Page 19 of His Loving Wife

Chapter 10

9 Months Ago

Kate started cooking their Thanksgiving meal the night before. She had to prepare the casseroles, mix the desserts. Normally, it would be Andrew’s job to cook the turkey, but she didn’t feel like asking him. Not this year. He always seemed so preoccupied, and she didn’t want to owe him anything. It was much easier to send Willow to the restaurant down the street to pick one up.

Willow walked in carrying a tin tray with both hands, her car keys hanging from her knuckles. “Where do you want this?”

“Sit it on the counter. I’ll move it over to a tray and pop it in the oven, so it stays warm.” She looked up to see Willow smirking at her. “You’re not going to mention this to Aunt Aster, right?”

“Secret’s safe with me.” Willow made the motion of drawing a line across her lips with her finger. It wasn’t like Willow had much loyalty to her mother anymore, but having this tiny secret shifted the power dynamics into her favor, however marginalized.

Kate would rather die than tell her sister they’d ordered a turkey. It’s not like Aster was an expert chef or anything. Rather, Aster was an expert at finding problems and narrowing in on them. Whether that be Kate’s weight, Andrew’s attitude or Noah’s table manners.

In fact, once Aster and David arrived, all three had been mentioned by the time they sat down for dinner.

“I’m just saying, you look a bit frail,” Aster said, circling back around to her first dig of the day.

“It’s been a hectic school year.”

“Beginning junior year, Willow? You’ll be applying for colleges before you know it.”

“She’s already made a short list of where she’d like to send applications,” Andrew said. He usually let Aster’s digs fly by without addressing them, but it was harder for him to remain silent when she targeted the kids. “Our girl will probably have to fight them off.”

“I’m not that great, Dad,” Willow said under her breath, but her face morphed into a smile. She still liked to pretend her parents were a nuisance, but there was the rare moment when she actually seemed pleased by what they had to say.

“That’s all nice to hear,” Aster said, taking another spoonful of sweet potato casserole. After swallowing, she angled her body to better face Andrew. “How about you? How have you been holding up?”

Kate’s eyes boomeranged between her sister and her husband. If anything, Andrew’s spirits had plummeted further in recent weeks. He often came home late and would almost sprint to the refrigerator to grab a beer. He wouldn’t stop drinking until it was time for bed. He was never around on the weekends either. He claimed to be golfing or meeting up with work colleagues, but more than once Kate had wondered if he’d been doing little more than driving around the neighborhood in an attempt to ignore her.

He’d been better today, though. He didn’t cook their turkey, but she noticed he hadn’t drunk as many beers during the football game either. And he’d at least tried to hold a conversation with Aster and David. It spoke of his loyalty to his wife; it was no secret Kate was on edge whenever her sister was around. Now, she was sitting as still as stone, waiting for her husband to answer.

“Like Kate said, it’s been a hectic year. Work is always busy right before the holidays it seems.”

Kate breathed a sigh of relief. She was thankful for Andrew’s neutral answer. The last thing she needed was for Aster to pick up on the fact they might have problems in their marriage. It was her nature to pick at a loose string until the entire tapestry unraveled.

Aster stared at Andrew a second too long, like she was trying to unpack the meaning behind what he’d actually said. Then she took another bite.

“The turkey is delicious,” she said.

Across the table, Kate and Willow locked eyes and smiled.

After dinner, Willow ran upstairs to her bedroom while the boys wandered into the den. Andrew returned to watching football, Noah was plugged into his Nintendo Switch and David was settling in for his second nap of the afternoon. Kate would have been satisfied doing the dishes on her own, but Aster insisted on “helping,” which meant drinking a glass of wine while leaning against the counter.

“Do you like your students this semester?” Aster asked.

“As usual, half the students are there to earn a required credit. There’s a handful of students who have real potential, if they keep developing their skills.”

“I guess that’s one of the differences in teaching at a community college. Most of my students are already committed to their field of study. They eat up everything I say.” Aster laughed and waited for Kate to chime in. When Kate didn’t, she continued. “What about your writing? How’s that going?”

“I’m trying to write more in the afternoons,” she said, stretching the truth. Aster had never been a fan of Kate’s passion. Even the way she saidwritingmade it sound like it was nothing more than a hobby, which at this point, it was. Kate hadn’t had time to write since the kids were little, and the events of the past year had further quenched her creativity.

“So, tell me,” Aster said. “Is everything really okay with you?”

“It’s fine. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Kate immediately regretted her defensive quip. All she’d done was invite her sister to bring up the one topic she’d tried so desperately to avoid.

“Your family has been through a trauma, Kate,” she said in her most professional voice, and Kate wondered if Aster had ever been properly slapped while on the job. “It’s natural for there to be some type of adjustment period.”

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