Read Online Some Women by Emily Liebert - Free Book Online Page B

sister, Lisa, and her family in New Haven. As it stood, Henry had rented a small apartment near his office on a monthly basis—until they finalized things, he’d said. What did that evenmean? Nothing would ever be
final
in her mind. Even if they signed a document saying that they were no longer legally committed, they’d still be bound to each other indefinitely through the kids.
    Henry had insisted that they tell the boys something. He’d said it wasn’t fair to him for them to think he was suddenly gone so often. In an effort to be concise, he’d proposed the following one-liner:
While Mommy and Daddy love each other and you very much, it’s in everyone’s best interest for us to be apart
. Annabel had agreed. Only when the time had come, she’d instinctively tagged a
for now
onto the end.
    Before leaving, Henry had delivered the news that he wanted to take Harper and Hudson to Lisa’s house for Thanksgiving. Suddenly it had hit her like a mallet to the head, that the clearly defined road map that had once been her life was about to be shredded into meaningless relics. There would be lonely, dead-end streets. Diverging paths. And just enough intersecting trails to make the whole thing as convoluted and muddled as possible. The ground felt unsteady beneath her feet. Everything had been stable and predictable for so long that now she was left to wonder what would change, go wrong, or surprise her next. Annabel had never been one to appreciate surprises. She felt dizzy, breathless, and choleric all at once. Henry was single-handedly obliterating everything she’d known. He’d robbed Annabel of her security and raided her inner peace like they were engaged in guerrilla warfare. She’d told him she’d think about his Thanksgiving proposal. Then she’d slammed the door behind him and called her lawyer.
    â€œCompletely brutal.” Piper sighed. “I wonder if it’ll ever get easier.” She followed Annabel to the café next door, where they were seated at their usual table by the front window. They bothrelished the sport of people watching and, before Annabel’s divorce had devoured their conversations, they’d taken great pleasure in pointing out random strangers and concocting comprehensive backstories, which would have them occupied for hours.
    There’d been the time when Annabel had chosen an attractive woman with dark brown hair slicked into a neat chignon. It had been raining that day, so she’d been wearing a tan trench coat belted at the waist. “Stripper,” Annabel had announced, chortling aloud. Because that was about as dirty as it got with her. She’d then gone on to explain that said stripper was taking her clothing off only to put herself through a master’s degree program in education. So she could be a teacher. That was when Piper had given the woman a closer look and realized that she was, in fact, already a teacher. At Fern’s school. This had launched them both into a fit of hysterical laughter.
    â€œI hear it doesn’t. My friend Amanda has been taking the noon barre class five days a week for about a year. She claims she’s perpetually sore.”
    â€œWell, that’s great to hear.”
    â€œI guess it means it’s working. At least I hope it is.”
    â€œWhat, now that you might have to dip back into the dating pool?” Piper’s hand flew to her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Annabel. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
    â€œIt’s okay.” Only it wasn’t. The idea of having dinner with another man was terrifying enough. The very last thing she wanted to entertain was someone other than her husband seeing her naked. Just the thought of it was enough to make her slink down in her chair. Where would she meet someone anyway? It wasn’t as if she was about to hit the bar scene or jaunt into Manhattan for a nightof clubbing with her