In a Book Club Far Away(16)

But she said none of this. Her complaint would surely just distract him, when he needed to show up to work with a clear head.

Their marriage—for that matter, her whole life—had been built around something bigger than the both of them. A false sense of security crept in when wars lasted too long, when the cause and the meaning sometimes faded with time and distance from threat. The current operational tempo was fast and quick. Military members were still dying, and while Matt wasn’t in combat now, the risk existed. She, in the United States, despite being in pain and without the comfort of him around, had a nice mattress to sleep on, had meals with her family. She wasn’t food insecure. She was privileged.

Adelaide offered him a smile. “No worries. Sophie’s got you covered—she’s taking care of me. Not that you won’t have to make it up to me later on, because you will. Maybe with a trip to a local shelter when you’re back.”

He seemed to relax at her change in subject, slouching a smidgen into his chair. “Honestly, after all this, you can have an entire menagerie of pets. Except birds.” He shivered. “But, babe. What are you going to do about Regina?”

She shrugged, her shoulders heavy from helplessness. “I’ve texted her, and called, but no response. She’s been gone over an hour. She could be in Richmond by now. Yes, I know it was naive, but I had all these grandiose plans. That Regina’d start to cook, and Sophie’d take care of things around here, and soon we’d be one big happy family like we used to be. I figured I would explain my part of what happened back in Millersville, and we would move on. Then we could do all the local things around Old Town. The Hop-On, Hop-Off bus in DC. A walk through Georgetown, maybe a visit to the Naval Academy. And then, of course, Genevieve’s birthday—maybe a belated party.”

“Besides the fact that Regina isn’t there, that would have been a tall order. You have to recover from your procedure.”

“Dr. Hakashi said that since it’s going to be an outpatient procedure, I’ll be on my feet soon.” Something sour had developed in the back of her throat. Did she have to remind him of the many times she’d handled more in her schedule? The complicated moves, the last of which when Gen was two months old and Adelaide was still recovering from her C-section. Once, she moved on her own with a large truck through two states.

Hush. She knew better than to put it all on him. They both loved this life, down to its core.

She took a deep breath, noted that the pain in her side had returned. “I’ve got to go.”

“What is it, did I say something wrong?”

“No,” she sighed. From outside her door, she heard the doorbell ring. Her next instinct was to wince in expectation of a dog barking, then of the baby waking, but no—no dog. And Genevieve didn’t make a peep. “Someone’s at the door. Probably another solicitor. We really need to put up a sign.”

His frown remained imprinted on his face, but after a beat, he said, “Okay, babe. I’ll call you later. Love you lots.”

“Love you.”

Adelaide pressed the hang-up button before she could think twice and exhaled the tension in her chest. She pushed their conversation down and away from her head. This irritation, too, wasn’t new. Their split household sometimes resulted in their thoughts and wires being crossed. They couldn’t snuggle and make up. So much was lost in translation when a wife couldn’t touch her husband. Matt wasn’t really trying to tell her what to do—he was just giving her his thoughts on the matter.

She passed the guest room door, which remained closed, though she heard Sophie’s voice. She must be on the phone with Jasper. Then Adelaide padded down the stairs, slowing down just before she got to the bottom step, when through the front window sheers she saw the shadow of a coupe parked in front of the house.

A smile burst from her lips. She threw the door open to Regina, green suitcase by her side.

Regina’s expression was nonplussed. “Look, I guess I’m staying but—”

Adelaide launched herself at her friend. “Thank you, thank you. You are the best in the whole wide world.”

Regina mumbled an answer, but between the words was a laugh, and Adelaide would take it. She’d take all of Regina’s attitude knowing she’d decided to return. But when she stepped back, she noticed a stranger hovering outside her door.

A man… carrying two bags of groceries.





CHAPTER TEN

Sophie




Sophie heard the familiar rise and fall of two women’s voices downstairs. Regina was back. Damn.

“Mother, are you listening?” a voice yelled through the phone in her ear.

“What?” Sophie shook off her thoughts and sat up in the four-poster bed of the guest room, cell phone pressed against her ear.

“I was just saying that I don’t remember when you’ve ever left home. I think it’s good that you’re on a girls’ trip,” Olivia, the elder of her twin seventeen-year-old high school seniors, said.

“It’s not really a girls’ trip. You know that.”

“Well, this is so very midlife crisis, and I approve.”

“I don’t,” another voice said in the background.

Sophie shut her eyes. It was Carmela, the younger twin, but the more dominant of the two when it came to her opinions.