Read Leaving at Noon for Free Online Page B

fuck?”
Fiona shook her head fiercely. “You have got to be shitting
me.”
    “ It’s hard to fix a
marriage when your husband never talks to you,” Zoey shot at
her—then immediately regretted it. Blaming Theo and getting
defensive wouldn’t help matters. In fact, wasn’t that exactly what
had made the issues so complicated in the first place?
    “ Yeah?” Fiona raised an
eyebrow. “I bet it’s just as hard for your husband to talk when his
wife makes no effort.”
    Zoey flinched, more from the truth than from
the accusatory tone. “Why not just shove a knife in my chest while
I’m down?” And still she couldn’t drop her defenses. Why the
hell not?
    “ Do you want me to
sugarcoat the truth? Want me to pretend you’re innocent here? That
all your problems are Theo’s fault, and not yours? Will that help?
Will it make you feel better?”
    Heaviness seeped into her chest, making her
heart fight to beat evenly. Breathing was almost impossible.
Difficult as it was, she forced her defenses down. “I know…” Zoey
struggled to find enough air to talk. Jeez, it would be so much
easier to leave. Run away rather than face the fire. But if she
tried, Fiona would only come after her.
    “ I know I’ve screwed up,”
she said hoarsely, forcing the words out. “My marriage unraveled
because I let it happen.” She began to shake. “Instead of
fighting to get our relationship back on track, I pulled away. I
fought against my husband.” Her eyes filled with frustrated,
distraught tears. “But…but, God help me, I don’t know how to fix
it.” Shit, she was a helpless, hopeless wimp. “I don’t know how to
approach Theo now, or…or what to say if I did.”
    “ You could start with ‘I’m
sorry’. Or, ‘we need to talk’.”
    “ Talking hasn’t worked.
Don’t you see? Our conversations degenerate into shouting matches.
It’s easier to just shut up.” Less hurtful too. “It’s gotten to a
point where we say so little, I no longer know Theo. I don’t know
what makes him happy or sad, what motivates him, what frustrates
hi—” She clamped her jaw shut.
    Zoey did know that last one: she frustrated him.
    “ We’ve lost touch with
each other. I’m clueless about what’s going through his head, and
what he’s doing on a daily basis. His life’s become a mystery to
me.”
    Theo knew as little about Zoey. She’d
stopped telling him about her days, and he’d stopped asking.
    “ I don’t phone him from
the medical practice to say hi.” She hadn’t called in weeks. Not
even to tell him she was on her way home—and Zoey always let Theo
know when she was leaving. At least once a week, he’d try his best
to leave at the same time so they could spend the evening
together.
    Now, her nonexistent phone calls went
unacknowledged, as did his. “He doesn’t phone me either.” He no
longer called to celebrate a great deal he’d made on the market, or
to curse a bad one. He didn’t even phone to say he loved her,
something Zoey had once looked forward to at least once on a daily
basis.
    “ Apart from Dinner Club,
we haven’t shared a meal in forever. Not breakfast, lunch or
dinner.” They hadn’t cooked one together either. Their mornings or
evenings preparing food and enjoying it at the table they’d chosen
shortly after buying their house were a thing of the
past.
    And no matter how busy their days might have
gotten, they’d always managed to unwind together after Theo came
home. But that was before. When things still worked between them.
When they mattered to each other. “We don’t spend time with each
other. Not even on weekends, which used to be our time. I don’t
want to be with him, and he doesn’t want to be with me.”
    Fiona looked at her with sad eyes. Her anger
seemed to have drained away. “I’m no expert on marriage, Zo, but
sometimes you don’t have to say anything—at least not to start
with. Sometimes a simple touch is a good beginning.”
    Zoey gave a humorless