Addison found herself trying not to laugh. Joanna’s barb, while undoubtedly meant to harm had done just the opposite, and picking up her glass, Addison swallowed her amusement with a gulp of wine. Placing the goblet back on the table, Addison smiled. “I was talking about the patio.”

Joanna wanted to smile, too. She wanted to chat and get back to the way they had been, but she had backed herself into a corner, and she knew it. Hostility and anger had never had a place in her life. If things went badly, she had merely turned the other cheek and moved on. She had never ridiculed or worn disdain on her sleeve as she had for the past several weeks, but to admit to Addison why she had been so distant and indignant would be far too telling. Jealousy was a word Joanna couldn’t afford to use. It was one thing to care about someone more than you should, but it was quite another knowing that particular someone cared far less than you hoped.

Taking a deep breath, Joanna decided enough was enough. Their marriage was arranged, and in less than five years it would be dissolved, and she would be forgotten like the garden and the furniture and the walls. It was time to turn the other cheek...again.

“The patio?” Joanna said, picking up her Chardonnay. “I thought you didn’t care about it. You just wanted it done.”

“I wasn’t asking for details. Just making conversation.”

“Well, in that case, yes, I had some luck. They’re going to drop off a contract early next week.”

“That’s excellent. If you need any help—”

“You just said—”

“If you require any help with the contract, just call Fran.”

“Oh,” Joanna said as blood rushed to her cheeks. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good,” Addison said as she placed her napkin on the table. “And the rest of your week? How did that go?”

The question took Joanna by surprise, and it showed on her face. Racking her brain to remember what she had done that week, she finally came up with an answer. “Um...same old. Exercised, played with Chauncey, read,” she said, shrugging. “Oh, I’m ordering some books and plan to put them in the library. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Addison said.

An awkward silence swept over the room as two who were strangers, yet not, tried to find common ground. One, in the midst of discovering feelings she believed she would never own, was embracing every syllable Joanna was speaking, so Addison was patiently waiting for another to slip through her lips. However, for Joanna, speech was not coming so easily.