Their Secret Wife (Shadows Between Lies Book 2) Read online

  ‘You say that Fred, but I just feel so inept.’

  ‘There’s an alternative method,’ grinned Fred. ‘It’s manual capture. Do you want to give that a go? No rod or hook involved.’

  ‘Really?’ Skeptical, Logan looked around at Fred, checking he wasn’t being punked. ‘You’re so full of it,’ grinned Logan. He was sure the glint in Fred’s eye was a giveaway.

  ‘Do you want learn or not?’ Fred returned to a serious focus.

  Logan nodded, and Fred pressed his index finger across his closed mouth, curving one eyebrow at his friend. Clearly a signal for absolute silence.

  Logan seemed unimpressed, shook his head in disbelief, and followed Fred into the water about four yards from the muddy edge. He leaned forward, putting both hands in the water, and gently swayed with the motion of the river’s current as it pushed into the surrounding lake. Logan stood, convinced this was more insanity, and maintained his reticence. Several minutes went by, and Fred placed both his cupped hands in the gently moving water.

  ‘Give me a break!’ Logan couldn’t resist calling him out in a harsh whisper. Fred responded with a frown but didn’t change his posture. Two minutes later a large Trout, almost an adult, its shiny silver scales and spots glistening in the water, moved into Fred’s open hands. Slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, Fred moved his fingers under the trout’s body, avoiding its fins. Logan stood dumbfounded, mesmerized by the fish’s gentle motion against his friend’s moving fingers. As Fred went to clasp the trout and fling it onto the riverbank, the fish took off and rapidly disappeared.

  ‘What the hell were you doing?’ Logan almost shouted.

  ‘Trout tickling,’ Fred’s face set with solemn determination as if presenting a budget report to corporate management.

  ‘Get out!’

  ‘Hell no! I’m damn serious,’ Fred explained. ‘It’s an ancient native technique. You tickle the trout’s underbelly and soon as they relax you can do almost anything to them.’

  ‘Holy hell!’

  Fred could tell Logan was hooked. He just had to reel him in. ‘Yeah, my father taught me. Sometimes we had a broken rod or missing hooks, and he would tickle the trout right into the frying pan.’

  ‘That’s amazing! Truly! You need to teach me.’ Logan’s enthusiasm overrode all reason.

  ‘Yeah, it’s the same technique that’s saved my marriage. Trout tickling,’ Fred burst out into raucous laughter. ‘It’s all in the fingers, Bud!’

  At first, Logan was shocked, ready to punch his friend, but couldn’t help bursting into laughter. Fred put an arm around Logan’s shoulders, and they both shrieked and repeated the words into the open country air. Over a couple of cold beers that afternoon sitting on the riverbank, Logan was still shaking his head and chuckling at his friend.

  ‘Screw you, Fred, you really got me good.’ Logan shook his head. ‘I knew it in the beginning, but…’

  Fred interrupted, ‘but you happily let your fantasy world take over!’

  Logan realized his secret contact with Maddy was a prank far greater than Fred could ever imagine, and he was already tickling a trout far closer to home waters. Through forced laughter, a wave of guilt and unease engulfed Logan as he shared the joke with his friend. It would be some years before Fred would catch on.

  CHAPTER 8

  A Convenient Affair

  After lots of discussion between the two couples, they agreed to have one last holiday together, while they still could, for the sake of their three pre-schoolers. It made perfect sense to avoid the holiday crowds and for Maddy and Fred to fly with their only son, Blake, to New Zealand after the summer holidays in February. Once all the children started elementary school, it would trap them in peak season with mobs of people and tourists. A few weeks later the Davis family landed in Auckland after enduring a long-haul flight from LAX. Mila waited at Auckland International Airport with two colorful helium balloons for Blake now four years old, the same age as Sacha, the Jones’ eldest of their two daughters.

  It was over a year since they had been together and the four friends greeted one another as if they were long-lost blood relatives. They hugged, kissing both cheeks, the women grasping the other’s hands and laughing. The delight on their faces was electrifying. The men slapped one another’s backs, and Fred kept his arm resting on Logan’s shoulders, still incredulous they were now going to spend ten days together in magical Whangamata.

  Mila hired a bach along the river estuary where the azure Pacific Ocean met the forest-clad harbor surroundings. Tall native trees swayed slowly in the late afternoon breeze. The meandering estuary’s surface revealed the lush vegetation reaching to the water’s edge and reflected across the flat, calm marine surface to the rising hills on the other side. This sheltered river sanctuary contrasted with the popular surf beach further along the wide curve of the bay, protected by the prominent double storey surf life-saving club.

  Mila and Logan had arrived two days earlier to set up the rented four-bedroom house, bringing enough bed linen and towels for both families. They stocked the kitchen with plenty of food and wine, along with BBQ meat for those sunset dinners. They would enjoy being together again, seated around the large table positioned on the timber deck that surrounded two sides of the house. The holiday town of Whangamata had a large supermarket, several liquor stores selling local wines and ice-cold beer, effectively catering for the thirsty summer season. The sprawling coastal village was mainly a series of holiday and retirement homes. Maddy instantly wanted to retire there and joked about immigrating to this coastal hot spot to live out the rest of their lives together.

  ‘Imagine walking along the surf beach every evening without having to fight for parking like Venice Beach, and just enjoying the fresh air and the bliss of peaceful, easy living here. If only we had a way of getting New Zealand citizenship.’ Maddy slowly sipped her Wairau River Rosé. Its crisp, delicious flavor lifted her spirits and warmed her heart as she glanced around the table.

  ‘Remember,’ Logan said. ‘It’s all great stuff until you have to earn a living somehow. It’s not cheap to live here. That was one of the surprising things. Even the food is more expensive than back home.’

  ‘I’m with Maddy. I love it here. It’s way better than Auckland,’ said Mila.

  ‘Auckland’s a city with about one and a half million people. Just like every city, it’s going to be commuter traffic and job demands,’ Fred chipped in.

  ‘Well,’ smiled Mila, looking directly at Maddy. ‘We’ll have to marry a local guy and get the lifestyle we’ve grown accustomed to!’

  ‘For sure,’ laughed Logan. ‘Don’t forget to mention the kids that need hard cash to get educated.’

  ‘You’re always so pragmatic and boring. Can’t a girl dream for a bit and immerse herself in this enchanted piece of paradise?’ Maddy sighed, dragging one hand through her hair. ‘It’s really quite special.’ She almost spoke to herself as all four of them gazed across the turquoise ocean towards the line of the distant horizon.

  The following morning Fred took the kids to the beach, and Mila said she would come along, glancing at Maddy. ‘You guys coming? A man alone with three toddlers is a lethal combination!’

  ‘I would,’ said Logan. ‘But I’ve got to make a call to London and sort out a logistics drama.’

  ‘Excuses, excuses,’ smiled Maddy. ‘I’d rather wait it out, Mila. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m hung over from last night. One too many sundowners.’

  Mila smiled, calling the children to bring their shovels and buckets. ‘I thought you looked crusty around the edges. See ya later!’ She waved and followed Fred outside to the station wagon, and they both loaded the three offspring into the back seats, firmly strapping them in. Fred stacked beach towels and a blanket behind the driver’s seat before climbing in and sliding the key into the ignition. Mila held a book she hoped to finish before the end of the holiday.

  ‘Good luck with reading that!’ chuckled Fred as he glanced back at Ma
ddy and Logan standing on the deck, casually waving.

  Mila opened the passenger door and buckled herself in after pulling the door closed. She grimaced as she turned to Fred. ‘You’re right! I was trying to finish this novel on the plane, but had no chance.’

  ‘No rest for the wicked!’ he chuckled. ‘I reckon a good ten years will pass before you get to the last chapter!’ He turned the key, and the Toyota immediately burst into action. ‘You better give me directions to the beach, Chief Navigator.’

  Back at the brick and Cedar bach, Logan completed his overseas phone call and walked into the open plan living area where Maddy was washing the last of the breakfast dishes. They smiled warmly at one another, and he moved behind her, putting his arms around her waist and gently kissed her neck. Every time his lips touched her skin, small shock waves of pleasure surged through her body. A tiny voice in the back of her head kept saying; wrong, over and over, until it gradually faded out about the same time he kissed her full on the mouth.

  It had been months, and they were both hungry for one another, each ascending the precincts of intimacy and flouting their no-touch rules, never mind their marriage vows and commitment to fidelity. Logan hoped for an hour of stolen pleasure. He switched his cell phone off, placing it face down on the dining table.

  ‘Let’s make the most of this,’ he said, his voice already ragged with desire. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along the short hallway into his bedroom. Maddy felt uneasy, frightened about being caught, and also tormented by thoughts of Fred and Mila being hurt.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, looking into her deep brown eyes.

  ‘I’m not sure. It doesn’t feel right,’ Maddy said, almost in a whisper.

  ‘After all this time? It’s the only thing that feels right,’ he countered.

  Maddy frowned and looked away. Her eyes fell on the bedside table where Mila’s sunglasses rested. As she was about to speak, she heard the station wagon’s tires grating on the loose gravel driveway beside the bach.

  ‘Mila’s sunglasses!’ she said in a panic. Maddy leaped out of the bedroom and into the shared bathroom, quickly turning the shower on.

  Logan grabbed the sunglasses and strode out into the front room, meeting Mila as she moved through the floor-to-ceiling ranch sliders and into the open-plan kitchen.

  ‘I just saw these, this second, and thought you’d be back.’ he grinned, pecking her on the cheek.

  ‘Thanks darling,’ Mila said in a happy sing-song voice and spun on her heals, walking back outside to the waiting car.

  Fred tooted and waved, reversing the car back down the driveway.

  Logan let out a deep sigh. He tapped on the bathroom door. ‘All’s clear!’

  Maddy emerged. ‘What the hell are we doing?’

  ‘What we’ve always done,’ came Logan’s immediate response. ‘I love you. We love each other, and we always have.’

  ‘I just feel it’s a sign. A sign that we need to stop,’ she said, unsettled by the near miss. ‘Imagine if Mila had turned up ten minutes later?’

  Logan grinned. ‘What? Are you expecting me to do some penance now?’ He chuckled, his blue eyes dancing in hers. Maddy couldn’t help herself and reluctantly smiled, still feeling uneasy.

  ‘She’s gone, and they’re not coming back for a while. Please don’t tell me, after all these years, you’re suddenly having a crisis of conscience, Maddy?’

  She stood frozen in front of him, thoughtful, but unable to resist. What’s that Oscar Wilde quote?’ she asked. ‘I can resist everything except temptation from Logan Jones.’

  He chortled and reached for her again, kissing her softly, gently on the lips, moving to her ear and sliding down her neck. Her breath quickened. He knew her body well and was confident he could make her heart sing with rapture. There would be no more talking. She was his for the next sixty minutes.

  Back in the bedroom, Logan pulled out a clean double sheet and spread it over the king-size bed. They wouldn’t need blankets and pillows in the summer heat. Maddy pulled the drapes closed. There was no turning back. They stared at one another in the soft diffused mid-morning light, their eyes locking, securing their commitment to desire. Seconds later, it was as if someone had triggered a starter’s gun. They both ripped their own clothes off and flung their naked bodies onto the bed, smiling and rolling together at home with one another’s nakedness. They had been here many times before, but this time Logan would slow things down.

  Maddy admired Logan’s body, firm and muscular, with dark hair across his chest, relieved that he was no metrosexual waxer. She liked a man with a bit of real chest hair, masculine and sexy. His obvious erection quickly elevated Maddy’s pulse and sent electrifying waves of sensation through her body, anticipating the sex she knew they would both enjoy.

  ‘Hold on,’ Logan whispered against her ear as he gently ran his hands over her naked shoulders and across her thighs. He carefully pushed her onto her back and lay alongside her, tenderly moving his hands over her inviting skin. ‘Let’s take it real slow,’ his voice husky with desire.

  ‘Not too slow,’ she said breathlessly.

  ‘You’re always so impatient.’ he nuzzled his face against her neck as he ran his hands from her thighs up over her naked back. As she moved her legs slightly apart, his fingers sought her warm, alluring body. Maddy arched her back as warm spasms diffused throughout her body. She reached for his rock-hard erection, inviting her with its silky smoothness. She desperately wanted him inside her, his yearning ratcheting up her desire. They both knew how close they were. Too close. Logan grabbed her hand, pulling it away. ‘Not yet,’ he rasped, barely audible.

  Maddy moaned, eager to have him inside her, to feel him close, their breathing and movements unified as one. She put her hand on his chest, and he kissed her again, his tongue searching to connect, unifying their shared nakedness. He continued to touch her and could sense from her breathing how close he could bring her. Then he would stop, kiss her again, teasing, tormenting her almost to the brink of climax. Logan wanted to feel her need and stay in control. He knew she wanted him, wanted him badly, and he still stopped, hesitating on the edge of infinity. Finally, he shifted position, moving on top of her and still vacillated, holding back, wanting to make her desire a force for extreme pleasure, recreating a desire she would never forget.

  She whimpered like a small animal, a begging sound, desperate for his indulgence. He conceded, plunging into her, moving slowly at first as she clutched his shoulders, trying to force him to move faster. Within minutes, they both moaned out loud in an uncontrollable rush, their bodies contracting with sensual contentment.

  During the next fortnight’s holiday, they had to be content with the normalcy of their own marriages. Both couples enjoyed swimming in the crashing surf, paddling in the small waves along the white sandy bays in the area with their youngsters. During the languid summer evenings, they indulged in wonderful seafood meals of calamari, fresh fish and two medium-size Lobsters Logan bought from a fishing trawler at the Whangamata wharf.

  The next day was a sad farewell at Auckland Airport. Both tearful women clung to one another as they announced the LAX flight.

  ‘Come on,’ said Logan. ‘Let’s get this over with. We’ll see you both soon.’ He hugged Fred close and with a remorseful lack of enthusiasm briefly hugged Maddy, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves.

  Two uneventful months raced past after the Davis family’s return to LA. Life for Maddy and Fred fell into overcoming the tidal wave of domestic challenges that demanded immediate responses. Maddy became increasingly preoccupied with one of the most defining issues of her life. She sat in the doctor’s waiting room, overcome with self-reproach and angst. She clasped her hands in her lap, continually moving, wringing with agitation, until the nurse finally called her name.

  The family doctor was an older woman with soft, calm eyes that rested on her pleasant face. She was happy to see Maddy, greeting her warmly. ‘Well, I have some wo
nderful news.’

  Maddy looked unsure and frowned, trying to read Dr. Andrew’s facial expression. She seemed happy and confident, but did this mean good news or bad?

  The doctor spoke as if she were announcing a lottery winner. ‘The blood test results came in yesterday, and they’re positive!’ She proudly declared, bracing herself for shrieks of delight from one of her favorite patients.

  ‘Eh? Positive?’ Maddy weakly repeated, momentarily confused. The Doctor’s delight contrasted with her understanding of the alarming news the physician was delivering.

  ‘Yes! Maddy, you’re positively pregnant. I’m estimating you’re about seven weeks, give or take. An internal…’ She stopped mid-sentence. Maddy’s silence was hard to ignore, especially as her eyes welled with unexpected tears. ‘What’s wrong?’ the perplexed Doctor asked. ‘You, okay?’

  Maddy coughed and pulled herself together. ‘So sorry. I’m just overwhelmed. It’s so unexpected, I thought it could be anything.’ She wished it was almost anything else at that point, too. A baby. She had already calculated dates and knew it was Logan’s baby, but there was no way she was going down that track with her trusted family, GP.

  ‘Oh. Thank heavens,’ smiled the doctor. ‘Congratulations are in order. I know it’s been some time since Blake was born. How old is he now?’

  ‘Nearly five,’ Maddy realized at this exact moment that the baby would have to be Blake’s younger brother and Fred’s second child. She couldn’t explain to Fred how Logan was in the mix after all these years. She felt like a fool. She could not tell him the truth. Fred would feel the full-weight of her betrayal. It was too alarming to contemplate. Her thoughts veered back to the present, and she could hear the doctor repeating the same question.

  ‘Did you hear me, Maddy?’ The doctor had been talking about check-up appointments, while Maddy wished she could check out completely. Because of her secret love affair with her best friend’s husband, she would now have to weave a web of lies, not just to Fred and Mila, but to everyone she encountered. She realized this would be a lifelong liability.