JENNIE
When my alarm sounds at nine, I have to force myself to get out of bed. I barely slept; I was tossing and turning all night. The last time I checked the time it was three in the morning and I wasn't sure if I had gotten any sleep or if I had been awake the entire time.
Lisa is asleep, her arms crossed over her stomach. She didn't hold me last night, not once. The only contact we had consisted of her hands reaching for me in her sleep, just to make sure I was still there, before they went back to her stomach. Her mood change doesn't completely surprise me. I know she didn't want to come here for the wedding, but the high level of her anxiety doesn't make much sense to me, especially since she refuses to talk to me about it. I'd like to ask her just how she expected to deal with me moving here with her if she doesn't even want me here for one weekend.
I brush my hand over her forehead, pushing the mass of hair away, and move down to touch her jawline. Her eyelids flutter and I quickly pull away and stand to my feet. I don't want to wake her, her sleep wasn't the least bit peaceful either. I wish I knew what was haunting her. I wish she hadn't closed down so abruptly. She revealed everything to me in the letter that she wrote me—and later destroyed—and while most of the things she referred to concerned terrible mistakes she'd made, I've dealt with them and moved on. Nothing she did in her past will cause any damage to our future. She needs to know this. She has to know this, or it will never work.
The bathroom isn't hard to find, and I wait patiently for the water to turn from brown to clear. The shower is loud and the water pressure is very strong, almost painful, but it does wonders for the tension I've accumulated in my back and shoulder muscles.
I'm fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a cream tank top, but I hesitate before pulling on a floral-print lace sweater. It doesn't have buttons, which means Lisa can't demand that I close it; she's lucky I'm not wearing the tank top alone.
Chit didn't give me a specific time for our little jaunt today, so I head downstairs to make a pot of coffee. An hour later, I return upstairs to grab my e-reader so I can read for a while. Lisa has turned over onto her back, and her face is set in a full frown. Without disturbing her, I quickly leave the room and find my way back to the kitchen table. A couple of hours pass, and I'm relieved when Chit comes walking through the back door. Her brown hair is pulled back, just like mine, in a low bun, and she's dressed in—what else—a tracksuit.
"I was hoping you'd be awake, I wanted to give you some time to sleep in after the long day you had yesterday." She smiles. "I'm ready whenever you are."
I glance toward the narrow staircase one last time, hoping that Lisa will stroll down it with a smile and a kiss goodbye, but that doesn't happen. I grab my purse and follow Chit out the back door.