92 Pacific Boulevard - Debbie Macomber [50]
Rachel was willing to be patient and understanding, but she couldn’t allow a thirteen-year-old to dictate the terms of her marriage.
“I love your father, Jolene,” she said, looking directly into the girl’s eyes, “and if I want to talk to him alone for a few minutes that shouldn’t upset you.”
Jolene nodded contritely. “I know.”
“Okay, then.”
The evening passed, with everyone involved in various tasks—laundry, homework, bill paying—and other than Bruce making exaggerated yawning noises and darting glances at the master bedroom, everything went smoothly.
“Isn’t it your bedtime?” he asked Jolene when the clock chimed nine-thirty. He and Rachel were watching TV by then.
She closed her textbook and kissed them both on the cheek. “Night.”
“I’m going to watch the news,” Rachel announced. She wanted Jolene to understand that they weren’t going to jump into bed the minute she was out of sight.
“I guess I will, too,” Bruce muttered.
Jolene walked past Rachel and rolled her eyes. The kid wasn’t fooled.
When their daughter’s bedroom door shut, Bruce shifted closer to Rachel. “Okay, talk to me.”
Rachel had been waiting for this moment all evening. “Jolene and I had a good discussion today while I cut her hair. She talked about you and me and her place in this family.” Rachel wouldn’t tell him everything Jolene had shared.
“You’re my wife!”
“Yes, but—”
Bruce grimaced, unwilling to listen. “You know, I’m getting sick of this. I’ve done my best to be sensitive to Jolene’s feelings. I’ve spent more time with her in the past two months than at any—”
“Yes, it’s just that—”
“The frustration is killing me, Rachel. I want to make love to my wife. I’m sick and tired of tiptoeing around my daughter and her insecurities. The longer we kowtow to her, the more complicated and difficult this becomes.”
“But, Bruce—”
Again he cut her off. “What we need is time away, just the two of us.”
“No,” she countered swiftly. She couldn’t disagree more. “That’ll make every insecurity Jolene already has that much worse. She’s feeling excluded as it is. Sharing me, sharing you…If we abandon her for even a weekend, it’ll feel like a betrayal.”
Bruce stared at her for several seconds before throwing his head back, eyes closed. “I don’t believe this.”
“We haven’t been married very long. Give Jolene a chance. The two of us made progress today.”
Bruce exhaled and finally nodded.
The ten o’clock news came on, and they cuddled together on the sofa. They held hands, and every now and then he’d lean forward to kiss the side of her face. Rachel’s eyes drifted shut as a river of awareness flowed through her.
“Do you think she’s asleep yet?” Bruce whispered after the last news segment.
“I certainly hope so.”
“Not as much as I do…”
Turning out the lights as they went, Bruce led Rachel down the hallway to their bedroom. He didn’t bother with the light. Rachel heard him slip out of his clothes. She did, as well.
They got into bed, and Bruce reached for her. Rachel moved into his arms. They kissed passionately, caressing each other, until she was weak with longing.
“So far, so good,” Bruce whispered.
“So far very good,” she whispered back and the kissing continued.
The bed creaked, and it seemed to reverberate through the room. They both froze.
There was a long hesitation, in which they held themselves suspended, afraid to move or even breathe.
Then they heard Jolene’s bedroom door open.
The sound of the door was followed by the patter of feet going down the hallway to the bathroom.
“What if she comes in here?” Rachel whispered.
“She wouldn’t dare,” Bruce muttered fiercely.
Rachel ran her hands tenderly down her husband’s back. “Do we risk it? Remember what happened last time.”
Groaning, Bruce rolled away from her. Without a word, he marched into the master bathroom and a moment later she heard the shower.
Rachel didn’t need him to tell her he’d turned on the cold water.
Chapter Fifteen
“Dad, you’ve got to do something,” Megan wailed.
Troy Davis had just walked into his house when the kitchen phone rang. He