Читать книгу and I Believe - Jodie Richard-Bohman - Страница 10

Driving around crying with nowhere to go, my thoughts went back to the night when this all supposedly began.

“This meal is sooo delicious!” I said, licking spaghetti sauce off of my fingers.

It was the night before Thanksgiving, and Jenna and Mia were spending the night at my sister Kristie’s house. Aaron surprised me with a candlelight dinner for two. The table was full of salad, garlic bread and delicious lasagna.

“Thank-you. I was hoping you’d like it.”

“Like it? I love it!”

Even though I was full, I still crammed another spoonful of lasagna in my mouth.

“So how’s work been?” I asked.

“If it wasn’t for wills, deaths and divorces, I don’t know what we would work on all day long. Sometimes I wish had gone into criminal law. Solving crimes and defending the bad would be more exciting, wouldn’t you think?”

“I would think so. Maybe you’ll get lucky and have a wife, who just found out that her husband cheated on her, kill him and hide his body, and you’ll have to prove her innocence.”

“Now that would be cool.”

Later, after we finished the dishes, I was lying on the couch with my feet propped up on a pillow, savoring the peace and quiet. Jenna was nine and Mia was two and a half, and I loved them both dearly, but every once in a while, it is nice to have a little alone time.

“You look very sexy tonight,” Aaron whispered in my ear as he nuzzled it.

For some reason this irritated me. Between the girls, work and the house, I was just plain exhausted and the last thing on my mind was sex.

“Aaron, I’m not in the mood.”

His smiled disappeared.

“Do you even want to be with me anymore? Every time I try to touch you, you act as if I have a disease or something.”

“I do not,” I replied defensively.

“Kate, we haven’t had sex in over six months! You always say ‘it’s because the girls are around’, but they’re gone right now and you still don’t want to do it.”

“Why does it always have to be about sex with you? For Pete’s sake Aaron, it’s all you ever complain about.”

“Excuse me for wanting to be intimate with my wife every now and then.”

“What are you talking about? We’re intimate all of the time.”

His eyes widened as if I had just told a full blown lie.

“How can you say that? It’s been May since we last had sex.”

Oh my gosh, here he goes again.

“Why do you do that?” he asked as if he read my thought.

“Do what?”

“Roll your eyes at me and treat me like I’m a pervert because I want to be with you.”

The last thing I wanted to do was argue with him, so I softened my tone. “Aaron, let’s not fight. I’m just tired, okay?”

“Fine.”

Sitting back down in the recliner, he crossed his arms as he stared at the television.

“Jeff and Cory are at Creekside. Do you want to have a drink with them?”

It had been an hour of complete silence, and Aaron was the first to break the ice.

“No, not really.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

“That’s no surprise,” he mumbled under his breath.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

“If you want to go uptown so bad, then go,” I told him sarcastically.

He continued to stare ahead at the television. A few minutes later, he got up from his chair and left the room.

Is that the garage door going up?

I looked out the big picture window in the living room just in time to see Aaron driving away.

What in the heck just happened?! Did he seriously just leave?

Three hours later, Aaron had still not returned. Putting on a t-shirt and pair of sweatpants, I climbed into our big empty bed. It took me awhile to fall asleep, but when I finally did, I was awakened to Aaron coming into our bedroom. Acting as if I was asleep, I didn’t say a word or move a muscle when he took off his shirt and pants then slid up behind me in bed.

“Kate, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. It’s just that I love you so much and it feels like you don’t love me anymore,” he said, caressing my leg.

I let out a sigh, pushed his hand away and moved as far to the edge of the bed as I could get.

He rolled over on his back and mumbled something I couldn’t understand under his breath. He then grabbed his pillow and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

This scared me. He and I rarely ever fought, well, except for when he would get on this “no sex” thing, but he never ever raised his voice or slammed anything. Either way, I wasn’t going to go downstairs and apologize to him. I did nothing wrong.

Even though his exit frazzled me a bit, I eventually fell back to sleep and didn’t wake up until the next morning. Rolling over, I was surprised to see that he still didn’t come back up to our bedroom.

Quietly walking down the stairs, I tiptoed into the living room, and there he was sleeping on the couch. The smell of liquor filled the entire room.

Hmmm, I didn’t think he was drunk when he came to bed last night.

Going back upstairs, I took a shower. Before leaving to pick up the girls at Kristie’s, I checked on Aaron. He was still sleeping, or should I say passed out, on the couch.

“Daddy, Daddy,” Mia said when we returned home.

“Hey baby girl,” Aaron said, finally opening his eyes and sitting up on the couch.

“Where did you go last night?” I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

“Just to Creekside,” he muttered, not making eye contact with me.

I wasn’t going to argue with him in front of the girls, so I dropped the subject.

He probably feels guilty for the way he acted last night.

“Are you going to get ready for your parents’ house?” I asked him when he still hadn’t gotten up from the couch.

“I’m not going. I don’t feel so good,” he said, still avoiding my stare.

His face was pale and his eyes were sunken in, so I thought maybe it wasn’t alcohol-related and he was really sick.

The girls and I first went to Aaron’s mom and dad’s house and had a nice visit with them, Carey and her family, along with Grandma Dorothy. Stopping home before going to my mom and dad’s, I checked on Aaron again, who still hadn’t moved from the couch.

“Did you want me to make you some soup or something?” I asked, feeling sorry for him.

“No, but thanks,” he whispered, not opening his eyes.

“Okay. Well, the girls and I are going to go to Mom and Dad’s. Call me if you need anything.”

“Okay,” he muttered.

A few days had passed and although Aaron seemed to be feeling better, he was still acting odd. He was quiet, but being very accommodating, offering to take the girls wherever they needed to go, coming home early from work to make supper, and he even bought me flowers.

He must really feel bad for the way he acted the other night. Maybe he finally realized that I was right and that there’s more to marriage than just sex.