Series: Snapshots of the Past
Story: Stealing Cinderella
Chapter 9
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: When Ellie was assaulted by bullies, Jed and Abbey made the decision to let her change schools; Jed opened up to Ellie about a painful part of his childhood; Jack struggled after finding out his wife cheated on it (Chapter 7); Abbey found an ally in a colleague who didn't realize she was married (Chapter 19 of The Candidate's Daughter)
Summary: Jed and Elizabeth debate baby names while Abbey and Ellie enjoy some mother/daughter time in Chicago; Abbey presents her proposal to the AMA; Jack continues to struggle with Kellie's infidelity; Jed and Abbey reunite when she returns from Chicago, although it isn't the reunion Jed had originally envisioned
Rating: NC-17
It was an early December morning at the Bartlet farmhouse. Elizabeth caught a chill as she rose out of bed to close her window. She pulled aside her sheer gauzy curtains and peeked out at the pasture, disappointed by the bleak and depressing view. It was that dreary time of year between autumn and winter, that short period after the vibrant leaves had fallen off the trees and been raked off the property, exposing the dead grass beneath them and leaving barren branches to sway in the wind.
The gray skies threatened to release a shower of snow flurries, the first of the year. A few flurries weren't going to make a difference, she thought. She hoped for a stronger storm, one big enough to blanket the rolling hills in time for Christmas and put everyone in the holiday spirit. But it wasn't going to happen today. Today, it was obvious, there would be no sunshine and no break from the frigid New Hampshire air.
Disappointed, Liz slipped her feet into her slippers, grabbed her robe and the new baby-name book she'd bought the night before, then opened her bedroom door. That's when it hit her. A smile on her face, she followed the scent of breakfast pastries all the way down the stairs and to the kitchen, where she found Jed and Zoey gleefully sharing a father-daughter moment splitting a warm freshly baked blueberry muffin.
"Good morning." Jed held a muffin out to her and Liz rushed to claim it.
"Thanks!"
"Daddy knew you'd wake up if you smelled muffins!" Zoey informed her with a giggle. She was still in her PJs and wore the pretty pink slippers that Liz had bought her for her birthday last week.
"You made these just to get me out of bed?"
"Works better than dynamite."
It was an old trick Jed had been using for years. Back when Abbey was in residency, it was his job to get the girls out of bed and off to school. Zoey was his early bird, often the first one up, running around and getting herself into trouble while waiting for her sisters. Ellie was the night owl, wide awake well past her bedtime and still asleep well after noon, if they let her. Waking her up was often a challenge, especially compared to Lizzie who always responded to the aroma of her favorite breakfast foods being cooked downstairs.
He handed her a glass and a carton of orange juice, then took note of the book she set down on the counter to accept them.
"Baby names," he observed, picking it up. "Do you have any picked out?"
"A few." Liz took the book away from him. "I wanted to go over them with Mom when she gets back."
"Why not me?" Abbey was in Chicago for the AMA's annual convention, but Jed was used to being Mr. Mom in her absence. He dished out another muffin and grabbed his mug of steaming hot coffee.
"You?" Liz poured herself a glass of orange juice.
"Yes, me. You know, the man who just made you blueberry muffins. I remember a time when I was your first stop when you had a decision to make, even if Mom was around."
"Sorry, Dad. It's nothing personal. It's just...you like to make fun of my ideas."
"You do have flaky ideas," he teased as he tossed a blueberry into his mouth. "I've been making fun of you all your life, just like you have me. When did it become a problem?"
"Now," she said. "You're not going to like any of my names and I don't want you making fun of them."
Jed stared at her with narrow eyes. "What obscene names are you considering?"
"None of your business."
Zoey climbed up on her knees and rested her elbows on the table, her attention solely on her big sister. "I wanna hear, Lizzie!"
"I'll tell you later, Zo."
"Hey! You won't tell me, but you'll tell Zoey?" Jed prodded again. "Come on, this is good, I can feel it. Tell me. You'll make my day."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"Come on, Lizzie B." Jed grabbed her arm and swung it back and forth like he used to when she was a little girl. "Spill it. You know you want to."
"I'm going to hate myself for this." Liz sighed. "We like the name Guinevere."
"Guinevere." Jed thought it over. "It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's not bad."
"The way Doug wants to spell it, it is."
"How does he want to spell it?" He was almost afraid to ask.
"G,w,e,n,a,v,e,e,r."
Jed took the deepest breath possible as he tried to bite his tongue. It was futile.
"What's the hell's wrong with him? It's a classic name. You don't change the spelling of classic names."
"I thought you said you wouldn't make fun."
"I'm not making fun. I'm protecting my granddaughter's right not to have a name based on a theme of illiteracy."
"I knew you couldn't do it." Liz was somewhat amused. "You just failed my test."
"Test? You're pulling my leg?"
"Yes, I was testing you."
"You can't test me with an absurd scenario. Come on, give me a real name."
"All right. Emilia."
"As in Earhart?"
"With an E, like in Shakespeare's Othello."
"Ah. I like Shakespearean names."
"I also have Miranda and Regan on my list."
"Regan? As in the spoiled, ungrateful brat of a daughter in King Lear."
"And like the girl in The Exorcist!" Zoey added, excited about that choice.
Jed turned a stern eye to his youngest daughter. "When did you watch The Exorcist?"
"I didn't. Ellie told me."
"When did Ellie watch The Exorcist?"
Liz snapped her fingers to get her father's attention. "Dad, focus."
"I am focused. I think Regan is a crushing mistake."
"Why?"
"Forget the unfortunate King Lear reference. You know how people are going to pronounce it, right?"
"They're going to pronounce it like it should be pronounced - REE-gen, like regal."
"No, sweetheart, they're not going to say 'REE.' They're going to say 'RAY.' They're going to call her RAY-gen and I'm going to have to explain to all my voters why my granddaughter is named after a Republican president."
Liz rolled her eyes. "You don't care what voters think. You just don't like the name."
"I don't think you should name your little girl after an ungrateful, possessed brat who becomes a Hollywood actor-turned Republican president. Sue me."
Zoey giggled as the two sparred.
"This is why I wanted to run it by mom." Liz grabbed the last of her muffin. "You're impossible."
"I am not impossible," Jed defended himself. "Okay, maybe I was a little too critical. I could get used to Regan."
"Yeah, right."
"You must have other options."
"I do, but I'm not going to let you ruin them for me."
"I won't. Let me prove it and redeem myself here. Give me another one."
"Fine." Liz set out to challenge him. If he truly wasn't going to make fun, then she'd give him a name he was sure to hate. "Evan."
Jed nodded at that. "Evan is a fine name for a boy!"
"I was thinking about it for a girl."
Jed's face went blank. "Please don't do that to your child."
"See? You can't help yourself."
"With names like Evan, no, I'm afraid I can't. There are a billion acceptable names out there."
"Like what?"
"Boudica."
"Ew." Liz scrunched her nose at that.
"Ew yourself, young lady. She was a warrior queen of a Celtic tribe that led an uprising against the Roman Empire."
"So Xena basically?"
"For the history impaired, maybe. Who the hell is Xena?"
"I don't like it, Dad."
"She was the mother of Pope Linus."
"Still don't like it."
"Fine. You want ordinary, Deborah."
"Not my style."
"What is your style?"
"Priscilla."
"You want your daughter to be called Prissy on the bus stop?"
"All right, what about Daisy?"
Jed furrowed his brows. "Was Petunia already taken?"
"Why do I even bother?"
"Because it's fun." Jed grinned as he took a seat at the table. "We could use a little fun around here, don't you think?"
Liz was raised with a daily dose of some good old-fashioned father-daughter banter. She usually loved the back-and-forth with Jed and today was no different.
She grabbed her juice and joined them. "What's your problem with boys names on girls?"
"I like boys names for girls," Zoey told her.
"You do?" That was news to Jed. "You would have liked it if we had named you Zack instead of Zoey?"
"Anything's better than Zoey! YUCK!"
"Excuse me? Nothing about your name is 'yuck.' Your mother and I picked it out just for you."
"I don't like it. I wanna be named Juniper."
"And we're back to the flower theme."
"Dad?" Liz called out to him. "You're losing focus again. What's your issue with boys names on girls?"
"I don't have an issue with boys names on girls. I just think there are so many girls names that are beautiful on their own, that I don't understand why anyone would want to use a boy's name. Especially you."
"Why especially me?"
"You're the girliest girl I know, next to your mother. Would you have wanted to be named Evan?"
It took Liz less than a second to concede. "Good point."
"Thank you." Jed quickly claimed that victory. "Now then, shall we move on?"
"Can I be called Juniper from now on?" Zoey asked.
"No."
"Then I don't wanna play the baby name game anymore!" she huffed with her arms folded over her chest.
"You don't want to help name your little niece?" Liz suspected she'd come around when it was put in those terms.
"Oh yeah, she's gonna be my niece." Zoey beamed proudly. She and Ellie had discussed it before, but the thought of being an aunt hadn't yet sunk in. "Okay, I'll help!"
"Good, then you can tell Dad he's full of it when he rejects all my names."
"I wouldn't reject them if you gave me legitimate names."
"I already gave you five."
"Well, give me five more. We're bound to find one I like."
"Okay. Alyssa."
"Alyssa's nice."
"It is?"
"Yes, it is." He paused for a beat, but couldn't resist adding, "But I do prefer Alice."
"I figured you would." Liz shook her head. "Savannah."
Jed shrugged. "I prefer Hannah."
"Paige."
"I'm going to call her looseleaf..."
A thousand miles away, Abbey opened the blinds in the bedroom window of her Chicago suite to see the sun rise over Lake Michigan. It was the third and final day of the AMA convention and she had already presented her proposal about limiting resident work hours. The debate it spurred took on a life of its own and in the end, she was outnumbered, her position sidelined by the voices of the majority. Today, there would be a vote and it was a foregone conclusion that she would lose by a landslide. She was disappointed, even disheartened, but she refused to be devastated. All the years of supporting Jed in politics had taught her that it wasn't always about winning; it was about getting your opinions heard and hoping that change would come eventually, even if it happened in excruciatingly small doses. So the AMA wasn't ready to adopt policy restricting work hours. At least she'd laid the groundwork, she'd shined a spotlight on the problem and suggested viable solutions. From here, she'd continue her fight and little by little, she'd ebb away at the opposition to challenge the status quo.
In the meantime, she'd cheer herself up, she decided, and prepare to enjoy her last day in the Windy City in the company of one of her favorite people on the planet - Ellie. With a tray full of breakfast treats waiting, Abbey kneeled down beside her daughter's bed.
"Wake up, Goldilocks," she whispered in Ellie's ear as she stroked her pretty blonde curls. "Ellie..."
"Hmm?" Ellie stirred in bed.
"Come have breakfast with me. I ordered room service."
One blue eye opened while the other remained firmly shut. "French toast?"
"With strawberries and maple syrup." Abbey smiled at her.
Ellie tossed the covers aside, her grogginess improving at the sight of the two steamy slices of French toast, topped with fresh strawberries. She climbed out of bed and took the few short steps to the table, ready to soak her plate in syrup and devour her breakfast.
It was Jed's idea for Ellie to accompany Abbey to Chicago. A mini-vacation would do her some good, he said, especially after all the drama she put up with at school. And given the mother-daughter conflict the last few months, Abbey agreed that taking Ellie on this trip with her was just what the pair needed to recoup and start fresh. So far, it was a success. Abbey spent several hours a day in her meetings in the lobby of their hotel while Ellie camped out in their suite on the 14th floor. Their nights were spent exploring Chicago's busy streets and famed landmarks and, in the process, spending quality time together, laughing and talking like they used to.
"Today's meetings might run a little later than yesterday," Abbey warned her.
"That's okay. Good luck with the vote. I hope you win."
"Thanks, sweetheart. I should be back by 3 either way. Same rules as the past two days, okay? While I'm gone, I don't want you leaving the hotel. If you want anything, call room service. Charge it to the room."
"I promise. And I can have whatever I want, right?"
"Nice try. Stick with sandwiches, veggies, and fruit."
"By sandwiches, I'm sure you're including cheeseburgers and chili dogs."
"Eleanor." She raised her brow as she tore a soft and steamy croissant in two and handed half to her daughter. "I was thinking, if you're quick about it, we might have time to swing by that holiday festival downtown, do some light Christmas shopping before we head to the airport. I'll show you what I think you should get Zoey."
"Okay, as long as I get to show you what I think you should get me."
"Deal," Abbey laughed.
It felt so good to see Ellie in good spirits again. She had her sparkle back for the first time in months. The moment she learned that she could change schools and never again have to face the bullies who made her the target of their adolescent rage, her whole world changed. She was sleeping better, laughing more, she was even joking around with her sisters the way she used to. Life was good again and it was clear in everything she did.
Abbey watched her affectionately, grateful to finally have her Ellie back.
Meanwhile, life for Jack Bartlet had taken a very dark turn since Thanksgiving. His world collapsed around him when he learned that his wife had slept with her colleague years earlier. Kellie had confessed because of the guilt she carried around. She told him it happened only once, in a moment of weakness triggered by the problems in their marriage because of his anger problems. The very next day, she quit her job and pleaded with her husband to move the family back to New Hampshire. It would be a good move for them, she argued. They would be close to family and Brad would have cousins to grow up with.
Ironically, it was only days later that Jed called, asking Jack to join his finance office as he transitioned from candidate to congressman. He'd asked Kellie at the time if she had anything to do with it, but when she claimed it was purely a coincidence, he believed her. Until now. Now, he doubted everything. Every word that came out of her mouth was met with skepticism. Everything she said, everything she did fueled suspicion.
Was it a conspiracy, he wondered. Had Jed known what Kellie did? Had he offered him the job on the campaign to get them out of Ohio and back to New Hampshire to help save their marriage? It was a possibility Jack was now considering.
As Jed walked into his district office that morning, Jack waited for him.
"Hey," Jed greeted him.
"We have to talk."
"That doesn't sound good."
Jack followed his brother to his office and closed the door behind them.
"I need to ask you something and I need you to be honest with me. Did you know about Kellie's infidelity?"
"What? How would I have known?"
"She didn't tell you?"
"Of course not. You think I would have kept something like that from you?"
"Yeah, if you thought it would destroy my marriage. God knows I wasn't your favorite person at that time. Maybe you thought if my marriage fell apart, it would make me an even bigger ass."
"I didn't know, Jack."
"You didn't talk it over with Kellie before you offered me the job on your finance team?"
"No."
"She didn't call you to ask you to do it?"
"I said no. She didn't contact me, I didn't contact her. I knew nothing about any of this." Jed's denial was strong and firm. "Okay?"
Jack bowed his head and waved his hand at his brother. "Yeah. Look, I'm sorry. I just don't know what to believe right now. I can't help but doubt everything."
"And everyone, apparently."
"If I can't trust my own wife, who can I trust?" he said sadly. "Imagine Abbey sleeping with another man. Imagine her kissing someone else, getting naked in front of him, crawling into bed with him, wrapping her legs around him, their bodies tangled around each other..."
Jed couldn't stand to think about that. He cut him off with a stern warning. "Get to the point!"
"You can't picture Abbey doing it, can you?"
"No, because Abbey would never do it."
"Exactly my point. Abbey wouldn't do it. My wife did. She did it and then she came back to me as if nothing ever happened. She laid down beside me every night and never once told me that she had been unfaithful. And I never suspected a thing."
"She did a good job of hiding it."
"I was naive. I should have known something wasn't right."
"It's easy to beat yourself up over it now, but the truth is, you didn't know because she didn't want you to. You're not prescient, Jack. You can't predict the betrayal of others and you can't see through what they cover up."
Once upon a time, Jed had a lot of respect and love for his sister-in-law, but he now saw her as the woman who hurt his brother. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Jack in such despair. He was heartbroken. Jed's protective side emerged and all he wanted was to take away Jack's pain. He didn't understand how Kellie could have done this, how she could have betrayed her vows and kept this terrible secret for so long. And what troubled him even more was that she came clean now for reasons that he didn't even know. Her confession might have been cathartic, ridding herself of the guilt she'd carried since that night, but her four years of silence made the fallout so much worse.
He reached out his hand to Jack, offering his emotional support while quietly taking comfort in the stability of his own marriage.
Two years had passed since Abbey first heard the name Libby Zion. She was the 18-year-old New York City girl who died hours after being admitted to the hospital. Her death was attributed, in part, to medical error, the result of overworked and exhausted residents who didn't catch a fatal drug interaction until it was too late. The case resonated with Abbey. After all, she was a mother with a daughter the same age that Libby Zion was when she died. Furthermore, she remembered her own residency. She was haunted by those long 40-hour shifts, where she was so sleep and food-deprived, she could barely think. It was a miracle she never made a similar mistake.
The culture of medical education was brutal at times. Junior doctors routinely worked around the clock without complaint, for they knew their seniors had done it and they feared looking weak in their eyes. These were men and women who had completed high school, had put in four years of undergraduate education, then dedicated four more years of their lives to the rigors of medical school. They had earned their MDs and they still worried about looking weak if they dared to suggest it was dangerous to make life-and-death decisions without a wink of sleep in two days.
Unfair as it was, the measure of their talent was sometimes a reflection of their physical fortitude. Abbey wanted to change that. Now that she had graduated residency and fellowship, she finally had the power to do it and the Libby Zion case gave her the motivation to see it to the end.
Unfortunately, the end was the AMA meeting in Chicago. Alongside her colleague, Alex Foster, Abbey presented her resolution to revamp residency work hours and regulate the amount of time junior doctors spent in the hospital. They stood their ground, despite the rebuttal...and in the end, they lost. It was an expected loss, but it stung nonetheless.
As the proposal officially died in the House of Delegates, other issues were rushed to the forefront. Abbey grabbed her brown leather tote and walked out, Alex only steps behind her.
"Abbey, wait. We knew this was going to happen."
"It doesn't make it any easier."
"No, it doesn't." Alex caught up to her at the elevator.
"They've closed their minds to it."
"Yes, they have."
"How could they be so blind?"
"It's the old guard, Abbey. You and I both know half the stuff that happens in medical training, it's because the old guard relies on how they were trained. They don't want to change."
"Then it's our job to convince them."
"You're right, it is."
"We have to drill it in their heads, Alex. It's too important to just accept it and move on."
"I agree. We'll make a stronger proposal next year. We start now."
"Okay." His optimism brought a smile to her face. She brushed her hand against his arm. "Thank you."
"I'll buy you a drink?"
"I promised Ellie a quick shopping trip before we leave for the airport. You're welcome to join us."
"And intrude on a mother-daughter excursion? Not a chance. Besides, shopping's really not my thing. Tell you what, you go with Ellie and when you get back, I'll have three cups of hot chocolate waiting for our ride to the airport."
"She does love hot chocolate."
"What kid doesn't? I'll even add a few marshmallows," he leaned in toward her, "with Mom's permission of course."
His consideration of Ellie was sweet, Abbey thought. Had Jed been there, he would have been suspicious, but the possibility of ulterior motives hadn't even crossed Abbey's mind. Alex was a perfect gentleman and had acted as nothing more than a platonic friend since the moment he found out that she was married. Abbey aligned herself with him, the one attending in the hospital who felt as strongly as she did about the political controversies hovering over healthcare and medical training. He was her ally, her professional confidante; and so what if he once had romantic feelings for her? He'd given no indication that he harbored those feelings now and that was all that mattered.
At least to her.
"Aurora."
"As in borealis? The Northern Lights?"
"It's a name."
"A bad one."
The great name controversy continued as Jed and Liz drove home from work together later that evening. It often seemed that father and daughter were at their happiest when they had something to debate.
"We could call her Rory."
"Rory Bartlet." Jed said it aloud, pondering the flow.
"Westin," Liz corrected him.
He cringed. "Rory Westin. Will she come out of the womb with the 'kick me' sign already attached?"
"Dad!"
"Names are important, Elizabeth. Your mother and I agonized over yours."
"So I've heard." Liz stared out the window. "What about Regis?"
"For a girl?!"
"Aspen?"
"I hate place names."
"Sage?"
"What if she isn't? This is partly Doug's daughter, after all."
"Dad."
"I'm just saying, it's too much to live up to."
"That's awfully snarky coming from someone named Josiah."
"Don't be a smartass."
"I get it from my father," Liz quipped before sharing her next choice. "Snow?"
"Better hope she doesn't marry someone named White."
"Presley?"
"Only if you have a son named Elvis."
"Cricket."
"Thank God her last name won't be Bartlet."
"DAD!"
"You can yell at me all you want, Lizzie, but you understand that your taste is all over the place, right? This morning, it was Shakespeare; tonight, you want to call the poor kid Cricket or Regis or Aspen. You're scattered. Classic, contemporary, totally made up, and everything in between."
"I can't help it. This is the name she's going to have for the rest of her life. It'll be on her birth certificate, her social security card, her school ID, her driver's license. It'll be the name the teacher calls out on the first day of school for at least 12 years."
Jed gave her a quick sideways glance. "Twenty years. This girl's going to be a doctor!"
"Dad," Liz said with a roll of the eyes.
"For what it's worth, I think you were more on-the-ball this morning. You've always named all your baby dolls traditional, classic names - Margaret, Katherine, Victoria, remember?"
"You remember what I named my dolls?"
"I remember everything about you girls," he told her. "If you want my opinion on names, I've always been rather partial to Elizabeth."
"I can't name her Elizabeth."
"Why not? People name their children after themselves all the time and Elizabeth's a beautiful name."
"I just don't like the idea of using it for my daughter."
"Why?"
"Because it's my name."
"And?"
"And I always felt that if you name your child after someone, you're saying that you want that child to grow up to be just like that person."
"Well, I can understand why that would be a problem if you end up having a boy and want to name him Doug..." There was silence on Liz's end. Jed glanced over to find her staring at him. "What?"
"You nearly made it a full minute without a Doug insult." She shook her head.
"That's a record for me," he stated proudly.
The duo pulled in to the drive, parked and then exited the car.
It might have been only a few days since Abbey and Ellie left for Chicago, but Jed couldn't wait to get them back home. He wasn't happy about the trip in the first place. He understood how important it was to Abbey to appear in person to advocate for her resolution on resident work hours, but he also wanted to savor every last minute of them being together as a family before he left for Washington again.
That evening, he tucked Zoey into bed and asked Liz to stay with her as he left for the airport. He stopped along the way to buy a bouquet of flowers for Abbey and picked up a balloon for Ellie, then continued on in plenty of time to greet their flight. He parked the car and rushed to the terminal, grinning from ear to ear when he got his first glimpse of Ellie's little blonde curls bouncing as she enthusiastically interacted with the person beside her. But taking a few steps toward them, his smile disappeared.
Ellie was talking to someone Jed didn't recognize, a man who seemed so interested in what she said that his distraction caused him to nearly walk into a pole as they exited the terminal. Abbey was right behind them, laughing at the duo. She spotted Jed then and nudged Ellie. Whether it was a twinge of jealousy or confusion, it all disappeared the moment Jed saw his daughter's face light up at having seen him. She ran toward him with open arms and Jed picked her up in the air.
"I missed you, princess."
"I missed you too! Where are Lizzie and Zoey? I bought them souvenirs!"
"I'm sure they'll love them. You can give them to them in the morning." Jed set her down as Abbey approached. He looked his wife over from head to toe. Still the sexiest creature alive, he thought.
"I missed you too," Abbey said with a kiss.
"How was the flight?" he asked.
"A bit bumpy, but Alex engaged Ellie in a game of cards and she was fine after that." She then gestured to the man to the right. "Oh, sorry. You haven't met Alex yet, have you?"
"No, can't say that I have." Jed extended his hand. "Jed Bartlet."
"Alex Foster." He shook Jed's hand.
Abbey introduced him so casually, as if it was no big deal that Alex had been with her on the plane. Even worse, Jed realized that Alex had been with her in Chicago and he didn't even know. He felt uneasy about it. After all, Alex wasn't just any man. He was a colleague who admitted to having feelings for her. He even tried to kiss her before he realized she was married. Abbey had told him that it was a silly misunderstanding, a mistake that never happened again. She insisted that ever since that near-kiss, Alex had been a gentleman, respecting a platonic relationship with her. Jed accepted that. He trusted his wife and he believed in her. He had no qualms about them spending time together because Abbey was the most honest person he knew. So why hadn't she been completely honest, he now wondered. Why hadn't she told him that Alex would be taking this trip with her?
Abbey noted the instant change in her husband's mood. She studied him for several minutes, but waited for Alex to excuse himself before she addressed it.
"Is something wrong?" she asked. Jed simply shrugged. "Jed?"
"I'm a little surprised."
"By Alex? Why?"
"Why?"
"Honey, you knew he'd be going to Chicago."
"How would I know that?"
"Jed, we've been working on this proposal together for months. How could you not know he'd be with me when I publicly introduced it?"
It bothered him, the way she turned it around on him. Yes, maybe he should have realized that Alex would want to go with her, but the fact was that he didn't, and Abbey never bothered to tell him. He wondered then what else she wasn't telling him. It was a disturbing thought, one that gnawed at him all the way home.
Later that evening, Jed locked up the house and took slow strides up the stairs to the master bedroom. He was dreading the conversation that was coming. He wished he could just avoid it, pretend that he wasn't hurt that his wife had flown halfway across the country with her colleague. He'd eventually get over it and move on anyway, he reasoned. Or would he? Could he? If it had been with anyone else, he wouldn't have cared. But it wasn't with anyone else. It was the one man who had feelings for her, the one man he hadn't met before tonight, and Abbey had been less than honest about it, At least in Jed's mind. Why hadn't she told him? Was it just an innocent oversight, as she claimed, or was there more to the story that he had yet to learn?
Riddled with doubts, he walked into the bedroom to find a box of artisan chocolates on the dresser with a note written on Abbey's personal stationery beside them. He read the sweet words she had written, his heart softening at her declaration of love.
That was just the reaction Abbey wanted. She felt guilty about ambushing him at the airport and although she wasn't trying to deceive him, she regretted that she hadn't specifically informed him that Alex would be accompanying her to Chicago. She knew that Jed was the jealous type and with everything going on with Jack and Kellie, it should have occurred to her that he'd overreact, feeling misled instead of realizing that this had been nothing more than a misunderstanding.
He was angry and she had two choices - she could get angry back and they could fight it out or she could take the higher ground and remind him how much she loved him. She chose the latter.
She snuck up on him as he reached for his first chocolate and pressed her lips to his cheek from behind. She wrapped her arms around him and Jed turned to see her standing before him in nothing but her black lace bra and matching panties. He grabbed her by the waist and kissed her on the mouth. Hard. Abbey's heart raced as she unbuckled his belt. Jed pushed her hands away, then scooped her up in his arms and dropped her on their bed.
Those unsettling feelings about Alex still plagued his mind, but he tried like hell to cast them away and focus on his beautiful wife, the woman he loved more than anyone in the world. He wanted her tonight. He needed her. He needed the reassurance that her touch gave him, the confirmation of her fidelity, the affirmation that her heart belonged to him and him alone. And it wasn't just the emotional connection. He needed to know that he could still drive her wild with desire, that he could bring her the kind of pleasure that made her squirm and scream out his name from the innermost depths of her lungs.
He climbed on top of her, sinking his body into hers. He reached under her to unclasp her bra, his hands digging into her flesh all the way down her back. He hooked his fingers into her panties, yanked them down her legs, and tossed them across the room as he stared down at her, naked and as hungry for him as he was for her.
Abbey recognized that look in his eye. He didn't want to make love. He wanted to ravish her, pin her to the bed and bury himself so deeply inside of her that it took her breath away. He wanted to feel her arch her back and heave her breasts against his bare chest as the muscles of her feminine walls contract violently around him.
He intended to devour her, and Abbey reveled in it.
TBC
