Page 90 of The Marriage Narrative
Chapter 22
Zinnia
Walking into hertownhouse felt exactly the way it should have.
She’d both desperately hoped and irrationally worried that Grace and Fiona were now GraceandFiona. This was their townhouse now, newfound love swelling like a star becoming a red giant, expanding into all the spaces where she used to exist. She wouldn’t be unwelcome, just definitively pushed out of sight.
“I thought it’d be more colorful.” Jordan rolled her suitcases in and closed the door behind them.
“We’re not allowed to paint the walls. I was also outvoted on furniture selection.”
He scanned their small living room with keen, narrowed eyes and pointed to the bright yellow lamp. “That looks like you.”
She laughed, delighted he’d spotted her lone addition. “I found it at a thrift store. Fiona hates it but loves me.” She’d also most likely been the one to change the lampshade in Zinnia’s absence. It was bright blue and orange now—summer fading into autumn.
Messaging every day was great, but things like paying attention to a silly little lamp wrecked her every time.
“Are they here?” he asked. “Or do people usually walk in unnoticed?”
“I used my key. That’s hardly breaking and entering.”
“You’re getting the kind of alarm that announces when the door opens.”
“Okay.” She inhaled, sniffing the air. “Grace is in the kitchen. Fiona’s in the backyard.”
He looked mildly surprised. “My wife has a super sixth sense. Incredible.”
“I smell food and hear music. We’re usually outside around this time on the weekends. Come on.” She grinned, leading him by the elbow past the staircase and through the hallway into the kitchen.
She’d been right, of course, but hadn’t expected the massiveWelcome Homebanner, balloons, and table spread of all her favorite foods.
Grace was pulling a batch of chocolate cupcakes out of the oven. Completely straight-faced, she took off her oven mitts, fully ignored Jordan as she passed him, and wordlessly enveloped Zinnia in a heartfelt hug.
This was Grace, vulnerable and at her most dangerous. She was brash and loud by default, only going silent when fully overwhelmed by her feelings. She still wanted to kill Jordan, but Zinnia was home.
“I missed you too. Please don’t cry.”
“I’m not crying.” Grace’s hoarse voice gave her dead away.
Fiona entered through the sliding glass door with Beta Carotene on her heels. “She’s been stress baking the entire time you’ve been gone.”
Ignoring Jordan like it was a new trend, she wrapped her arms around Grace and Zinnia as Beta Carotene began yowling with all his might.
“Hey, buddy.” Jordan heaved his ginormous orange cat into the air.
Zinnia was a first-time cat mom. She’d researched his breed, Maine coon, and they were said to be soft-spoken, sometimes near silent in adulthood. Beta Carotene hadn’t gotten the genetic memo. She didn’t even know cats could sound like wailing banshees. Or hug people? Beta had placed his kitty paws around Jordan’s neck while continuing to softly whine in distress.
Jordan asked Fiona, “You took him outside?”
“I stay with him the whole time. It’s completely enclosed and there isn’t anything dangerous out there.”
His grimace was there and gone in milliseconds. “He’s just firmly a house cat. Not a fan of the great outdoors.”
“Didn’t seem like it to me. He runs out the door as soon as I open it. Anyway, um, how was your flight?” Fiona, unable to bring herself to hug him, crossed her arms instead.
“Good. Quick.” He nodded. “I’m sorry, but hereallywent outside? On his own?”
She laughed. “Almost every day for the past week. I’ll show you his favorite spots.”
