1 - Surreptitious

The bus had long lulled my two little ones to dreamland. With Jimmy propped against my side and his sister, Sally, half snuggled in my lap, I leaned my head against the headrest, savouring the silence. Everything had been so loud as of recent.

Each muscle in my body craved for an ibuprofen that I could not provide, and the grumpy Greyhound was not improving any matters. A guttural groan grounded as the back wheel clipped a pothole, jostling both of my kids. I sucked in my breath, temporarily winded when Jimmy's forehead slammed into my ribs, inflaming the pervasive sensation claiming my torso. Sputtering, I readjusted him, thankful that neither my probing nor the careening eight-wheeler woke him. He needed the sleep. We all needed it.

I scanned the patrons ahead of me, searching for my husband's sandy hair. In the back of my mind, I knew the effort was ridiculous. I should have just closed my eyes and followed my children's lead. As far as I knew, I had left Jim snoring with my pillow nestled in his embrace. Yet, my chest leapt when they landed on a dirty blonde with a similar cropped cut. Freezing with fear, I forced myself to assess the situation and my surroundings. Shaking my head, I realised that my target wasn't even a man to begin with. This goose chase was only encouraging my paranoia.

The plump woman seated three rows up, with her hands cradled in her lap, glared at her puzzle book. My mind whirled with wonderment, waking woeful memories. Once I had allowed my weight to tip over 130 pounds, and Jim beat me back into shape. As a result, my second pregnancy miscarried, a surreptitious secret that I kept close to the vest. Ridding the thought, a few tears escaped. Screw that man and all of his twisted beliefs.

Bordering nine hours since I fled Jim's chambers, my eyes were hot and sore, the way they burned during allergy season. The blinding rays seared into my face, its warmth contrasting the frigid Illinois wind outside. The blasting breeze beat against the windows, making the panes shudder in response. They weren't kidding when they nicknamed it the Windy City. Checking my watch, our scheduled stop was twenty minutes away.

Rousing Jimmy first, I watched as he rubbed away the sleep, a yawn quick to follow. "Mommy," he croaked, "where are we?"

"Right now, in Chicago," I said. Brushing his charcoal hair with my fingers, I tried my best to make the comb-over somewhat presentable. "We're visiting a very old friend of mine."

"Who?" Sally asked after licking her lips.

Kissing her cheek, I sighed. "You'll see soon." With a wink, I squeezed them both.

Sally climbed onto my thighs, straddling my knees. "Where's Daddy?"

I blinked, my blood stopped and my throat dried. "We're on a little holiday, just the three of us," I said. Swallowing the stone lodged in my windpipe, I hugged her midsection with a reassuring smile.

"What holiday is it?" Jimmy cocked his head.

Blushing, I bit my lip. "Vacation, I meant. Where I grew up, that's what we called them." Years out of practice, I managed to preserve some of my old lingo, but much of my slang fell to waste with America's lexicon.

"Doesn't Daddy want to be with us?" Jimmy's face fell as he glanced at Sal and me.

I couldn't pinpoint why my heart cracked, but I half assumed it had to be the fact that he wanted the 'fun' parent.

"He's just a bit busy is all," I answered. "Are you two hungry?"

"A little," they admitted. "When's dinner?"

My smile returned, along with a sense of relief that my husband was forgotten, at least for now. "Just a bit longer. How does pizza sound? You two were very good on the ride."

Their faces lit up as if a whole pot of gold appeared in front of their eyes. Cheering, they attacked me with hugs and kisses.

The bus wheezed into the station, exhausted from its journey. We stretched, our arms knocking into each other as we shoved one another with smirks lining our lips.

Figuring that the driver was watching, I stopped Jimmy mid-push. "Alright you two, gather your stuff." Slipping on my backpack, I helped them sling their duffels over their shoulders. With a gentle pat, I ushered them into the aisle and checked that we had everything. After filing off, I plucked my suitcase out of the sea of bags littering the sidewalk.

"Andy?" I knew that soprano voice anywhere.

Whirling around, I met my favourite girl in the world, besides of course my daughter. "Hey!" Dropping my bag, I scuttled to my best friend. Squealing like two teenage girls over a boy band, we tackled each other. "How are you?"

After kissing cheeks, we pulled apart. "Brilliant! My God, I haven't seen you in forever!"

Returning a knowing frown, I lifted Sally and rested her on my good hip.

"Mommy, who's she?" Sal tried her best to whisper.

"My name's Elicia, but you can call me El." She beamed her no longer metal braced teeth. "And, what's your name?"

Sally blinked and then sneaked her head into my chemically altered tresses.

Chuckling, I rubbed her back. "Come on darling, you can answer her."

She shook her head, nuzzling it deeper in my nape.

"My daughter, Sally," I said, rolling my eyes at my four-year-old's uncharacteristic shyness. "This is Jimmy."

With a polite nod, my boy offered his hand.

"It's lovely to meet you two," Elicia said, accepting my son's gesture.

Grabbing my rolling trunk, I set down Sal, insisting that I could not carry her and my luggage at the same time.

Towing his bag, Jimmy asked, "How do you know my mommy?"

El twisted around, gliding backward. "I was your mum's best mate in England, where we grew up together!"

"Wow. You've known her for that long?"

Chuckling, Elicia and I grinned.

"Hey mister, we're only five times older than you!" I exclaimed.

Jimmy paused a minute, doing the math in his head and cheating with his fingers. "You're 35? That's so old!"

"Old!" I said aghast and gently swatted his bum. Narrowing my eyes, I raised an eyebrow. "Did you know Daddy's even older?"

His jaw dived to the pavement. "I thought you were older," he said, entirely unaware of his innocent insult.

"Oh shoot!" El quipped with her hand slapped over her mouth. Throwing her head back, she released a Santa Claus bellow before doubling over.

Feigning offense, I elbowed her arm with enough force to make her stumble. "Look who's talking!"

Catching her breath, Elicia's laboured panting mocked a pregnant woman in a series of contractions. "Christ, Andy, my stomach hurts from laughing so much!" she cried mid-wince.

Sally clutched my hand as the crazy lady calmed down. I tried my best to assuage her visible malaise, promising her that my girlfriend was not loony.

Trotting to the lot, Elicia helped the kids cram into the backseat of her 'Betsy Loo' truck and hauled our packs into the bed. After buckling them in, we swung into our seats. I caught her We need to talk later look before she flashed a smile and turned on a radio station strumming an indie song.

"You guys are gonna love my ranch!" Elicia started the ignition and Betsy Loo grunted, rocking us before blinking her headlights. Pulling out of the parking lot, El eyed my children. "There are horses, and geese, and so many fun things to do!" she said. Thanks to old McDonald and his farm, Jimmy and Sally knew the myriad of livestock that existed, but they had never seen any in real life.

My eldest spoke up first. "Horses?" Glancing at me with a smile as long as the Mississippi, he clapped his hands. "Like the ones on TV, Mommy?"

Relieved with his elation, I nodded. "Yeah! El has five, right?"

"Mmhm. They're named after the Harry Potter characters!"

Too preoccupied with the fact that he would actually see the beautiful beasts, Jimmy nodded absentmindedly. He had never watched those wizards, and I wouldn't fare any better if prompted with a pop quiz.

"Plus, one of my geese just had her babies! I can let you pet them, but you have to be really careful not to hurt them."

Sally's favourite animal was anything in infant form. Her eyes twinkled with excitement echoing her big brother's.

After several I Spy rounds, Elicia suggested, "You two might want to take a nap, we still have a little over an hour until we get home." Once they fell asleep, bored of the constant scenery, El lowered her voice. "What the hell happened?"

Threading my fingers through my hair, my heart sank with stones of grief. What to say?

"I don't hear from you for twelve years and then out of the blue you ring me! What the f--freak, Andy?" The frustration in her voice was as evident as the rain clouds above us as she white-knuckled the steering wheel.

"I'm sorry, El. You have to know that every day I thought about calling. Look, I don't want to chat about this right now." Tilting my head towards the kids, Elicia nodded with tacit agreement.

"We're not finished this conversation," she whispered. A pause passed between us. "How are you, though really?"

With a shrug, I sighed. "It's been pretty rough." Eager to divert the attention, I asked, "How's Nick doing?" Nick? I couldn't remember.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh, you mean Rick! We broke up before my second year at university. I was just too flighty for him, I suppose."

Biting my cheek, I cursed my curiosity. "Sorry."

"We ended on mutual terms at least. I mean, I wasn't ready to settle down then. Though, last I heard, he had a fiancé."

"Really!"

"I think I also saw him in an editorial, he's a journalist, you know." Elicia went quiet, something rare for my, how could I put it ... extremely loquacious mate. "I've missed you."

"Me too." I missed her and our closeness. Glancing at her relaxed fists, I noticed the rock protruding from her finger. "You're married!" I gasped, almost tempted to reach out and yank her left hand off the steering wheel.

"Yeah! I met a guy at a rodeo in Alabama back in 2000." With deft fingers, she slipped off the band. "I tried to invite you to our wedding, but there was never a response from our card and your line was out of service."

A herd of elephants stomped on my heart, the guilt gnawing on my conscience. "I wish I could have been there!" But Jim would never have permitted such a time-consuming outing even if she had managed to contact me. After inspecting her modest carat in my palms, I handed it back to her. "Who's the lucky gentlemen?" I inquired.

"Owen Harris, an American," she included. "I can't wait for you to meet him! He's working late tonight but will be back around ten!"

A smile fell on my lips. "He must be somethin' really special to have gotten the honour to marry you."

She jostled my arm as a blush warmed her face. "I never thought I'd actually hitch my wagon, but he came along and screwed that plan."

Giggling, I nodded, remembering her attitude toward the opposite gender in secondary school. El had gone through several messy breakups and vowed that she would never be nutty enough wed, among other things. Her plea played in my head: "Dammit, Andy. If I ever get married, you know that I've gone bonkers. Please put me out of my misery!"

"You know, now I have to kill you." A smirk curled my lips, accentuating my jocular leer.

With a shit-eating grin, El stole my snigger. "I did say that, didn't I?" Shaking her head, we let our jollity die. "Boy, those were the days. I'm sure glad our teenage hormones are gone." I caught her wistful simper. "By the way, when did you move over here?"

"Back in 1998," I admitted.

"No wonder why I couldn't get a hold of you. Where've you been?"

A grimace tore at my light-hearted mood. Where I never imagined myself, I thought. I never wanted to leave England, but Jim said that if I loved him, we'd move back to his place in the States. Since we were only into our engagement, he didn't dare make it sound so ultimatum-ish, but it sure as hell felt like it now that I look back at it. "Omaha," I said.

"Bloody hell, if I weren't driving, I'd ring your neck for not notifying me that you were only a freakin' several states over! How the hell have you lived here so long without me knowing?"

As she always did, El lifted my spirit, even if it was an unintentional effort. With a simper, I grunted. "Gee, and I thought you were supposed to be keeping tabs on everybody's whereabouts, Miss Class President."

Elicia tsked and narrowed her eyes. A beat swam in the air, leaving us both to our thoughts.

"It's hard to believe ten years here and I'm already losing some of my English," I said, exhausted of the silence.

"I can tell." She snickered, to which I shot her a sharp glare. "You sound like a wannabe Brit."

The old me would have hurled a tub of profane words at her without a second of hesitation, but I thought better of it lest my children overheard. "How did yours remain intact?"

"I visit my parents a few weeks a year. They'd strangle me if I 'conformed to American language'. Plus, people just adore listening to a Brit's accent. I've even managed to worm out of a few sticky wickets with the county sheriff," Elicia bragged.

Gobsmacked, my jaw dropped to the floor mats. "What!" Not that either of us had ever claimed a goody two shoes award back in the day, I was still shocked that El would stoop there.

"Oh please, you can't tell me that people aren't enamored when you talk!"

Besides the fact that I seldom spoke to anyone outside my family, I rolled my eyes.

Smacking the wheel, she cackled after reading the answer off my disgusted face. Ruffling her pixie cut, El waggled her eyebrows. "Hey, whatever works, right?"

I winced. "What am I going to do with you?"

We chatted about meaningless stuff, catching up with each other until chugging to her ranch. It was petite and so off the grid that Google struggled to pinpoint where exactly she resided. After rousing the children, we toddled into the two story house. Whilst pizza baked in the oven, we unpacked and changed out of our clothes.

"Mommy, where's England?" Jimmy skipped to me as I hung up my coat in the closet.

Lifting him up in my arms, I carried him to our bed and sat him on my thighs. "Very far from here. In fact, it's not even in the U.S.!"

"How did you meet Daddy?" He played with my natural waves.

"Way, way, way before you were born." My heart fluttered, remembering how I bumped into my significant other. "Daddy and I were on a trolley, sitting next to each other, minding our business when the driver took a sharp turn. He fell right into me!" Jim's piercing eyes were the first thing I noticed that day, then my tea stained blouse.

Jimmy nodded. "Cool," he said and dismounted.

Chuckling, I shook my head after he skipped out of the room. What else would a seven-year-old boy say to a mushy 'how we met' story? Shimming out of my jeans, I donned a pair of Pink sweats and my alma mater's hoodie. I shuffled to my luggage bag and went to set down the folded clothes. But I couldn't. I felt the flood drain from my face as I knelt by my bag.

A/N: This is dedicated to my first friend from the States, EliciaHyder, lol. For you people who crave those love triangles, The Bed She Made is the book for you! Otherwise, if Mystery or Paranormal catches your taste, The Detective and The Soul Summoner series are sure to please. Check out her books, you will not be disappointed!

Thanks for reading my first chapter! If you think it deserves it, please give it a star, lol. If you have any comments (even relating constructive feedback, especially that) please say so below or in a DM! Thanks again!

(Posting this again.) I am NOT British; the spelling in this novel is not my norm. If you are British/European and notice any discrepancies with spelling, grammar, or word usage, please tell me!

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