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Back Ladies of the House Save as PDF
Chapters (59)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Praise
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. January
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. February
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. March
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. April
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Twenty
  30. Twenty-One
  31. Twenty-Two
  32. Twenty-Three
  33. Twenty-Four
  34. Twenty-Five
  35. May
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. June
  43. Thirty-Two
  44. Thirty-Three
  45. Thirty-Four
  46. Thirty-Five
  47. Thirty-Six
  48. Thirty-Seven
  49. Thirty-Eight
  50. Thirty-Nine
  51. Forty
  52. July
  53. Forty-One
  54. Epilogue
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. Author’s Note
  57. Ladies of the House - Reader’s Guide
  58. Questions For Discussion
  59. Excerpt

I waited for him to say more. I waited for him to tell me that he didn’t believe that I was sorry. To tell me that I was a liar, and he loved me more than Ari. That I—that my insecurities, fears, and now my family, the clouded legacy of my father—wasn’t ever going to be too much for him. But I was afraid I’d be waiting forever, so I started apologizing again. I blamed myself, my therapist, stress, lack of sleep, the internet, media, Congress. The list was long, and I hoped some of it was coherent.

Atlas occasionally offered an understanding phrase until I petered out, still rigid with pain, but unable to conjure any more excuses. He threaded his fingers together under his chin. I gnawed on my lips and waited for him to speak again.

“Guys!” Wallis’s voice, from the terrace door, detonated our sad bubble, and made us both flinch. “She’s about to throw the bouquet. Daisy, get in here and watch me catch it!”

Blake peeked out behind her. “Daisy needs a try, too,” he announced. “Atlas may be in more of a rush than I am.”

“They are so cute, aren’t they?” Wallis declared.

“They’re so adorable,” said Blake. “I could cry.”

I wanted to skittle like a cockroach down the stairs and out of the hotel and through a pothole that led to anywhere else. “Be right there,” I croaked, and they disappeared. I turned back to Atlas. “I’m going to leave,” I said. “It’s been fun.”

Atlas caught my arm. “So, what was this?” By this he meant me, him, the moment there was no space between us.

I wasn’t sure how to answer. I wasn’t even sure how I’d make it back to our table to collect my purse; my legs were deadweight. Maybe I’d just leave it. Come back tomorrow in the light of day. “You’re important to me,” I told him. “And I’m sorry I kissed you. It was a mistake.” I grasped his arm somewhere around the elbow, desperate for him to forgive me, to forget what I’d done, to lay his hand over mine and tell me it would all be okay.

He looked down at my hand on his arm, then back at me, distant. From the other room we heard cheers. Someone had caught the bouquet.

Twelve

The morning after the wedding, there was too much to do to dwell on the previous night’s horror show. A stack of papers from the lawyers needed my eyes. Cricket had responded to a phishing email with her credit card number, and someone had managed to spend a thousand dollars at a home improvement store within an hour. My bathroom sink pipe was leaking and maintenance wouldn’t return my calls. Miles needed to comment on a tricky news story.