To Be Cherished

Chapter One

Chapter One

“ARE YOU f*****g Edwin?” Glen Lansky stood in their kitchen, palms down on the Formica counter, his eyes begging Cherish to say no and just laugh it off.

She didn’t laugh it off, however. Instead, she became pissed. Really pissed. “What the hell are you talking about? Faith’s the one f*****g Edwin. Not me. He barely talks to me anymore, too busy bending my sister over his desk more than likely. Where the hell did that come from, anyway?” How the hell did their evening escalate to him accusing her of having an affair? Glen came home just like always, played with Jordie for a bit, the two of them on the floor playing with plastic dinosaurs all over her living room, the living room she just finished cleaning, actually. Of course, they didn’t clean up after themselves, assuming Mom would do it just like she always did. Not that Cherish didn’t bust her ass all day at Rutherford Construction. Hell, she had to do twice the load at work with Faith on the West Coast with Morgan, not that Edwin or Faith cared for that matter. As long as Cherish’s sister was off having fun, no one cared if Cherish got stuck doing all the work in the office. She turned back around, snatching the sponge out of the sink and grabbing the next plate. “That was a gutsy accusation.”

Glen shrugged beside her, keeping his gaze fixed on her even though she refused to look at him. How could she after that accusation? “It’s just you seem more on edge than normal, especially about work. You’ve done nothing except complain about Faith’s trip and how Edwin doesn’t seem to care about the effect it’s had on you. All you’ve talked about over the last couple of weeks is how much time Edwin spends with your sister. It’s all you talk about, actually. Faith and Edwin. I know it’s not because you’re worried about her.”

“Hell no, I’m not worried about her. She can f**k whoever she wants.” Cherish scrubbed the plate with vigor, releasing her anger onto the ceramic dish. “Faith’s had her nose so far up Edwin’s ass lately, she could probably tell you what his boss had for lunch.”

“If you don’t care, then why are you so angry about it? Why do you even care?” He took a deep breath, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Cherish, but you sound jealous.”

“Jealous? Of Faith? Why the hell would I be jealous? She’s a timid little mouse who’s finally broadened her experiences. I just hate that she’s chosen to do it at work. Hell, she only has that job because of me.”

He shrugged as he slipped his hands into his jeans’ pockets, turning and leaning back against the kitchen counter. “Because she went to Tampa with Morgan and you didn’t. Because Edwin spends more time with her than with you these days. Because she seems to enjoy her life right now more than you’re enjoying yours. To be honest, I really don’t know why you’re jealous. I thought you enjoyed your life. I’m just telling you how you’re acting.”

Cherish rolled her eyes. “If she wants to play house with Morgan in Tampa, what do I care? She’s probably trying to sleep her way up the corporate ladder, and Morgan has a hard-on for anything with a v****a. She’s already banged Edwin. It only makes sense that Morgan would be next. Hell, Neal might even get a shot.”

Cherish could see the pain in Glen’s eyes and knew he figured out the truth. He didn’t have proof, of course, just his intuition. But he knew, and he reached out trying to get her to admit her affair so they could figure out what to do next. If she just stopped fighting and admitted she cheated on him, they probably could fix their marriage; she could keep her family together. Yet, she was too hurt, too damn angry. It wasn’t just Glen’s accusations or the fact he busted her. Those were actually small items she could fix if she would just take the time. No. What pissed her off so much was the fact that it was Wednesday night, the week half over, and Edwin had barely paid her any attention in Faith’s absence. Cherish assumed—hoped, actually—with Faith out of the picture for a week, Edwin would need his itch scratched, and Cherish could work her way back into his life. Yet, he maintained the buffers between them, never allowing the two of them to be alone for her to attempt to regain his attention. It was obvious his mind remained on Faith. Cherish still had two days to make it work, and she wasn’t about to give up and throw in the towel, confessing all to Glen. She started herself down this path, and there was no way she could back up and admit defeat now. Edwin just needed to realize he needed her more than he needed Faith.

Cherish just stared at Glen, her shoulders rising and falling with her heavy breathing, the tension twisting her gut, the conflicting worlds of work and home threatening to undo her.

Glen stared back at her, but whereas her eyes were daggers of fire daring him to challenge her, to accuse her once more, his resembled a kicked puppy who only wanted the pain to end, for someone to love him, to cherish him. He stood for a moment longer, staring at her, and then just nodded and walked out the door. “I need some air.”

She should run after him, call him back, done something. Instead, she just watched him leave, listened as his car started and then faded off into the distance. Ten minutes passed before she realized she still stood in the same spot.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Glen’s head hurt, his stomach a twisted mess, his heart… His heart broke. He kept taking deep breaths, doing his best to keep the tears from falling. Everything made sense now. All the time Cherish spent working late, the weekends where she had to go in suddenly, the texts and late-night phone calls. He should have known, should have seen it happening. Yet, he had closed his eyes and stuck his head in the sand, ignoring the signs and pretending his family wasn’t falling apart. But it was falling apart, collapsing around him.

He turned down New Haven Avenue, heading to the one person he knew he could talk to about Rutherford Construction and the drama that was Edwin Coldwell and the Driscoll sisters—Selby Greer. Glen tried Selby’s house first, but he wasn’t there, so Glen assumed his brother-in-law stayed busy at the bookstore he owned while Faith was in Tampa. Glen stopped, bought a six-pack of Shock Top, and headed downtown for advice more than company.

Faith and Selby were the happiest couple Glen knew, and Selby did a great job keeping the Driscoll family from interfering with that happiness, something Glen had failed to do, especially with Valerie, the Driscoll matriarch. Instead, he permitted his mother-in-law to control more of their lives than he ever should have, because it seemed Cherish needed her mother’s mothering. The woman even controlled their schedules too much, a mistake Glen now regretted deeply. If only Glen could have pushed Cherish to stand up to her mother, like Faith had, and loosen up some and have fun with him. Instead, Cherish decided to have fun without him, her adventures private and behind closed doors. He bit his lip, twisting the steering wheel in his hands as he did his best to keep his anger down.

Downtown Melbourne was lit up for a Wednesday night, the dinner crowds shifting to the mid-week bar-hoppers. Streetlamps illuminated the cobblestone sidewalks and streets as people walked from one bar to the next, browsing the store displays they passed. Pulling into a vacant spot in front of Selby’s Downtown Books, Glen shifted his car into park and turned off the engine. He just sat there for a moment, staring at the front of the store, debating whether or not opening this part of his life up to Selby was a smart decision. He already talked to Selby about the jealousy between Cherish and Faith, Cherish’s obsession with Edwin. Selby told him Faith and he had an open marriage, and he knew his wife screwed around with Edwin. It wasn’t a secret. Or at least, Selby implied that’s what was happening. He never came right out and said Faith slept with her boss, just that he knew she flirted around with other men, teased them, and allowed them to cop a feel once in a while. He even admitted it turned him on and suggested Glen talk to Cherish about opening up their marriage. Now Glen wished he had talked to her about it, maybe then she would just admit she cheated on him, maybe then they could be having fun and laughing, instead of him sitting in front of Selby’s store with his heart torn out. If only she told him what she wanted…

Glen shoved his driver’s door open and slid out of the car with a deep breath. Pushing the door open to Selby’s bookstore, the cowbell gonging over his head, he called out, “Selby!” He watched as Selby weaved his way through the bookshelves to the front of the store. “I swung by your house, but obviously you weren’t there. So, I thought I’d gamble you’d be hiding here.” He held a beer out for Cherish’s brother-in-law.

Selby took it, a curious expression on his face, and the two men clinked bottles. “Cherish doing better with Faith out of the office?”

Glen shook his head as he leaned back on the counter. “Yes and no. She’s busting her ass and working overtime, bitching that Faith isn’t there to do anything. I don’t know if Cherish will ever be happy.”

Selby just laughed. “They all have too much of their mother in them.” He took a long swig from his Belgian white.

“Bite your tongue. Why would you wish that on us?” The one thing Glen didn’t need was a miniature Valerie Driscoll. He didn’t need the full-sized one, either, for that matter.

Selby shrugged. “Genetics. Arni’s the only calm one.” That itself was an understatement, and both men knew it. The entire time Glen knew the Driscolls, he never once heard Arni so much as raise his voice. The truth of the matter was the Driscoll children all possessed their selfish sides, and that was all Valerie, because Arni would give you the shirt right off his back. Valerie and the kids were every-man-for-himself, even Cherish, something which came out more and more over the past couple of weeks.

Glen watched as Selby stared at his beer bottle, obvious that his mind was somewhere else right then. As the other man lifted his bottle to take a drink, Glen said, “I asked Cherish if she was f*****g Edwin.”

Selby spit out some beer as he choked on what he managed to swallow before Glen’s abrupt announcement. Selby’s eyes watered as he tried to get his coughing fit under control. “You timed that,” he said, his voice strained.

Glen gave him a sheepish smile as he flipped through a children’s book on the counter. “Sorry. I guess that was kind of random.”

Selby took a deep breath as he said, “Don’t worry about it. And?”

Glen shrugged. “She got pissed I even asked.” Glen looked up, his chocolate eyes fighting back tears. “She’s always laughed off comments like that before, but this time she actually got pissed.”

“So she denied it?” Selby leaned back on the counter, his gaze focusing on something far away, even though he did his best to listen to Glen. Perhaps he was going through the same thing Glen was, wondering how much of the Driscoll sisters’ exploits he actually knew.

“Have you heard anything? I mean, has Faith said anything that would indicate that Cherish was banging their boss?”

Selby shook his head, his shaggy blond hair swishing across his forehead. “No, Faith has only talked about herself lately.” He shrugged. “You know how it is, any mention of the other and both sisters get ridiculous.”

Glen sighed. “Yeah, I know. I really wish I knew what was up between the two of them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them get along.”

“Faith’s never said anything outside of Cherish being Val’s precious baby. I just assumed it was sibling jealousy. Of course, Val is great at digging the trench between them deeper. As it sounds, Edwin is only adding fuel to the fire.”

Glen lifted his beer bottle to his lips. That’s an understatement.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cherish sat on the couch, sipping wine, when Glen finally returned home. He said nothing, at first, just dropped his keys on the small table by the front door and went into the kitchen and pulled a beer from the fridge. She decided not to start any conversation, waiting to see where his mood was at the moment. She didn’t want to start another fight.

She heard him pop the top and take a long swallow before he returned to the living room and plopped down into the recliner. He still said nothing, the silence deafening.

For a moment, Cherish debated asking where he went, but only for a moment. She didn’t want to know, wasn’t even sure she had a right to ask right then. Instead, she decided to just pretend nothing happened earlier and life was normal. Deny all accusations, even when the evidence stared you dead in the face. She took a sip of wine, and then said, “Mom called while you were out to talk about Jordie’s birthday. She’s offered her house for the party again.”

“Now, there’s a great idea,” Glen rolled his eyes as he lifted his beer bottle to his lips for another swallow.

Her temper flared. “What’s that supposed to mean? My mother loves Jordie. She’s just trying her best to give him a great birthday, like she always does. We have the party there every year. I don’t see what the problem is.”

Glen held his beer with both hands, dangling it between his legs. “Yeah, it’s just everyone else she hates. Every time we have his party at your parents’ house, things get tense and awkward, and you know it. You know damn well she does her best to instigate my mother into a fight. Why do we always have the party at her house as opposed to neutral territory? I think it’s time for a change.”

Cherish’s eyes went wide as she gawked over at Glen. “My mother does not hate your mother. That’s pretty rude. How dare you!”

“What it is, is pretty damn honest. Your mom always tries to put on a show for my parents, doing her best to make them somehow feel inferior to her. She does it all the time, doing her best to one-up everyone. It’s childish. No. We’re not having the party at your parents’ house. We can have it here or at a park, even the playroom at McDonald’s for all I care, but not at your parents’ house.”

“Is this because of earlier? You think I’m screwing around behind your back, and so, you’re taking it out on my mother?”

He blew out a sigh, shaking his head. “This has nothing to do with earlier and everything to do with how your mother treats my family. Treats everyone, actually. No. It’s not happening.”

“I’m not having Jordie’s party at McDonald’s. I’m not celebrating my son’s birthday around a bunch of strangers.”

“Fine, then we’ll have it here,” Glen said with a shrug. “It’s two weeks away. I’m sure we can clean up the place by then and make it presentable. Do we have a list of who we’re inviting?”

What the hell? “Wait. Are you saying our home isn’t presentable for company? Excuse me, but I work for a living just like you. I’m not going to come home and spend all night working on the house after dealing with a bunch of idiots all day long.”

“I never said you had to. What I said was, we had time to clean house before inviting people over. Do you really want people to see the house like this? It’s a mess.”

“And that’s my fault?” She couldn’t believe him.

“I never said it was anyone’s fault. It just is what it is. Why are you arguing with me about the house? Now who’s holding onto the angst of earlier?” He shoved himself to his feet, walking back toward the hallway. “I’m going to bed.”

“We need to settle this about the birthday,” she called out after him. She couldn’t believe he just got up and walked away. What the hell was he thinking?

“It’s settled,” he called back over his shoulder, still walking away. “We’re having the party here. We can clean this place up this weekend.”

She felt her eyebrows pinch above her nose. She couldn’t believe how stubborn he was. “My mother is not going to be happy.”

“See, it’s a party already.”

“Glen!” Cherish shoved herself off the couch and started walking toward the bedroom. He popped his head back out of the hallway, his arm at his side, fingers around the top of the beer bottle. She stopped, her heart thudding in her chest with her frustration. And her worry, if she was honest with herself. “I just want Jordie’s party to be perfect,” she said, trying to rein in her frustration.

Glen stared at her, his expression unreadable. “I’m sure he’ll have a great time wherever we have his party. He’s turning five for crying out loud. Parties are still pretty simple at this age and rarely remembered. He’ll be fine.”

There was more she wanted to say and none of it about Jordie’s birthday party, but three glasses of wine and two hours spent waiting for Glen to return home had not given her the courage yet to admit her infidelity. She didn’t want to risk screwing up her family by admitting something before it was necessary. Jordie didn’t need a broken family as his birthday present, and if she told Glen about her affair, she would hand him the ammunition to end their marriage. He had stepped up to the plate once; that didn’t mean he’d keep running around the bases when the ball headed his way.

“Anything else?” Glen asked as he stood there staring at her.

There was quite a bit more, but she decided not to pursue it. There was too much at risk. Besides, she still wasn’t sure what she would do about Edwin. She was hurt by a man she had no commitment to while she devastated the man who stepped in and saved her life. She was torn, and she saw no way to repair the rip that was about to tear her life apart. She couldn’t stop, even if she wanted to. She had to see how it all ended. Had to see how far she could go, keeping it all together.