Milly laughed dryly. “No one has.” She took a sip of her wine. “He works a lot.” Wes raised his eyebrows, waiting for more. Oh, what the heck, Milly thought, this kid doesn’t live here, he doesn’t know anyone in this town. It wouldn’t hurt to lighten the load, get some of this secrecy off my chest. “He doesn’t come home much. He loves his kids, but the two of us…” She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know, it’s a mess. He doesn’t want to be here.”
“Damn,” he said. “What a fool.”
Milly blushed at his comment, even though she could sense he was just being kind.
“The funny thing is he’s a good man, actually, but it seems there’s obviously something going on that I’m not privy to.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“He works with a lot of beautiful women,” Milly said, shrugging. “It’s hard to compete with that.”
“Jeez,” Wes said, lowering his voice. “Then he’s missing what’s right in front of his eyes.”
Milly waved away his comment; she wasn’t fishing for compliments. She couldn’t believe she was blurting all this out. Maybe it was the wine helping her release more misery than she realized she was holding inside; either way, it felt good to get it off her chest. “I can’t tell anyone about it, obviously. I’m new in town. I’ve got a reputation to maintain and children to raise. It won’t do them any good if people get to talking, so I have to keep up the charade of being a happily married, perfect family of four. It’s tiring.”
“I’m really sorry,” he said, a seriousness overtaking what should be a carefree, youthful face.
Milly had to stop talking, stop burdening this poor fellow with her problems, but it was such a relief to speak freely. “I’m getting used to it,and the children are fine; they don’t know there’s anything going on, just that he’s working a lot. And quite honestly, the more I settle in, the more I realize it’s not so bad to be alone.”
His brow was furrowed now, and she noticed how much better he’d looked moments ago, burden-free. Dear God, she was bringing him down too. She quickly changed the subject.
“Can you see to study with just the candlelight?”
“It’s fine.”
“How about you?” she asked. “Is there someone special you’re going steady with?”
“Not right now,” he said. “I have to focus on school, and then I’m sure the right girl will come along.”
“Things must have changed since I was in school, because all anyone wanted to do was find the one and settle down. No one was all that concerned about their studies, not even the guys, as far as I could tell.”
“Yeah, I see that too sometimes, but I love what I’m learning.”
“I used to love learning too,” Milly said, thinking back wistfully on her school days before things got complicated. “It’s funny, I sort of forgot that. I’m taking tennis lessons now. I know it’s not the same as actual studies, but in addition to being physically challenging, it’s also got my mind going. There are so many things to think about—where to hit the ball, how to hit it, how to move your legs, how to anticipate what your opponent will do, all the coordination.”
Wes leaned in. “I bet you’re really good.”
“No,” she laughed. “I just started, but it’s good to have something else to focus on other than my crumbling marriage.”
“I hope things get better for you,” Wes said. “I really do.”
“Oh, it’s fine, well, it’s not fine, but you know…” she said, suddenly embarrassed for saying too much and worried she’d already stayed too long. “I won’t keep you from your studies.” But she didn’t want to leave; she liked sitting out here with him, talking freely. “Are you sure I can’t pour you a splash?”
“Thank you, I’m very tempted,” he said. “But I’ll decline. I’ll study now so I can let loose the rest of the week.”
“Yes. Get back to work,” she said smiling. “And good luck with your test.”
“Thank you, Milly. Good luck to you too.”
