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“‘Sorry’ would suffice.”
“Sorry. Did you bring home that coffee machine I ordered? I had it sent to your office since I’ve been in and out of the house and didn’t want to miss the delivery.”
“Oh, I cancelled that order,” he said matter-of-factly. “We don’t need it. I don’t even drink coffee.”
“Ido,” she said, her brow furrowed. “You know how much I love it.”
“Do you?” He acted as though he didn’t hear her words but was responding by rote.
“Yes, I do. I’ve wanted an espresso machine in the house forever, and you’ve never let me get one.”
“Seems wasteful,” he replied, holding different ties up to his neck as he studied his reflection in the mirror. “Just drink instant.”
Bea watched him, anger building in her chest. She pushed it down and stood to her feet. He had no problem buying himself an automatic golf doohickey that he spent hours putting balls at. Or the rowing machine he never used in the basement gym. Or countless other contraptions he’d sworn he needed and yet were currently gathering dust. She rarely asked for anything for herself.
Picking a fight with him right now over a coffee machine would be silly and pointless. They could talk about it tomorrow. They had guests arriving soon, and she needed him in a good mood so he would help entertain them rather than disappearing into the den with a glass of Scotch to brood over the latest football game.
One advantage of having spent over two decades together was that Bea had learned when to fight and when to pull back and realise something else was going on in her husband’s mind. When he was anxious, he got snippy and combative, blaming her for every little thing even when he knew it wasn’t her fault.
“Are you okay? What’s going on? You’re acting a little bit uptight, like you’re anxious. Is it the party? Or did something happen at work?”
He sat on the bed, his shoulders sagging. “We might as well talk about it now rather than later, although I’d hoped to be dressed. Still, I might burst my jacket if we have this conversation while I’m wearing the black suit.”
She ignored the jab and pulled her chair up to the bed, sat facing him, and took his hands in hers. She kissed his fingers, then squeezed his hands.
“What is it? Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Tears filled his eyes. “You know I love you.”
“Of course I do.” Her spine straightened.
“I can’t do the vow renewal.” His gaze met hers, his deep brown eyes full of sadness.
“Why not? We wrote new vows—they’re not the traditional ones. It’ll be fun.” She didn’t understand. Why was he backing out now after all their work on lighthearted, even teasing vows in which they promised to do things like always replace the toilet paper and never eat the last Tim Tam without asking the other person first? The vows were cute. Everyone there would love them. It made no sense to back out now.
“I’ve met someone else.”
The words hit her like a slap to the face. “What do you mean, someone else?”
“Another woman. We’re in love.”
“No, you can’t be…We’rein love. You and me.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry, Bea. I know this comes as a shock. It’s something of a shock to me as well. I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t go looking for it, but here I am.”
“This can’t be happening.” She pulled her hands free of his and stood to pace the room. “We’ve got a hundred people coming to celebrate our marriage in less than an hour.”
“I know it’s bad timing, we can still have the party. No one else has to know. But I thought it would be in bad taste to renew our vows when… Well, you know.”
She wrung her hands together. “How long has this been going on?”
His cheeks coloured. “Does that matter?”
“Yes, of course it does!” she shouted.
He cringed. “Don’t get emotional.”
“How dare you tell me not to get emotional? You’re always saying that. But if this isn’t the time to get emotional, I’d love you to please tell me when is!”
