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The numbness persisted though, the disappointment that because she hadn’t obeyed him, he would act this way. It had nothing to do with safety. This was his expectation of her that had gone awry. Would he snap out of it, or was he going to lay down the law?
She couldn’t shake the feeling that resolving the issue was not going to be easy. Relationships that were good still required so much compromise. Maybe they had jumped in too quickly because she didn’t want to compromise yet. Right now, she just wanted to live her single life, paint her cottage without recriminations, do the rescue, and try to recover from the upheaval of the last year.
It was at that juncture that she made a decision. She loved Justin, but they were spending far too much time together, making too many demands. Well, he was making demands; she didn’t expect anything from him.
Heating up old coffee, she took it out on the porch and tried to see the horses, they always made her feel better, knowing they were out there, grazing and keeping watch. Her phone rang, and she was relieved that it wasn’t Justin, but Annie.
“Hi, Annie, are you getting ready to move?”
“I am, hoping and praying Ted stays lucid enough to make Kelly happy so we don’t have to move out of her house.”
They laughed and chatted for a few minutes.
“Listen, I need to tell you something. Justin talked to Steve today and read him the riot act about the dog.”
“Oh really? Jeez, she was here weeks ago. Before Thanksgiving. I wonder why he waited so long to talk to Steve about it.”
“I don’t think he told Steve when she showed up. Anyway, I wanted to apologize to you and let you know how awful Steve feels. It sounds irresponsible, but almost right away we knew the dog wasn’t going to work here in this little apartment, so Steve’s dad took her. You know they have at least five hound dogs there, and one of them wasn’t altered yet, and that’s the one that got her pregnant. I’m guessing now, but somehow, she got loose, and Steve’s dad never told us. It was one of those things, Steve was too embarrassed to tell Justin we didn’t have the dog anymore, and then we sort of just forgot about it.”
Maggie listened and understood, but it didn’t matter what she thought. And Justin was in a state of mind that he’d take care of annoying business. It would be easier to admonish someone for being irresponsible when he was in this mood.
“Annie, you don’t owe me an apology, okay? I’m not making excuses for Justin, but if he was sharp with Steve today, it’s probably because he’s pissed off at me for painting the cottage. He saw it today and left in a huff.”
“Ugh. Well, I don’t need to tell you I never thought that was such a great idea, you being there alone, but Steve swore he showed you how to use the roof harness hooks—”
“Which I did—”
“And it worked out fine,” Annie said. “I’m sorry you’re having a rough time. I guess it goes along with the territory. You know, a relationship.”
“We jumped in too fast.”
“Ha! You don’t know what too fast is. Whenever I can tell that he’s feeling regretful, I just think,oh well, deal with it, buddy. You got a kid on the way.”
“Why do you think he’s feeling regretful?”
“Look, a wife can tell when things aren’t copasetic. He’s moody and demanding, and something tells me Steve wasn’t like that before I got pregnant. I keep hoping moving into Kelly’s house will help if he has some room to get away from me.”
“But what about you?”
“Hey, I’m counting on being with you at the rescue. Me and baby. Then he’ll be free to do whatever it is he needs to do to feel better. And I mean anything.”
“You don’t mean that, Annie. Trust me, you don’t mean anything.”
“As long as I don’t know about it and it helps his mood, I don’t care.”
“Look, I’m sorry Justin was a bear today, but I can’t listen to this crap about Steve. I want to be there for you in every way, but that’s the limit. If I knew he was cheating on you, I would be the first in line to squeal.”
“I’m sorry, honey. I know I hit a nerve.”
“You did. I know what it feels like to be betrayed, and you don’t want to have that experience. And from what I know of Steve, he would never do that anyway. He’s true blue. I think that’s what Justin said to describe him.”
They chatted a bit more and said goodbye, to Maggie’s relief. But at least the dog issue had been brought up and aired. Just what the world needed, another litter of mongrel puppies.
Brulee came out and lay at her feet while she finished her coffee. Then her phone beeped again. This time it was Justin.
I’m sorry I left the gate open.
She waited, thinking there had to be more than that. Did she need to respond?
