at the end of the hall, probably sleeping the sleep of angels, because what the hell did he care about how Evelyn was feeling?

She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing, trying to relax back into sleep. It didn’t happen. Her heartbeat didn’t even slow; it kept kicking, kicking, kicking.

The darkness was no help. Instead of quieting her, it served as a perfect backdrop for the movies her mind had been crafting all day. They were all pornographic. A strange twisting of ugly, rutting, grunting scenes mixed with tender, romantic moments. Gary whispering sweet words into another woman’s ear, Gary screwing someone on the floor of his office, Gary pushing a blond stranger up against a hotel door, unable to wait for the bed.

Evelyn squeezed her eyes shut and hid her face in the pillows. She hated him. Hated him. She’d spent all of today imagining the steps she’d take to rebuild her marriage, but how could she even touch him again, much less forgive him?

They’d made love during the past six months. Not very often, but a couple of times each month. Had he been fantasizing about Juliette Whitman while he’d had sex with Evelyn? Had he closed his eyes to the sight of her body and pretended he was sliding himself into her? He must have, with all the planning and rearranging and lying he’d done to see Juliette. He must have been a little obsessed, a little in love, a little mad for her.

Evelyn moaned into her pillow, her throat burning with her pain, but somehow the tears didn’t come. She needed to cry or scream or something, but she just lay there, rocking herself into the mattress, trying to force her panicking body to calm down.

The next time she looked at the clock, it was three fifteen, and her pulse was still racing. Maybe she should just take another pill. She could sleep through Sunday. She always made a big breakfast for her and Cameron

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