“Not at all. I’ll pick up some cups and a bag of ice while I’m out,” Merry Anna offered.
“That would be great.”
She went to the hardware store first, but George was sold out of dispensers, so she went to the feedstore. She hoped she might run into Adam. She hadn’t spoken to him since he dropped her off Friday night, and she couldn’t wait to hear how his rides went the rest of the weekend.
Her silenced phone buzzed in her pocket. Thinking it might be Krissy adding to the list, she picked it up without looking. “Hello?”
“Merry Anna. How’ve you been?”
His voice caught her by surprise, but she knew exactly who it was. “Kevin? Why are you calling?”
“I can’t call to say hello?”
Why would you do that?“I think that usually subsides following a divorce.”
“Well, we’ve known each other our whole lives. Surely, that counts for something.”
She wasn’t buying the cordial act. She’d already agreed to extending the alimony wager, but that wasn’t over until September. So why would he be calling? “What’s up?”
“Your parents’ wedding anniversary is coming up. I was thinking maybe we could do something together for them.”
He couldn’t rememberouranniversary. Why would he remember my parents’?“No, that makes no sense at all.”
“It’s just that when I was over there this weekend, theywere talking about when we all went to that inn on the Eastern Shore. Remember that?”
“I do. You bellyached the whole time.”
“I wasn’t that bad.”
“You were.”
“Well, they remembered it quite fondly, and I was thinking,Hey, why not?We could all do it again. Get the same neighboring cottages. I checked and it’s available.”
“Kevin, we’re not doing that.”
“Why not? They’d love it.”
“Iwouldn’t.”
“Come on. Not everything in our marriage was bad. It’ll be my treat.”
That would be a first.“Kevin, we aren’t married anymore. We’re not buying gifts together, and we’re definitely not going on trips together. And why exactly were you at my parents’ house this weekend?”
“They invited me for dinner.”
“Why did you go?”
“Because they are family.”
“Not yours.”
“A divorce doesn’t erase all that history, Merry Anna. Your mom said you haven’t been keeping in touch with them.”
“Kevin, I’m sure you have something better to do than hang out with my parents. You certainly had no problem staying busy when we were married.”
“Things change.”
“How so?”
