Marriage Matters - By Cynthia Ellingsen Page 0,113

and she caught her breath. “Congratulations.” His voice was quiet. “Congratulations on making the biggest mistake of your life.”

“You’ll get to know him. You’ll like him,” she pleaded. “It’s not like . . .” Even though he had hurt her, the idea of not having him as a friend was too painful. It was like imagining life without her parents or June. “It’s not like he could ever replace you.”

Ben’s mouth dropped open, then he started to laugh. “Wow, Chloe. You really don’t get it, do you?” He pulled his hand away and crossed his arms. In a painful flash, she remembered how those arms had felt that night, wrapped around her.

“Get what?” she whispered.

Ben’s eyes darkened dangerously and he looked down at her lips. Her body flushed with heat and she had a sudden, horrifying realization that he was going to try and kiss her. Again. The memory of his body pressed against hers sauntered through her brain, followed by the memory of how he had pushed her away the very next day.

Well, it was her turn.

Tearing her eyes away from his, Chloe practically ran for the door.

Fifty-two

June sat on a chair in her bathroom, watching as Charley buried his head under the faucet of her bathtub. The faucet had been dripping for weeks, with an annoying, plink-plink sound against the smooth porcelain of the tub. She had been doing a decent job of ignoring the sound, but Charley had spotted the small rust-colored area surrounding the drip site the moment he went into her bathroom. He insisted on fixing it right away.

After a quick trip home, Charley returned with a box of tools and a can of Comet. He turned off the water in the bathroom and went about disassembling the faucet as easily as laying out parts to make a sandwich. June was very impressed.

“I think it’s remarkable you know how to do that.” This was said from her perch on a wooden chair, which she had dragged in from the bedroom. June had done this because she was not about to sit on the toilet in front of her fiancé. Discretion was the key to a happy marriage. “Chloe claims anyone can learn how to fix anything with the assistance of the Internet, but . . .” She waved her hands, dismissing the idea. Even though she knew her way around YouTube, watching a how-to video sounded like some sort of a punishment. Old clips of Murder, She Wrote were much more her style.

“Chloe’s a smart one,” Charley said, his voice muffled. “Are things still going well with Geoff?”

“As far as I know,” June said. “I have made an effort not to meddle.”

Charley stopped working. Sitting up, he gave her a skeptical look. “You have?”

“Of course,” she said, surprised that he was surprised. “Charley, I made you a promise. I don’t plan on breaking it.”

At this, his face softened into a look of appreciation that she had come to love. “Thank you,” he said. “That means a lot to me.”

Even though leaving her family to their own devices had already proven to be incredibly difficult for her, June did plan to honor Charley’s request. In her opinion, the reason that she and Eugene had always had a happy marriage was because they’d respected each other. Yes, they’d gotten on each other’s nerves now and again, but if there was something the other felt strongly about, they would do their best to abide.

As Charley went back to fixing the faucet, she said, “Besides, I think everything will be just fine. Chloe can handle herself. She’s a smart girl.”

“She’s very good in school, isn’t she?” Charley asked, his voice once again muffled.

“Yes.” Ever since Chloe was a little girl, she’d always had her nose buried in some book or another. “I thought it was wonderful that she cared so much, but on the other hand . . .” June sighed. “Kristine and I really would have liked to see her try and enjoy herself more.”

Chloe had always been more interested in reading a book by herself, learning how to throw a football with her father or playing video games with Ben than participating in all of the things that made it fun to be a young girl. Dance recitals, parties, dressing up . . . She simply wasn’t interested. It was only when Ben turned into an attractive young man that June saw her granddaughter start to struggle with the fact that she wasn’t like the girls he