The Challenge(52)
They finally made it to the front door with their clothes on, and he kissed her and held her. “Thank you, Marlene…thank you.”
“I love you, Tom,” she whispered, and gently touched his face with her fingertips and kissed him, and he was aroused again.
“I love you too. See you tomorrow.” He slipped out the door before they could lose their heads again and waved as he drove away smiling. He could hardly wait to get back to work on her house the next day. Their days of wallpapering and carpentry were over for now. All he wanted was to be with her.
Chapter 15
What happened between Tom and Marlene felt like madness to them, but it was the sweetest madness they had ever tasted. They readily admitted that nothing like it had ever happened to either of them. He had been so love-starved during the last year of his marriage and after, and she had been so distraught watching Bob waste away and die that they came to life in each other’s arms and couldn’t get enough of each other. Their union was a celebration of life and everything they’d been lacking.
He arrived at her house at nine o’clock every morning, and they made passionate love all day, anywhere in the house that appealed to them. He was insatiable and obsessed with her, and she was equally mad about him. It was all the sweeter because it was a secret, and somewhat forbidden fruit as a recent widow. Marlene had to remind herself not to look too happy when she went out or saw friends, so no one would suspect what was going on. She had to look serious and down some of the time. She realized now that she had mourned Bob in the early months of his illness, and by the end, keeping him alive had felt more cruel than kind. She had never had anything with any man like what she shared with Tom. Their paths crossed socially frequently, since they got along well. The Pollocks often invited them together as their two single charity cases. Marlene and Tom laughed about it sometimes, but they were extremely circumspect when they were out in public, especially with their children.
Marlene didn’t want her boys to know for a year, and Tom respected that. It was reasonable for her to want that. Then they would carefully introduce Tom into their lives, and hope that it went well. There was no reason why it shouldn’t, with a respectable delay before she started dating. They weren’t dating. They were having wild, passionate, unbridled sex almost all day every day. It was far more than dating, and they both knew they were in love. Even so rapidly after Bob’s death, she didn’t doubt that it was real.
Marlene had lunch with Pattie and Anne at the end of September, and she had to be extremely careful not to seem too cheerful. But as it turned out, Pattie wasn’t feeling well, so the focus was on her, not Marlene.
“You should get that checked out,” Anne scolded her. “You’ve been having stomach problems since this summer. I’ll bet you have an ulcer.” Anne looked worried about her and Pattie shook her head.
“I did get it checked out, and it’s not an ulcer.”
“What is it?” Anne asked her, even more concerned than she’d been before. She lowered her voice, “Is it a tumor? Is it cancer?” Pattie shook her head and smiled.
“It’s actually something else. They said they can take care of it in April.”
“In April?” Marlene stared at her. “They expect you to have stomach problems ’til April? What’s wrong with them?” As she said it, Anne was staring at them and narrowed her eyes.
“You little shit. You scared me to death. April my ass. Pattie Brown, you bitch, are you pregnant?” Pattie nodded with a huge grin, and Anne threw her arms around her and hugged her, genuinely thrilled for her. She knew Pattie had wanted another baby but didn’t have the guts to leap in.
“It was an accident. I can’t even remember when it happened, and I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it would be okay. I’m three months pregnant. I’m due in April. And”—she smiled even more—“it’s a girl.”
“You got what you wanted.” Anne looked happy for her and Marlene was happy too. So she wasn’t the only one in the group with a secret. But hers had to stay a secret for a year. “What did Bill say?” Anne asked her.
“He can’t remember when it happened either, but he’s thrilled it’s a girl. He’s been very sweet about it. I always wanted another baby more than he did. But since it’s a girl, he’s excited. I think if it were another boy, we’d have given it to you. I’m done with boys. Benjie is going to kill us. He has us up all night with his nightmares about the bear.”
“Have you told the boys yet?” Anne asked her.
“Not yet. I want to wait ’til it shows. There’s no point making the natives nervous before I have to.” They were all happy for her, and her good news dominated lunch, which was a relief for Marlene. The subject of Tom never came up, not even in passing.
* * *
—
Beth had rented her new house furnished. She bought a few things, but didn’t need much. She had noticed Tom occasionally going into Marlene’s house, and Juliet explained to her that he was doing house repairs for her to help her out.
“That’s nice,” Beth said to her daughter, and then wondered if there was more to it than that. She was an attractive widow, albeit a recent one, and Tom didn’t seem to be dating anyone, so why not?