Friends With Multiple Benefits (44 page)

"Don't start." She shakes her head and groans. "You're the one who found something wrong with every baby the lawyer presented us with."

"Forgive me for being a little careful after we lost thirty grand on the one and then the other fell through the day it was born. Remember, you cried for a week."

"That Bennett girl was going to give us her baby." She wipes her tears again. "I know she was."

"I didn't trust her."

"I did."

"The one who wanted us to pay for her breast implants and two weeks in Hawaii?" I look at her, dismayed. "That one?"

"She only wanted a tummy tuck."

"Oh, okay, yeah," I fire back sarcastically while giving her a tired look.

We look at each other, but neither of us says another word. I pull my eyes away from her first and focus instead to my only friend in the room, my big plate of ziti. "So, what, my favorite meal is supposed to cushion the blow of all this?"

"I just thought… I don’t know."

"And what?" I sigh and now I'm the one curling my lip and fighting back tears. "You want me to move out?"

"No, I'm going to move in with my parents until I figure out what I'm doing next."

"You have a lawyer?"

"No, I don't."

"When did you decide all this?" I ask.

"I've been thinking about it for a long time. Can you honestly say you haven't been too?"

I nod in half-hearted agreement. "So, I guess there's nothing else to talk about. That's it."

"No, not right now."

Rising to her feet, she moves away from the table and grabs her purse. "I think I'm just going to go."

I watch in disbelief as she heads toward the garage door. "Don’t you need to pack anything?"

"Already did. Everything's in the car."

"Shit, really?"

She nods her head slowly and gives me a sad look. "I'll call you in a couple days and we'll figure out all the rest."

"Okay."

She turns and walks out the door.

Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and run my hands over my face. I suppose it's fitting that our breakup or whatever the hell you want to call that thing that just transpired between us was as innocuous and numb as the last ten years of our marriage. When I open my eyes, I notice our wedding picture hanging on the wall in the great room. God, she looked so beautiful that day. Shit… I actually had hair. My heart feels like it's thumping out of my chest and I grip the table with both hands and slump back in my chair looking out the sliding glass door at the trees.

The house is eerily quiet and I really don't know how I feel or how I'm supposed to feel right now. I run my tongue around my mouth and the only thing I'm sure of is that I'm incredibly thirsty. In my excitement over getting to this meal, I forgot a drink so I head to the refrigerator and grab a beer. If ever I needed one, it's now. After twisting off the top, I chug half of it then grab a second and return to the table. I pull the plate in front of me, pausing a moment just looking at it as a tiny smile spreads over my face. Selecting four noodles this time, I scoop up a giant glob of meat sauce and shovel it in and for some reason all I can think is I wish I had watched over her shoulder a few more times while she made the sauce so I'd have a better idea how to do it myself.

End of excerpt -
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