Lily's Secrets [Elk Creek 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Free Page B

didn’t love her very much. Sometimes, she actually got the feeling that he hated her. Why else would he forego sleeping in their bed at night unless he couldn’t stand the sight of her or unless he found the idea of touching her repugnant? Short of asking him, she’d never know the reason since he was so closemouthed and wouldn’t tell her what he was feeling or what was on his mind. He’d never been very talkative to begin with, even when they were kids and growing up together. Since her return, he’d been acting like a mute. Wyatt had always preferred letting his actions speak for him rather than words. He thought talk was cheap, and most times, Lily agreed with him. Sometimes, however, she just needed to hear certain things from him, like he still desired and loved her and he didn’t blame her for what had happened to her. Of course, it might help if she told him what had actually occurred. She certainly couldn’t blame him for being less than enthusiastic at her surprise return. He’d thought she was dead for the last five years, after all. She was lucky to find him well, unattached, and so willing to take her in with almost no explanation of what had happened to her. He could have very well been otherwise attached with a new family. Neither could Lily lay all the blame at Wyatt’s feet for the rift in their marriage since she wasn’t being completely honest or open with him.
    She couldn’t tell him, though, not even a little of what she had gone through away from their marriage bed. She’d lose him for sure if she did.
    Lily sighed at the thought of all the couples in town she knew, especially the newlywed Malloys. For instance, Lily knew Maia’s husband didn’t treat her the same way Wyatt treated Lily. She’d seen the loving way Doctor Malloy looked at and touched his wife, and he did it no matter who was around to see, evidently not caring about the town’s censure or judgment. She even noticed how affectionate Doctor Malloy’s brother Cade was with Maia, more than was appropriate for a brother-in-law, some thought. The rumor mill in town ran rampant about the relationship Maia shared with the two brothers and had since the mysterious trio’s arrival not quite a year ago when Wyatt and Lily had given them all a ride into town.
    Looking back on that day now, Lily realized it was the most excitement she had experienced since her ordeal and living with the Kiowas. Not that she even wanted or needed excitement in her life. She just wanted something to make her look forward to getting up in the mornings and going to bed at nights. Wyatt used to be that something but not anymore.
    Lily choked back a sob at the sudden idea of her loss, and Rebel and Maia both converged, each wrapping an arm around her and patting her back in circular motions.
    Lily felt her face heat. Goodness, she was mortified! She’d been trying to avoid making a to-do like this for so long, but now that it was upon her she could do nothing but sink into the gentle half hugs and soothing assurances that each woman delivered.
    “Oh, honey, it can’t be all that bad. You’ve got air in your lungs and a fine young husband to go home to every night. What woman could ask for anything more?”
    Lily only wished that things could be as simple as that, but she didn’t really have Wyatt, not anymore. She felt like Wyatt was the ghost and not with her especially when they were home alone. His body remained present, but he was like an empty shell just drifting from room to room as if in search of all that had been taken away from them. That is, when he wasn’t working his fingers to the bone in the fields “providing for their future,” as he put it. At this rate, they wouldn’t have a future, at least not one together.
    The thought pained Lily to no end.
    “Would you see your way clear to letting me help out around the shop here occasionally? It wouldn’t have to be a real job or anything official, just something to…fill my