Devotion Read online

"You don't have to do that. You've worked hard today. Probably harder than me."

  "I'm happy to do it. I know it's your turn to cook, but you need a break. Plus, I had a good day." I hate lying to him.

  "But what about your keys? That can't be an easy thing to deal with."

  "They're keys that'll wind up in some silly place on my desk at school. Guarantee it." I climb out of the sedan and walk to Ava. I pull the handle on her door to let her out. The child lock prevents her from opening it herself. Once I help her down from her seat to the driveway, I twist to spot Corey still sitting in the car like he's caught in a daydream. There's more going on inside that head than some threatening parents with too much time on their hands. I can see it.

  "Come on," I say as I tap on the glass of his window. "Let's forget about school and relax." I give him the best smile possible after the whirlwind of a day I've had.

  Corey reciprocates and climbs out of the car. "I'll be inside in a second. I just need to look for something in the garage."

  Most of our unpacked moving boxes are in there. "Okay. I'll be inside making you some dinner. Once you're done out here, go take a shower."

  "All right. Fine. I'll do what I'm told," he says, raising his arms in defeat.

  "Did you want me to bring your bag in?"

  "Thanks," he replies, handing it over as he heads toward the garage.

  Grabbing Corey's laptop bag, I walk Ava in and set her up in front of the TV with some snacks and a few of her favorite toys. I know I won't ever win mother of the year, but I need to keep her occupied so I can make us all some dinner. Nothing pushes a bad day to the back of your head better than a full stomach, and I happen to be a decent cook. At least I think I am.

  Corey comes inside by the time I've got half a chicken Cobb salad prepared. The meal is one of his favorites and a breeze to whip up. I hear the shower run while Ava continues to stare at some kids' show on the TV that has a solid line of purchasable toys supporting it. I swear the creators add new characters every other week so they can throw another toy onto the shelves at Walmart. Still, I can't deny it makes her happy.

  Putting my cynicism aside, I spot Corey coming out of our bedroom redressed, rubbing his short hair to make sure it's dry.

  "Smells wonderful," he says toward the sizzling chicken on the frying pan.

  I move over to him and wrap my arms around his body for a firm hug. He squeezes me back after a moment.

  "What was that for?" he asks.

  "I wanted to cheer you up. We all know how some of these parents can be. I don't think it matters what grade you teach or how long you've been in this industry. Some people will never give you the respect you deserve."

  Corey agrees as we break off our embrace. He heads for the refrigerator and pulls out a beer, popping the cap a second later. I thought he was getting the drink out ready for dinner, but he takes a long swig. It's unlike him to have any alcohol before we eat. I say nothing, figuring he needs to relax and forget about work.

  "So where do you think your keys are?" he asks, jutting his beer at me.

  "Oh, it doesn't matter. They'll turn up. And if they don't, I'll have to beg the school not to send me a bill for the replacement locks and new keys. Annette would vouch for me."

  Corey chuckles. "I'm positive she would take the blame if you asked her to."

  I know Corey's only joking, but there isn't much Annette and I wouldn't do for each other. We've been friends forever. So long now I've lost count.

  "That reminds me," Corey says. "I got a funny email from one of the guys I wanted to show you. Here, it's on my cell." He heads over to his laptop bag and unzips the main section. A jangling of metal falls out almost immediately. Two sets of school keys sit on the kitchen table.

  "Are those my school keys beside yours?" I ask as my brows pull in tight on my forehead.

  "What the hell?" Corey blurts. "I don't know how they got there."

  "It's okay. You must have grabbed them by mistake somehow."

  "How?"

  I squeeze my right elbow with my left hand. "Maybe when you dropped in during recess, you picked them up by accident and put them in your pocket."

  "What? Come on. I'm not that stupid."

  "I wasn't saying you—"

  "Do you really think I'd do something like that?" Corey asks, cutting me off. His nostrils flare up along with his rapid breathing. Yet despite his anger, he looks guilty. Why can't he admit it was an accident?

  I shake my head. "No, of course not." I throw a weak smile in his direction, hoping I sound genuine. I doubt my desperate message is getting across as I wonder why he's reacting this way. I wasn't accusing him of anything. All he has to do is own up to his mistake.

  "I wouldn't, all right?"

  "But—"

  Ava sneaks up on our argument and tugs at my pant leg. "Mommy?"

  "Yes, sweetie?" I ask, pulling my eyes from Corey's intense stare.

  "Is dinner ready yet? I'm still hungry."

  Corey walks away before I can give my daughter an answer or say another word to him. I gaze down at Ava and smile with a face my parents only ever used when they were trying to cover up a fight. "A few minutes longer, baby. Okay? Go back to your show."

  Ava runs off without a care in the world and leaves me alone in the kitchen as confusion pins me to the floor.

  What's wrong with the man I just married?

  8

  I can't wait for tomorrow. The look on Katherine's face today was perfect. Little does she know it's only the beginning of what's to come. I wasn't sure if things would ever reach this point, if I'd commit to this plan or take off one day without an explanation, but here I am, ready to do what is necessary. There were many times when I thought it was wrong to fantasize the way I have about Katherine, wishing ill upon her life, but now I have clarity.

  Katherine deserves the fallout the coming storm will bring. Some days I wonder if she's conscious or not of the past or her part in what happened, but I doubt it would have stopped her from doing what she did. I know the real Katherine and not the fake one the rest of the world has had thrown in its face. Her true nature hides behind an ignorant mask that presents her as nothing but an innocent pushover. She knew what she was doing that day, and I can't let another minute go by without punishment. Actions have consequences.

  I thought about how best to make her suffer. A swift resolution didn't seem enough. After mulling it over for many nights, I decided a slow burn would be the strongest approach. I want her to feel real pain first and slowly lose herself piece by piece. She will beg for it to stop once I'm through with her. And before she ever realizes the truth, I'll have her regretting the second she became Mrs. Grayson. As for Ava, the system can deal with her. There's no chance in hell that little brat will become my problem.

  The game has begun. Soon Katherine will understand true pain. She will appreciate the compounding intensity each new minute brings me whenever I see her living without consequence. The clock is ticking over her head, and the poor dear has no clue what's coming these next few weeks.

  It's almost too easy.

  9

  Katherine

  The next morning, Corey and I drive to school in silence while Ava sings more songs to herself in the back seat. Her voice is off-key and cute as hell. Every word she gets wrong or skips allows me to delay the inevitable in my mind: I can't stop her from growing up. It's happening faster than I can handle. I only have myself to blame for any wasted moments passing me by when she was a toddler. I was too wrapped up with her father's absence to realize I should have been focusing on what was best for her. Instead, I spent most of my time being mentally checked out.

  I know Ava's only five, but I can't shake the feeling that I squandered away the early years of her life dealing with her father, Peter. Even before Ava came along, he used to make everything about himself. He would have never understood the core concept of parenting: the child comes first. Instead of being with his family, Peter disappeared one month prior
to Ava's birth so he could continue drinking, gambling, and doing God knows what else. It was his only way to deal with the unwanted household he felt he'd had thrust upon him.

  I did what I could to raise Ava while her father abandoned me with no funds. The pain he scarred my soul with only made me believe that Ava and I weren't good enough for him. The truth was the opposite, but I would never see that until later.

  When Peter took off in the middle of the night before Ava came to be, he stole the last chunk of money I had and got out of town. He would have burned through that cash fast, so there was never any point in trying to pursue him for child support. He'd never pay.

  All I can do now for Ava is make up for any lost time her dad caused and appreciate every new moment as if they are our last.

  Having Corey around only helps me to give Ava everything she deserves in life, and not just financially but emotionally. Finally, I'm proud to say there is a man in her world deserving of her attention. Corey is such a good father figure for my little girl. I know deep in my heart that she sees him as her dad. The lowlife scumbag who knocked me up will never be worthy of the title.

  Corey's sedan bounces over the slight bump at the entrance of the school's parking lot. We find a decent spot reserved for staff, reducing the distance I need to walk Ava to her before-school care.

  "I'll take her," Corey offers as we both climb out the front at the same time.

  "It's fine," I reply, unsure if he is trying to make up for last night. We haven't spoken a word about it and have kept any communication to a bare minimum. It was unlike us to go to bed with an argument hanging over our heads. Corey would always try to talk things through no matter what. I once preferred to be left alone for at least a day, but I've gotten used to the way he promptly deals with any issues we have.

  "No, I'm happy to take her," Corey says. "Catch up with Annette so you can drop off the spare key."

  "Good idea," I say, choosing diplomacy over further argument. I squat to Ava and give her a big kiss and cuddle, enjoying the giggle on her face as I tickle her under the chin. "Have a wonderful day, honey. I'll be by after school to pick you up, okay."

  "Bye, Mommy," she says, waving me off.

  Corey walks her away from me without saying a word. He always kisses me goodbye and wishes me a nice day.

  Was our fight really that bad?

  10

  Katherine

  I walk toward the main building through the cold morning air to drop the spare keys in to Annette. She'll be thrilled to see that I found the set that belongs to my classroom. I should have texted her about it last night, but the confusion with Corey got me so upset. We didn't have the best first day back as a married couple. Tonight will be different as we have plans to head out to dinner with a reservation Corey made the minute we reached town. At least I hope we still do.

  Pushing open the door to the office, a soft breeze of warm air wraps itself around my body, inviting me in. The heating in the main building has always been the school's best feature, extending to the faculty lounge. It's one of the few perks we teachers have. Our classrooms, however, run on a separate system that never seems to keep up with the weather.

  "Hey, Kat," Annette calls out to me with her head down in some paperwork. It's after eight and she's already deep into her work. I always take a good hour to get into things each day no matter how keen the students might be to learn. Thank God we don't start as early as some elementary schools in Oregon. The thought only reminds me there's coffee with my name on it in the faculty lounge. The school doesn't provide us with the best cup of brew you'll ever have, but it's free.

  I step up to Annette with a smile and pull the spare keys from my coat pocket. She glances up from her paperwork and smiles. "Does this mean you found your keys?"

  "Yep. Bit of a silly story between Corey and I, but the important thing is there's no need to spend hundreds of dollars fixing the problem."

  "That's a relief, but I would have saved your butt." She leans forward and lowers her voice. "Between you and me, Barry is a pushover if you catch him on a good day."

  Before I thank Annette for helping me out, a fellow first-grade teacher from my team walks in from the corridor that backs onto the office. My mouth closes whenever Susan Black is around. I don't hate Susan or anything so petty, it's just that she is a stickler for the rules.

  Pushing retirement age, Susan has been at BBES longer than anyone else—the principal included. There is a running joke that they had assembled her alongside the school when they built the facility many decades ago. All kidding aside, Susan is as serious as they come, and not much slips by her.

  "Miss Tibbs. Mrs. Grayson," she says, greeting us with zero warmth.

  "Hello, Susan. How are you today?" I ask her, not wanting to hear about her mood. Without a doubt she had arrived a few hours earlier, not having anything better to do.

  "Don't ask. I've been pouring over the first-grade planners for next week and I can see you've made several mistakes that need addressing."

  "Oh, is that—?"

  "When can you meet so we can fix this?" Susan asks, cutting me off. There's no checking to see if I've agreed to meet up. She's telling me what's happening as if someone appointed her to be my mentor teacher. I try to think on my feet, but nothing comes to mind.

  "I'm free at lunchtime," Susan says. "We'll meet in your classroom. I'll see you then."

  "Okay," I reply as Susan bustles away on to her next victim. "Great. There goes my break out the window. I'll be lucky if she doesn't dig into the rest of the year's planners. Who knows what made her do a sudden audit on next week's lessons?"

  "Forget her," Annette says. "It's Friday. School finishes early. We should grab a coffee after work at the mall. I'm dying to hear about Vegas, and Saturday is too far off."

  The idea sounds fun apart from me having to talk about the honeymoon. Then Ava comes to mind. "I could go for a few hours, but I should check if Corey's okay to watch Ava. Corey and I are supposed to be going out for dinner later, but I'm not sure if that's still on."

  "Why?" Annette asks, her forehead creasing.

  The corner of my mouth screws up as I look away.

  "You two had a fight, didn't you?"

  "Yeah. Our first argument as a married couple. Probably one of the worst, too. It's not like us to get so crabby at each other so quickly either."

  Annette gives me a weak smile. "I'm sure it's nothing. You know what, let's bring Ava along. No need to bug Corey. Besides, her Aunty Annette can buy her a nice outfit."

  "You don't have to do that. Corey won't mind."

  "I won't mind what?" he asks as he comes through the front door to the office.

  My mouth freezes, half open. I feel like someone has caught me in the middle of doing something wrong.

  Corey reaches the desk as we both stare at him. The look on his face asks a second time.

  "I was wondering if I could steal your wife for a few hours before your hot date tonight," Annette says.

  Corey purses his lips and focuses on me. "Not a problem. I'll pick up Ava so you can both head out after school."

  "Are you sure? We don't mind taking her with us, seeing as it's an early finish," I say.

  He holds his gaze on me for a few moments longer than is necessary. "Not a problem. You two go have fun. Just be home in time to put Ava to bed. You know how funny she gets when other people try to do it."

  "I will. Thanks, honey."

  Corey smiles and heads toward the faculty lounge.

  "Thank you, Corey," Annette calls out as he leaves. She faces me with a grin and says, "Hey, that reminds me."

  I spot something in my mail slot before Annette finishes her thought. "One second." I turn my head round to see one of Corey's notes sitting where I swore it wasn't the day before. "Corey, wait."

  He stops partway up the corridor. "What is it? I'm dying for a coffee here."

  I shuffle toward the note on autopilot with my mouth half open. "Is that one of your l
ove notes?" I ask, pointing at the folded pink piece of paper.

  Corey walks back, huffing a sigh under his breath. "Yep. I placed it there yesterday. Why?"

  "It wasn't there. I swear it."

  Corey's hands fold across his chest. "I don't know what else to tell you. I put the thing in your slot yesterday. You mustn't have seen it."

  "No, I checked this before we left. There was nothing there."

  "That's my fault," Annette says. "I relocated your mail slot and the note so they'd be next to Corey's. When I came in this morning, I realized you hadn't seen it so I moved it back to your old spot. Sorry for the confusion."

  "No, it's fine," I say. "I'm a little sensitive today is all." I turn to Corey. "Sorry, honey. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything."

  "That's okay," Corey says. "I was a tad defensive myself." He opens his arms and draws me in for a hug. I accept, feeling like an idiot at the same time.

  "Phew," Annette says. "Glad I didn't cause you guys to fight."

  Corey waves her off with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we would have worked it out before security needed to be called. Anyway, I better be going." He turns to me with a much calmer face. "I'll see you later."

  "Bye," I say as I wave my hand.

  "Later, Annette."

  Corey disappears down the corridor as I approach Annette, embarrassed. "I'm such a moron. I don't know why I always have to assume the worst."

  "Forget it. Just get through the day and we'll go have that coffee. Plus, we can find something sexy for you to wear tonight. Corey will forget all about any fight you had."

  I chuckle as I shy away, wishing she wouldn't talk about such a topic.

  "You know he thinks the world of you. It's all right there in that letter you still haven't read."

  "Yeah, I guess," I reply not wanting to read Corey's love letter. Somehow, they've lost all meaning now that we've had a fight over them. I open the note for show and read a poem Corey has inserted my name into.