Starter Wife (The Jilted Wives Club Book 1) Read online

  “She’s right,” I added. “I know the loneliness can be hard, especially when you’re used to spending all your time with your significant other, but don’t force it. Maybe you aren’t ready to be dating again, and that’s okay. You have us for companionship, whenever you need it.”

  “I love you guys! The Jilted Wives Club is the best thing that ever happened to me,” Summer said tearfully. “I don’t know what I’d do without you guys. I think the fact that Jared cheated on me with someone older than me, a woman who looks a lot like his first wife, and the opposite of me, was messing with my head. Of course everyone has questions and doubts after a breakup, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there’s something wrong with me. I mean, he was obsessed with me when we met, so much so that he left his wife for me and married me in a whirlwind, but he left me just as quickly. Maybe I wasn’t enough, and he didn’t realize it until it was too late.”

  “Hey,” Margo said fiercely, bringing Summer’s eyes to her. “There is nothing wrong with you. None of it was about you. It sounds like Jared is one of those assholes who is never satisfied with what he has and is always looking for what’s next. That’s on him, not you. He will never be happy in his life, because he’s always afraid he’s missing out on something. It sounds like he did you a favor by keeping your marriage brief. Imagine if you had to spend years trying to please a man who’s always going to be dissatisfied with his life. It’s impossible.”

  I nodded because I agreed with everything Margo said and reached out to take Summer’s hand in mine.

  “Maybe you should delete the app for a while, give yourself a break from it all,” I suggested.

  “Yeah, maybe you guys are right. If I’m not enjoying myself, what’s the point? Other than to get out of the house and do something. But I don’t need a guy to do that … I can hang out with you guys or do some more things on my own. I’ve never been good at that, doing things by myself, but maybe it’s time.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, scooting closer to her in the booth and gathering her in my arms.

  “Thanks,” Summer said as she wrapped her arms around me and held on tight.

  “Is this a bad time?”

  I looked up to see Luca standing next to the table, his eyes wary on Summers’s tear-stained face.

  Twenty

  Luca

  I looked at the three women, who were obviously in the middle of a serious conversation and wondered if I should excuse myself to go to the bathroom or simply turn around and leave them to finish whatever I’d interrupted.

  But when my gaze landed on Whitney’s face, which was alight with joy that I could only hope was from my arrival, I decided to wait and see what she wanted me to do.

  “Not at all,” the woman sitting across from Whitney said. From her description of Margo being a gorgeous, dark-haired woman with a keen business sense and a no bullshit demeanor, I knew who had spoken.

  I’d already met Summer, the pretty blonde currently crying in Whitney’s arms.

  She blinked up at me and wiped at her eyes, while somehow beaming at me at the same time, as she eased herself back into sitting position.

  “You could never interrupt,” Summer said happily, completely contradicting the sadness I’d walked in on. “We are so excited to finally spend some quality time with you.”

  Margo looked less excited but nodded amicably.

  “Yeah, Whit said you were coming for a drink and dessert. I hadn’t mentioned it to them yet, but there’s a great dessert bar a couple blocks away and I was thinking we could check it out,” Margo said, lowering her voice and looking around. “Not to say the desserts here wouldn’t be great, but this place is supposed to have a killer chocolate cake.”

  “Ohhh, sign me up,” Summer said eagerly.

  “That works for me, if it’s what you want,” I said, looking at Whitney.

  She smiled prettily and nodded. “We have to pay our bill and get a couple to-go boxes and then we can head out.”

  Not wanting to keep standing awkwardly while I waited, I glanced down at the seat next to Margo and gave her a questioning look.

  “Oh, sorry,” she muttered, scooting over to give me some room.

  Once the check was paid and the leftover food was in its containers, we set off on foot to our next destination.

  As we walked, I took Whitney’s hand in mine and listened to the women share anecdotes from their week. It was nice to see Whitney in a new environment. One where she was with people she obviously enjoyed and seemed completely relaxed with. It gave me a glimpse at another side of her, one I found I enjoyed immensely.

  “He totally did,” Summer was saying. “He showed up in sweatpants and a T-shirt that said, I’m with stupid … to our date!”

  Their laughter drifted down the street as we walked, and I couldn’t help but smile in response.

  Whitney squeezed my hand and gave me a little shoulder bump, so I looked down at her and asked, “All good?”

  “Perfect,” she replied with a quirk of her lips and warmth flooded me.

  I’d been pleased when she’d invited me to come along tonight. I knew how much these women meant to her and what a big step it was for her to not only open up and let me in but agree to be exclusive and start letting me be a part of her life. Not just the guy she was reluctantly spending time with anymore, but her boyfriend.

  Out in public.

  It feels great.

  “Here we are,” Margo said, gesturing to the building, which stated Dessert and Social Bar.

  I don’t know what I’d been expecting, maybe a bakery setup, or another restaurant, but when we walked into a large warehouse, I knew this was something different.

  There was a full bar against the back wall, and some high-top tables scattered in that corner, but the rest of the warehouse was like a playground for adults. With ping pong tables, darts, pool tables, a section of bookshelves stocked with board games, corn hole, and even an area set up for putt putt golf, it was more than a dessert bar, it was an experience.

  “Whoa, how have I never heard about this place?” Summer asked as she took it all in.

  “They only opened a few weeks ago,” Margo replied. “One of the guys in my office was talking about it, because his sister is one of the owners, and I knew we needed to check it out.”

  “The big Jenga is open,” Summer said before she hurried off to go claim the game.

  “I guess we’re playing Jenga,” Whitney said with a laugh, before tugging on my hand and urging me through the large open space toward Summer.

  The place wasn’t packed, which was a good thing, but had a pretty good turnout for a Thursday evening. I had a feeling it was the kind of place that got crazy around eleven at night, with a mix of the after-dinner crowd and the before-the-club crowd.

  By the time we caught up with Summer, one of the servers in a bright-orange T-shirt was already there ready to take our order.

  Once drinks and desserts were ordered all around, we played rock, paper, scissors to see who would go first in Jenga.

  “So, things are getting pretty serious, huh?” Margo asked, leaning in so I could hear her over the loud music. “You ready for that?”

  I glanced at Whitney, who was laughing along with Summer as she pushed a large wooden block out of its place, before looking back at Margo and saying, “Absolutely.”

  She looked at me pointedly, not saying anything else, but waiting for me to go on.

  “I wasn’t the one with the reservations in the first place,” I told her. “I knew from Campanella’s that first night that Whitney was someone I wanted to get to know better and with each encounter that feeling grew. I took things slow because that’s what she wanted, and I’m still going slower than I want because the last thing I want to do is scare her off. She’s coming off of a long-term marriage, raising two kids, and finding her footing again. I know that and I’m not trying to rush her or derail her dreams. I’m just hoping she’ll find a place for me in them.”

/>   “Pretty fucking good answer,” Margo said after a beat, causing me to grin.

  “Thanks, I’ve been practicing,” I joked. “I know meeting her kids is going to be huge but meeting the two of you is just as big of a deal for me. I know she values your opinion, and I was actually really nervous to meet you.”

  “Aww, you didn’t have to be nervous,” Summer said as she joined us. “I mean, to meet Margo, yeah, but you know I’ve been Team Luca from the get-go.”

  “I appreciate your support.”

  “You’re up, babe,” Whitney called out and even though my body froze, and my heart leapt, I didn’t say anything about it, just in case she didn’t realize what she said.

  Still, I shot a wink at Summer, who gave me a big smile and thumbs up, and went to take my turn at Jenga.

  Twenty-One

  Whitney

  “Silas, I told you to take out the trash!” I yelled as I scurried around my living room lighting candles.

  “I know,” came his response.

  “Then why haven’t you done it?” I yelled back, exasperated. “Luca will be here any minute.”

  “I’m in the game,” Si called out.

  “Oh my God, that stupid game,” I muttered, shaking my head as I hurried into the kitchen.

  Silas often spent his free time gaming with his friends online and once he was playing, it would take a natural disaster to get him off of it. Drives me crazy. You could hear his shouts and taunts through the house and I often had to put on headphones or turn up the volume on the TV to drown him out.

  I gave everything a cursory glance as I moved through the room.

  There was a charcuterie board on the counter, ready to be the first course. I had a salad made and chilling in the fridge, a whole chicken roasting in the oven, potatoes boiling on the stove, and asparagus ready to be sautéed when the chicken was almost done.

  There was no way I was going to cook Luca Italian food, maybe ever, but I had plenty other meals I was excited to make and share with him. This one being the easiest, giving me time to be engaged rather than hunkered over the stove, while he was interacting with my children for the first time.

  I popped into the downstairs bathroom real quick to double check the makeup I’d applied earlier, before I’d started cleaning and prepping, but before I could run up the stairs to reapply, the doorbell rang.

  “Crap,” I muttered before yelling up the stairs again, “Silas!”

  This time he must have heard me and the doorbell because the loud thumps of his feet hitting the floor and then coming down the stairs flooded the house.

  “I’m here … I’m doing it,” he said hurriedly as he rushed past me to the kitchen trash can and began taking the bag out.

  “Don’t forget to put a new bag in,” I hissed before moving back through the house to greet Luca at the door.

  I paused, smoothed down the front of my shirt, and picked lint off of my capri pants, before releasing a deep breath and opening the door with a smile.

  “Hey,” I murmured, moving in to tiptoe up and give Luca a kiss on the lips. “Welcome to our home.”

  “Thank you,” he said, lifting his hand to offer me a bouquet of flowers. “These are for you.”

  “Aww, they’re beautiful, thank you,” I said, accepting the gift and lifting the fragrant blooms to take a sniff.

  I stepped aside to let him in and noticed he’d styled his hair differently, used some product or something. When he lifted his hand to mess with it, before stopping and dropping it, I bit back a smile.

  He was nervous, which was really cute. I didn’t think I’d ever seen Luca anything but completely confident.

  “Come with me to the kitchen and I’ll put these in some water,” I said, leading him through the house.

  When we got to the kitchen, Silas was nowhere in sight, but the trash was replaced with an empty bag.

  “How was the rest of your week? I didn’t see you much, you must have been pretty busy,” I said, making conversation as I trimmed the stems of the flowers and placed them into a glass vase.

  “Yeah, it was really busy. My dad decided he enjoyed his vacation with my mom so much he’s thinking of making it permanent.”

  “He’s going to retire?”

  “Eventually,” Luca replied, looking around the kitchen. “I think he’ll still keep his oldest clients, but he’s going to take a big step back. Only come into the office a few times a month, unless those clients need him, and start spending more time home and doing the things Ma’s always wanted to do.”

  “How do you feel about it?” I asked, moving to place the vase in the middle of the dining room table before returning to find Luca piling cheese and sausage onto a cracker.

  He looked up guiltily and said, “I hope this is all right. I’m starving.”

  “Yes, of course, that’s what it’s there for,” I replied, then on impulse I moved in and placed an arm around his waist, before leaning in and putting my head on his shoulder and enjoying the feel of him.

  And the smell. Damn, he smells good.

  Luca wrapped his arm around me and hugged me tight.

  “What were we talking about? Oh, my dad … yeah, I feel good about it. He’s worked hard his whole life, as has my mother, and they both deserve to relax and enjoy each other now. I think it’ll be good for him, too. Not just emotionally, but for his health. He spent the bulk of my life seriously stressed out. Already he looks much more relaxed.”

  “Sounds like the right decision then.”

  When I heard the sounds of my kids coming down the stairs, my first instinct was to step quickly out of Luca’s arms and put distance between us so they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. But I made myself stay where I was.

  They needed to see me with Luca, being affectionate with someone other than their father, so they could come to terms with the shift in our family. It wasn’t like I’d make out with him in front of them or anything, but I wanted them to understand that he was special to me.

  Plus, it would be rude and hurtful to Luca if I acted like I was ashamed to be seen innocently touching him.

  It was something we’d all have to get used to, because with each passing day, Luca was becoming more and more important to me.

  Twenty-Two

  Luca

  I felt Whitney stiffen slightly and then relax seconds before her teenagers came bounding down the stairs.

  The first was a young lady who was the spitting image of Whitney. With long brown hair and the same soft brown eyes as her mother, she wore a look of surprise when she saw her mom leaning against me, before it turned into a welcoming smile.

  Close on her heels was a boy who was taller and a bit gangly, as if he hadn’t quite grown into his limbs yet, with an easy expression on his face.

  “Is the food ready?” he asked before his feet had hit the floor.

  Whitney chuckled and said, “Almost,” before stepping away and saying, “Luca, meet Stella and Silas, the loves of my life.”

  Stella rolled her eyes good-naturedly while Silas muttered, “Why?”

  “Stella … Si, this is Luca.”

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  “Good. It’s nice to meet you,” Stella replied.

  While Silas lifted his chin and said, “’Sup,” before moving to the charcuterie board and grabbing a handful of cheese.

  “Jeez, Si, be polite,” Whitney said, her tone slightly horrified.

  Stella just shrugged and said, “You get used to it.”

  “I’ve been a fourteen-year-old boy, so I get it,” I joked, pleased when she smiled in response.

  “I just have to mash the potatoes and sauté the asparagus and dinner will be ready,” Whitney was telling her son as she moved around the island to presumably do just that. “Don’t fill up on that stuff.”

  “As if I could ever fill up on some cheese and grapes,” Silas muttered as he picked more food off of the board. “I’m so hungry I might die.”

  I chuckled as memor
ies of my brother and I at his age surfaced. I remember we were like bottomless pits and it seemed like we were always looking for our next meal. My ma had said we’d almost made them go bankrupt when we were teenagers.

  “Is there anything I can help you with?” I offered.

  “You want to choose the wine?” she asked, pointing to the wall, which had a wine rack up top and a wine fridge beneath it. “Stella, can you set the table please? Si, help your sister.”

  We all moved to complete our tasks and I was surprised when the kids helped without so much as a grumble. My siblings and I always helped our mom when she asked, but we never did so quietly.

  Since I smelled poultry, I opened the wine fridge and looked inside for a nice crisp chardonnay to accompany the meal. When I found what I was looking for, I took it out and moved to place it on the island.

  “Corkscrew?” I asked.

  Whitney looked up from her mashing and said, “The drawer by the fridge. And there’s a chilled bucket in the freezer in the garage, right through that door.”

  I went through the door she’d indicated, on the other side of the stairs and opposite of the door to the back deck. I flicked on the light, marveled at how clean and organized her garage was, and crossed to open the small chest freezer in the back of the garage. Once I had the chilled bucket, I went back inside.

  “Shall I put these on the table?” I asked, holding up the bucket and the wine.

  “Please. Thank you.”

  I went in the direction Stella and Silas had gone when Whit told them to set the table and found my way to the large formal dining room. It was classically decorated with matching walnut furniture, cream-colored walls, and paintings featuring deep, bold colors. There was a buffet, curio cabinet, and matching eight-person dining room table. It was round, which showcased how large the room really was.

  Stella and Silas were putting the finishing touches on the table, which was very well done.

  “Wow, you guys put together a nice table. My ma would love it. She’s big on a beautifully set table, no matter the occasion. I’m impressed,” I told them as I placed the bucket on an empty doily in the center of the table, close to the flowers. “Does this go here?”