The Marriage Intervention by Hilary Dartt

Author:Hilary Dartt [Dartt, Hilary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 26056482
Publisher: Darttboard Creative Writing, LLC
Published: 2015-08-07T16:00:00+00:00

***

Okay, so maybe Summer and Delaney were onto something. The six-block run this morning felt truly awful, and she felt truly grumpy as she stomped home. But after showering, drinking a few cups of hot coffee and eating a veggie scramble, Josie felt refreshed and even a little accomplished.

So what if she was a terrible runner?

She’d get better. Little by little. Step by step.

She hated to admit it, but after the run, or half-run, or whatever she decided to call it, her mood felt lighter.

Summer said something about exercise creating endorphins. Was is possible the phenomenon was real?

All morning, she thought about Paul, and the memories played in her mind like a movie reel, viewed through a filter of endorphins.

One fall night they went to the county fair, determined to recreate their teenage years. They took shots of tequila in the parking lot, licking salt off each other’s necks and wrists, matching each other shot for shot, until they were buzzed and warm and giggling.

Then they bought wristbands and corn dogs and lemonades and went on every ride, some twice. They went on the Ferris wheel three times, making out like hormone-crazed kids whenever they rounded the top.

They shared funnel cake in the grandstands while they watched the demolition derby. When it was over, they sat in the silence, ears ringing, discussing their plans for the future: a house with a pool, a Goldendoodle puppy, and a couple of kids. Annual camping trips to the beach, family movie nights and long weekends in the mountains.

By the time they sobered up and drove home, it was almost light out. They tumbled into bed, had lazy, slow-motion sex and slept until after noon. Josie remembered thinking several times that night how lucky she was, how much she loved him and how she couldn’t wait to experience their future together.

One winter, they borrowed a friend’s four-wheel drive truck and north for a day. They planned on sledding, but when they arrived in the tiny mountain town a couple of hours from Juniper, they realized Paul had forgotten to pack the sleds. Since this was the first big snow of the season, the stores in town were all sold out. So they grabbed some supplies, got a cozy hotel room and spent the evening watching the snowfall, roasting marshmallows over the fire pit and making love in the gorgeous Jacuzzi tub.

Sure, they’d bickered over the forgotten sleds at first. He blamed her for distracting him by insisting on a coffee run before they left Juniper and she blamed him for not packing them in the first place. But they made up and turned it into one of the best one-night getaways ever.

A couple of months later in the spring, they had gone to a kite-flying event at the Juniper library. The mayor of Juniper wanted to beat some record for the number of kites flying all at once, and Josie convinced Paul they should go. She went out and bought a fancy kite—a dragon with a long plastic tail that supposedly shimmered in the breeze when the sunlight caught it.

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