Page 58 of Marriage (Red, White &) Blues

Whatever. I refused to be intimidated today. When I closed my eyes and concentrated, I still felt my husband between my legs. I still smelled his field-after-a-rain mixed with sex scent, and I still heard his playfulness as he brought me to orgasm bent over the sink. Neither of us could use that new toothbrush for teeth now. I smiled.

“So, you’ll be Jackie and I’ll be Marilyn,” I said. “It’ll be fine.”

“For goodness’ sake, Emily, calm down,” my mother-in-law scolded. “You’ll mess your face. We’ll go out and act completely natural. Some of the women might be shocked at first, but if we don’t react, neither will they. We can get through this.”

I couldn’t believe these women acting as if we were facing down a natural disaster rather than me in a beautiful, designer cashmere dress. I’d bought it for an end-of-the-year work party a few years back.

Adair took to the microphone to welcome all the ladies. TheylovedAdair.

Yeah, I stuck out like a sore thumb among all these highly conservatively-dressed women. Despite that, I held my head up high as I took to the podium to read the speech Candice had given to me where I talked about family values and the importance of home and supporting my husband and his family.

After I finished, Emily, future first lady hopeful, took to the stage. The womenlovedEmily. Dare I say more than Adair? She talked about her husband, her children, and a woman’s solemn duty to protect her family. By the end of her speech, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to puke or vote for Brockton Parker. And IknewI didn’t want to vote for Brockton Parker.

The minute my butt hit the seat inside the car to take me home, I called my husband.

“You owe me big time,” I told him and he sighed.

Chapter Fourteen

After what felt like eons on the campaign trail, Brockton held a slight lead against his opponent, the guy getting my vote, which meant Blake and I were finally granted parole with the condition that we’d join the tour again when called on. They only forced us along because of Robert’s power trip and his need to lord over my husband’s and thus my, life. But this reprieve amounted to the company needing my husband back at the office to deal with a couple large contracts in person. Zoom worked well enough, but Blake shined in person. His ease with trustees, his charm when closing deals. Picturing him in the boardroom got me all fluttery. No lie.

Blake surprised me with a reroute to our reprieve on a plane leaving Arkansas.

“You look like you need some sun.”

“I look like I need my own clothes and a whole lot of alcohol. I’m so tired, Blake. I miss our bed—you know, the one in our home in Vermont. I know you think I married you because I love you, but the truth is, I love your mattress.”

He barked out a playful laugh. “How do I compete with that?”

“I’m sorry…” I patted his chest. “You can’t.”

“Mingati.”

I blinked. “Pardon?”

“I said, Mingati. As in, maybe two weeks in Mexico might help.”

My head jutted back. “Mattress? What mattress?”

“So just to confirm… Do you think you might want to spend two weeks with me at a resort in Cancun even at the expense of spending two weeks without your true love, our mattress?”

“It’s a sacrifice…”

“Good,” he said, then he bent in, pressing a kiss to the corner of my mouth. “Because we’re on our way there now.”

“Blake, honey… there’s a problem. We need our passports and I need at least one swimsuit. Plus, there’s that whole I’d prefer not to wear gray, taupe, or brown skirt suits with sensible heels all around Mexico, to think about.”

“I guess it’s good that I’ve been planning this for a while and have your passport and a big suitcase packed full of everything you and I will need for this trip.”

“You have? Youdo?”

“I’d like to see the mattress arrange a surprise like this. All he does is lie around the bedroom. He has no motivation.”

“I was confused,” I teased, climbing onto his lap to get close, running my fingernails through the back of his hair the way he loved so much. He closed his eyes and shuddered. “Can you ever forgive me?” I asked.

“I might. But I feel totally betrayed,” he teased back.

“Well, if you forgive me, I’ll let you do that thing you’ve been wanting to try…” Then I bent in to whisper exactly what thing I’d been referring to in his ear so the flight attendant didn’t hear. His whole body jerked.

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