dining room and looking around. “It smells like a funeral parlor in here.”
Melanie managed to smile despite the tension she felt. “I’m not sure if that was what I was going for. I just wanted lots of pretty flowers.”
She turned and surveyed the dining area and formal living room. Her friend was a florist and had shown up with soft violet hydrangeas, white roses, and other delicate blossoms that spilled from crystal vases. White linens had been pressed and freshly polished silver trays sat side by side on the antique buffet. Soft instrumental music spilled from the speakers Kit had paid a small fortune to have installed last year. The overall mood was elegant and highbrow, something that would rival whatever Tennyson would do for the couple at the end of the month. Overdoing the party was petty. She knew this, but that didn’t stop her from maxing out Kit’s credit card to impress people with her hostess skills. Melanie looked at the perfection of a cake, and her stomach growled.
She’d been doing Weight Watchers ever since she’d found out 1) there was going to be a wedding at the end of August no matter how much she wished there wasn’t, 2) Tennyson looked ten years younger and thirty pounds lighter than she did, and 3) Charlotte had been invited to the engagement party. Melanie now knew being “hangry” was a real thing. Like a really real thing that made her want to kill Charlotte and eat a whole sleeve of the Girl Scout Thin Mints she’d hidden in the freezer from Kit and Noah.
But she wouldn’t because she was in control. And Charlotte wasn’t the problem in her marriage, according to the therapist.
I am in control.
That was the mantra the therapist had suggested she use when she felt her world unraveling. So far it hadn’t worked because words don’t repair ruts in the front yard or help her get into the Spanx that no longer fit. How did Spanx not fit, anyway? She currently wore the top part of a pair of control-top pantyhose with the legs cut off.
Melanie and Kit had gone to the therapist last week. The woman had given them a profile to complete, things Melanie wouldn’t tell her doctor of many years much less a veritable stranger, but she’d tried to be as honest as she could. That seemed to be the therapist’s buzzword—honesty. During their first session, the woman had used it twenty-three times. Melanie had started counting when she saw where things were headed. Kit didn’t seem to have a problem being honest. He was like the golden retriever of therapy, eagerly oversharing and fetching anything the therapist tossed his way. Even about their sex life.
Melanie had nearly died when the therapist asked how often they were intimate.
And then she’d felt guilty when she realized it was actually a lot less than she thought.
She knew she needed to work on being more open to having sex, but she was so darned tired. At the end of the day she felt anything but sexy. The thought of wearing a thong and having the energy to be playful or “into it” seemed as desirable as having to scrub around the toilet. When she and Kit did have sex, it was very vanilla, and she made the appropriate sounds and said the things she knew he liked to hear, all the while wondering if she had mailed the check for Noah’s summer camp or if she had called the vet to order Poppy more special dog food. Kit seemed to know this, and when he asked, “Are you sure you want to?” she always brightly said, “Of course I do,” but she knew he knew she really didn’t. It was the game they played every time he rubbed her shoulders.
So she’d started staying up late to finish up the dishes or pay bills in order to avoid him.
How horrible was that?
“Mom?” Emma asked, snapping her fingers in front of Melanie’s face.
“What?”
Emma laughed. “Where’d ya go?”
You do not want to know.
“Sorry. I’m distracted. Goodness, it’s going to be a busy summer for us all.”
“Mom, you really don’t have to stress about the wedding. Tennyson has volunteered to help, and we have a wedding planner who can take some of the burden off.” Emma looked so sincere. And she looked so pretty in her simple Lilly Pulitzer dress and neutral platform sandals. Her brown hair fell straight, the caramel highlights catching in the soft lighting. Such a lovely