The Word Game Read online

  “Has Aly called yet?”

  Tricia shook her head. “They’re probably all at the restaurant still. Give her another hour, and then she’ll probably send a text asking about Lyla.” Actually, she’d be surprised if it took her sister an hour. She knew tonight would be hard for her. If Scott was smart, he’d keep her occupied. She’d already talked with Rachel, who promised to keep her out as late as possible.

  To say Alyson tended to be controlling was being generous. Aly was not just a control freak but a helicopter-style mother who wore the pants in her family and organized everyone and everything around her. She needed to be 100 percent in control of every facet of her life.

  Tonight was the first time Aly had ever allowed her daughter to join a sleepover at someone else’s home. It was a big deal. Tricia had been asking for more than a few years now to let Lyla stay over, but it never happened—until now. This recital-party sleepover came about not because she felt it important for the kids to celebrate like this but because she knew Lyla would be so excited that Alyson couldn’t say no. Not to this. Not to a sleepover that included every single one of the girls from the class. Tricia had worked her magic on her sister, even to the point of letting Aly think this whole sleepover business was her idea.

  “Doesn’t it seem like Myah is taking a while?” Mark gave her a look, and she knew he thought she should check and see. First, she called the dogs and sent them into the back room where she’d arranged their dog beds for the night, and then closed the door. The last thing she needed was to have them underfoot when the pizza arrived.

  When she went outside, Myah was sitting on the wicker chair on her front porch, a large box at her feet. She was hissing words into her phone.

  Tricia debated whether to let her friend know she was there or just head back into the house.

  “I’m beginning to hate you. You know that, right?” Myah said into the phone.

  “Myah?” Tricia spoke her name softly, so as not to startle her. Myah waved her hand.

  “Okay, Eddie, give me thirty minutes,” Myah said before she hung up.

  Tricia leaned against the wood railing and waited for Myah to regain her composure.

  “I should have listened to you. Next time, make me listen to you,” Myah muttered.

  “You fell in love. You wouldn’t listen to any of us,” Tricia reminded her.

  Myah and Eddie had been dance partners for years and got married just under two years ago. Tricia had never liked the man, felt he was an oily-tongued snake, but Myah wouldn’t listen. She’d fallen under his spell, thinking she could help him change his ways.

  “Next time, really make me listen.” Myah picked up the box at her feet. “Help me hand these out? I need to meet with Eddie in half an hour.”

  Tricia held the door open for her. “Are you sure you want to do that tonight?”

  “I need to.” Myah said, her face downcast. “I just need to get it done, you know?”

  “I know. Now, no frowns. Let’s go give the girls these gift bags before the pizza arrives.”

  The basement buzzed with noise as they walked down the stairs, but it wasn’t until Tricia opened the door that the full blast of having all these girls in one room hit her.

  Myah whistled to grab their attention, and within moments, everyone had quieted down.

  Tricia glanced around and noticed the girls had already rolled out their sleeping bags on the floor. Lyla was unobtrusively moving her sleeping bag closer to the wall.

  Tricia couldn’t help but smile. Like mother, like daughter.

  While Myah talked to the girls about the amazing job they’d all done that night, the doorbell rang and Tricia made her way back upstairs. As Mark paid the delivery driver, Tricia set out the boxes of pizza along with plastic plates and napkins and let the boys get their slices first.

  “How’s the game going?” she asked David, her oldest.

  “Good. Brandon and I are winning.”

  “Are you being nice to your brothers? Making sure they’re having a good time too?” She’d taken him aside earlier and asked him to help keep things running smoothly among all the boys.

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “And you remember what we said earlier, right? About leaving the girls alone?”

  “You going to tell them the same thing?” He eyed her with interest.

  “Of course.” She caught the look he gave his friend Brandon. “Why?” she asked. “Is there something I should know?”

  Her son shook his head. “I’ll keep an eye on it. One of the girls has a crush on Brandon.”

  “Really?” Weren’t the kids too young for this? So far Katy hadn’t shown any indication of liking boys—either that or she was just blind to it. In all honestly, she wasn’t ready for this stage. She was hoping to wait until Katy was at least fifteen or sixteen before she had to deal with broken hearts.

  “Hey, Tricia?” Myah climbed the stairs. “The girls can smell the pizza. Are you ready for them?”

  “Elijah, are you sure you don’t want to take an extra slice?” Tricia reached for a slice of Hawaiian, her middle son’s favorite, and placed it on his plate. “Send them up.”

  For the next ten minutes, the mayhem in her kitchen knew no bounds. The girls clustered together, whether sitting at the table, snagging stools from the counter, or standing beside their friends. The boys had migrated to the living room, and a few of the girls followed and sat on the floor, hoping to play the video game as well.

  “I gotta run. You going to be okay?” Myah tapped Tricia on the shoulder, her bag slung over her shoulder.

  Tricia laughed. “Are you seriously asking me that? I’ll be fine. Go. Call me if you need me, okay?” She gave Myah a quick hug then watched her friend say good-bye to her daughter.

  She didn’t understand why Myah would meet Eddie so late at night but trusted she knew what she was doing.

  It took another hour of corralling to get the kids into their respective areas and to explain the rules. Boys had to stay upstairs and girls in the basement—no sneaking around except to go to the bathroom.

  “Seriously, Mom?” Katy had said. “As if we want the boys to bug us anyways.” She stuck her tongue out toward her brothers before she turned and led the girls down to the basement.

  “Should you follow?” Mark asked her once the kitchen was finally empty.

  Tricia shook her head. “I’ll give them a bit to get settled and figure out a game plan. That’ll give us time to clean the kitchen at least.”

  Mark grabbed a garbage bag and began to throw away empty plates and cups, while Tricia stacked the empty pizza boxes.

  “But I think tonight will be fine. They’re only kids.”

  Mark laughed, dropped the bag, and grabbed her by the waist. “Only kids? Do you have any idea what I did between the ages of eleven and fourteen? I had found all my father’s Playboy magazines and—”

  “Disgusting.” Tricia stopped him going any further. She was well aware of his escapades. They’d known each other since middle school.

  “I’m just saying that maybe we shouldn’t do any more coed sleepovers.”

  “Perhaps. If you’re so worried about it, feel free to sleep with the boys tonight.” She winked. “I’m sure they’d love to have an old man stink up the room with them.”

  “Who are you calling old?” He growled at her before lifting her up in his arms. “Could an old man do this?” He walked with her in his arms, then held her against the wall and kissed her.

  “Stop.” She laughed, pushing him away until her feet touched the ground again. “Behave yourself. The last thing we need is one of the kids seeing us make out in the kitchen and telling their parents.”

  “I’m surprised your mother never showed up. I would have thought she’d be in the thick of things tonight.”

  “She’s coming in the morning to h
elp me with breakfast.” She would make pancakes to her heart’s content and then help clean once all the kids left. Her mother was like Aly, a neat freak, so it was a win-win situation for Tricia, since it meant she’d have more help in the morning and a clean house in the end.

  “Should we check in on the kids again before we head to bed?”

  “Are you suggesting we embarrass our kids while we’re saying good night?” Tricia could see the twinkle in her husband’s gaze and chuckled. “I’ll check in on the girls and see you upstairs.”

  When she opened the door downstairs, she was surprised to find a quiet room. The girls had a movie on, and everyone seemed to be watching it. She made her way across the room to where Katy and Keera sat on the sofa.

  “Having fun?” she said quietly to her daughter.

  “It’s okay. Just watching a movie, and then we’ll go to bed.” Katy whispered back.

  “Uh-huh. Just keep it down, okay? And no sneaking upstairs to the boys. Got it?” She gave Keera a look too.

  “As if. Good night, Mom.” Katy nudged her mom off the couch and leaned her head close to Keera, whispering something to her.

  Tricia wove her way toward Lyla’s sleeping bag, where the little girl was lying on her belly watching the movie. Tricia hunched down and gave her niece a kiss on the top of her head.

  “Doing okay?” She asked.

  Lyla nodded.

  “If you need me, you know where I am.”

  “I’ll be okay, Aunt Tricia, but thank you. Is Grandma coming over tomorrow for breakfast?”

  Tricia smiled. She’d seen Ida hug Lyla hard earlier in the evening, and she must have told her.

  “You bet she is. She’s going to make her awesome pancakes just for us. Maybe you can help her?” Tricia figured if she gave Lyla something to look forward to in the morning, she might actually stay the whole night. Although, she didn’t think that would be a problem, not from the way Lyla was acting.

  “Good night.” Lyla whispered, obviously wanting to watch the movie.

  “Night, love.”

  This was working. It was actually working. She knew it would, had known from the moment she thought of it, but to actually have it working . . . She was good, if she did say so herself. Lyla’s first full sleepover was going to be a success, and from here on out, Alyson couldn’t say no to any future sleepovers. At least, she hoped she wouldn’t.

  She looked in on the boys, saying good night, and then headed upstairs to her bedroom. She kept the door open—that way they could hear if anyone was up and about.

  “Think they’ll all go to sleep like good little boys and girls?” Mark asked once they were settled in bed.

  “Are you kidding me? I got the little angel act from the girls. How were the boys?”

  He shrugged. “About the same. They swore they were going to watch one movie and then go to sleep.”

  “Right.” They both said at the same time.

  “I found our old baby monitor in the closet and set it up in the kitchen where the kids can’t see it.” He leaned over and picked up the monitor from the floor. “Still works, see?” He turned it on and dialed the volume up loud enough so they could hear in the background the movie the boys were watching. He turned it down to a low murmur and set it on his nightstand.

  “Good move.” She was very impressed. “Now, if you can keep from snoring, we might actually hear it if they try something.”

  “When,” Mark corrected her. “’Cause you know it’s a when and not an if.”

  Tricia sighed. “How late should we stay up then?”

  “Why don’t we watch our own movie and turn the volume up a bit. If they know we’re still awake, it might make them think twice.” Mark reached for the remote and turned on the television in their bedroom. “Although, from the looks I caught between Keera and Brandon . . .” He let his voice trail off.

  “Keera? No way. One of the other girls, maybe. But not our Keera.”

  “If you say so.” Mark turned off his bedside light and scrolled through the channels to find a movie.

  By the time their movie was over, everything in the house was quiet, so Tricia relaxed and attempted to fall asleep. Then she heard the creak of a door closing.

  “Did you hear that?” Mark asked, somewhat sleepily.

  “I did.” She groaned, not really wanting to get up. “It’s either the bathroom door or one of the boys’ rooms.”

  “Think one of the boys wanted to sleep in their own bed?”

  Tricia rolled over to look at Mark. “If it’s one of the boys, you should check it out.”

  Mark yawned, and pulled himself out of bed, arching his back as he did. “Don’t they realize it’s almost three in the morning?” He shuffled his way out of the bedroom and down the hall, opening up doors and closing them until Tricia heard him call for her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  MYAH

  Late Friday night

  The smugness of her soon-to-be ex-husband irritated Myah to the point that she wanted to throw his beer in his face and walk away. But she couldn’t. There were too many people around who knew her, and she refused to make a fuss in public.

  Maybe one day she would. The next time she walked up to him making out with some trashy bimbo, she would for sure.

  “I’m done, Eddie.” Myah said between clenched teeth. “Why is this woman here?”

  “It’s okay to admit you’re a little bit jealous.”

  That was it. There was no next time. She reached across to grab his beer, but he swiped it before she could.

  “Come now, Myah, love. Don’t be like that.” He tipped his glass to his lips and drank until the beer was gone. “Let’s not make this difficult. I thought we’d agreed that from the beginning.”

  Exasperated beyond belief, Myah sat back in her chair. Not make it difficult? Did he just say that? After what she’d walked in to see?

  “If you want to make a fool of yourself in front of people we know, go for it. But please, don’t embarrass me.”

  “If I’d known you were going to be early, I wouldn’t have. We just got . . . carried away.” Eddie gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. “You know how it is.”

  Myah rolled her eyes. Yes, she knew how it was. Eddie was a man who lived by his passions, and she really shouldn’t be too surprised. But she was still upset.

  “Eddie, I’m tired. It’s been a long night, and I’m not up for playing games.” When he lifted his empty glass to the waitress, Myah sighed. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

  “Why? I thought we were celebrating. You had a lovely little recital at our theater, where our little girl was the star of the show. I think that deserves another round, doesn’t it?”

  “All the kids did well,” she reminded him, even though secretly she agreed.

  “Oh come on, love. You know she was the best. She has us as teachers, after all.”

  Myah drummed her fingers on the table. It wasn’t even worth it.

  “Eddie, we need to talk. Seriously.” A waitress came over, dropped off another draft beer for Eddie, and brought her a warm tea. Eddie, of course, gave the waitress a wink, while Myah just said a quiet thank-you.

  “Then talk. That’s why I’m here. You know I’ll always drop everything for you, babe.”

  Ugh. Why had it taken her so long to see him for the man he was?

  She reached into her purse and pulled out a long brown envelope. “I’m ready.” She dropped the envelope on the table and pushed it toward him. “Our marriage is over, and we both know it.”

  Eddie stared at the envelope but didn’t touch it.

  “Are you sure, love? I’m not ready to lose you.”

  Myah laughed. She actually laughed. Who was he kidding? Certainly not her.

  “Oh come on now, Eddie. Think of the publicity you can gain from this
. Who knows? Perhaps you can make a comeback. That’s why you put so much energy and money into redoing the theater, isn’t it?” Call her cynical, but she’d never known her husband, soon-to-be ex-husband, to do anything if it didn’t benefit him in some way.

  Even their marriage had been for more than just love. She knew that now. She realized it only a few short months after those butterfly feelings had flown away and reality came crashing down, when they stepped away from the hectic tour schedule to raise Keera with normalcy.

  “I don’t need the spotlight again, Myah. I need you. I need Keera. I need my family in my life. Please don’t do this.” For a moment, Eddie looked like he was going to cry.

  “Oh please. You like the idea of family more than the reality of it.”

  He reached out to grab her hand. “No, I’m serious, Myah. Since I moved out, I’ve been lonely. I’ve realized how empty my life is. Sleeping at the theater hall isn’t home. Home is with you and our daughter.”

  She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. Where was this talk of family when she needed it the most? Why now when it meant nothing? Until she’d asked him to move out, he’d never shown any interest in being much of a father to Keera. Not unless it involved dancing.

  “She’s not your daughter, Eddie. I asked you to officially adopt her, and you refused. Or do you not remember that?” That act alone had been the first indication that she’d picked the wrong man. It was too bad she hadn’t asked him to do this before their marriage.

  “My biggest regret. That and cheating on you. I wish I could turn back time.” He bowed his head for a moment before looking up and giving her a soft smile. “Give me a second chance, please.”

  “You were kissing another woman ten minutes ago!”