Page 47 of About Last Night

Marie resumed her munching. "You were about to tell me what you and your hunky Best Man are doing to while away the hours."

She mentally reviewed the day—getting her toe stuck in the bathtub faucet, nearly having a sexual encounter with Derek, playing cards, discovering she might not be in love with Steve after all... "There's not much to report. We've barely interacted."

"Oooooooooh. Is he the big, strong, silent type?"

"No. He's the big, strong, mind-his-own-business type—hint, hint."

"So heisbig and strong."

Janine rolled her eyes. "Marie, enough. What's going on out there?"

"Well, you know Mom—she thinks the quarantine is a bad omen. She's lit dozens of prayer candles at the church. I took an extra fire extinguisher over there, just in case."

"Thanks for being my buffer, sis. I just can't talk to her right now."

Marie didn't respond, and she'd stopped chewing. Janine waited with dread for her sister's perceptiveness to make itself apparent.

"Are you okay, sis?"

She cleared her throat. "Other than a persistent bout of clumsiness, I'm fine."

"What does Steve think about calling off the wedding?"

"Postponing," Janine corrected her sourly.

"Whatever. He's not giving you a hard time, is he?"

Not knowingly.Misery knotted in her stomach. "No, he knows it can't be helped."

"How much longer do you think they'll have the place under quarantine?"

"I don't know. The doctor told Derek worst-case scenario, two weeks."

The announcement obviously stunned her sister into silence. After a few seconds, Marie said, "Well, you asked for something exciting, and you got it—a quarantine, mixed-up rooms, sleeping with a stranger—"

Janine yanked the phone cord tight and hissed, "I amnotsleeping with him!"

"Easy, sis," Marie murmured with a laugh, "else I might think that somethingisgoing on between you and your Best Man."

Opening her mouth to shout a denial, she realized she was only digging herself deeper into a hole.

"Speaking of which," Marie continued, "wheredidyou sleep last night?"

"If you must know, I slept in the bathtub." She held the phone away from her ear until Marie's laughter petered out.

"Whew, that's a good one! So doesn't this guy have any manners?"

"He fell asleep in the bed first, while I was trying to calm down Mother."

"So? You put a pillow in the middle and sleep on the other side."

"Except he was naked."

"Okaaaaaaaay," Marie sang, ever openminded. "And that would be because...?"

"Because he wasn't wearing any clothes."

"Okeydokey," she said in an accepting tone. "Speaking of clothes, what are you doing for them?"

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