couldn’t even find the time to come home for my birthday last month. He sent me flowers, with a card saying how sorry he was and he’d make it up to me.
“Hah! He finally did come home, last night, and this time he was kind enough to tell me what was new in his life. Her name is Tiffani, and she’s twenty-eight years old. He met her on one of his cross-country business trips, and they’ve been having a hot affair for several months.
“He wants a divorce so they can be married. “The rat.”
Chapter 4
My husband and I promised
to stick together through thick and thin.
My thickening waistline and his thinning hair.
The irony of Nancy’s dramatic announcement, compared with Mark and Jenny’s decision to hire a professional wedding planner, washed over me like a tsunami. Timing is, indeed, everything, and I mentally canceled any plans to throw myself a “Woe is me; my daughter doesn’t want me to help with her wedding” party.
How could I be so selfish, when my best friend ever since third grade was in so much pain?
I knelt down and threw my arms around her. She began to sob quietly. I held her for what seemed like an hour, but was probably less than five minutes. Then my right knee started to throb, and I had to change position.
“Nance, I’m sorry, but I can’t stay in this position this anymore. My knees are killing me.”
I struggled to get to my feet without dislodging my right hand from Nancy’s shoulders. If you think that was an easy move, think again.
My rear end hit the floor, followed immediately by the rest of me. Unfortunately, Deanna’s apartment had hardwood floors.
In a flash, Mary Alice and Claire were beside me and pulled me upright. Deanna had apparently made a discreet exit.
“Good thing I have some extra padding these days,” I said, massaging my backside and trying not to cry myself.
I nodded my head toward Nancy and mouthed, “Your turn” to Claire and Mary Alice. I could see Nancy’s shoulders were still shaking.
It turned out she was howling, all right. But from giggles, not sobs. “That was the funniest thing I’ve seen since our junior prom, when the zipper on your gown came apart while you were doing The Twist with Richie Donnelly. Do you remember that, Carol? The dress started to fall down. You were mortified, and ran into the girls’ bathroom to see if it could be fixed.”
I was glad Nancy was feeling better. But her reminding me of a time I’d been publicly humiliated, well, that brought back a flood of unpleasant memories I’d suppressed for years. I wasn’t exactly Miss Popularity with the boys back then, and getting a date for our high school junior prom had been a major achievement for me. Which ended in disaster.
“Nancy, honey,” Claire said, turning the spotlight off me and back on Nancy, “now that you’re feeling better, do you want to tell us any more about what happened between you and Bob? It might help to talk about it, and you know we want to help you any way we can.”
“Here, Nancy,” said Mary Alice, slipping into her nurse’s role and handing her a glass of ice water. “You shouldn’t talk right now. You’ve had a major shock. Sitting quietly for a few minutes is the best thing for you. We’ll leave you alone.”
“Too bad this is water and not wine,” Nancy said, taking a sip of the water. “It’s got to be five o’clock somewhere in the world, even if it’s only nine-thirty in the morning here.”
She ran her fingers through her uncombed hair. “I’ve been up all night. I must look a mess.”
“Deanna can fix your hair in no time,” I said. “You’re in the right place. And you know you’re always gorgeous to us. But what the heck happened?” I asked, ignoring Mary Alice’s suggestion to give Nancy some space.
“I wish I could tell you,” Nancy said. “I guess Bob and I have been drifting apart for a long time. The signs were there. I just didn’t notice them. When Terri left home to go into the Peace