AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They sipped, and Bryson waited for her to pick up her fork before he began to eat with the gusto of a hardworking, hungry man.
“Oh, wow.Hadley…this is great.”
“Thank you.I’m glad you like it.”
She ate a few bites before remembering his comment and latched on in an attempt to break the silence.“So, you mentioned you were going to tell me the story about Nan and poker?How did that come about?”
Mary Elizabeth went homeafter her talk with Tessa, still numb from the shock of meeting Hadley’s guest as she set about making dinner.
“Hon?Hey, is something burning?”Adam called from the other room.
She gasped when she saw the smoke curling from the skillet and grabbed the handle, the gauze wrapped around the cut saving her from burning herself.“No.Oh,no.”
“I thought I smelled something burning,” Adam said, entering the kitchen.“Are you okay?”
She burst into tears yet again and Adam pulled her into his arms.
“Ah, now it’s not as bad as all that.Besides, the doc said I needed to cut back on fried foods anyway.”
She gripped his shirt and sniffled, clinging to him because she needed his comforting embrace.
“How about we go out to eat?Would you like that?”
She buried her nose into his chest and shook her head.She didn’t want to go anywhere.Do anything.She wanted to be right here, in his arms, forever.
“Honey, what’s wrong?Why the tears?”
“Just… Just one of those days,” she whispered.She’d always been a bit more emotional than the women she knew.She cried at television commercials, songs… Sometimes just a beautiful sunset moved her to tears.She couldn’t help it.It came as second nature to her and had always been her way.
Thankfully Adam found the flaw endearing rather than annoying.
Her husband kissed the top of her head and cuddled her closer.
“Let’s order in then.We haven’t done that in a while.What would you like?”
Sweet.He was so sweet.He had always taken care of her, gone out of his way to check on her whenever she was sick with a cold or laid up with one ailment or another.She couldn’t have asked for a better man, a better husband.“I’m not hungry.”
“Come on now, you can’t let a little burnt fish upset you.Had it caught fire and made us call 911, that’d be different,” he teased.
She managed a smile though it felt stiff and painful.“You’re right.But I really don’t care what we have.You pick something.Anything is fine.”
Adam kissed her forehead and started to release her but then paused, the fine lines around his eyes creasing a bit when he narrowed his gaze on her face.
“Are you sure nothing’s wrong, sweetheart?What’s got you so on edge?”
“I’m fine.”She lifted her hand to shove the hair away from her face, and Adam snagged hold of it.
“What’s this?”
“Oh.Nothing.I cut myself at Hadley’s today.It’s just a scrape.She…shared something with me today.”Remembering that Adam knew all, she frowned at him.“About her divorce.”
Adam inhaled and stroked his thumb over her cheek to dry a tear.
“I would’ve told you except—”
“Client confidentiality,” she said, having heard it more than a few times over their years together.
She cuddled back against his chest and sighed.“She’s so broken.Sad.Scared.I took a gift basket to her today from the Babes and found her crying.”
