Treacherous Secrets novel Chapter 5

She jerked awake when the phone went off. He was getting a text from sjk. The text read, "Are u going to tell them?"

The cheater answered after a few minutes. "Not yet."

"Why not?" sjk wanted to know.

"It's not the right time."

"Ur afraid of them!"

The cheater wrote back. "It will ruin everything. I need more time."

"Tell them or I will," threatened sjk.

The cheater was right. It would ruin everything. She was going to have to deal with sjk.

Kenton must have left for Knoxville right after the party last night. He didn't come to bed, which wasn't unusual. He rarely slept in their bed when he was home. Emily couldn't remember exactly when that had started, maybe when Walter Chase took over Morgan Investments. Kenton's work load seemed to have tripled around that time, and he started being at home less and less.

She wasn't really upset that he hadn't come to bed. He'd been drinking quite a bit last night, and the last time they had sex when he had been drinking, he had been very rough with her. For that matter, the last several times they had sex had been increasingly rough. She wasn't sure what was going on with him or with them for that matter. But, she did know that they were drifting farther and farther apart.

The early morning sun was warm as she padded out to the patio table with her cup of coffee. She couldn't believe she woke up so early this morning. It had been after two by the time she went to bed but her internal alarm had gone off at six just like it did every morning.

Emily wasn't sure if work was really what was keeping Kenton away from home, but she didn't want to become like Carol and start accusing him of having affairs. Kenton had been rumored to be a player before they started dating, but she had never had reason to suspect he was cheating on her. She picked up her cup and took a sip of the coffee that was quickly becoming cold. Looking around at her beautiful garden, the pool, and the huge house, she realized that she had become content with their life despite Kenton being less and less a part of it. Did she really want to confront Kenton about why he was gone all the time?Sonja came out on to the patio carrying a carafe of coffee. "I didn't know how long ago you made that pot of coffee so I made a fresh one," she said and poured fresh coffee into Emily's cup.

"Thank you." Emily took a sip of the steaming coffee and moaned. Sonja always made the coffee better than she did. With that thought, she decided that she was not going to rock the boat with Kenton. Life could be worse. All things considered, her life was pretty sweet and she was going to try to keep it that way, even if it meant continuing to ignore the fact that Kenton might be having an affair.

Sonja set the carafe on the patio table after pouring a cup of coffee for herself. "Last night went pretty well, I think," she said, sitting across from Emily

"It did," Emily agreed. "Thank you for bringing in your crew to help on such short notice."

"No problem." Sonja took a sip of her coffee and said, "So Mr. Jenkins already gone?"

"Yes," Emily said. She sipped her coffee. Looking off into the distance she said, "He said he had to go to Knoxville today. I guess he left right after the party last night."

"I would have thought the same of you, but I guess we are both creatures of habit. I woke at five like I normally do and couldn't go back to sleep."

Emily smiled. "Me too, so what should we do today? Volunteer for some charities?" Emily laughed at Sonja's sour face."Oh yes, let me call my good friend, Carol Butler. I'm sure she could find a charity or two for us to give our time too," Sonja said in her best uppity American accent.

"You've almost got her down pat," Emily said.

"I know she's your friend," Sonja said. "And she's okay as far as rich, snooty people go, but sometimes she can be a bit annoying."

"You know what? Let's do some shopping. I need to get some plants for the vegetable garden and we'll get some dog and cat food for the animal shelter. Now that's a charity I like to put money into," Emily said, getting up from the table.

"That sounds like fun," Sonja said, getting up, too." I love to play with the cute little puppies and kittens."

"Me too," Emily said, putting her arm around Sonja. "And I think that is just what I need to cheer me up."

The following Friday, Emily and Sonja were sitting at the table by the pool having their traditional afternoon margaritas when Carol stepped out onto the patio.