Page 57 of My Wife
Through the phone’s speaker, I hear him say, “The plan was to have you bring a new kind of candy each day just to razz him.”
I can almost hear Cara roll her eyes. “Plan thwarted.”
Anyway, in the hallway at the Ice Palace, he ran cold, then hot. Practically nestling his head into my hair like he never wanted to leave while at the same time slicing me with eye daggers and the clear message to get lost.
Pierre chimes in again, “Ellis’s default setting is cynical, surly, and like he has to control every little thing.”
“Exactly!” I proclaim. “It’s like he wants me to quit.”
At the same time, Pierre and Cara say, “Don’t do that. He needs you.”
“If that’s true, and I highly doubt it, he has the worst way of showing it ever. Though he did ask me to make a cake. Probably so when I add a creamy drizzle to it, he can mash it in my face.”
They both snicker.
“His play took a dip before the incident with Badaszek—shortly after Christmas.”
“What happened, anyway?”
Cara says, “I think he had a breakdown. He puts so much pressure on himself.”
Pierre counters, “More like a crack-up. He’d been way off for a couple of weeks. I’d wondered if an ex had reared her pointy face back into his life.”
Cara says, “If so, she was a real witch.”
Pierre uses a different but rhyming word and his wife scolds him.
“Hang on, I have to put money in the swear jar. Sorry about that, ladies. Sometimes I forget I’m not in the locker room.”
Cara whispers, “Have you seen Liam’s abs?”
“No, but Grandma Dolly is eager.” Fine, I am too. Well, in real life. If HR knew how much time I’ve spent scrolling #MrDarcysAbs, they’d fire me. If they’re anything like his biceps and all his -ceps, they’re exceptional.
“I heard that,” Pierre calls.
Cara says, “Some of the ladies in the office have a pool. I bet on you and want to know whether I’ll be adding to my glamorous vintage luggage set.”
“You know I’ll get you anything you want,” Pierre says.
“I want to save up and gloat,” Cara teases. Then, in a whisper, she adds, “It’s to use when I surprise Pierre on a trip to an actual Ice Palace in Sweden for our anniversary.”
He must’ve ducked out of the room.
“That’s so romantic.”
“Shh.”
“I’m back. Had to grab some snacks.”
“You were talking about an ex. I thought Liam didn’t date.”
Cara says, “He doesn’t. We’re just speculating. But someone must’ve broken his heart.”
“If he has one.”
Pierre says, “This is what you need to know about Liam. He has a love-hate affair with everything in his life, including hockey, but that’s mostly because of his temper, running alternately hot and cold.”
I’m nodding along. Never have I felt so understood. “Exactly this.”
