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Brooke

But of course then you nixed the whole idea, so I guess he dropped it.

Hannah

He does defer to you a lot, Jill. Which is why it’s extra weird that you haven’t told him you don’t want him to run for attorney general.

Unease twists in my stomach. Doesn’t she see? That’s actually a huge part of why I haven’t said it. I don’t want him to defer to me on this. I want him to not want to run in the first place. I want him to choose me and the kids over his career without me asking him to do so.

Max rolls over, his eyes—open, but still full of sleep—zero in on my face.

“Morning, Jill,” he murmurs. Longing pours through me. I want to be us again. Memories of mornings like this so long ago where his next move would be to reach for me…to pull me toward him as I laughed in delight…the laughter dying as his lips pressed to mine.

Despite what I said before about a sex ban, I suddenly long for him to reach for me. Even if—since the first day of my period is a no fly zone—it’s just to hold me in his arms.

But Max doesn’t reach for me. Instead his eyes drift shut again. Clearly I’m no longer the desirable woman he married. I’m just middle-aged and…blah. And the two of us are left chasing feelings that have long since eluded us.

But I’m no quitter. I set my shoulders and turn back to my phone. I’m going to recreate the magic we once had and then he’ll have no choice but to choose me and the kids over his political ambitions. No choice.

Jill

Fine. I’ll ask him.

Chapter 6

Max

“Wait,nowyoudowant us to go on that couples' retreat?” I stare at Jill’s reflection in the mirror over the double sink in our bathroom, my toothbrush suspended in midair.

Jill nods, letting a strand of hair fall free from the curling iron in her hand. For a second I’m distracted by the pretty blonde curl that just appeared, but then I blink and focus back on my toothbrush, rinsing it under cold water.

“But don’t they leave tomorrow?”

“Well, yes, but Luke said there’s still room if we want to join.”

I run my toothbrush around my mouth, scrubbing the toothpaste taste away. I spit then turn the sink off. I look up to find Jill staring at me with an annoyed expression. Deftly she reaches over and turns the sink back on.

“You have to rinse the toothpaste spit down, Max, or it gets all scummy and gross. If I’ve told you that once, I’ve told you a hundred times.” With her free hand she splashes water around my sink. I repress a sigh. It’s toothpaste in a sink, for Pete’s sake.Sinks are supposed to get dirty. That’s why she’s had to tell me a hundred times. Because I don’t understand what the big deal is.

But that’s really not the point of this discussion, so I bite back my rebuttal.

“What about work?” I ask.

“You brush your teeth at work?” she says distractedly.

“Sometimes, but not what I meant. We both have work and the kids. We can’t just leave on a whim.”

“My parents already said they’d take the kids, and I talked to my boss this morning. I have lots of vacation accrued. He said I could go. Also I already found us a flight out—I just have to book it.”

“I see.” I’m taken aback by the level of planning she’s put into this already considering it’s only 8:30 on a Saturday morning. “You, uh, really want to go then?”

Her eyes find mine in the mirror and hold my gaze as she nods. “Yeah, I do. I think it would be, uh, good for us. For our marriage, that is. You know?” She sounds so uncertain and vulnerable that my qualms about work float away.

“Yeah. Of course. I have to go into the office today, and I might have to do some work while we’re in Montana, but I’ll make it work.”

Her answering smile makes my heart beat double time. It’s going to be a real pain to change my schedule around, but I think it might be worth it if I can earn myself a few more of those smiles along the way.

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