Gennie moved into position before asking, “Are you coming to the market?”
For a minute, Shay only brushed the snarls out of Gennie’s hair. Then, “I’m not sure. I have a few things to do this morning so I might not be able to make it there in time.”
“It’s at a different place than the other market,” Gennie explained. “This one is at an extra old farm. I’m going to have frozen lemonade for breakfast. But not the watermelon flavor. That’s not for breakfast.”
“Mount Hope,” I murmured. “That’s the farm she’s talking about.”
Shay nodded as she started pulling Gennie’s hair into a braid. “That sounds very exciting.”
“It’s not,” Gennie replied. “Markets are boring as fuck.”
“Gennie,” I warned.
“But you should come to this market and then I won’t be bored,” she continued. “And I can show you the sheep that live at the farm place and the little duck pond too. And there’s a tent where they sell all kinds of twisty breads. Noah doesn’t know how to make those yet.”
“Babka,” I said.
“And Dottie got out of the goat house this morning,” Gennie added.
“These goats,” Shay said. “Always getting into trouble.” She twisted a hair tie off her wrist, fastened it around the end of the braid. “You are fancy and braided, my dear. How do you like it?”
Gennie ran her palm over the braid, her face lighting up. “I love it,” she said, flinging herself at Shay. “Can I go check on the fairies? I’ll be fast.”
I nodded. “Go ahead.” We were already late. Five more minutes didn’t matter. When Gennie was out of sight, I clasped my hands between my knees, saying, “I am so sorry.”
“I should probably apologize,” she said, still avoiding my eyes. “I did tell you to come right in.”
“I doubt any of this was what you had in mind.”
“That’s true,” she said, laughing. “That’s definitely accurate.”
“May I ask,” I started, as carefully as I could manage, “why you were cleaning the tub while—”
“Unclothed? Nude? Starkers? What works best for you?”
I put my head in my hands because all I could see was her bare body and I was trying to do the right thing here. Trying to be respectful. Throwing the wordnudearound didn’t help. “Honestly, Shay, I have no idea.”
“So, it’s like this.” From the corner of my eye, I saw her spread her hands out the way she did when she had a story to tell. “It never occurs to me to clean the bathroom until I’minthe bathroom. I decide I can’t live another minute without getting to those tub stains because I see them, and the minute I leave the bathroom, they vanish from my consciousness. I finish my shower and then get right to it. No time like the present, right? And that’s how I end up on my hands and knees, naked, scrubbing the tub.” When I didn’t respond, she added, “I’m pretty sure everyone does it that way. At least people who live alone.”
“I…I don’t know if that’s accurate.”
“Perhaps not,” she said. “Have I traumatized you?” She glanced over at me. “I’ve traumatized you. Oh my god. I’m sorry. You’ve seen my asshole and now you’re traumatized.” She burst into laughter, leaning against me as it shook her body. “You’re going to need to burn that vivid view of my ass from your memory, aren’t you?”
“As your husband, I’m not allowed to be traumatized,” I said. “It’s the law.”
“It’s the law,” she repeated, her laughter turning hysterical. “I guess it’s a good thing we’re married now. Otherwise, you’d need decades of therapy. Maybe some brief in-patient treatment.” I hooked an arm around her shoulder, held her as she gasped for breath. Tears streaked down her cheeks and it took everything inside me to keep from kissing them away. “I can’t believe that happened. You saw my whole ass, Noah. And god only knows what else.”
I squeezed her. “I told you. I didn’t see anything.”
“Are you allowed to lie to your wife?”
“I’m not obligated to answer that.” I brushed a loose strand over her ear. Because I was an absolute masochist, I said, “Come to the market with us. We’ll forget it ever happened.”
She swept her fingers under her eyes and down her cheeks. “That sounds like a terrible idea. You’re going to give me the shifty eyes all day and act like you want to jump into an active volcano. All while you try to block memories of my naked tub scrub routine.”
I didn’t know where it came from but the laugh that burst out of me was a loud howl that seemed to trigger another round of giggle-sobs from Shay. I clutched her tight to my chest, her tears soaking through my shirt.
That was how Gennie found us and what led her to announce, “Adults are really weird.”
