Page 10 of The Summer Request
It had been sixteen years since Ben had passed away. It all happened so suddenly – one minute he was there, her handsome, kind, gentle husband, smiling in the sun. The next minute, he’d collapsed, never to rise again.
A blood clot had killed him. A stupid blood clot. It was the first sign of a clotting disorder he’d never known about. He didn’t get a second sign.
A few years later, Justine had a teeny, tiny, little stroke that warned her of a similar condition. Yet she got on a blood thinner and never had another problem with it.
Such was life. Though she missed him less often, she didn’t miss him any less intensely. Love was strange like that.
“What about you?” asked Michelle. “How are Neil and the kids?”
“Wonderful!” Lisa took a bite of pie. “Avery just finished his master’s degree and got a job in Portland. Sierra is still in Seattle, working her way up the corporate ladder.”
“How’s Neil been with, you know,” Val dropped her voice, “his gambling?”
Lisa’s eyes didn’t leave her plate. She carefully picked the last crumbs of pie with her fork. “You know, he has his ups and downs. We take it one day at a time.” She looked up, reaching for her coffee cup. “How’s Reggie?”
Val rolled her eyes. “You know, fine, but we’re going through different stages of our lives, and we’ve realized we grew apart.”
“Oh no,” Lisa said. “Can’t you work it out?”
“I’m too wise to waste any more time on him,” Val said matter-of-factly. “We’re getting a divorce.”
Michelle set down her teacup. “A divorce?”
“A divorce!” Lisa echoed, eyes wide.
“Yes, a divorce,” Val said airily. “Don’t make a big deal out of it. I don’t know anybody who gets past twenty years anymore. The world just changes too much. Who wants to be with the same person?”
Michelle said nothing. She would’ve given anything to still have Ben.
“Speak for yourself,” Lisa said. “Neil and I are going twenty-seven years strong.”
“Wouldn’t you like an upgrade?” Val asked with a wry smile.
Michelle couldn’t help it—she let out a chortle of a laugh. If Lisa hadn’t upgraded Neil by now, nothing was going to convince her.
“No.” Lisa’s eyes darted between them. “You don’t just toss people away when they don’t suit your needs anymore. That’s not what I believe.”
“Oh, don’t get all sanctimonious on me,” Val said. “It’s not aboutmyneeds. We just don’t make each other happy. Who wants to suffer through that?”
“True,” Lisa relented. “But everything can’t always be sunshine and rainbows.”
Michelle bit her lip. Lisa was clearly offended, and Val obviously hadn’t noticed. She needed to intervene. “Well, you have kids,” Michelle offered. “I think that makes the equation a bit more complicated.”
“Oh please!” Val tossed her head back. “I don’t need to have kids to know when it’s time to call it quits. There’s a ninety-nine percent chance that you and Ben would’ve been divorced by now if he were still alive.”
Michelle felt the anger rush through her chest. She managed to stop herself and think before she reacted, though. Apparently all that yoga her friends had dragged her to was good for something.
After a moment, she responded. “I don’t think so.”
A knock carried through the door and they startled like a trio of barn owls.
“Who’s that?” Lisa whispered.
Michelle shrugged and called out, “Come in!”
She hoped it was Zora with impeccable timing, but it ended up being someone much worse.
Arthur.
