“Can we change the subject? Logan’s going to be home soon.”

“You and Phil have chosen this path. Don’t forget that. What’s going on right now is an opportunity for the two of you to really grow as a couple.”

“Got it,” Lina said.

“I’m just saying if the two of you don’t learn the lesson in this lifetime, you’ll just come back in the next and do it all again.”

Lina slipped on a short, black silk nightgown before getting into bed. They hadn’t made love since the day Phil told her about the affair a little over two weeks earlier. There were only five times in their twenty-five-year relationship when they’d gone longer—during the time when he’d been having the affair, after the birth of each of their children and a nine-month period when she was seventeen. She remembered how patient he’d been all those years ago. How he’d held her in his arms, whispering reassurances in her ear, never pressuring her even though his young body, so used to having regular sex, must have been screaming out for it. She knew now, like then, he was waiting for her to tell him she was ready, and he would wait as long as it took.

It was after midnight before he came into their bedroom. Lina was lying in bed reading a novel, the soft glow from her bedside lamp the only source of light in the room. “I was wondering if you were ever coming up. I was about to come looking for you.”

He crossed to the bed, the mattress shifting as he sat down beside her. “Is this new?” he asked, fingering the slim strap of her nightgown.

“Yes.” She breathed in as he brushed the back of his hand over the top of her breasts.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, lowering his head, his lips following the same path as his hand.

“I miss you.” She combed her fingers through his thick hair.

He released a deep breath. “I missed you too.”

13

“So now you want me to stop paying taxes?” Phil was asking Katie after their appointment with Dr. Drayton when Lina and Logan joined them at an Italian restaurant.

It had been a little over a month since Phil had begun taking Katie to her weekly appointments, and although Lina was still miffed she wasn’t permitted to go and missed speaking to Dr. Drayton more than she wanted to admit, she couldn’t deny the improvement the change seemed to bring to Phil and Katie’s relationship. Just the time spent in the car traveling to and from the appointments was forcing them to interact more and, as a result, Katie seemed to be loosening up around her father.

Phil stood and met Lina’s lips before pulling out her chair. “I ordered Chardonnay for you,” he said, nodding towards a glass of wine on the table.

“You said you don’t agree with everything our government does,” Katie said to Phil, continuing their conversation. “By paying taxes you’re condoning it.”