The Secrets of Married Women Read Free Page B

to me, even when it comes to what he wants to do. I never know whether he’s just being compliant for an easy life, or whether, over the years, he really has just merged his mind with my mind so that now he doesn’t have one of his own anymore. The first is sort of sweet and is sometimes a good thing anyway. The second irritates me.
    ‘We’ll think of something fun and brilliant in the morning, won’t we?’ I stress we.
    ‘You will. My faith in you knows no limits.’ He kisses my cheek then gently pushes me away and turns over.
    What did I read the other day in a magazine? That trust, communication, and a little touch of lust are the three ingredients that make a marriage stand the test of time.
    Help.

Chapter Two
     
     
    ‘Rob can only keep it up for about thirty seconds,’ I tell Wendy on the phone while I sit at my desk at work. (I’m personal assistant to the Head of Finance for Newcastle Football Club.) The girls who sit across from me nearly fall off their chairs.
    ‘You and your dirty minds!’ I scold them. ‘I’m talking about running! Rob and I are training to run 10K.’ It’s the new ‘us’. It’s healthy, it’s bonding, it’s the perfect way to exercise the dog.
    ‘Glad you clarified that Jill girl,’ Leanne says to me. ‘Otherwise that would account for a lot about you, wouldn’t it?’
    I grin then scowl. ‘Really?’ I cover the mouthpiece with a hand, ‘Like what?’ I hear Wendy chuckle then I try to tune back into her. Wendy is my running guru. She’s also about the fittest person I know, even though ironically—as she will always grumble—she’s not the thinnest.
    ‘Well Jill,’ she tells me, ‘it takes time to build up your endurance. Your heart’s a muscle too, so you have to work at it to make it strong. That’s not something you can do overnight.’
    ‘The hardest part, I find, is putting one foot in front of the other and keeping going,’ I tell her. ‘I’m still trying to work that part out. But we did it exactly like you told us to. We followed the programme.’ With our own variation. The first day we started off walking for one minute, then running for two—we did this ten times—sort of. The next day we had to run two and walk for one, and do this twelve times. By day four we had our numbers in a knot and ran for one and walked for about ten and had a good old chatter along the way, and did this three times. Then by the end of the week I had a sore foot and Rob had a pain in his coccyx. ‘We’re really loving it though, just like you said we would. And we’re certainly going to stick with it.’ Once we pick it up again in the winter. As Rob said, it’s getting too warm now to be doing all this extra sweating; it’ll be better when it’s cold. And preferably dark, so the neighbours can’t see us. Besides, Rob said, running isn’t good for bigger puppies; it can displace their hips. I gave my husband’s head a good hard rub, ‘Argh, Robby my big puppy! I wouldn’t want you getting your hip displaced now would I?’ Apparently he was talking about the dog.
    I see my boss coming and duck into my shoulders. ‘Gotta go,’ I whisper to Wendy. ‘Adolf’s doing the goose-step, two-step.’
    ‘I’ll see you in Yoga tonight, right?’
    Oh, it’s exhausting this business of trying to age gracefully! ‘Now Wend, what would I do without a friend like you, driving me to be a better person?’
    ‘I’ll loan you my large bum then you’ll have no problem finding the motivation.’
    I’m just about to knuckle back down to work when my phone rings. I recognize the anguished draw of breath and my spirits hit the floor. ‘Dad!’
    ‘Jill!’ he says. I don’t know how one word can say so much. ‘It’s your mam. I turned my back for one second…. the front door was open… She’s gone!’
    Isn’t this just what happened last week? My mam has vascular dementia and my dad can’t cope. He’s becoming more and more helpless but he won’t admit it