AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Good morning everyone!”
She receives a return of well wishes from our group, a combination of “Morning!” and hungover nods, with Sylvia adding, “We saved some breakfast for you."
"Oh thank you!” She touches Ben’s shoulder before heading into the kitchen. "How did everybody sleep?"
There's a collective grumble and not much else, with many rising to put dishes and glasses in the dishwasher, then go clean up properly and get out of pajamas.
I joke, “Anybody wanna dance?" There's laughter and several massive objections as response from Marco, Steve, Dax, the Brooklyn girls, Maggie and Pete as they disappear upstairs. I smile and catch Ben staring at me. He looks away. What was it he was going to say before we were interrupted? I’m dying to know! But it’s not possible until we’re alone. I glance to a clock on the wall, not even seeing the time, a reflex reaction as I wonder when we’ll have a moment alone.
Sylvia and Rachel invite Laura and I outside to enjoy some sunlight on the front porch — after New Hampshire says she’s not ready to shower just yet. The four of us make sure we’ve got full coffee cups, and head out, Rachel carrying her full plate. She invites Ben, “Why don't you join us?"
"No, thank you. I’m going into the arts and crafts room…for something.”
Dax pokes their head down the stairs like the room’s mention was a homing device designed to alert them of pending creativity, "I'll join you in a second!” Dax disappears upstairs, presumably to change clothes. Maybe shower quicker than it’s ever been accomplished in the history of bathing. My curiosity is piqued something awful — our conversation last night, the kind embrace while I cried, is on my mind. The two of them alone together in a room? What’s going to happen? I wish I hadn’t committed to going to the porch.
Outside, I relax as the ladies easily chat, and soon I’m joining in, sharing praise of the beauty around us, sunlight illuminating the curves of the hills, dancing on the long grass and bright array of sunflowers. Questions prompt us all to share stories from our lives, and each of us admits that none of us have danced in way too long. Last night was absolutely worth the pain. The aspirin has begun to kick in, thank God for it.
It gets my mind to a nicer place, hanging out with all of this friendly estrogen, until Rachel asks me point-blank, “How long have you and your boyfriend been together?"
At the raised eyebrows of her and Sylvia, the silence of Laura, I sigh and tell them what happened, that Jaxson overheard my relationship with Brady wrong. “I just believe that we should still keep our exes in our lives if the ending wasn't terrible. Brady and I ended amicably. We just didn't love each other anymore, and we had become roommates. For both of us, that wasn't enough. But we still cared about each other,” I add more for her than the others, thinking of Ben, “just as friends, that’s all. We always said I love you at the end of phone calls because he lost his parents in a car accident and he said I love you before they left the world, which he was so grateful for! So I told him that we should continue saying it, just in case. Morbid?"
Sylvia smiles, “I think it's sweet. When my mother left the world I was upset that the last conversation we had hadn't been a good one. She was telling me that I should be married again. I was tired of hearing it from her. It was a broken record, always with the, You should find a man! I was married, for a number of years, but it didn't work out. It didn't end at all well, unlike with you and Brady, so we will not be doing what you both are,” she laughs.
Mysteriously Rachel mutters, “No, you will not.” mopping up the last of the bright yellow yoke with her toast.
Laura and I sip our coffee, waiting, hoping for more information on the demise of Sylvia’s marriage, but I don’t want to pry. After a few silent seconds, New Hampshire can't help herself. "What happened with you guys?”
Sylvia exhales. “He cheated on me with somebody from his church. I stopped going because it wasn't my thing. I'm spiritual but not religious. But I told him to keep going if that made him feel good. Turns out it made him feel too good. He went religiously and then did other things that weren't so religious, like infidelity for example. The asshole.”
"I'm sorry," Laura says, adding “I shouldn't have asked."
“No no, that's OK. I don't mind talking about it. Especially among us girls. Feels good to air it out.”
I sip my liquid magic, then ask, “Did he live with you here?"
"Yes, unfortunately. I would rather not have the memory of him."
Rachel tilts her head. "You never told me that."
With a shrug, Sylvia says, “What would it matter? It's just something I deal with."
"What about if you changed rooms?"
Sylvia looks at Rachel as if she's never thought of this. "That might help."
"Which room would you want?" After a brief pause where Sylvia thinks about it, Rachel smiles, “It's so funny to be talking about this in front of our guests. This has been the most unusual retreat we have ever had, by far!”
Sylvia's mind is on the question and she sips her coffee thoughtfully. We wait until she sets it down on the table. "I've always liked the rose room best." The one Dax and I are in so she looks at me to share, “It used to be blue, but every half-a-dozen years or so, we give the place an overhaul to freshen it up for ourselves and our guests. Time wears down paint jobs."
Rachel adds, “And furniture."
"When we completed the rose room, I just thought it was absolutely lovely."
"We can move a queen size into it, to keep it spacious since yours is a king. Plus we need to get rid of that bad bed. I can’t believe we never thought to!” Rachel reaches over and touches her friend’s hand. "You can start over."
Sylvia thinks about it. "Two beds could fit into my room, for the guests.”
"Will you miss the bigger bathroom? That tub."
