A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand

Author:Elin Hilderbrand [Hilderbrand, Elin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC000000
ISBN: 9780316032674
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2008-06-30T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

She Tells Her

Claire tried to make amends. With Jason, this meant apologies on the hour—apologies in person, messages on his voice mail, a note stuck to the steering wheel of his truck. It meant placing herself in servitude. She cooked his favorite things: fried chicken, pasta with sausage and basil, his mother’s corned beef, chocolate chip cookies. She folded his T-shirts, she had a beer cracked when he walked in the door, and she put the kids to bed herself every night so that he could watch TV. Still, Jason slept in the guest room or on the sofa; still he spoke to her in a furious, clipped tone, but by the following weekend, the debacle of the party had been absorbed into the sponge of their life together. There was too much going on to dwell on it. Jason returned to their bed, he reached for Claire as though nothing had happened, and afterward, as she lay awake, she was amazed at what a marriage was able to sustain. It could sustain horrible fights; it could sustain her, desperately in love with someone else.

Claire’s relationship with Siobhan was another story. Claire had not spoken to Siobhan in ten days. Ten days! It was long enough to make Claire think that perhaps Siobhan was gone for good. Claire had tried everything; she had even called Edward Melior about the catering bid.

Edward, who was always charming, was decidedly curt and businesslike on the phone. This may have been a reaction to Claire’s strident tone (which she had promised herself she wouldn’t take, but she had a hard time suppressing it).

“Edward? Claire Crispin. I heard you picked a caterer.”

“Yes . . .”

“I heard you picked À La Table.”

“Yes, we—”

“Unfortunately, Genevieve told Siobhan . . .”

“Yes, I know all about it.”

“It would have been a good idea to have called Siobhan right away, you know. So she didn’t have to hear it on the street.”

“I did call. I left her a message on her office phone.”

“You did?”

“I did.”

“She doesn’t check the office phone in the winter,” Claire said. “You know that.”

“I don’t know that. It was the number she put on the bid.”

“You could have tried to reach her at home.”

“I didn’t feel comfortable doing that, Claire. For obvious reasons.”

“I’m the event cochair, Edward. You could have called me and told me about your decision. Then I could have called Siobhan and smoothed things over.” Claire paused. “In fact, I have to say, I’m a little surprised that you didn’t call me, you know, to check with me, before you handed Genevieve the golden apple.”

“It sounds suspiciously like you’re pulling rank on me, Claire,” Edward said. “Are you? Because I was under the impression that when you asked me to spearhead the catering, you meant that my committee and I were to meet, review the bids, and choose a caterer. It sounds as if what you actually meant was that I, as the head of the catering committee, should have acted more like a cardboard cutout while you, the cochair, picked the caterer that you wanted.

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