Page 61 of Two Friends in Marriage
And then…she does it.She stops after one, excited with her success.
“Jane!Did you see me?”
“I did!You were great.”
Her face splits into a grin.
She tries again.The rope hits her feet, but she’s buoyed by the fact that she did it once, and the next time, she does it twice in a row.
Then her gaze drifts to the left.Evan has driven up.
Chapter 20
Evan
AsIgetoutof the car, I hear Jane say, “My husband is home.”
It stops me in my tracks.
It’s the first time I’ve heard her refer to me like that, and the words fall so easily—so naturally—from her lips.I like how it sounds, and I can’t help smiling.
Yes, that’s me.Her husband.
Eventually, I manage to make myself move, and I head next door.I received her text, so I’m not surprised she’s outside with Skylar.
“Hi, Evan,” Skylar says.“Look what I can do.”She skips backward a few times, and as I watch her, I also watch Jane out of the corner of my eye.She looks pleased…and proud.
“Wow,” I say.
“Jane taught me.Can you do it?”
Jane hands her rope to me, and when her fingers brush mine, I feel a prickle of awareness.It puts me off-balance, and perhaps that’s why the rope hits my shoes when I try to skip backward.Or maybe it’s because I haven’t done this in many, many years.
I succeed on my next attempt, and I do it a few times before stopping.These shoes are not made for such activity.As my wife take the rope from me, Gordon parks on the bottom half of the driveway.
“Daddy!”Skylar drops her rope and rushes toward him, and he lifts her up as he gets out of the car.“Is Zaidy okay?Is he out of the hospital?Can I go see him?”
“He’ll probably be there for a few days, but maybe you can visit him after school tomorrow.We’ll see how he’s doing.”
“I made him a card.”
“Yeah?You can show me.”
But first, she wants to show off her skipping skills.
“Thank you so much for looking after her,” Gordon says to Jane.“Deena didn’t want to bring her to the hospital in an emergency.”
“No problem,” she says.“We had a good time together.I’m glad I could help.”
A wave of fondness washes over me.I know this situation might not have been the easiest for Jane, and it happened to coincide with when of the rare times I wasn’t home during the day.
We speak for a few more minutes, and then I take my wife’s hand and lead her into our house.She’s a little sweaty, and her hair is tied up in a messy bun.
“How was it?”I ask.
“It was a bit awkward at first, and I didn’t know how to answer her questions about her grandfather, but it went well.”
“Do you have any work left to finish?”
