Page 138 of My Wife
When Jessica returns, we all help with the grocery bags. Except Ranger. But he finds the biscuit treats she got him.
As Jessica unloads, I notice she takes the items out of the bag, one by one, and sets them on the counter.
I ask, “What are you doing?”
“Putting everything away,” she answers innocently.
“You’re doing it wrong.”
“There’s a right way to put away the food and stuff?” She looks at me like I’ve got a screw loose.
“You take them out of the bag and put them directly where they go. Saves time.”
She smiles at the array of boxes, cans, and packages on the counter. “Maybe I like looking at them.”
My eyebrows bunch together. “It’s inefficient.”
As I turn my back to the pantry, I catch her playfully sticking her tongue out at me.
Thankfully, it looks like she forgot the whipped cream.
That night, KJ and the dog go to Dolly’s because there is a Knights team event. Jessica and I are both in the bathroom, getting ready.
She asks, “What should I wear?”
“Clothes.”
“The Knights aren’t secretly nudists? What a surprise given the presence of ice,” she deadpans.
“Sassy Jessica.” I marvel. I’m not sure if I like it.
“What was that, Lazy Liam?”
I balk. “Lazy? I’m one of the hardest working players?—”
She points to the socks on the floor next to the laundry basket. “The Ellises are not common slobs.”
My thoughts snag on her smile and how she’s an Ellis now. My missus.
I huff and pinch the edge of the hem as I pick them up and then wave them toward her. She runs out of the room, shrieking.
From the closet, which she’s also moved her clothes into, she says, “What are you wearing?”
“Clothes,” I repeat.
“Liam Ellis, it takes a lot to get under my skin, but I just want to—” She lets out a soft exhale. “I just want to fit in.”
“You do. You will.”
When she doesn’t answer, sadness rumples her features. My mouth opens and closes because I don’t know what I did or said, so I don’t dare utter another word.
“What kind of event is it?” she tries again.
“It’s game night.”
“You have tonight off.”
“Board games. Cards. That kind of thing. Redd and Whit are hosting. They have a big wood-fired pizza oven so there will be food too.”
