A Country Affair(105)

“Not that things are that bad,” she insisted. “But we need more time together. We need to get on the same page.”

Sophie fumbled around for the right words. “Maybe he was just shocked. He needs time to process, figure out how to make it work.” Lame.

“He should have jumped at this.” Sierra’s voice began to wobble.

“What happened when you gave him the envelope?” Sophie asked.

“He stared at it and asked, ‘What’s this?’ Like I’d given him a raw onion or something.”

The rat. “That’s all he said?”

“No. He said he was really sorry. We can do something next summer. Blah, blah.”

Sierra let out a sigh. “Looks like this wasn’t one of my better ideas.”

It seemed that, lately, Sierra and Mark spent more time apart than they did together. He did have to work long hours. The price of success.

If you asked Sophie, it was priced too high. She loved her work—what was not to love about shopping for people?—but she also loved hanging out with family and friends. You had to make time for that. She could have understood Mark’s long hours better if he owned his own business or was doing something he was passionate about, but from what she could tell he was only a cog in the corporate wheel, working for a paycheck he could blow.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“Throw out the leftover Rouladen.”

“No, I mean about the trip.”

“I’m going. I paid for this and I’m going. I can take the time off.”

“You’re gonna go without him?”

That sure didn’t seem like a good idea.

“He said I should since I already spent the money. He felt bad that he can’t come with me and he didn’t want the trip to be wasted. In fact, he even suggested I take you with me.”

Very noble. Except Mark wasn’t that noble and his offer made Sophie suspicious. Did he have some selfish hidden agenda? Did he welcome the idea of a week away from his wife?

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said. “I mean, you guys are already having problems.”

There was a moment of silence. “I know,” her sister said in a small voice. “I thought this would be good for us. I’d been hoping all morning he’d text me that he got the time off, after all. I finally texted him.”

Having to nag her husband to go on a trip with her. This was sick and wrong.

“He said he really can’t take off. My surprise sure backfired.”

“I’m so sorry, Sissy.”

There was a lesson in this somewhere, like never spend a small fortune on a trip you didn’t plan together. At least, not if you were married to Mark.

There was another moment of silence, then Sierra said, “Maybe he’s seeing someone.”

Gaack! “Then you definitely shouldn’t go!”

“Like staying home would stop him? A man can always find ways to cheat. Anyway, he’s always working. When would he get the time?”

Sophie thought of the old saying you always find time for what you really want to do. Mark was selfish, but surely he wasn’t downright evil.

“Maybe we need this time apart,” Sierra reasoned. “Maybe it will make us both realize how much we love each other.”

Or how much he doesn’t love you. Sophie frowned and set aside her juice, which suddenly wasn’t sitting so well on her stomach.

The diagnosis for this tummy trouble was easy. She worried about her big sister. Sierra was a typical firstborn—a real caregiver, watching over everyone, including Sophie.

Sophie still had the card Sierra had made her when she was nine and had to spend the night in the hospital. The angel on the front showed the talent of a young, budding artist. Inside Sierra had written, I’ll watch over you. She’d kept that promise, telling Sophie stories at night to distract her when she was scared that the invisible monster that had sent her to the hospital would come back and sit on her chest so she couldn’t breathe. In high school she’d gotten Sophie through algebra and geometry, shared makeup tips and clothes.

She still watched out for her sister and everyone else, as well. She was always the first to offer to help their grandma decorate the Christmas tree and bullied Sophie and their brother, Drew, into putting up the Christmas lights for their parents every year. When Mark’s mom had broken her ankle the year before it had been Sierra who took her to her doctor appointments and physical therapy. She loved with all her heart. Sophie didn’t want to see that big heart of hers get stomped on.

“Anyway, I was stupid and didn’t get trip insurance.”

“You didn’t get trip insurance?” Sophie repeated, shocked.

“I know. I should have. I’d just been so sure... Anyway, if I don’t go I’ll have spent all that money for nothing,” Sierra continued. “So I’m going.” She might as well have added, So there. “Want to come with?”

“On a cruise.”

It had all sounded so glamorous and romantic when her sister first told Sophie what she was planning; she’d actually been a little jealous. But not for long, not after she remembered all those poor people quarantined on those cruise ships.

“It’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, until some disease breaks out.”