Читать книгу Weddings in the Family - Tessa McDermid - Страница 10

Career changes

Twenty-six years earlier

THE GARAGE DOOR slid closed behind him, but Nick made no move to get out of the car. Caroline’s car occupied her space, sparkling from a recent washing. She must have stopped on her way home from school.

He inhaled slowly and then let the breath out just as carefully. He needed to go in, not sit noticing the lack of dust on her vehicle. He’d eat dinner, chat as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened and then offer to do the dishes. Once the kitchen was clean and they were relaxing in the living room, he’d bring up his news.

The door between the kitchen and the garage opened and Caroline hurried through, a cloth bag over her shoulder, her head down as she watched her step. She paused to push the garage-door opener. Halfway down the second step, she saw him, grinned and hurried over to his car.

“Hey!” She leaned over, tapping on his window.

Rather than roll it down, he opened the door, careful not to bump her skirt, and climbed out. “You going somewhere?”

She nodded. “The school-board meeting, remember? I’m giving my presentation. I told you last night.”

He had a vague recollection of listening to something about her third-grade class and the books they were reading, but sometimes Caroline rambled on about her school day in such detail he found it easy to ignore most of it. If he made a few “uh-huhs” or “reallys?” during the monologue, that sufficed.

“When will you be home?”

“I don’t know. Most of the time, we can slip out after we finish our part. I’ll see if I can do that without making a scene.”

She took a step closer and leaned in, kissing him on the cheek and nuzzling his chin. “I won’t stay a minute longer than I have to.”

His body tightened at the promise in her voice. Four years of marriage and that whisper of longing in her tone still made him want to push her up against the wall.

His hand stole around her neck and he tugged her closer for a solid kiss. Her bag bumped against one hip and the door scraped his other one. He edged around the door, keeping their mouths melded together. With his free hand, he pushed the car door shut and wrapped his arm around her waist, catching his balance against the car.

A whimper slid over her lips and he swallowed the soft sound, using his teeth, his tongue, his lips to explore her mouth. She tasted of minty toothpaste and he wanted to devour her.

Her hands pressed against his chest and she backed up. He lifted his head. “I have to go,” she whispered.

Her lashes were lowered, her cheeks flushed. “You sure?” he asked, a sense of satisfaction filling him. He had the same power over her that she wielded over him.

“Yes.” She smoothed several locks of hair behind her right ear, then ran her hands down her skirt. “How do I look?”

He leaned back and gave her a once-over, moving slowly past the soft curves at her hips, her waist, her breasts, and back to her face.

“Not that way!” She gave him a push that knocked him against the car.

He grinned. The momentary pain had been worth the view.

“Do I look okay for my meeting? I don’t have time to go back in and repair your damage.” She brushed at the front of her blouse.

“You look fine.” He patted her on the rear, chuckling at her squeak of annoyance. Nothing irritated her more than that patronizing action. She was back to her normal, public self. That half-out-of-bed look he wanted to keep for himself.

Whistling, he closed the garage door after her car turned into the street and wandered in to the house. The kitchen light over the sink was on, sending a soft glow into the room. Their rented town house was twice the size of the apartment they had lived in for the first three years of their marriage.

The silence of the extra rooms echoed around him. He opened the refrigerator and peered inside. Grabbing a package of ham, he fixed a sandwich. He carried it into the living room, flicked on the television and plopped down on the couch.

The local sports announcer was giving a quick rundown of the coming baseball games, promising highlights during the special Friday night segment that ran during the season. The announcer added that the starting pitcher for the high-school team was considering several area colleges and that scouts from a prestigious university had been seen at the last game.

Nick frowned, the information bringing back the afternoon’s conversation with his boss, the pitcher’s dad. The opportunity to move up in the company had been handed to him, with a substantial pay increase. The only problem was that the promotion included a move out of state.

He slumped against the back of the couch, staring at the swirls on the ceiling. The extra money was secondary to the chance to head his own department. After months of following orders, he would be the one giving them.

The design in the ceiling formed itself into Caroline’s face. Even before she saw him, he had seen excitement in her walk, in the way she swung down the steps. He couldn’t have told anyone about the program she was going to discuss for the school board that evening, but he did know it was something that had involved most of her waking free moments for the past school year.

Good teachers are needed everywhere, he thought. Her principal would be sad to lose her, but he’d give Caroline a glowing recommendation. The man had been full of praise for her abilities when they met at the school’s Spring Fling. Nick had been proud she was his wife.

“Nick?” Caroline’s voice sounded from the kitchen.

“In the living room.”

“What are you doing sitting in the dark?” She clicked on a lamp and dropped onto the couch next to him.

“Did you wow them?” He muted the television, now in the middle of a weekly variety show, and draped an arm around her waist.

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Yeah.” Her lips briefly touched his neck. “The kids were so good. The board members asked several questions and not one of the kids faltered in their answers.”

“Did you think they would?”

She shook her head, her hair rustling against his shirt. The silky movement brought a clench to his groin, reminding him of the unfinished business between them.

He looped his arm around her and tugged her into his lap. She giggled, her skirt flipping up and baring her legs to the tops of her shapely thighs. “What are you doing?”

“Celebrating your wonderful performance.” She wasn’t wearing stockings. His free hand caressed the soft skin under her knee and her giggles shifted to a lower pitch.

“Tell me what happened at the meeting,” he murmured, his index finger tracing lazy circles over and behind her knee.

She swallowed and licked her lips. “After a couple short announcements,” she managed to say in a higher-than-normal voice, “the vice superintendent introduced me.”

He added another finger to his tracing and navigated a few inches higher on her thigh. “And?” he asked.

She shifted, her hand tightening on his waist. He followed her leg, alternating his tracing with gentle squeezes on the soft thigh muscles.

“I, um, I told them about the books that we use, how much we read each day, some of the activities—”

He watched the skin of her throat ripple as she swallowed. Using the pad of his thumb, he trailed down the faint ridges, slowing at the hollow at the base of her throat.

“I bet they were impressed.” He leaned in and kissed the pale skin at the curve of her neck. “You’ve been working on this all year.”

“Yes, well, I—Ms. Russell—” She swallowed and the skin danced across his lips. “She mentioned that they’re considering—Oh! Nick!”

He grinned, his mouth hovering over the nipple he had just kissed through her shirt. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No, I—” Her hand caressed the hair at the nape of his neck and gently, slowly, she eased his head and mouth back to her breast. “I’ll tell you the rest later,” she murmured.

CAROLINE LOUNGED AGAINST his shoulder, nestled between his body and the back of the couch. Their clothes were scattered on the floor, her panties resting precariously on the edge of the lamp shade. She shivered and he tucked her closer.

Her hand twirled the hair on his chest, her fingernails lightly dancing over his skin. “Did you eat something?”

“Yeah.” His fingers tangled in the curls above her ear and he leaned in for a long kiss. “A sandwich,” he managed to say when he could breathe again.

She was wedged between the cushion and his arm. With every breath she took, her body rubbed against his skin. He clamped his teeth against the surge of desire that raced through him. No matter how many times he was with her, she could start the reaction all over again with a simple smile, a touch of her hand, her skin against his.

Instead of giving in to the desire, he knew he had to tell her his news. The temptation to wait until the next day was balanced by the thought that their current bout of lovemaking had left her in a mellow mood.

“I had my formal review,” he began.

She jerked upright and he had to press his foot to the floor to keep from sliding off the couch. “You got your promotion, right?”

He nodded and she yipped, her face lighting up as she threw herself on top of him. “Oh, Nick! That’s wonderful. Now we can look for a house, finish paying off your school loans. You’ll have your own office, right? With a window? We can decorate it, add some personal touches. That cubicle you have now—”

“Wait.” He interrupted her with a hand on her lips and at her waist to keep her still. Her bouncing was causing parts of him to respond and he had to keep his wits about him.

She frowned. “You didn’t get a raise?” she mumbled against his fingers. “No new office?”

“No, I’ll get a raise.” He glanced at the ceiling, at the flickering lights of the television, toward the glass door leading to their small patio. Anywhere but at her shining face.

“Nick.” Her hands framed his cheeks and turned his attention back to her. “What is it?”

He’d never been a coward. She’d understand. She loved him. She wanted what was best for both of them and this was a grand opportunity for his career. She was a wonderful teacher, she’d find another job…

“The new office is in Missouri.”

Her stunned silence bounced off the walls. From the corner of his eye, he could see the comedian speaking to his cohort in the sitcom that had replaced the variety show, their mouths moving wordlessly. A branch scraped across the glass door of the patio.

“Caro?”

She pushed against his shoulders, climbing to her feet. She scooped up her clothes and hugged them against her body, crossing the space to the stairs.

“Don’t walk away. We have to talk about this.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder, dignified in her posture. For a moment, he was distracted by the lean length of her, the tight buttocks, the slender legs.

But her words snapped him back to the conversation. “You’re asking me to move, right? Did you hear a word I said earlier? No, of course you didn’t. I didn’t finish because you distracted me.”

She leaned forward. “Well, let me tell you the rest. Ms. Russell wants to develop my program for the entire district. The vice superintendent of curriculum, Nick!”

She flung her hands out, her stance a belligerent, naked goddess. “She wants me to work with the other teachers next year and go into their classrooms. The administration talked about it at their work session today and are willing to give me a stipend for the extra hours. Are you asking me to give that up?”

“No.” He stopped. How could she develop her program here in Iowa if they moved to Missouri for his new position?

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not going.” She took another step toward the stairs and rested a hand on the railing. “This is what my mom did, Nick. She followed my dad everywhere he wanted to go. Not once did she get a chance to be her own person, someone other than George Armstrong’s wife.”

“Caro.” He sat up, his arms crossed over his thighs. She had looked fierce and commanding standing in the middle of the living room, her eyes intense. He felt vulnerable, arguing his case naked. “Good teachers are needed everywhere. You’ll get a great recommendation. You can start your reading program in Missouri.”

“You don’t start changing things as soon as you move into a new district.” She stomped toward the stairs, her body disappearing around the bend.

“We’re not done talking about this,” he called after her.

All he heard in response was the sound of her feet treading up the steps.

THE BEDROOM DOOR WAS shut when he made it upstairs. He had locked the doors, checked the windows, turned off all the lights. Stalling, to let her have time to get ready for bed, to calm down and realize that the promotion was good for both of them.

The lights were out in the room when he pushed the door open. “Caro?” he whispered.

The streetlight shone through a crack in the curtain and illuminated the bed, showing her curled on the farthest edge away from the door. He could hear her light breathing, but he couldn’t tell if she was asleep or faking it so she didn’t have to talk to him.

He crossed the room and entered the small bathroom, brushing his teeth quickly. He clicked off the light and made his way through the dark room, climbing onto his side of the bed.

She tensed up and he sighed. “Caro, we have to talk about this.”

Silence.

He touched her shoulder. “Caro.”

She rolled away and he waited for her to tumble from the bed. She paused and he knew she was clinging to the edge of the mattress.

“Fine.” He stretched out on his side of the bed, his back to her. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Breakfast was a quiet affair. He had awakened in the night, expecting her to be spooned around his back. Instead, he had felt only the wide chasm of the empty mattress between them. Hurt and angry, he had settled back into his pillow, determined to wait her out.

“I have a meeting tonight, so I’ll be home about six.” Her voice was neutral.

“Do you want me to start something for supper? I should be home at five-thirty.”

“There’s hamburger for tacos in the refrigerator.”

He nodded. Anyone observing them would see two people going about their before-work activities. No raised voices, no angry glares.

No kiss goodbye.

HE WAS CHOPPING TOMATOES into fine pieces when she came home. “Hi.” He kept his voice low. “How was your day?”

“Fine. We had a meeting with one of my parents. I think we sorted out the problem.”

“That’s good.” He slid the chopped tomatoes into one side of the divided bowl. His back to her, he unscrewed the lid on a jar of black olives and drained them before adding them to the other side of the bowl.

Caroline reached over his shoulder and snagged an olive, popping it into her mouth. Her other hand rested on his shoulder.

“Sorry about last night,” she said softly, her breath a whisper against his ear.

He relaxed and turned around, placing his hands on her waist. “It’s okay. I didn’t mean to spring it on you like that.”

She tilted back, her eyes narrowed. “You weren’t hoping that making love would keep me from yelling at you?”

“I didn’t plan it that way, but afterward, I did think it might help.” He kissed the tip of her nose and then edged away, giving the hamburger sizzling on the stove a stir. “I didn’t accept the promotion yet, Caro. I wanted to talk to you first.”

“I figured that out after I calmed down this morning.” She carried the condiments to the table and spread out the dishes he had stacked in the center. “I made a list.”

His bark of laughter echoed around the room. She faced him, her hands on her hips. “I know you think my lists are crazy, but they let us see all the options. I’ll show you after supper.”

He nodded and dished up the meat. Caroline was always easier to talk to when she was well fed.

After dinner, with the dishwasher humming quietly in the background, Caroline lit a candle on the kitchen counter. The soft scent of apple cinnamon cut through the spicy aroma of the tacos they had just eaten. Outside, a neighbor mowed the common area in front of the town houses, taking advantage of the light now that daylight saving time had started. Two children raced past the window on big-wheeled tricycles, their voices high and shrill over the loud whirring of their tires.

“I listed the pros and cons of two options,” Caroline said.

He turned away from the scene outside. “Two options?”

She pulled a tablet out of her bag and opened it to the first page. “Not what you think.”

He frowned. The only two options that came to his mind were taking the job or not taking the job.

She laid her hand on top of his. “You need to take the job, Nick. That’s a given. You’ve worked hard for the promotion. I know we didn’t consider a move, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We just have to look at what’s good for both of us.”

He glanced at the paper she had turned toward him. The heading at the top caught his eye. “You stay in Iowa?”

“Yes. Wait—” she said quickly, lifting her hand. “Just listen before you say anything.”

She pointed to the first two items on her list. “Pros. You get the experience and job you deserve. I can develop my program with the teachers.”

He tapped the right side of the paper. “We won’t be together.”

“During the week.” She ran a finger over the words she had written on the first line of the con entry. “Four days.”

“Four days? We both work Monday through Friday.” How could she calmly suggest that they be apart four days each week? They hadn’t slept away from each other since their wedding night. Even angry last night, they’d been in the same bed.

“You’ll come home every Friday night. And I checked the mileage. If you left early Monday morning once in a while, you’d still get to your office on time. So, you’d really only be gone Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.” She raised a finger with each day.

He bent over and kissed the raised fingers. “Three days, four days. It doesn’t matter, Caro. That’s a lot of days to be apart.”

She tapped the paper. “But, Nick, it’s only during the school year. We’ll have the summer and holidays together. I can visit you on my breaks.”

He sat back in his chair, his arms folded over his chest. He didn’t like her reasoning, but he was willing to hear her out. “Okay, go on with the list.”

“With the raise you’ll receive and my stipend, we can save toward our house.” She lifted her hand again when he opened his mouth. “I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like we’ll save money, with two places to live. But if we can find you an apartment close to your office, we’ll save on gas money.”

The pros took up the full side of the paper. Only one item was on the con side. “You don’t mind living apart for the year?” he asked.

She fixed him with her look that was just a fraction short of being disgusted. “Nick, it’s just for a few months. And we’ll see each other every weekend.”

She scooted her chair over until she could frame his face with her hands. “Honey, what if this job doesn’t work out? Or you don’t like the town? I’ll have given up this great opportunity for no reason. I want to try it for one year.”

She wasn’t pleading, but he could hear the tremor in her voice. “If I do move with you, I’ll have to get another certificate to teach in Missouri.” She sighed and he felt the motion all the way to his feet. “You know what happened when we moved to Lawrence. I had to work as an aide for a year before a job came open.”

He nodded. “You’re right.” He scooped her into his lap, holding her close. “But what am I going to do when I come home and you’re not there?”

“We’ll talk on the phone. And we’re both always so busy during the week, we hardly see each other in the evening anyway.”

He couldn’t put it into words, but he liked knowing that she was sitting at the dining-room table, her school papers spread around her, while he read through a report or checked on figures. She was always there when he prepared for bed, eager to tell him about her latest meeting or some funny story from her day.

Right now she was warm in his arms. How would he deal with the long nights without her?

“I MADE A COUPLE OF CASSEROLES and put them in the freezer.” Caroline stood next to her car, watching him add her last suitcase to the trunk. “And you have bread and sandwich fixings for the week.”

He caught her shoulders and kissed her mouth, silencing the rest of her words. “Caro, I can take care of myself.”

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” Her brow was puckered in a frown, her gaze darting from the car to the door of the apartment building. “I mean, you lived at home, then we got married and I took care of you—”

His kiss was rougher and when he lifted his head, he was pleased to see the dazed look in her eyes. “I can take care of myself,” he repeated. “Now, you? What will happen if you need a clean blouse in the middle of the week?”

She grinned and tossed her head. Dressed in cutoff shorts and a Mickey Mouse tee shirt, her long blond hair pulled back in a simple ponytail, she looked more like a high-school student than a teacher heading back for a new school year. “I’ll buy a new one and wait until you come home to do the laundry.”

He laughed and spun her around, giving her a soft pat on the derriere when he put her down. “No shopping.” He marched her toward the car, leaning down to open her door. “We’re saving money here, remember? We want to buy a house we can live in together.”

“Okay, okay.” She stood on tiptoe and planted a long kiss on his mouth.

He held her close. The last two months had been a whirlwind of furnishing his small studio apartment and training at the new office. He liked the people and they had responded well to him. The local manager, the oldest son of the company’s owner, had invited them over for dinner. Caroline had discovered a mutual interest in authors with Mrs. Abbott. Their youngest child, an almost kindergartner, had crawled into Caroline’s lap and stayed there until sent to the family room to play with her older siblings.

Caroline had spent her days while he was at the office putting together school materials. Their nights had involved making memories that would last them through the days ahead. In a new place, a new town, she had lost any inhibitions and he sometimes wondered what his neighbors on either side of the apartment thought of the new tenant.

“I feel like your lover and not your wife,” she had whispered to him last night, arms and legs wrapped around each other in the dark, tiny space he would call home for the next ten months. “Grabbing every minute together, until we can sneak away again.”

He had held her close, savoring her scent, her soft skin, committing them to memory for the lonely nights ahead.

Now he tucked her into the car and reached across to fasten her seat belt. “Call me as soon as you get home.”

“I will.”

He shut the door and she rolled down the window. “I love you, Mr. Eddington.”

“Ditto, Mrs. Eddington.”

He watched the car head down the street, waiting until she disappeared from view before going back to his apartment. The place was functional, one large room with a kitchenette built into the wall under the window. They had pushed the double bed into the opposite corner and hidden it behind a wooden screen Caroline had found at a garage sale. She had positioned the flowered couch at an angle from the front door. An easy chair, coffee table and simple entertainment center with a TV and his stereo created the illusion of a living room separate from the other areas.

The apartment felt empty without Caroline. He wandered around, touching the leaves of the potted plant she had placed on the table, straightening a picture she had hung from their honeymoon in Colorado. He had snapped the shot from their cabin porch, the sun casting shadows on the canyon walls across the river. She had surprised him and had it enlarged and framed for their last anniversary.

“So you don’t forget me,” she had said, sitting cross-legged on the bed. They had been eating pizza, the only food available in the town by the time they finished celebrating between the sheets.

“I won’t have time to forget you.” He fed her the last bite of pepperoni. “I’m going to be so busy at work, I won’t have time to think of anything else. Once I’m home, I’ll drop off to sleep.”

He sank onto the sofa, his feet stretched in front of him. He wished he was tired enough to fall asleep right now. The long nights of boisterous lovemaking should have worn him out. Instead, all he could think about was his lonely bed and the long drive ahead for Caroline.

He changed into running shoes and shorts and jogged through the neighborhood, under the shade of the thick oak trees that lined the yards. The apartment building was nestled at the edge of a residential area, the five units catering to those few people in town who didn’t have a house of their own.

A dog barked at him from the back fence of a two-story frame house and he gave a jaunty wave. He hadn’t had time to meet any of his neighbors yet, too eager to savor the time he had with Caroline. He would spend the next few days getting to know them, to become part of this town.

His shower over, he turned on the evening news and slumped on the couch. When the phone rang, he dashed across the room and grabbed the receiver from the wall. “Hello?”

“Hi. I’m home.”

He glanced at the cheery kitchen clock she had placed over the refrigerator. Everywhere he looked, touches of her. He didn’t know if they would provide him with solace or make him regret their decision. “Didn’t take you long,” he said.

“I didn’t stop. And I didn’t speed, thank you very much.”

He grinned and sank to the floor, his back against the wall, the cord of the phone wrapped around his wrist. “Did I say you did?”

“No. But you can’t let it go that I was stopped on our honeymoon. The only time I’ve ever been pulled over, I might add. And I didn’t even get a ticket!”

“The officer gave you a warning ticket.” The yellow slip was packed away with their wedding pictures and license, a reminder of that first trip to Colorado. She had been nervous when the Kansas highway patrolman had come to the window, stating that she had just been married and the name on her driver’s license hadn’t been changed yet. The young officer had given her a warning and said they would be watching her.

Her sniff of indignation sounded over the line. He could imagine her sitting with her legs crossed, her back against the headboard of the bed. “What time do you have to be at school tomorrow?” he asked.

“We’re working in our classrooms. We can go whenever we want. I’ll go in when I wake up.”

“The afternoon, then?”

Another sniff. “I’m not sleeping in that late.”

“Maybe I should call you and wake you up before I go to work.”

“Don’t you dare!”

The bantering went on for several more minutes. He was prone on the floor, the phone pressed against his ear as he said outrageous things to make her laugh. “I should hang up now,” she finally said.

“Yeah.” They were talking late on Sunday night, but the bill would still add up.

“Love you.”

“Ditto.”

“Nick! At least say it over the phone.”

“I did.”

A long sigh. “Sleep tight,” she said. “And have a good day tomorrow.”

He crawled into bed and lay on his back, watching the shadows from the streetlight flicker over the ceiling. Her scent lingered on the pillow next to him and he tugged it into his arms, feeling foolish but comforted at the same time. He was a grown man. He could survive a few days without his wife next to him in bed.

The days at work passed quickly. The owner of the heating and air-conditioning company had opened this second branch three years ago, putting the main responsibilities in the hands of his oldest son. Nick had been chosen to head the marketing department and improve their sales in the region. He pored over reports, looking for ways to help grow the company, papers covering the dinette table he and Caroline had found at a secondhand shop.

He talked to Caroline each evening, after he ran down the streets of his new neighborhood. His running had been relegated to the bottom of his priorities over the last few years. Work and marriage had taken up his time. Now he found the exercise necessary, the sweat and heat he generated helping him forget the empty apartment and the emptier bed.

After covering several miles, he would shower, dial the number of their town house and crawl under the covers. He had replaced the short phone cord with one that reached to all corners of his temporary home. Listening to her chatter about her day while he lay in bed brought her closer.

Not that he could ever tell her how he felt. Except for her “I love you” at the end of each conversation, Caroline never expressed any emotion and certainly never let him know that she missed him. He knew it was foolish, but his pride wouldn’t let him say that he missed her first.

“When are you coming home tomorrow?” she asked after a detailed description of her open house the night before.

He kicked off his running shoes. The phone had been ringing when he came in from his run and he had grabbed it before she hung up. “About tomorrow night—”

“No!” she interrupted. “Nick, you don’t have to work late, do you?”

He dropped his sweaty clothes on the floor and grabbed a towel off the rack, mopping up the sweat dripping from his forehead. “They’re having a picnic to introduce the new employees to the community. I’m expected to be there.”

“Why didn’t they have it earlier? Your boss knew I was going back to Iowa.”

“The picnic isn’t just for our company. The chamber puts it on every year to welcome any new employees that have been hired by the different businesses. They have it in the fall to include the new teachers. I have to be there, Caro. It’s a big deal around here.”

“Fine. Can you leave after it’s over?”

He wanted to. He’d planned to show up, eat a few hot dogs, chum around with the people he was starting to know by name and sight. Then leave and be home by midnight at the latest.

“I don’t think so. There’s a dance, some speeches, lots of mingling. Most people don’t leave until around eleven, I’m told.” Too late to drive three and a half hours. Even if he wanted to see his wife after four days without her.

“Can’t you explain you have to get home to your wife?”

It was the closest she had come to saying she missed him in all of their phone conversations.

“I wish I could, honey. I’ll leave first thing Saturday morning. I’ll be there before you wake up.” He would crawl into their bed, nuzzle the soft skin of her neck, wake her up just enough to rekindle those fires they had been burning all summer.

Her sigh sounded over the line. “We have a fund-raiser for school. A car wash. I took the first shift, from nine to eleven, figuring I’d be there and back before you woke up.”

He stretched out on the bed, the towel wrapped around his waist. “Then I’ll be waiting for you when you come home.”

THE WEEKEND WAS BUSY. Except for several hours in bed after she came home from the car wash, her hair wet and her skin slippery and soapy from the kids’ antics, their time together was spent on household chores. He caught up on the bills, ran a few loads of laundry, helped her stop a leak in the shower. She made what she expected to be a quick trip to the grocery and ended up stuck in the weekend crowd. They had considered a movie but decided Saturday date night wouldn’t give them any privacy.

“I’m coming to you,” she announced over the phone the next Wednesday. “When you come here, you work on the house. I want to have you all to myself, no chores.”

“About this weekend—”

“What this time?” Her voice was resigned.

“We have a retreat to determine the direction for the new year. Mr. Abbott is coming himself.” The boss had been in communication with him during the summer months, but this was the first time he had shown up at the office since Nick’s move.

“I’ll come home next weekend, no matter what,” he added.

Her long sigh echoed over the line. “All right. I can’t go two weeks without you, Nick.”

The longing in her voice warmed his heart. They might not say how much they missed each other, but he knew the need was there. He felt it every night when he crawled into his lonely bed.

THE RETREAT WAS DEEMED a success, Mr. Abbott calling him aside to praise the work he was doing. Nick was certain the business would continue to thrive if they took advantage of the growth spurt that was happening in the town. He was in daily contact with the home-builders’ association, working with the contractors developing new neighborhoods. He had heard a rumor that a large company was considering the area for its latest factory and he was following up on that possibility. Abbott’s Heating and Air could benefit from both the new factory construction and employee housing that would be needed.

He missed talking with Caroline about the progress that was being made. After the first month and the arrival of their phone bill, they had curtailed the long evening phone calls in favor of shorter calls each morning. He’d call and wake her up, they’d chat for a few minutes, and then both rush off to get ready for their day.

Little talk had gone on during the two weekends he made it home. He had tossed in a load of laundry and they had jumped into bed. Once, Caroline had started to tell him about her latest workshop, but he had been distracted by the movement of her lips and they had fallen back into bed, surfacing only when it was time for him to leave.

“Come down next weekend,” he urged at the end of September. He had an important meeting on Friday with the factory manager that would no doubt last late into the night. If she drove to Wheeler, they could salvage the rest of the weekend. “I’ll make sure nothing interrupts our time on Saturday. We’ll hide away from the rest of the world,” he whispered into the phone. “Have that affair you talked about.”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been doing when you come back here?”

He laughed and then glanced around the small space he was calling home. The current state of his apartment couldn’t be further from a secret love nest. Clothes from his week were spread on the chairs and couch. His running shoes and shorts trailed a path to the bathroom. Papers from the current project were piled on the dinette table and chairs. Dirty dishes littered the small sink, and old newspapers were stacked against the overflowing trash can.

He had a week to clean up or she would leave him for being a slob.

“Just come,” he begged. His adrenaline over winning the bid for the factory’s heating and air-conditioning systems threatened to overtake him and he needed to release steam. With his wife.

He arrived home late Thursday after an intense meeting with the department heads. Hammering out their figures before the next day’s meeting meant the team worked through dinner. He was confident the final negotiations would go well for both parties.

Now he needed to spend some quality time with his apartment. The days had blended into the nights and the mess had grown. He planned to crank up some rock and roll and get down to the dirty business of straightening the place before Caroline saw that their love nest had deteriorated into a sloppy bachelor pad.

Whistling, he walked up the two steps to his front door, his tie loosened and the top button of his shirt undone. The suits were the worst part of his day. Who had ever decided a man needed a cord tied around his neck to be successful? He stuck the key in the door and pushed it open.

“Surprise!” Caroline jumped from the couch and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He staggered and caught the edge of the door to keep his balance. “What are you doing here?”

She blinked and he shook his head, sorry his voice had sounded so rough. “I didn’t mean it that way.” He dropped his tie and hooked an arm around her neck, tugging her close. “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

“I gathered that.” Her voice was dry and he glanced around the room.

She had washed and dried the dishes, putting them away in the open cupboards that flanked the kitchen window. His clothes were gone from the various places he had flung them each night. The covers on the bed were smoothed down and he saw a wad of bedding in the hamper. She had even changed the sheets.

He sat down on the couch, keeping her close to him. The citrusy perfume she favored wafted over him and he inhaled deeply. “I expected you tomorrow night. Did you take the day off?”

She shook her head. “Fall break. I forgot to tell you and then decided to surprise you.”

Her scent was causing his insides to twist and he had a strong desire to check out the clean sheets.

Her fingers were busy on his shirt. He sprawled against the back of the couch, watching her work her way down his shirt and onto his belt through half-closed eyes. When she slid the zipper down on his pants, he stilled her hand. “I’ve had a long day.”

“Oh.” Disappointment shone in her green eyes.

He laced his fingers through hers, tugging her to her feet. “I think I’d do better in the bed. Just in case I fall asleep.”

Desire flickered again on her face. “I don’t think you’ll be falling asleep.”

“Really?” He backed her to the bed and gave her a light push, grinning when she bounced on top of the spread.

She raised her arms, holding them wide. “Not right away. After I’m through with you, though, you may wish you had tomorrow off.”

He dropped onto her, rolling them over and over the bed. The meeting with factory management flickered through his mind. No, he had to be there. But a few hours’ wrestling with his wife could only heighten his ability to negotiate the final terms. He buried his hands in her thick curls and prepared for the next day.

“MR. EDDINGTON? YOUR WIFE is here.”

Nick lifted his head from the budget report he’d been studying and frowned at Mildred, his secretary. “Caroline is here?”

He didn’t wait for her response, pushing his chair back and rushing across the room. Why was Caroline here in the middle of the week?

She rose from her seat on one of the soft chairs. “Hi, Nick.” Her cheeks were flushed and her voice sounded nervous.

“What are you doing here?” His hand cupped her elbow and he ran his gaze over her quickly.