Marriage Matters - By Cynthia Ellingsen Page 0,147

creep up the back of her neck, she said, “No. I don’t believe you. He’s barely spoken to me in weeks. And . . . And he said that the only reason a man would even want to be with me is so that I could be his kid’s nanny. Those are not words of love.”

“Ben has been in love with you ever since I’ve known him,” Sally said. Giving a hearty sigh, she tugged at a silver stud earring in her right ear. “I was never supposed to tell you that, you know. Ben confessed one night when we were getting high, up on the roof.”

“You got high with Ben?” Chloe was shocked. “He can’t get high. He’s bad at it.”

Sally shrugged. “It was just one of those nights. You’d gone on a date and he was . . . having a hard time with it. So, we started talking.”

Chloe swallowed hard. “Why didn’t he say anything to me?”

“About getting high? Probably because—”

“Sal.” Chloe’s tone was sharp.

“Ugh.” Sally groaned. “I don’t want to be put in the middle of this.” She tugged on the lapel of her bathrobe. It was monogrammed with her and Norman’s initials. Chloe thought about the bathrobes she and Geoff had received as a gift. They looked almost exactly the same. “Ben didn’t say anything because you’re best friends. There was a risk in ruining that then, wasn’t there?”

Chloe looked down at her engagement ring. “I wish he would have just said something.”

“Why?” Sally’s face was stern. “It doesn’t matter. You’re getting married. In two weeks. Now is not the time to start playing the what-if game.”

Chloe looked down at her glass of water. The bubbles were rising to the surface like champagne.

“Unless . . .” Sally reached over and took her hand. Her voice was gentle. “Unless Ben is the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. If that’s the case . . . well, then that’s a different story.”

Chloe shrugged. “You’re forgetting something very important. Ben would have to want that, too.”

“He does, Chloe.” Sally nodded so hard that her blonde curls bounced. “He does.”

Sixty-eight

Thursday night, June received a visit from holiday carolers. The doorbell rang and, since she was expecting Chloe and Kristine, she threw the door open without even checking the peephole. To her surprise, a cheerful-looking group, decked out in antlers and carrying sleigh bells, was clustered together on her stoop.

There was a time, not too long ago, when June would have shooed them away. This year, though, she drew her faux-fox shrug around her shoulders, rested her hand on the doorframe and listened. The woman in the middle was short and plump, with a bright red nose. A soprano, her voice cut right through to June’s heart and filled her with an incredible sense of joy.

When Chloe and Kristine finally arrived, June was still slightly giddy. After all, she’d been serenaded by beautiful music, was just over a week away from her wedding and about to spend the evening with the people who she loved.

Throwing open the door, June held her daughter and her granddaughter tight. They were stomping their feet like horses, freezing in the chilly winter air. It was that time of year where Kristine tried to stay off the roads and took the train in and out of town instead, and June was tempted to make her stay over since Kevin was out of town anyway and it was much too cold for her to take the train back home.

“Come in, come in!” Quickly, June helped them to remove their coats, hats and mittens. “I’m so happy to see you. I have cocoa brewing on the stove and cookies in the oven.” Earlier, she had sent a plate of these away with the carolers.

“Oh, it’s so cold.” Chloe shivered, slipping off her boots. She stomped her feet on the ground. “I think my feet are wet. No wonder.”

Kristine peered at her daughter’s feet. “You need to start putting plastic baggies over your socks like I taught you.”

June tsked. “Like I taught you,” she said, smiling.

Leading them into the kitchen, June poured the cocoa, set out plates and eyed her family in delight. “Well. This will be the last Thursday we will have time to meet, just the three of us, before we’re married. Or . . .” June winked at Kristine. “Renewed.”

“Yay.” Chloe’s voice sounded weak from the cold.

Kristine nodded. “Yup.”

June clasped her hands in delight. “Well, let’s all have a seat,”