Free THE GREAT PRETENDER by Millenia Black Page A

again.” Then she turned and left the kitchen.
    Hurricane Donna had eventually veered to the north, grazing them with outer bands of heavy rain and tropical storm-force wind gusts.
    But an even deadlier hurricane had hit Tracy that night…and its name was Frank.
     
    • 
     
    Now as she made her way home from the mall, she thought, Would I actually leave Reginald?
    She imagined Frank asking her to be with him…permanently. Would she do it?
    Yes, she thought. Yes, I think I would. I’d miss him…but I hardly know him anymore.
    In supplying the answer to her own question, Tracy realized that she would leave because she had apparently fallen out of love with Reginald. The love and passion she had for him before he took that Orlando assignment…well, they’d been stripped away by the last ten years. Who could blame her for accepting comfort elsewhere?
    Although she occasionally flew up to Orlando to be with Reginald while he was there, she’d grown into a woman with extraordinary needs, and he’d no longer been around to meet them. Years of that lifestyle had taken its toll, eventually leaving Tracy to gravitate toward Frank, who had lured her into open arms.
    The incident in the kitchen had lit a flame that still burned inside of Tracy. Frank knew it, and he preyed upon it. And Tracy succumbed.
    The first time they’d made love in his apartment, she’d felt like an adulterous slut. She avoided him for weeks thereafter, fraught with guilt. But as weeks turned into months, Frank inveigled her back into his bed. No one had to know; they were simply fulfilling each other’s needs… for the time being.
    That was almost four years ago.
    Maneuvering her Cherokee along Ludlam Road, Tracy thought of her daughters, wondering, What kind of mother does this make me ?
     
    • 
     
    Tracy was glad to see Olivia’s car in the driveway w hen she got home. She had hoped Olivia hadn’t gone out with Sean. She’d been meaning to talk to both Valerie and Olivia about their father’s decision to change his schedule. Tracy knew that Olivia nursed resentful feelings toward Reggie, but she was confident that, in time, that would mend. The last thing Tracy wanted was for the girls to resent their father—on top of everything else.
    In the kitchen, she noticed the pizza. Upon opening the box, she discovered that they’d left her zilch. Great…now I’ll either have to cook or order out, thought Tracy as she took the empty box into the garage.
    Back in the house, she found Valerie in the den with the cordless telephone tucked between her ear and shoulder.
    “Hey, Val,” she said, getting her attention. “Listen, call your friend back later. I need to talk to you and Olivia about something. Is she here?” When Valerie nodded, Tracy added, “I’ll go up and get her.”
    Valerie watched her mother leave. When she was sure Tracy was gone, she whispered into the telephone, “Listen, Debbie, we’ll finish talking about it when I call you back.” After a pause, she said, “Yeah, she said she wants to talk to both of us about something. I’ll tell you about it later. Bye.” Valerie placed the handset into its cradle.
    Upstairs, Tracy knocked for the second time on Olivia’s bedroom door.
    “Olivia, are you there?” She waited a moment and called again.
    “Yes, Mom, I’m here,” said Olivia, barely audible. “I was asleep.”
    “Well, I’m sorry I woke you up, but I want to talk to you and Valerie, so come on down.”
    “Mom, I’m really tired. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay?”
    “Are you sure? I don’t want to wake up in the morning and find you gone. This is important.”
    “Okay, Mom…tomorrow.”
    Tracy descended the stairs and rejoined Valerie in the den.
    “What’s the matter with Olivia?” she asked.
    “I don’t know,” replied Valerie. “You know how she is. She came in and just went straight into her room. She didn’t even eat any of the pizza I ordered, and it was fully loaded,” said Valerie