about money or wanting to buy anything in the days you’ve been back. That’s unusual for you. And you’re dressing differently.”
“Dressing differently? But I’m wearing the clothes I found in my closet.”
“Yes, but you’re putting them together in a different way. Take what you’re wearing, for example. You might wear those tight jeans, but you’d put a skin-tight tee shirt with them, one short enough to show your belly button. And you might leave your bra off.”
Marnie took a deep breath and put her hands over her navel, even though it was covered with layers of cloth. “Oh,” she said.
“So now I’m wondering what could have happened to you to change you so much, like it changed the guy I knew in college. Doctor Means says you don’t seem to have been in an accident of any kind. At least you don’t have any broken bones or bruises to show for it, but I keep thinking you must have had some sort of life-altering event to be acting so differently.”
They pulled into the circle drive in front of the house, pulling up behind a black Mercedes. David sighed.
“Whose car is that?” she asked.
“It’s Celeste’s.”
“The woman who was taking care of Jonathan?”
“In a way. When Mrs. Tucker had to leave unexpectedly, Celeste volunteered to help, said it was too much for my mother to handle. I don’t know how much taking care of Jonathan Celeste actually did. Probably Alice, Mary, and Mrs. Gravy did most of it.”
They had gotten out of the car and started up the front steps when the door opened and the attractive blonde exited the house.
“Hello, darling,” she said, taking David by the arm and kissing him on the cheek. She smiled warmly as she took her finger and wiped off the lipstick she had left on his skin. “Hello, Marnie,” she said, her eyes never leaving David’s face.
“Hello, Celeste,” David answered. “Just leaving?”
“Yes. I do so enjoy spending time with your mother, but I think she needs to rest a while. We’ve been making a day of it. She’s invited me for supper, but I don’t know whether to come back or not. Should I?”
She’s making a blatant play for my husband! Marnie thought. Even if I don’t remember he’s my husband, that’s not a nice thing to do, and I don’t like it!
“Marnie and I just finished a late lunch, Celeste, so I don’t imagine we’ll want much supper. Feel free to join Mother at the table if you want to, but if she’s tired, she may want to eat in her room.” He took Marnie by the arm and started through the open door.
Celeste gave a tight smile. “Fine. Another time, perhaps,” she said and continued down the steps to her car.
When they were inside with the door closed, Marnie turned to David and asked, “Who is Celeste to you?”
“She’s who I was engaged to when I married you.”
Chapter 13
Astounded, Marnie questioned further, “You were engaged to someone else when we married?” Suddenly, she remembered that Ruth had mentioned it when she confronted her earlier.
“Let’s go up to your room and discuss this in private,” David said as he took her by the arm. Just then his cell phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket.
As he talked, Marnie thought, My room? Why isn’t it our room? Where is he sleeping? She wondered if he had been sharing a room with Celeste, if his ex-fiancée had been living in the house while she supposedly cared for Jonathan. Jealousy started edging its way into her brain.
Ridiculous, she thought. Absolutely ridiculous to be jealous of a man I feel like I just met. As quickly as she had that thought, another popped into her head. He’s my husband. Whether I remember him or not, I have every right to be jealous.
After a few words, he turned to her. “We’ll have to put off our talk for now. I need to go back to the plant. I promise we’ll talk at the first opportunity.”
She was filled with questions but acquiesced. “OK,” she said quietly.
He tipped her chin up with his finger. “That’s another way you’ve changed. I’d have expected you to throw a hissy fit when I put off talking to you. It’s like you’ve grown up, become more adult. Maybe whatever happened to you was a good thing.”
Marnie looked into his deep blue eyes. For a minute, she thought he was going to kiss her, but at last he removed his finger and broke