Leaving Normal, Stef Holm [ebook reader screen .TXT] 📗

vitality for living life on the edge were infectious. That was what had attracted him to her in the first place.

Tony took the gift, and the others to follow. The three of them spent the morning opening presents and he pretended to enjoy himself as if nothing were wrong—as if his life was not somehow off-kilter.

Later off while Parker played with her new toys, Tony cornered Kim in the kitchen as she put on a fresh pot of coffee.

"Where were you this morning, Kim?"

Looking insulted for the first time since coming through the door, she said, "At Laurie's."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"I don't know."

They merely stared at one another, allowing a ridiculous span of silence to be broken only by the playful hums of a six-year-old who was completely oblivious to the two adults at odds with each other.

"I'm going to Rocky's house to get the kitten for Parker," Tony finally said in a soft voice, picking up his keys.

"She's going to love it, Tony."

"Yep," he replied in a clipped voice.

After punching the garage-door opener, he realized Kim's car was in the driveway blocking him in. Rather than move it, he opened the door to the Mazda coupe and got inside. The small vehicle swallowed his large body, making him feel closed in. Almost suffocated.

Feeling for the lever under the seat, his hand touched a cold object.

Kim's cell phone.

It must have fallen on the floor mat. He tossed the cellular onto the shifter console, made an adjustment to the seat and slid it back as far as it would go to accommodate his long legs.

He put the car into gear, rested his wrist on the steering wheel and turned down the radio that heralded holiday tunes. He punched another station, not in the mood for fa-la-las.

Driving down Fairview Avenue, he headed to Rocky's house to pick up the kitten. Rocky had two playful rottweilers who Tony hoped like hell had left the kitten alone. Rocky had agreed to keep the kitten overnight so he could surprise Parker with the Christmas present today.

The anxiousness he'd been feeling about watching her face when he gave it to her was now diminished. While he didn't want to believe Kim could do such a thing, he wondered if she had told Parker not to tell him where they'd been last night and this morning. If Kim had devised a "game" to play with her little girl… If that was the case…

Tension built in the back of Tony's eyes, around the sockets where moderate pain grew into a vague headache.

Stopped at a red light, he was jolted out of his thoughts by the chirp of an incoming call on Kim's phone. Startled into action, he reached over and punched the answer button.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

"Hello?"

The line went dead.

Tony glanced at the ID, but the LCD reading blinked to gray.

"Shit," he muttered, fumbling with some of the task buttons, trying to figure out where the Received Calls feature was. While doing so, the phone rang once more?

"Hello?" he answered gruffly.

Again, no response.

"Who is this?"

Once more, the line disconnected.

A car horn blared behind Tony as the light changed and he didn't accelerate. He quickly went through the car's gears, grinding them from first to third as he pulled into the nearest business driveway.

Sitting in the empty Kmart parking lot, he figured out Kim's call log. The incoming was from a Boise number, the prefix 938. That was north of Boise around Eagle. Searching deeper in the phone menu, he found the outgoing-call list.

He licked his lips, scanned the dates and times and found that that particular number had been called sixteen times last night and once this morning.

Not moving for long moments, Tony stared at the phone. Then he hit '67 so Kim's ID wouldn't appear on the incoming call and dialed the number and waited.

"Hello?" a man's voice answered.

"Who's this?" Tony demanded, his voice a low curl that rumbled in his chest. No answer. He went on. "Listen, I know you're involved with my wife. Who are you?"

Silence, then finally a response. "I think you'd better talk to Kim."

Then the line disconnected.

The light traffic on Fairview Avenue became a blur as Tony clenched his jaw, his hands gripping the steering wheel.

He barely remembered getting to Rocky's, pulling into the driveway and ringing the doorbell. The sound of barking dogs echoed through the large house.

Rocky stood in the opening wearing a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. His resemblance to Nicholas Cage was a little uncanny as he held on to a glass of orange juice.

"Dude, I hate to tell you this, but the rotties made cat chow out of your kitten." He chuckled, then seeing Tony's troubled expression he said, "Not really. I'm just bullshitting you. Don't look so worried."

Tony let himself inside, speaking while walking, uttering aloud what had been at the back of his mind, but too potent for him to say it until this moment. "Kim's having an affair."

Rocky followed him into the kitchen. "You're sure?"

Upon seeing Tony, the two big black-and-brown dogs in the backyard wiggled their butts, wet noses smearing up the glass on the slider.

"I told you I suspected it. The guy just called her on her cell phone. I drove her car over here and she'd left her cell phone under the seat. Fuck."

Tony ran his hand through his hair, thought he'd prepared himself for this, but he hadn't. Not really. How could any man be prepared for something like this?

Because his suspicions were finally confirmed, all at once Tony was relieved, yet upset at the same time. The impact hadn't fully hit him. Not yet. He did feel betrayal. Betrayal was frickin' huge and it left a nauseating taste in his mouth.

In all the years he'd been with the fire department, all the overnights he'd had, he had never once strayed. He'd had the opportunity. He knew plenty of women who were willing and made their intentions obvious, but being unfaithful to his wife was crossing the line.

"Jesus," Rocky muttered. "Want