A Cold Wife, Sweet Husband

He called his house and Constance went to get her for him. He sighed again. He had met Mr. Tyndall's son, and though the twenty-six-year-old was a decent enough man, he was nowhere near as exciting as Jessica. When Jessica greeted him, he explained the situation to her.

―Oh. I understand. She sounded disappointed but he doubted that she was as disappointed as he was. ―I'm sorry. I was looking forward to having lunch with you today.―It's alright. We'll just do it some other time.

―Thanks for understanding. I'll see you tonight when I get home. Then they said good-bye and he hung up the phone. Mr. Tyndall didn't care that he wanted to spend lunch with his wife, and Mr. Burgess had to meet with him even though it meant he had to leave his engagement party.

He hadn't realized how much the clients were demanding of him before he found out he was getting married. In the span of one week, he had already put Jessica on hold twice. He had a sinking sensation that the clients' demands weren't going to get any easier to deal with.

***

Since Leo couldn't meet her for lunch, Jessica decided to visit Helen. As soon as she entered the nursing home, she overheard several whispers about her. ―Is that?

one elderly woman asked her friend. ―Yes. That light blue dress compliments her quite well. The color is just as cold as she is.―Mr. Monroe goes out of his way to please her but she doesn't appreciate anything he does. If she didn't appreciate Leo, then she wouldn't have minded the rumors so much.

But the truth was she did appreciate him. She was growing to like him and did enjoy his affections. Had they been there to see the way she responded to his touch and kisses, then they would understand that she wasn't quite so cold after all.

He made her feel very hot. She had stopped talking about an annulment because it suddenly dawned on her Wednesday morning that she didn't want it anymore.

She was relieved when she reached Helen's room. Helen was a great source of comfort and stability. She sat next to the old woman by the window. Helen rocked back and forth in her wooden chair and looked expectantly at her. ―What? she finally asked. Helen chuckled.

―Is the gossip rattling your cage? She rolled her eyes.

―Don't people have anything better to talk about?

―Around this place? No. It gets boring around here and there's only so many books old people can read before they go crazy. Try not to let it disturb you. You can't help what people say. You can only help how you react to it. If you get defensive, it'll add more fuel to the fire. If you act as if it doesn't bother you, it'll die down faster.

She could only hope that was true. ―Well, I wanted to know if you would like to go to lunch with me today?―Mary already invited to take me to lunch, but there's no reason why we can't all go together. Since Mary was due to come over to her home at two that afternoon, Jessica figured it was just as well that they have lunch together too.

She was surprised by how disappointed she felt that she wouldn't be going to lunch with Leo. A week ago, she didn't want to have anything to do with him and now she looked forward to seeing him. She had no idea her feelings could be so volatile.

―How are things going between you and that good looking husband of yours? Helen asked. ―They're fine. She raised her eyebrows in interest.

―You're blushing. Jessica subconsciously touched her warm cheeks. The woman grinned. ―Next thing I'll know, you'll be telling me you're expecting your first child.―Oh Helen. All we've done is kissed.―You should be doing more than that since you're married.

Jessica had the sudden inclination to throw a blanket over herself so her friend couldn't see her cheeks go from light pink to bright red. Mary tapped on the door.

―Good afternoon, Helen. Jessica breathed a sigh of relief as her other friend entered the room. Helen didn't hide her surprise. ―Why are you dressed so poorly?