get you a beer.”
The afternoon was fun and relaxed, and after the sunset and it was too cold to sit on the terrace, Rich started a fire. The exodus started, everyone thanking them, and finally they were alone.
“That was a surprise.”
“I bet,” she said, starting the dishwasher. “How was the zoo?”
“Good. Mike liked it.”
“Rich, just for the record, I’ve never complained about Mike, or having Mike with us. Not once.”
“I know that,” Rich said, frowning.
“Read your text to me this morning.”
He got his phone out and scrolled through his messages, and when he read what he’d sent her, his expression changed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I apologize.”
“Okay. I just want to make sure you know that it’s not a problem, nor will it ever be a problem. However, what is a problem, and it’s a big problem, is if you don’t want to spend the day with me and you turn it around like that.”
“Gotcha. It was just easier to put it on you.”
His admission sent chills down her spine. “So you admit you didn’t want to spend the day with me.”
Looking at her defiantly, he simply said, “Yes.”
“Wow. And this is because I questioned you about having a meal with another woman? Or about masturbating?”
“Are we going to go over this again?”
“Rich, I think we should. I don’t want to sweep things under the rug.”
“I don’t want to argue any more today.”
“We haven’t argued today. We haven’t even seen each other today because you didn’t want to. I wasn’t given the option.”
He turned away from her, feeling guilty for no reason, and then the guilt made him angry.
“This is not the way I planned the weekend to turn out,” she said.
“Alison, you sabotaged it! The minute you laid eyes on me last night, you were ready to pounce. I didn’t answer fast enough about the masturbation comment, which was totally out of line, by the way, and then instead of addressing Ed’s bullshit story about me having a nice chat with another woman, you saved it to unload. Maybe you don’t really want to have a kid. Examine that, why don’t you, rather than blaming me for the fucked-up weekend.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” she said. “Who is the resident? What’s her name? Are you seeing her romantically? Let’s get all the questions out of the way.”
“Tiffany, and I don’t know her last name. She’s a nurse, not a resident. I’m not seeing her romantically.”
“Tiffany! Of course. Tiffany. Knock it off with a nurse, Rich. What? Are you eighteen?”
Now it was her turn to be pissed. She turned her back and finished cleaning up the kitchen from her party, the fun now a distant memory. She’d go to her aunt’s for dinner tomorrow, alone, something she hadn’t done after Rich left because it felt disrespectful to leave him at home and go off when their time together was so precious.
Tears wanted to escape, and she refused to succumb. It wasn’t a big deal. All couples fought. But this felt different because of the urgency she felt to have a baby. There was a pretty good chance the cancer would return, and she’d have to have a hysterectomy at that time. He was her sperm source. But having a baby with Rich didn’t seem like a good idea right then. She wished he’d leave.
And like he’d read her mind, he came back into the kitchen with his bags.
“I’m going back up north,” he said. “There’s no point in me being here if we’re going to fight.”
“Run away, little boy,” she said, seething. “Go call your nurse friend. Tell her your big bad wife is being a bitch.”
“I know when you’ve had time to think about what you just said to me, you’ll see how fucked up it was.”
Then, without kissing her goodbye, he opened the door and walked out. Shaking with anger, she could only think of one thing and that was how mad she was at herself for not taking a peek at his phone the night before.
By Sunday morning, she woke up in tears. He’d never called her or sent her a text to let her know he was safe. The only way she knew how to deal with it was ignore the issue and pretend it never happened and send him loving text messages, or let him stew until he was willing to address it.
He’d been right; she’d needled him before they even got into the house, and it was because she was upset about