Read Online Batteries Not Required by Linda Lael Miller - Free Book Online

“He’d be with me most of the time anyway.”
    Some of the tension in Teague’s shoulders eased. “Maybe I’d like to live here,” he said. “I could build my boat.”
    â€œYou’ll never build that boat,” Joanna said.
    â€œYou’ll never write a novel,” Teague retorted, “so I guess we’re even.”
    Sammy made a soft, mournful sound.
    â€œLet’s not argue,” Joanna said. “We ought to be able to be civil to each other for a weekend.”
    â€œCivil,” Teague replied. “We ought to be able to manage that. We’ve been ‘civil’ for months—when we’ve spoken at all.”
    Joanna felt cold, even though she was standing close to a blazing fire. She turned her head so Teague wouldn’t see the tears that sprang to her eyes.
    â€œChange your clothes, Joanna,” Teague said after a long time, and much more gently. “You’ll catch your death if you don’t.”
    She nodded without looking at him and scurried into their bedroom.
    Her wardrobe choices were limited, but she found a set of gray sweats and pulled them on. When she got to the kitchen, Teague had already opened a bottle of wine and busied himself making salad. Sammy was crunching away on a large serving of kibble.
    Outside, the wind howled off the nearby water, and the lights flickered as Teague poured wine for them both—a Sauvignon Blanc, to complement the lobster topping their salads.
    â€œI didn’t know you still wanted to write a novel,” Teague said.
    â€œI didn’t know you still wanted to build a boat,” Joanna replied. She sat down at the table, and Teague took his usual place directly across from her.
    â€œWhy a novel?” Teague asked thoughtfully. “Your cookbooks are best-sellers—you were even offered your own show on the Food Network.”
    â€œWhy build a boat?” Joanna inquired, taking a sip of her wine. “You can certainly afford to buy one.”
    â€œI asked you first,” Teague said, watching her over the rim of his wineglass. She wondered what he was thinking—that she ought to get a face-lift? Maybe have some lipo?
    Her spine stiffened. “I’ve always wanted to write a novel,” she said. Weren’t you listening at all, back when we used to talk about our dreams? “And this cottage would be the perfect place to do it.”
    â€œIt would also be the perfect place to build a boat.”
    The lights went out, then flared on again.
    Thunder rolled over the roof.
    Sammy went right on crunching his kibble. He’d never been afraid of storms.
    â€œRemember how Caitlin used to squirm under the blankets with us in the middle of the night when the weather was like this?” Teague asked. He’d set down his wineglass and taken up his fork, but it was suspended midway between his mouth and the plate.
    â€œDo you think she’s happy in California?” Joanna mused. “Happy with Peter?”
    â€œThey’re newlyweds,” Teague said. “She has a glamorous job, just like she always wanted. Of course she’s happy.”
    â€œSo were we, once.” Joanna reddened when she realized she’d spoken the words aloud. She’d only meant to think them, not say them.
    â€œWhat happened, Joanna?” Teague asked.
    The lights went out again, and the fan in the furnace died with a creaky whir.
    Teague left the table, went to the drawer, and rummaged until he found a candle. Plunking the taper into a ceramic holder Caitlin had made at day camp the summer she was eleven, he struck a match to the wick.
    Joanna figured he’d forgotten the question, but it turned out he hadn’t.
    â€œWhat happened?” he repeated.
    She sighed, turning the stem of her wineglass slowly between two fingers. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “I guess we just grew apart, once Caitlin left for college.”
    â€œI