not,” he insisted. “It’s a good thing because you finally took a break.”
That was true. This was the first time in a long time that Chloe had laid in bed in . . . Well, who knew how long? Even though she’d spent most of the time moping, she finally felt rested.
“Now, since you appear to still be in bed, we are going to make it an official bed-in.” Ben’s eyes sparkled. “We’re going to order some Thai food, drink some wine and watch reality television. You can mope as much as you want. Then tomorrow, you’ll forget about it and go back to your real life.”
“I don’t know . . . Maybe I should get back to work. Catch up on what I missed.”
Ben shook his head so hard his golden curls bounced. “You’re staying right here. And if you’re good, I’ll draw pictures of my deepest, darkest feelings. You can look at them and analyze me.”
“Really?” She’d been trying to get him to do that for years.
“Really.” Ben gave her a smile that could make a lesser girl melt. “You in?”
Chloe thought for a moment. Really, what would she accomplish if she got up now? It was four o’clock and she’d already missed all of her classes. There weren’t any papers due until the end of the week. Looking at him, she shrugged. “I’m in.”
Before she could change her mind, Ben crawled across the bed, picked up her cell and placed an order for chicken pad Thai and drunken noodles. He turned on the television, leaned against the headboard and crossed his muscular arms behind his head. After a minute, he let out a hearty sigh. “Man,” he said. “I thought I was going to have to call your mother.”
Sitting up on one elbow, Chloe snuggled against her best friend. “To be honest, you wouldn’t have had to call anybody. You had me at reality TV.”
Nine
Kristine stood up eagerly when she heard her husband’s key in the door. It was Wednesday night, which meant Kevin was back from the first part of his week. He’d fly out again tomorrow afternoon.
There would only be a short period of time to repack a new suitcase for him, sort through the dirty clothes and put in fresh shirts, razors and toiletries. Chloe teased her about doing this, but it was Kristine’s way of staying connected to her husband while he was out on the road. Besides, he wouldn’t know how to fold a shirt if his life depended on it.
“Hey, Firecracker!” Kevin strode across the room, his arms open. Kristine fell into the hug. She’d always loved the way he smelled, like lemongrass and musk. “Did you miss me?” He kissed her on top of her head. “I missed you. Cried myself to sleep every night. Like a baby.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to see that.” She tilted her head back to look at him.
When their eyes met, his face split into a grin. Even though Kevin’s sandy brown hair had some gray in it and there were a few wrinkles around his eyes, he looked just like he did when they’d first met.
“I’m starving.” He looked past her toward the kitchen. “Did you make Philly cheesesteaks? Fried onions?”
“Try a grilled chicken salad.” Considering Kevin ate at airports and chain restaurants for the majority of the week, Kristine did her best to pump him full of vitamins at home.
“Sounds healthy,” Kevin sang, giving her a light smack on the bottom. After grabbing his favorite water glass out of the cupboard, there was the familiar clink-clink-clink of the ice machine then a whoosh of water. Such a silly thing, but just hearing the sound made her happy to have him home.
Kevin grabbed the salads and headed down to the den. Kristine gathered up silverware and followed him. He was already watching the sports station on their sixty-inch flat screen. She would have preferred for the TV to stay off, but she’d given up hope on that years ago.
“Kris, this looks great.” The plate was piled high with fresh spinach, portobello mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, red peppers, goat cheese and grilled chicken. Popping a tomato in his mouth, Kevin said, “How was your weekend with the girls?”
“Fun.” She settled into a brown leather chair and flipped up the footrest. “Chloe is doing way too much, as always. And June was as socially inappropriate as possible, whenever she got the chance.”
Kevin grinned, taking a bite of chicken. “Figures.”