The next few weeks flew by for Gwen. She busied herself by preparing gourmet meals for Ethan to take to work, because even with Valerie as his assistant, he was always working late. Gwen didn't even bother to hold dinner for him, because often he would call her with some emergency that arose at work to delay him. They agreed that she would simply pack his food and put it in the fridge for him when he got home. Often, it was late at night, when she and Jane had already gone to bed. He would shower and then promptly fall asleep. It was more like having a roommate to breakfast with than a husband, but Gwen didn't mind.
After closing on her townhouse, she spent several days driving back and forth to Boston. Visiting her father. Re-connecting with old friends. Contracting interior designers. Buying furniture and patterns. Interviewing nannies. Checking out private schools. There was much there to keep her busy.
Mercifully, Theresa actually kept her word about not interfering with her marriage or with Ethan's new business. She was never in Gwen's face anymore. The few times she had run into Theresa, the encounters had been cordially polite. Almost pleasant. Normally, Gwen would be on her guard, wondering what the hell Theresa was up to, but there was something different about her.
The mystery of Theresa's new attitude was solved the first night she and Ethan went out to the Seascape Inn for the first time in many months. Actually, Ethan was meeting her there to celebrate an important court case he had won. There was a slight commotion at the door. Then Theresa had walked in with a handsome man on her arm with dark hair and hazel eyes. He was treating her with tenderness and respect. What was remarkable was the transformation in Theresa. Gone was that fake, cloying kewpie doll with the high, girlish voice who wore that practiced look of admiring adoration whenever she was with Ethan.
In her place was a charming, vibrant young woman who talked and acted like an assured adult. A natural woman who bantered and flirted and charmed the whole room. Even Gwen who ruefully had to admit she almost liked this woman. In spite of herself she smiled in genuine pleasure at Theresa and was rewarded by an answering smile which made her blink in confusion. Theresa and Jared were joined by Chad and Whitney and Fox and Kay. Evidently, they were all celebrating the success of one of Theresa's projects at Crane.
She flinched in surprise as Ethan kissed her cheek. She looked away from the Crane party and smiled at him.
"Congratulations on your success with the Masters case," she told him.
"Thanks," Ethan smiled. "I think this case will put The Winthrop Family Law Firm back on the map." He sat back with a satisfied smile and then a frown crossed his handsome face. "What's going on over there?" He indicated Theresa and her party.
"Oh, it looks like Crane is celebrating the success of a project of their own."
"Oh," Ethan said, looking for all the world like he had just tasted some curdled milk.
Gwen glanced back at the Crane party. Jared was leaning back and his arm was around Theresa's shoulders. She was looking up at him and smiling now and then while talking to the others.
Jared grabbed a spoon and hit the glass with it, so it emitted a bell like tone.
"Attention, gang," he said merrily. "I have an announcement to make."
The table got silent and he stood up.
"Last night, I asked this lovely lady if she would do the honor of not only being my boss at work, but at home as well. This is to formally declare to the world what a happy man she has made me by agreeing to be my wife."
"No!" Ethan erupted angrily.
The entire room looked at him in shock.
"Ethan," Theresa gasped in surprise. It occurred to Gwen then and there that Theresa hadn't realized Ethan had been in the room with her. She had been that engrossed in Jared Casey.
"You can't do this, Theresa," Ethan pleaded. "You can't marry that guy. What do you know about him anyway?"
"I know that he makes me happy because he loves me and treats me with respect," Theresa replied. "He's also good to our- Little Ethan."
"I still don't like that guy," Ethan growled. "I don't trust him."
"I don't care, Ethan," Theresa answered. "I do."
"That's not enough-" Ethan started to remonstrate, but Theresa cut him off.
"It will have to be enough," she interrupted. "Look, you've got a life and a family with Gwen. I've accepted that and let you go. Now it's your turn to let go. Let me have a life and a family of my own, too."
"Not with him!" Ethan exclaimed in dismay.
"If not him, who?" Theresa snapped angrily. Then waited. "I thought so," she continued disgustedly. "Just leave me alone, Ethan. Just let me go."
"Theresa, I'm only getting involved because I care about you," Ethan said lamely.
"Enough, Ethan," Theresa said regally. "This conversation is over. We're done."
"We're not done yet," Ethan muttered under his breath and stalked angrily over to the table with Gwen who watched.
"Are you all right, honey," she asked with saccharine sweetness.
"I'm fine," Ethan said shortly. "Let's eat."
They ate in silence together while Theresa and her party made congratulatory small talk together. Whitney and Kay admired the engagement ring Jared gave her while Chad and Fox teased Jared about being doubly yoked by marrying his boss.
Ethan picked moodily at his food while Gwen ate heartily. She was ravenously hungry these days. In fact, she had put on a few pounds and was wearing her older clothes. She welcomed the weight gain, because she had gotten almost bony what with all the stress in her marriage. The food was delicious, but she quickly got indigestion and felt a little bloated like she always did after eating these days.
The very millisecond she had finished her meal, Ethan was demanding the check and hustling her out the door, not even giving Gwen the choice of ordering the dessert the server was preparing to offer them.
The next day Gwen decided to go lingerie shopping. What she had was getting old and worn and her bras weren't fitting her right, especially in the cups. She bumped into her mother there.
"Gwennie!" Rebecca exclaimed. "Where have you been these last few weeks? I called and even stopped by your place a few times, but you were never home. I want to talk to you about Ethan!"
"What about him," Gwen asked curiously.
"He's gotten into several confrontations with Jared Casey."
"Jared? He's Theresa's new fiancée."
"Oh, so that's why he got into a fist fight with him today!" Rebecca crowed. "I see you're buying new lingerie. Good idea, you have to do something to get Ethan's attention back."
"Okay," Gwen said. She was not shopping for Ethan, but herself. However, she didn't want to tell Rebecca that or she would get on one of her hysterical tirades. Now that Gwen had emotionally detached herself from Ethan, she noticed that Rebecca seemed even more invested in her marriage than she herself ever was.
"And do something about your weight," Rebecca said off-handedly. "You're getting fat."
"Gee, thanks," Gwen muttered, rolling her eyes.
Rebecca flounced out the door and Gwen contented herself with being fitted for some new bras. She was surprised to find out she had gone up two cup sizes. Her hips had spread a little, but she wasn't bulging with cellulite. Still, she made a mental note to find a gym to join when she next visited Boston.
She was so intent on her plans for the next few days, that she was not looking where she was going and bumped into a man walking arm in arm with a woman on the promenade.
"Excuse me!" Fancy Crane said sarcastically as Luis steadied Gwen who almost fell back on her behind.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Gwen exclaimed. "I was so lost in thought I didn't see where I was going."
"Penny for your thoughts," Luis teased.
"Oh, I doubt they're worth that much," Gwen said dismissively.
"There's inflation," Luis quipped..
"Even with that," Gwen smiled with a deprecatory shrug.
Fancy, who was obviously getting annoyed at not being the focus of Luis' attention spoke up.
"Well, I have to go home and change before I go on duty," she said. "See you later?"
"You know it," Luis smiled appreciatively.
Fancy reached for him and planted a passionate, possessive kiss on his lips.
"Just a little something to hold you over," she said with sultry suggestiveness. She threw a dismissive look at Gwen and trotted off.
"I didn't know you two were dating," Gwen commented.
"We just started," Luis said. "We had to wait until after Fancy graduated from cadet school."
"Oh," Gwen said. "How long have you two been planning to date?"
"For a few weeks now."
"Did you even try to see Valerie?" Gwen asked curiously. Or did Fancy latch on to you before you could, she thought. Aloud she said, "I remember introducing you two and she liked what she saw enough to give you her number."
"We went out a few times, but our schedules made it hard to work up to something steady," Luis explained. "I called her a few times. She said she called back, but a lot of times we got our wires crossed. In the meantime, Fancy and I got really…close."
"Oh," Gwen said for the lack of anything better to say. She had her answer right there. Fancy had run interference between Luis and Valerie.
"You've gained weight," Luis commented.
"Thanks for noticing," Gwen said sarcastically, before casually draining a mouthful from her water bottle. "My mother just got through telling me I was getting fat."
"You're not getting fat," Luis laughed, looking at Gwen's breasts appreciatively. "You only look … and feel … fluffier. It looks good on you."
Hearing this made Gwen blush and inhale sharply as the water hit the back of her throat, making her choke until she turned blue.