Page 36 of Breathe Again

“Yes,” Zale confirmed.

My head whipped around to look at him.

“You need a girls’ day out. I can’t even remember the last time you went shopping.”

I pulled at my sweater, pulling it away from my stomach, not loving being the focus of everyone’s eyes. Rhys got up suddenly.

“You want a beer, Zale?”

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

Bex continued, softly this time, “Let’s go Saturday. We’ll call Willa, and see if she’s available, too. We can get our dresses for the wedding. You want to go to Bayview or Milltown?”

I lit up. This was exciting, new jeans could wait.

“Bayview, I think, it has more stores for our age.”

Bex scowled. “We’re not that old.”

“We’re not,” I agreed, “but we are old enough to buy the quality stuff, not the trendy stuff, and there’s more quality stuff at Bayview.”

Bex sat back, appeased.

We ordered pizza for dinner. Rhys suggested Greek food, but all three kids voted him down. He took the loss but elicited a promise from all three that they would at least try Greek food sometime within the next couple of months.

We left shortly after dinner. I felt wildly content with our weekend. It had been a long time since we’d been able to go out with any kind of regularity. It felt good to be with our people again.

Bex and Rhys

“I think something is going on with Mara,” she whispered across the pillow to Rhys.

He was lying on his back, one muscled arm bent behind his head, watching tv. He turned to look at Rebecca, sighed, and then rolled to his side to meet her concerned gaze.

“I told you what I think.”

“You think she’s like Amy.”

Rhys's first wife, who passed away suddenly after giving birth to the twins, had borderline personality disorder.

“I do.”

“I don’t,” she snapped.

He ran his finger down her face, from temple to chin. “I know you don’t.”

“I just can’t imagine her being in that much pain and not telling me. I’ve known her for more than twenty years. How could she hide that for so long?”

“There’s a powerful amount of shame, sweetness, and it probably feels normal to her.”

“I think she’s just depressed and anxious,” she snorted, “not that that’s not enough, I don’t mean to downplay it by saying ‘just,’ it’s just, from what you’ve told me, I’d hate that for her.”

“Yes.” His gaze was steady. “I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. The important thing is that we are there for her.” His eyes got the faraway look they sometimes got when he thought about the past. “For her and for Zale.”

“Yes, handsome,” she whispered, placing her hand against his face, feeling his pain from the past. “We’ll be there.”

Who Owns Mondays

Mara

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