The crowd’s excited attention had turned to him and I was forced to hold the ladder steady so he could climb down.
Once he reached the ground, he hissed loudly at me.
“For God’s sake, take Astrid away!”
I was already turning around to see where Indi was, but I was forced to chase after my fiancée to keep her from running after Indi and Finn’s car as it disappeared down the street.
My mother looked absolutely furious, but I couldn’t think about that right now.
Astrid and I rode home silently.
How had my perfect life gone so wrong?
“Perhaps we need a trial separation,” I said into the silence. “To give us a bit of space from each other. I can sleep on the couch.”
“You mean we can see other people?” she asked eagerly.
“You don’t have to act so excited,” I said stiffly. “After all, you are carrying my child and we are engaged.”
“Did you or did you not just try to sabotage your ex-wife’s engagement to another man?” she demanded.
My jaw still stung from where Finn had punched me. I could only hope my own fist to his nose had at least incommoded him.
“I simply think Finn is not right for her,” I said.
“Indi isn’t cut out to be a rock star’s wife,” Astrid agreed, her lips tightened in displeasure.
She kept compulsively smoothing her hair, checking her face in the mirror.
“What are youdoing?” I asked, trying to moderate my tone. “Indi certainly looks like a rock star wife, but why would she want to be on the road in a bus that stinks like sweat and cheap beer for half the year?”
“You mean why would she want to live a life of unimaginable luxury and excitement?” Astrid interrupted.
There was silence in the car for a moment.
“It is ridiculous to be arguing which of our exes is better,” I said.
“Howdarethey get together,” Astrid cried. “And your ridiculous father made everything worse! Whatever possessed him to do an embarrassing thing like that?”
“On that we agree,” I said, but a little flicker of doubt went through me as I remembered.
Indi’s stricken pink face. She had clearly been embarrassed by Finn and I fighting and didn’t like being the center of attention. As ridiculously as my father had behaved, he had clearly done it to pull attention from Indi.
Perhaps I had misjudged—
But then I was distracted by seeing Finn’s car in Indi’s driveway.
What were they doing inside?
The unwanted memory filled me of his head under her skirt, moving around, the lucky bastard getting to lick Indi’s sweet juicy pussy.
Life now was sheer torture.
Finn had a few weeks in between his tours, so I had to see them together constantly. Swimming and splashing around in her pool, Indi squealing with excitement as Finn twirled her around. Grilling on the front porch. Singing together with cups of tea as they walked arm-in-arm.
I had no idea what Indi had said to him about the engagement. All I knew was I didn’t see a ring on her finger, but it occurred to me that she might be hiding the ring or not wearing it around Astrid and I because she knew it would upset us.
The thought was so humiliating I determined to keep my head down and focus on Astrid and the baby, but it was impossible to ignore Indigo’s bubbly, radiant happiness.
