One Good Thing by Wendy Wax

Author:Wendy Wax
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2017-03-27T12:00:33+00:00

Nineteen

“Thanks for coming by.” Nikki managed to push herself up against the pillows so that she was closer to sitting than lying.

“It’s good to see you.” Bitsy smiled politely, if tentatively. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. At least for someone doing such a convincing impersonation of a beached whale.”

“It must be hard lying there twenty-four/seven,” Bitsy said. But she did not come closer nor did she contradict the whale comparison.

“Yeah. I mean, there are those scintillating visits to the bathroom and the brief moments of ecstasy breathing fresh air out on the loggia.” She looked out the window with real longing, unable to believe how cavalier she’d been about being able to walk, get out of bed, leave the house, drive a car. It was a gorgeous afternoon to be out on a boat, or walking on the beach, or even sitting in the sunshine like any other inhabitant of the state of Florida. “I’ll never take being able to move or breathe fresh air for granted again.” She planted her elbows in an effort to sit up straighter. Sherlock whimpered and buried his muzzle in Bitsy’s shoulder. Bitsy shifted her weight to the balls of her feet. “You look like you’re ready to flee at any moment,” Nikki said, noting their distance. “Have I been that awful?” She swallowed. “I seem to be driving everyone away. Joe’s still in California. The Giraldis have gone to Orlando. Even Troy left, though I’m pretty sure that wasn’t my fault.”

“Not awful exactly. But you have been a little . . . volatile.”

Nikki groaned in embarrassment. “Please sit down. I promise not to lunge at you. And I’m pretty sure I’m not going to bite.”

Bitsy smiled and sat, but she still held Sherlock protectively in her arms, the better to make a strategic retreat or a hasty exit. Nikki vowed to behave like a perfectly normal human being whether she felt like one or not. “So,” she said, appalled to realize how long it had been since she’d asked about anyone else. “How are things with you?”

“Well, let’s see.” Bitsy settled back in the chair. “I’m trying really hard to make the mental adjustment from being married to someone I loved to being abandoned by someone I’d like to hunt down and kill while adjusting from living in twenty thousand square feet to four hundred and fifty. But Avery’s working on making the most of that space, so I guess it’s no big deal, right?” Her smile was weary. “And I’ve gone from never thinking about a life plan to wishing I had a kick-ass résumé or actually any résumé that included one or two recognizable job skills.”

Nikki looked carefully at Bitsy, noting the strained smile, the hollowed cheekbones, the pinpoint of panic in her eyes. Nikki knew exactly how it felt to lose everything, including life as she’d known it, and while she had built quite a lot from the poverty in which she’d begun, Bitsy had fallen much farther. And the person who’d pushed her off the ledge had been a husband rather than a brother.

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