Free Falling for Her Husband by Karen Erickson Page A

emotion into something else.
    Like love for his beautiful, sweet wife, who was just walking into the apartment with a giant smile on her otherwise weary-looking face. “Vince. Come hug me.”
    He loved how demanding she was and how silly but sweet those demands were. Striding toward her, he carefully tugged her into his arms and dropped a tiny kiss on the tip of her perfect nose. “Tough session?”
    “I wish I could get this stupid cast off.” She raised her arm. “They say I’m healing, quickly and that they’re proud of my progress, but I don’t think that has much to do with me.”
    “I’m proud of you too,” he said, dropping a kiss on her uninjured cheek. The bandage was gone, the healing gash on full public display, and she was terribly self-conscious of it. She covered it now, pulling away from him so she could touch it with the fingers of her left hand. “And you have everything to do with the quick healing of your arm.”
    She rolled her eyes and laughed, her expression growing quickly somber. “I spoke to my mother today.”
    “How is she?” He kept his voice purposely neutral, trying his hardest to ignore the fear rising within him.
    “Worried about me. Thankful you’re here taking care of me.” Amber shook her head. “I told her that was my husband’s job and she laughed. Said that my dad never really took good care of her or any of us so it surprises her that you’d be so attentive.”
    Vince frowned. This was the most she’d revealed about her family dynamics since he knew her. “Your father is not very…attentive?”
    Amber sighed and hung her head, her tongue slipping out to lick her lips. He shouldn’t be aroused by a glimpse of her tongue. Damn it, they were trying to have a serious conversation.
    But he was. His skin tightened at first sight of her tongue like he couldn’t control himself.
    “I know I haven’t talked much about my family to you,” she said, her voice low, her gaze locked on the floor. “I might not be able to remember some things, but that I know for certain.”
    “Why is that, Amber? Why haven’t you told me anything?” he asked gently.
    “My father is a drunk. An alcoholic. He tries to work, but he can never hold down a job. Or he lies and says he’s working and he’s really at a bar getting drunk. Throughout the years I’ve put him in various rehabilitation centers and the place he’s in now is one of the most expensive in the US,” Amber explained. “We hide his behavior, his addiction. We always have. It’s become so ingrained in me, in my entire family, that we all just do it automatically. That’s why I didn’t tell you, Vince.”
    “Because you didn’t trust me with such delicate information about your family?” He refused to be hurt by that. She’d grown up like this and he couldn’t hold it against her. Especially with the information he was withholding from her.
    “Of course I trusted you. You’re my husband, I love you.” She lifted her head, her gaze imploring as she studied him. “Like I said, it’s how we functioned. Keeping his problems secret, not letting anyone know that he’s in and out of rehab. This is the last straw, Vince. This is the last place I will send him. If he can’t stay clean after leaving, then I can do nothing but stand back. I’ve given him what I can.”
    “You’ve given him more than he deserved,” Vince said, his voice tight and full of anger. It wasn’t fair, Amber’s father taking advantage of her money, her ability to help him so easily. The money she must’ve thrown away for his rehabilitation only for none of it to stick…
    Must make her sick to her stomach.
    “He’s my father. I had to do for him what I could to make sure he received the help he needs.” She took a step toward him and he grabbed her, pulling her in close. “I hope you can understand and respect my decisions. I’m sorry that I kept this from you for so long.”
    He felt like a complete ass just with her words.