Share

The Fantasy Maker
The Fantasy Maker
Author: Emily Kendricks

Chapter 1

Author: Emily Kendricks
Prologue

"Mom, Seth hit me!"

"I did not!"

"You did!"

"Boys, if you don't settle down, I'm going to turn this car around and take you back home." Emma glanced in the rearview mirror at her two sons. "And then you'll have to sit in your bedrooms until your father gets home."

"But he won't be home until Friday," Justin moaned.

"Exactly."

The boys immediately sat back, clutched their hands in their laps, and stared straight ahead as they had been told to do too many times to count. Emma slowed the car for a stop sign, glancing into the rearview mirror with a stern, warning look one last time before jabbing the power button on the radio.

Exchange one noise for another.

Her thoughts were a million miles away. As a popular pop song infused the car with its deep bass beat, she found herself thinking about recent trips she had made to the Pilot Point Spa and Resort. Or the Ranch, as it was called by its customers. She knew she should feel guilty, especially in light of the places those trips had taken her, both metaphorically as well as literally, but somehow the guilt lessened the more often she went.

Was that how it was when he cheated on her?

She had known about Steve's infidelity for what felt like forever, and yet, it seemed to color everything she did. Even now, as she went about her normal, Tuesday afternoon routine, she found herself wondering what he was doing while attending this software convention in New Mexico. Was he sharing his bed with a woman? Was she prettier than Emma? Did she do things Steve had never asked Emma to do?

It drove her crazy, her mind spinning in circles as she thought about it.

Maybe that was why she didn't feel so guilty about the time she'd spent at the spa.

Or elsewhere.

Emma eased the car around a corner, the park where the boys' soccer practice was about to be held just two blocks ahead. She eased to a stop at a red light. The pop song had ended and the monotonous voice of a newscaster was talking about the state senate campaigns, an upcoming carnival, and other, trivial things she didn't want to think about right now. Emma reached over to change the station when she heard a familiar name.

"-found dead today inside his Pilot Point home of what appears to be a suicide. Thomas Morgan was only twenty-five."

The color drained from Emma's face. She could feel it, feel the tingle of her nerves reacting to the sudden lack of blood flow. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel, her foot pressing so hard on the brake that she was nearly standing. She stared at the radio as though she could see the newscaster's face, as though she could somehow convince him that what he had just said was a lie.

Tommy could not be dead.

Not her Tommy.

Four months earlier.

"Oh, heck!"

Emma grabbed the spatula where she had dropped it on the floor, quickly shoving it under the faucet to clean it off before the pancakes burned.

"Mom just said a bad word." Seth laughed as Steve walked in, still tying his tie.

"She did?"

"I did not," Emma said, biting her lip to keep from dropping an F-bomb as she flipped the black pancakes into the trash.

"She did," Justin chimed in, pancake syrup dripping from his chin onto the front of his clean shirt. "I heard her, too."

"Heck is not a bad word," Emma informed him as she dropped another batch of batter onto the griddle. "Use your napkin."

Justin rubbed the syrup from his chin with the back of his hand.

"Justin," Steve said, tossing a napkin at him, "your hand is not a napkin."

"Sorry," Justin said, wiping his chin with the napkin, tearing it and leaving little pieces stuck to his chin.

"Did you sign my permission slip, Mom?" Seth asked as he brought his dirty plate to the sink.

"What permission slip?"

"The one for the field trip next week. I have to have it today."

Emma groaned as she dropped a plate of pancakes in front of Steve. "Did you tell me about it?"

"Yeah, I think so. Mrs. Anderson gave it to us on Monday."

Emma turned back to the counter, jumping at the spark that burned the tip of her finger as she yanked the griddle's cord out of the outlet. "Dammit, Steve," she cried, shoving her finger into her mouth.

"What?" he asked, moving up behind her.

"You said you would have that fixed."

"I know. I will. I've been busy."

She glared at him. "You're always busy."

"It takes a lot of my time to run a business and a city."

"Yeah, well, you were too busy before you became mayor." Emma yanked the front of her bathrobe around her body and pushed past him, gathering lunch bags out of the refrigerator.

"Let's go, boys," Steve said in that tight voice Emma recognized as his attempt to thwart a fight.

It only made her angrier.

"Mom said a bad word," Justin whispered in a loud stage-whisper.

"Yes," Steve said, shooting her a warning glance. "And I'm sure she's very sorry."

"My permission slip," Seth announced.

"Here," Emma snatched the paper out of his hand and quickly signed it, not even looking to see what it said. She could have been signing away her parental rights for all she knew.

Emma ducked into the laundry room and grabbed a fresh shirt for Justin before she followed her husband and two children to the front door. She tossed it to Justin as the boys ran out the door with the enthusiasm only a nine and seven year old could have, Emma grabbed Steve's arm.

"You'll be here at one, right?"

"For what?"

"The contractor," she said, finding it impossible to keep the irritation from her voice.

"What contractor?"

"Steve," Emma grunted. "For my darkroom."

Steve looked down at her, his eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"

She stepped back slightly. "We talked about this. You said that when things settled down after the election, I could build a darkroom."

"Emma"

"That was nearly a year ago, Steve. You owe me this."

His jaw stiffened, a thin muscle just under his right ear dancing under the skin. "I don't owe you anything." He jerked away from her touch, glancing to where the kids were pushing and teasing each other in the back of his Cadillac XTS. "Besides, who uses a darkroom anymore?"

"I do. And I'm tired of having to make do in the bathroom."

He shook his head. "I don't have time for this, Emma. And I don't have time to come home in the middle of the day. I have a meeting with the city council at one o'clock."

She crossed her arms over her chest, angrier with herself for the tears that suddenly flooded her eyes than she was with him. "Fine," she gritted out. "I'll deal with it on my own."

"You do that," he said, flicking his chin at her before stepping off the porch steps.

"Just like everything else."

He paused, his hand on the wrought iron rail. But he didn't turn. Instead, he continued down the steps, calling out to the boys before climbing behind the wheel.

Emma watched them drive away, lifting her hand in a final farewell to the children before going back into the house. She leaned back against the front door, closed her eyes, and tried to push down the bubble of emotion that was making her heart pound and her breath come in short, useless puffs. This was not what she had signed on for. This was not the fairytale ending she had seen for herself when she accepted his marriage proposal all those years ago.

Twelve years of marriage.

It felt like twelve years of confinement in her own, personal hell.

Continue to read this book for free
Scan code to download App

Latest chapter

  • The Fantasy Maker   Chapter 56

    Emma managed to stay ahead of the truck for a few miles, speeding dangerously on the little back roads that led to Pilot Point. Just as she came around the bend that would take her into the tiny hamlet of downtown, the truck gained on her and swerved around her. Emma slammed on the breaks and tried to move around him as she had before. However, the truck anticipated her movements and slammed his transmission into reverse, cutting off her escape. She swerved, the car stuttering to a stop in a shallow ditch at the side of the road."All you had to do was pull over," a voice said as her door was wrenched open. Rough hands grabbed her upper arm and yanked her from the car.Emma stumbled, her sore ankle felt wrong, as though she had hurt it even more in the attempts to control the car."What do you want?" she demanded."Just doing what I'm told, lady."He dragged her to the truck, pushing her in through the driver's side door before climbing in after her. Emma slid over to the passenge

  • The Fantasy Maker   Chapter 55

    She dialed Jen's cell number as she navigated the still dense late evening traffic on the interstate just outside of Denton. Jen answered on the first ring."Steve, I've been trying to get through to you all day.""It's Emma, Jen.""Oh." There was a long silence on the other end. And then, as though a switch had been flipped, her voice filled with concern and caring. "Is everything okay, sweetie?""Fine," Emma lied. "I wanted to apologize for the way I was with you the other day.""Don't worry about it. I understand.""Do you?""Losing Tommy like that must have been difficult.""It was. Especially the way he died.""Suicide, right?" Jen asked, an undercurrent of cruelty in her voice. "Such a pity."Emma maneuvered the car around a curve, nearly dropping the phone as she tried to hold it in the crook of her shoulder."Where are you?" Jen asked. "I went by the house earlier, but there was no one home.""We took the kids to the airport." Emma grabbed the phone with her right h

  • The Fantasy Maker   Chapter 54

    Emma lay on her back, her bruises aching, her muscles popping along her back, her sides, as she tried to find a comfortable position. Steve lay on his side next to her, his fingers moving lazily along her belly, playing a game of their own making around the scar of childbirth. She watched him, her thoughts swirling in a dozen different directions.Guilt lay heavy on her shoulders. She couldn't help but think of Tommy now that the heat of passion was done. She missed his easy smile, the way he looked at her as though she was the center of his world. She wanted to run her fingers through his thick, dark hair, wanted to feel his heavy hands on her breasts, her belly.It hurt, how much she had in such a short time and how much she would never know.Was it possible to love two men so completely?She ran her fingers through Steve's hair, traced the curve of his ear. He looked up at her and smiled. It was a beautiful smile.She wished she could return it.She closed her eyes, her mind s

  • The Fantasy Maker   Chapter 53

    It was a slow, gentle kiss. But it touched her in places that had forgotten what it felt like to with the one she loved.She stepped into him, felt the tip of his tongue just brush against her bottom lip. She opened to him, and was rewarded with a sigh of such power that she could feel it as though it had issued from her own lungs, her own lips.She ran her hand slowly over his chest, could feel his heart pounding against her fingers. His hand moved from her jaw to the back of her head, buried its fingers in her hair to pull her closer, always closer. And then he buried himself inside of her, moaning against her lips with more pleasure than she had thought possible from such a simple touch.Her breath stuttered in her chest as he ran his hand over her back, slipped his palm over the curve of her hip, the roundness of her bottom. He pulled her to him until she could feel his need hard against her hip. She slid her hand around his back, drawing him so close that there was nothing but

  • The Fantasy Maker   Chapter 52

    Emma handed Steve the lists she had made on the hotel stationary after they finished eating. The DVDs were back in their bag, waiting to be destroyed. That had been her promise to Tommy. If anything happened to him, she was to take the DVDs and destroy them. He had no desire to hurt anyone else.Steve just glanced at the lists at first, but when he began to recognize name after name, he slowed and began to read the lists again."You're kidding me, right?" he asked.Emma shook her head."Some of these people are worth billions. And he slept with all of them?"Emma paled slightly. She had been trying not to think about that aspect of the situation. "I don't know. I didn't watch any of them."He nodded absently, as though it didn't really matter. Finally, he put the lists down and sat back. "There are a lot of important people on those lists," he said after a moment's thought, "but I don't see a single one who might want to hurt us or hurt you specifically. Except for maybe the incu

  • The Fantasy Maker   Chapter 51

    Steve arranged it all.After arranging for a garage to pick up Steve's car and for a rental car, they picked up the boys and Emma's parents. They boarded a plane for Florida three hours later. Her mother was a little concerned by the rush, but was thrilled for the chance to get out of town. It had been such a long winter, she kept telling Emma on the ride to the airport. They would stay at a resort down there near Universal Studios in Orlando. The boys had wanted to go back there since a trip they made as a family two years ago. A trip Steve had abandoned them to when he was called back to his office three days early.Funny how she and the boys remembered that time so differently.Instead of driving home, Steve pointed the rental car toward downtown Fort Worth."We are we going?" Emma asked."A hotel."She turned in her seat. "Do you really think that's necessary?""Someone slashed the tires on my car, Emma. In the middle of downtown." He glanced at her. "Someone ran you off the

More Chapters
Explore and read good novels for free
Free access to a vast number of good novels on GoodNovel app. Download the books you like and read anywhere & anytime.
Read books for free on the app
SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP
DMCA.com Protection Status