Page 131 of The Work Wife

“Nope. It’s me. I thought I owed this company something, but I don’t. I was happy in Boston. I had a job I enjoyed and a wife I . . . I love.”

The way Wes spoke, a person might have thought it was the first time he’d said he loved his wife.

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have pressured you.”

“You didn’t pressure me. At least not enough to make me actually come here. I did it because I was curious. And Jamie said I was leaving the door open for some reason. She was worried I might want to be here, and that one day I would resent her. Can you believe that?” He laughed once, a painful sound that twisted Ben’s stomach.

“You don’t seem all that resentful of her.” Ben hadn’t been sure what the deal was between Wes and Jamie, the first time he’d visited. They’d seemed more like friends, but it was clear on Wes’s face that he loved Jamie.

“Thank you for driving me to the airport. Once I see her, we’ll be able to work this all out. It will be okay. I just need to see her.”

“Did you call her?” Ben asked.

“I did, but I didn’t get an answer.” Wes frowned and looked out the passenger window. Ben was probably going to have as much trouble getting Annabelle to speak to him. The Archer boys were in big trouble.

“Good luck,” Ben said as he pulled up at the passenger drop-off area.

“Ben?”

“Yeah?”

“Go work things out with Anna. It’s not too late for either of us.”

“You think?”

“Only you know how much you want it,” Wes said with a shrug.

“I want it pretty damn bad,” Ben said, meaning it all the way down to his toes.

“Then go get it.”

* * * *

Wes arrived at their apartment a little after eleven. Everything was dark as he quietly moved to their room. He turned on the small light beside the bed, expecting the unhappiness of waking her. There was bound to be more unhappiness, but he was prepared to fix everything.

Except the bed was empty.

He flipped on lights to find the entire apartment was empty.

Holding the phone to his ear, the call went straight to voicemail.

“Jamie, it’s me. Please call me when you get this. I need to talk to you. Please.”

She didn’t call him back. The next morning he rushed into the office as soon as it opened.

Cindy looked confused as he passed her to go into the office he used to share with Jamie. It was dark and her laptop was gone.

“Where’s Jamie?” he asked, probably sounding snappish.

Cindy blinked at him. “She worked it out with Rob. She took a leave of absence so she could be with her father through his illness. She’s still working on the Atlantic Global job remotely.”

“We got it?”

“Yes. She didn’t tell you?”

“We’ve missed each other the last few days. I remember now.” Wes didn’t know why he was keeping up pretenses. His whole world was crashing down around him.

* * * *