Devotion Read online

  Listening in from outside the front of the newlywed's rental, I got to hear exactly how far along Katherine had come. She was charging at Corey full blast with what she believed to be the truth. How could she be wrong when she'd sent him a text that was both delivered and read? Simple really. Well, sort of.

  It wasn't easy, but I installed some malware on to his phone that gives me remote access to his messages as if I were holding his cell in my hands. The software is amazing, it even allows me to intercept a message as it's sent to him.

  I spent most of my day yesterday waiting for an alert on my cell to tell me when Katherine had sent Corey a text. As soon as I saw the request for someone to collect Ava after school come through, I realized I'd stumbled upon a perfect opportunity to mess with Katherine. What better way to make her think her new husband was gaslighting her than to delete a message he'd supposedly seen? Pretending to respond was the ultimate kicker. It fell in perfectly with what I had planned.

  I knew the promotion would already be a sore point. Having them also squabble over who should have picked up Ava only added more fuel to their raging fire.

  I couldn't control the smile on my face as Corey and Katherine argued away in front of Ava. Listening in from the front door as quietly as possible, I had to fight the laughter that was dying to burst from my lips. Then it was a matter of waiting for the right moment to interrupt them with a bottle of Corey's favorite wine. Katherine thought I was there to support her. Little did she realize I was only trying to drive a bigger wedge between their bond by preventing that time apart they each needed.

  The wine was the best way to make Katherine think I came over to help while also showing Corey that I know him. He has no idea, if I'm being honest, just how well I understand who he is. Katherine, though, barely has a grasp on who her husband is as a person.

  I had to watch Corey and Katherine get together. They thought no one realized at the time, so they tried to keep it a secret. Neither wanted anyone to find out that two weeks after Corey kissed me, Katherine had stepped in to 'convince' him to see me again. In reality, she was only there to steal him away. I'm so glad I kept an eye on her when she offered to 'straighten him out' for me.

  Did they think they were sparing my feelings by sneaking around behind my back? I mean, they both knew I would find out, eventually. They seemed to figure a month was long enough a time for me to have moved on and forgotten about the most magical night of my life. Little did they know that I could never move on from Corey.

  Katherine fed me lies to throw me off her and Corey's scent until they came clean. It took a lot from me not to explode when she first told me how she approached Corey on my behalf.

  "I'm so sorry, Annette. I tried to convince him to ask you out again, but he wasn't interested."

  I didn't know what was worse: her cruel wording or the fact that I'd seen the way she tried to 'convince' him to give me another shot. I watched from outside Corey's classroom when Katherine first kissed him. How could she do that to me? After years of loyalty, she figured it was okay to destroy any chance I had at true happiness. Just because her ex had run a number on her life didn't mean I needed to fall down to her level.

  I shouldn't have been surprised, really. It wasn't the first time Katherine had done something like this. Way back when in high school, she'd not only take an interest in one of the boys I liked, but she made sure he knew that I was not an option after she dumped him only two weeks later.

  The secret meetups continued between Katherine and Corey. I followed them wherever they went, even when they drove all the way to Portland for a fancy date out of town. A month after Corey and I shared a perfect kiss, the world found out the truth. Katherine announced to the school that her and Corey were an item. I'll bet Corey wanted to wait longer, but she wouldn't allow it. She probably preferred to tell everyone on day one.

  When Katherine first told me about her and Corey, I had to pretend I didn't know. It wasn't hard for me to show her how hurt and betrayed I felt. My pain was real. What she never expected was for me to forgive her so quickly. I had to. I couldn't have her finding out that I was still in love with Corey. There was no way in hell I could give her the satisfaction.

  At first I was hopeful. I had one important thing on my side of it all keeping me going; Katherine's relationships were terrible and didn't last. Her ex came and went so many times I'd lost count. There were other guys here and there. None of them survived. I figured Corey would have been no different. I was wrong.

  Katherine made things work with Corey. It was as if a bug had burrowed itself into her brain and stopped her from being her usual stupid self. Corey didn't run for the hills the way the others did when they discovered Ava. He was a real man.

  Months went by. I played my part even when Corey and Katherine moved in together. I acted like it wasn't a blade to my heart every time I saw them kiss. Each second his hands touched her only caused me more misery. Still, I hung in there, ever hopeful their relationship would run its course and fall apart. It had to.

  When Katherine told me about her and Corey deciding to get married, something in my mind snapped. All the restraint I had shown them, all the goodwill I could fake, ceased to exist. I could no longer sit there and pretend everything was okay. I had to act.

  As I signed their wedding certificate as a witness, I had to steady my hand to fight the rage from spilling out from my soul. Sure, I could have attacked Katherine there and then, but I had a better idea brewing, despite wanting more than anything to implement that indignation.

  I knew without a doubt what I had to do. And now everything is falling into place.

  32

  Annette

  The next day at school, I go about my usual routine with one exception: a quick trip to Corey's room during recess. I'm not supposed to leave my post in case a parent or a student comes in needing something, but I have to follow up my visit to the Grayson household last night. It's time to strike.

  I spot Corey in his classroom working away on his laptop. He's such a dedicated educator who deserves to rise through the ranks. Sure, I may have given him a little help without him knowing about it, but I know he would have gotten the promotion on his own.

  It wasn't hard to ruin Katherine's application and make Corey's credentials appear amazing by comparison. They each had to submit their forms to me first before I sent the paperwork on to Barry and so on. I spent one night on my computer recreating Katherine's application while making a few modifications. Anything that gave her the advantage over Corey got removed or altered to look irrelevant. It was too easy. Plus, Katherine will never know. The school board never gives feedback to their applicants.

  I knock at Corey's door gently, not wanting to disturb him more than I have to. He lifts his head to the interruption and smiles. I love that beautiful grin almost as much as the way his eyes stare into my being. Every time he looks at me, even if for a split second, I'm back to the night we kissed. I could live in moments like this forever.

  "Come in," he calls out to me through the glass of the door.

  I return Corey's warm smile and quietly let myself into his room. He keeps his space immaculate unlike Katherine. I don't understand how they live together being such opposites. If I were a teacher, I'd never allow my classroom to fall to pieces the way Katherine's does.

  "How are you?" he asks me, thoughtfully beyond a mere formality.

  "Oh, you know me. I'm fine."

  "That's good. So what can I do for you?"

  I walk in further, smiling at him, trying my best to focus on the plan. I sometimes find it hard to place my attention where it needs to go whenever I talk to Corey. All I want to do is fall into his strong arms and feel his warmth against my skin.

  "Uh, well, I wanted to ask how you were doing. More specifically check how you and Kat are coping."

  One side of Corey's lips pop up into a sardonic grin. "Yeah, not good. Is it that obvious? Or has she filled you in on our latest argument?"

  "A
bit of both, sorry."

  He lets out a sigh and shuts the lid on his computer. "I don't know what's going on between us lately. We were lucky you came over when you did last night to help diffuse things. It was about to get a lot worse."

  I stumble on the spot, fighting the temptation to slap myself in the face for helping. I thought interrupting with a helpful bottle of wine was the right call. Whether it was or not doesn't matter. I need to focus on what I came here to achieve.

  "Thank you," Corey says.

  "Oh, it's okay. I was trying to do what I could to help you guys work through it all. Plus, I kind of knew Katherine wouldn't take the news of the promotion all too well."

  Corey chuckles. "Yes, I guess it was the first thing that went through my mind when I found out. I honestly didn't know how to tell her."

  "I can imagine. But, she knows now, so don't stress about it. Besides, Kat should be happy to watch your hard work pay off."

  "You'd think so. I mean she tells me she's proud of me and excited blah, blah, blah, but ultimately I can see behind her eyes how much she feels wronged by it all."

  "Why would she feel 'wronged'?" I ask, pretending I don't know the answer.

  "I shouldn't be telling you this," he says, rubbing his neck, "but let's just say that she believes she deserves the promotion more than I do."

  "Wow, really? You're both hard-working teachers. Why would she think she deserves it more than you?"

  Corey shrugs. "I'm not sure. I mean she admitted some of her jealousy to me this morning, but there's more there. She, uh…" He trails off, shaking his head. It's obvious he's holding back on what he truly wants to express. I could give him another nudge, but I need his venting to feel as organic as possible.

  "Anyway, thank you again for the wine. It was a big help. How did you know it was my favorite?"

  Because I know you better than you know yourself, is what I want to say, but I stick to the script in my head as best I can. "Katherine told me."

  "Come on, Annette. We both know Kat had nothing to do with you bringing over that bottle of wine last night."

  "Was it that noticeable? I guess I thought I could make you both happy. I knew the promotion would upset Kat, but I also didn't think you deserved to have your big moment spoiled."

  "It's okay. I'll live."

  A silence fills the small space between us. I hold my gaze on him the way I did that night. He doesn't look away. I place my hand on his arm. "If you ever need to talk about anything, you know I'm here for you."

  "Thank you. Guess I'd better get back to it," he says, clearing his throat as he turns from me.

  "Yeah, me too, I suppose. I'll see you around." I head for the door, frustrated I have to leave. It feels like there is something beginning to spark between us again. All I need is more time alone with Corey to make him forget about his wife.

  33

  Katherine

  It's my birthday, but it doesn't feel like a day worth thinking about. I came into work early after the disastrous night with Corey. Thank God Annette showed up at our house when she did. She stopped the argument between Corey and me from growing into something far worse. She forced us both to be hospitable.

  I felt so ashamed that she knew I'd be upset about Corey receiving the promotion over me. She expected my pathetic anger and tried her best to prevent me from spoiling what should have been a good night. I guess the thing with the texts and Ava not being picked up screwed with my brain a little.

  I figure Corey's cell malfunctioned that day. It's the only answer I can think of to explain why my message reported as delivered and read. What's still driving me insane, though, is how the three dots came up. They should only appear when a person is typing a response. I suppose I need to leave the thought alone and write it off as a mystery.

  This morning, I tried to be organized, getting Ava ready as fast as I could to put her into before-school care an hour earlier. I wanted to get to work with plenty of time to spare so I could talk to Corey in private. We needed to chat and clear the air.

  After Annette left late last night, Corey went to bed without a word. We can't keep doing this. Our marriage won't survive if we continue fighting this much.

  It's lunchtime and I'm sitting alone, eating in my classroom. My mind slips back to the conversation I had with Corey before the chaos of the day began. I dropped Ava off and headed over to his room. He was already hard at it with a steaming cup of coffee at his desk. This promotion was serious business.

  "Can I come in?" I asked after opening the door so Corey didn't have to get up.

  He stopped writing a note on the pile of papers he was working on and leaned back a little in his chair. "What brings you into work this early?" he asked me in a slightly mocking tone.

  "You," I said. "I'm not happy with how things have been lately. I don't mean to interrupt your day, but we need to talk about it."

  Corey tapped his pen repeatedly against the edge of his desk, never taking his eyes off mine. "What's happened to us?"

  I shook my head as I settled in next to him, dragging out one of the student chairs to sit on. "I don't know. It's all been such a messy blur since we returned from our honeymoon. I wish we could put life on hold and fly back there. Everything was perfect for those five days."

  "It was, wasn't it," he said with a coy smile.

  "Maybe we can go back there," I said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "We could pretend we're still on our honeymoon and not let anything come between us the way it has this last week."

  Corey sighs. "It's a nice thought, but how are we supposed to imagine being in some perfect moment when we're at each other's throats?"

  "That's a fair question, and I will answer you with a simple apology. I'm sorry for being jealous of your promotion. I let my disappointment take control when I should have been happy for you instead. I've been a terrible wife."

  "You haven't been. I could have told you the news in a better way. I knew it wouldn't have been what you wanted to hear, considering how much extra work you put into your application."

  "It caught me off guard, but I shouldn't have let it go beyond that. When Ava's teacher called me to pick her up after my seminar, I guess I took out the misunderstanding on you. So again, I'm sorry."

  "It's okay," he said as he grabbed my hand and gently ran his fingers over my skin. I wished we could have kissed in that moment, but when we first got together, we promised Barry that we'd keep things strictly professional.

  "What are you working on?" I asked Corey as I moved in closer to look at the pile of papers on his clean desk. I wish I could work as neat as him.

  "A new Math plan. I'm going through some old tests to see if I can make improvements to the way we teach it to the higher grades."

  "That's exciting," I said, seeing something I knew I could help him with. Sure, I was a first-grade teacher, but I could teach Math to any year level from preschoolers to seniors in high school. It was my specialty when I was working through my master's. Some days I felt a little underwhelmed, teaching the first grade, but then I'd remember that I love the young ones too much to move on to a greater challenge.

  "Yeah, there's a lot here to unpack, but I'm going to present some changes to Barry next week once I figure out this problem the students all seem to have."

  "If you need to run anything by me, I'm here for you. I have some useful resources from my master's that would be a big help."

  "Thanks," he said, the words spitting out of his lips a little sharp, "but I should be fine."

  I backed away. This was something he wanted to do on his own. I guess he was trying to prove himself to everyone so they could see they made the right choice in promoting him.

  "I'll leave you to it."

  "That would be good, honey. I still have a lot of work to do before the damn kids charge through here like a runaway train."

  "Have fun," I said before planting a quick kiss on his cheek. I couldn't help myself.

  "What are
you doing?" he snapped, pulling away from me.

  "There's no one around."

  "You don't know that. Anyone could have seen you."

  "I'm sorry," I said as I stood from the small chair. I slid it back to where I found it.

  "It's fine. Please try to be more careful from now on. I need to show the staff and parents that I'm worthy of this new responsibility."

  "Okay. Sorry. I'll see you later then."

  "Kat," he said, stopping me.

  "Yes?"

  "Happy birthday," he said, holding up a small wrapped present.

  "You didn't have to do that, remember?" I said as I walked over to him and slowly opened his gift. Inside was a twist link sterling silver bracelet set with small diamonds. It glimmered in the box as the light hit each angle. "Oh Corey. It's beautiful. Thank you." I went to kiss him on the cheek but remembered I couldn't.

  "I figured I'd still get you something even though you said not to."

  "You didn't need to but thank you. I really appreciate it."

  "Also I didn't mean to bite your head off about the kiss before. People know we're married. I shouldn't be so uptight about it, but I'm under a lot of pressure to make this work. Give me a few weeks to settle into things and I'll take you out for an expensive dinner. Hell, maybe we can go away for a few nights."

  I made myself smile to show him I understood. "That would be nice."

  "Have a good day, okay? I'll see you at home."

  "You too," I said, realizing he no longer wanted me bugging him at school.

  The time dragged by until I found myself alone, eating lunch in my classroom, wondering how long I could keep pushing down my feelings.

  My head hangs low as I force myself to eat my ham and cheese sandwich. The flavor seems bland and almost nauseating. I hear footsteps approach my room followed by a quick knock. I glance up.