Read Online Together Alone by Barbara Delinsky - Free Book Online

felt better than she had earlier. No doubt it had to do with holding Julia.
    She could see John and Brian talking in the driveway. Brian was shorter than John’s six-five by several inches, but something about him made up the difference. She wondered if it was the easy way he held himself. Or the stubble. Or the fact that he was from Manhattan and worldly wise. Or, simply, his eyes.
    “Is the house lonely?” Jill asked.
    Tough call, how to answer honestly without upsetting her. “Yes. When I stop to think about it. But I’m keeping busy.”
    “Have you heard from Dad?”
    “Last night. He asked for you. I gave him your phone number, but he’ll be on the run for the next few days.” It was a lame excuse. Public phone booths were a dime a dozen, particularly in hotel lobbies and airports.
    “Where is he now?” Jill asked.
    “Today, Baltimore. Tomorrow and Thursday, Philadelphia.”
    “And he’s coming home from there?”
    “Directly. I’m hoping to have the bathrooms done before then. I want us to do something nice this weekend—go off for the day or on a picnic or something. We’ll definitely call you while he’s home.”
    “I miss you, Mom.”
    “Me too, sweetie.”
     
    John and Brian were still in the driveway when she hung up the phone, but her time with Jill had been a breather. When she rejoined them, she felt more together. “The fact is,” she told Brian, who wore sunglasses now as he held a sleeping Julia, “that I have no idea how much the rent will be. I’ll have to talk with my husband. It’s his decision.”
    “When will you know?”
    “He’s on a business trip. He should be calling tonight.”
    “I’ll give you a deposit now.”
    “No need.”
    “Can I come by tomorrow, then?”
    “If you’d like.” If she had to have a tenant, she could do worse than renting to a detective. “And you think the work could be done in two weeks?”
    Though sunglasses hid his eyes, his voice held conviction. “Easy. Julia and I can be sleeping there in less time than that.”
    “No way.”
    “We can,” he insisted. “I’ll do the basics in the little room first and set up her crib there so she can nap. Regularly. Afternoons for sure. On weekends, at least. Maybe she’ll start liking me more.”
    “I’m sure she will,” Emily said. “But what about you?”
    “I’ll be sleeping on the floor anyway until I buy a bed.”
    “The bathroom isn’t even functional. The tub was never installed properly. You can’t bathe.”
    John spoke up. “One of my men can fix that in a day.” When she shot him an incredulous look, he said, “Well, hell, Doug wants you to rent, and Brian needs a place, and I’d rather he live here than someone else. I may just help you strip the walls, myself. Did our kids really write those things? Knowing you’d see them?”
    “That was the whole point,” Emily drawled. “The extent of their rebellion. We got off easy, I think.” She paused. “Unless there’s more to come. No,” she waved the thought away with a self-scolding, “don’t even think it.”
    “Huh,” John grunted in agreement and gestured Brian toward the door. “I got work to do.”
    So did Emily. If she was to spend the next two weeks working on the apartment with Brian, she had baking to do now. Doug was coming home Thursday night. For the first time in twenty years, they would have the weekend all to themselves. She wanted it to be perfect.

four
    N OT ONLY DID EMILY BAKE DOUG’S FAVORITE strawberry-rhubarb pie, but she baked a loaf of the walnut bread that he liked and three dozen congo bars to mail to Jill. She southern-fried several pounds of chicken and froze it, thinking that if she and Doug did decide to pack a picnic, it would be perfect. Finally, she made carrot soup for herself and had it for supper.
    Doug wasn’t wild about carrot soup. He had been once, when they were first married. Anything that was simple and healthy had appealed to him then. Suppers often consisted of