For her own sake. They loved each other, you know?”
“Like us?”
Allie smiled. Yes, she knew she loved Mike as much Eleanor had loved Max. “It was different for them, though.”
“Different how?”
“They had all these obstacles to overcome. Mom thought they hadn’t dated long enough to get married. Then, of course, she opposed the elopement. Hence the Allie-and-Mike-wedding extravaganza. At every turn they faced something and then in the end...it was just too much to overcome.”
Mike snorted.
Allie knew that snort. He wasn’t buying her story.
“What?”
He shrugged. His big bear shoulders lifting out from her soft, daisy yellow duvet. “You told me the story, Allie. Max left her for his work. She left him because she couldn’t do it anymore. That’s not a love that sticks. That’s a love that doesn’t stick in hard times.”
“But you don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t been gone for more than two years. Two years, Mike! They could have worked things out. I know Max. He wouldn’t have let Eleanor go without a fight.”
Mike rolled onto his side taking her with him so that he half lay on top of her, his big, bearded, Midwest-farmer face so precious to her, there for her to touch and stroke.
“I’m never going to leave you. No matter what.”
Allie smiled at him. “Me, either. I’m not trying to say our love is any less than theirs. Circumstances were just different for them.”
“Tell you what. You want an obstacle we have to overcome...tell your mother I don’t want a bachelor party with your creepy uncle, and I want to cut the guest list in half to make this thing more about us and the people we love. Let’s see if we can fight through that, because I know that’s what you want, too.”
Allie cringed. “I know she’s difficult...”
Mike shook his head. “It’s not about her being difficult. That’s Marilyn Gaffney and I accept that. This is about what Eleanor said to you tonight. What do you want, Allie? And what are you willing to fight for, for us? Eleanor was willing to fight for Max. She got him, then she left him. Maybe he wins her back, maybe he doesn’t, but I know this. No matter what happens with Max, it won’t be your mother’s call. It will be Eleanor’s.”
“You’re saying I’m a pushover,” Allie muttered, feeling herself get defensive.
“I’m saying I want you to start fighting for yourself and what you want. Because the next thing you know, I might be that person you’re just trying to make happy all the time. If that happens, you’ll start to resent me, and that will stink up a marriage like cow shit in a barn.”
“You have such a way with sayings.”
“I’m serious, Allie.”
She knew it was a fault. Knew it was something she had to find within herself. But tonight was her engagement party, and it was over, thank God! Mike was in her bed and Max was not dead.
Which meant, in some ways, Eleanor might come back to life, too. The way she had once been.
“Fine. You want me to speak my mind?”
“I do.”
“Well, this fiancée wants an orgasm, and you’re going to have to be pretty crafty about it because my mother cannot hear a thing.”
Mike smiled. “I can give that a shot.”
Allie smiled as he slid under the covers, and, after a time and an amazing orgasm, she knew Mike had, indeed, given it his best shot.
“ARE YOU INSANE?”
“Mom...” Eleanor groaned.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Allie chimed in.
They were sitting together at the breakfast table. Last night Marilyn had made sure Max had pillows and a blanket. She’d also made it clear she thought it best he leave early in the morning before any of the staying guests woke and found him in the house.
Too many questions and all that.
Eleanor had given him her number so he could reach her, and, true to his word, he was gone before anyone woke up.
The house now empty of guests, it was just Eleanor with her mother and her sister as she explained over eggs and bacon where Max had been for the last two or so years, everything that had happened to him, as well as how they’d left things between them.
It was strange, Eleanor thought. How different she felt waking up this morning. For one, her first thought hadn’t been about Head to Toe and what her schedule looked like for the day. For another, it was the crazy realization that Max was once more alive.
Not just in the physical sense. But alive for her. A decision she needed to make. An action she needed to do. It was like breathing for the first time after holding her breath for so long.
Maybe for more than two years.
“It is absolutely not a good idea. Do not encourage your sister,” her mother said to Allie.
“Mom, it’s the most expedient way to end this,” Eleanor said.
Because that was what she told herself. A few days with Max. Closure on their relationship. A real end to what had been the most significant relationship of her life.
“I know Max. He’s stubborn as heck. He’ll beat this drum endlessly until he realizes the truth. That what we had is over. Then he’ll give me the divorce, and I can finally move on with my life.”
Her mother rolled her eyes. “Right, because in the two plus years since his death, you’ve been able to move on. What was Daniel? Maybe the third person you’ve been out with in two years.”
“Technically the fourth.” Three blind dates—one of whom canceled at the last minute, but she had agreed to the date so that counted—and Daniel. Then there was that other incident, the one she didn’t like to think about because of how it made her feel. Certainly no reason to inform her mother of that.
“I was married for three years, Mom. It’s not the strangest thing that, while I was growing my business and getting over my failed marriage, then the death of my husband, dating would not exactly be a priority for me.”
It was another argument she’d had often enough with her mother in the past two and a half years. Marilyn wanted her to move on, find another husband and start having babies.
Eleanor hadn’t been ready for any of that.
“Tell yourself that if you want, but I know you. And him, although not as well. Whatever it is about him, it acts like some kind of drug for you. You let him charm you for a few days, and you’ll
