Page 41 of In Sheets of Rain

“Dead quiet, although we did have a guy impaled on pool fencing.”

“Pool fencing?”

“He was attempting to jump into the pool from the balcony.”

“It’s Winter,” I pointed out, shoving a mushroom in my mouth.

“He was a Westie,” Sean replied, face deadpan.

He watched me eat for a while and then got up and left the room, returning when I’d just mopped up the last of the egg with a bit of hash brown.

“All done?” he asked, removing the tray when I nodded. He placed it by the door of the bedroom, just outside in the hallway, as if we were in a hotel. And then turned around and waggled his eyebrows at me.

“Ah, I see,” I said, giggling as he started to strip. “The breakfast was an advance payment.”

“Yes, woman,” he faux growled. “And I want my bootie.”

I laughed some more and then he was on me. Hands urgent and mouth hungry. I sighed when he kissed me. Moaned when he touched me. But no matter what he did, I could not climax.

Sean left the room in a huff, his ego, no doubt, challenged.

I stared at the ceiling of the bedroom and wondered when my life had jumped tracks.

* * *

There was a note on the fridge when I finally emerged from my cocoon.Gone to the gym. Why don’t you call Cathy?

I stared at the words until they melded together and then turned away and went back to bed.

* * *

Dinner was a silent affair, until Sean asked, “Did you call Cathy?”

I shook my head and pushed the food around my plate.

“What about Tayla, then?”

I looked away.

“Damn it, Kylee. You’ve got to speak to someone about this. If not your girlfriends, then maybe someone else.”

“Someone else?”

“Someone professional. Make an appointment with the doctor.”

I nodded my head.

“You won’t will you?” he demanded.

“I will. Of course, I will. You think I want to be this way?” Like my mother.

“I don’t know what to think,” Sean snapped. “This is not the woman I married.”

Then he got up from the table, tossed his plate in the sink, and headed toward the office.

* * *

My hands shook as they dipped into the soapy water, the plate rattled as I slotted it into the dishwasher rack. The clock on the wall sounded too loud in my ears. I hunched my shoulders and stared at the dirty dishwater. Sean’s hand on my shoulder broke the spell.

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