He kissed her and left, and she listened for the click of the door. She could feel her muscles tense again, each stretching taut and stiffening under her skin. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Well into the night, she had felt little ripples of pleasure flickering throughout her body. Her mind seemed to fall away, leaving just the pictures, and even now, she could feel them wanting to swell to the surface. All she had to do was let one tiny image in, and she would find herself flushed with need.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

TWO WEEKS LATER, JOSIE SAT AT THE KITCHEN TABLE, BLUE AND yellow construction paper strewn about her.

“What’s this diorama for anyway,” she called to Katie. She picked up the shoebox.

Katie ran in. “Open House. I found some ribbon.”

“Honey, that’s for your hair.”

“So,” Katie whined.

“You have plenty of supplies to choose from.”

“I want to use it.”

“No,” she said sharply. Lately, she had been irritable and short-tempered. This morning she and Phillip had bickered again, this time about the heat in the apartment. She wanted it warmer, he cooler. It was ridiculous, but she fought vehemently, and in the end turned the thermostat up to ninety to show him what hot really was. Usually she apologized, but this morning she stormed out and sat in the coffee shop on the corner, drinking cup after cup of coffee until she was buzzing from so much caffeine she could feel her heart vibrate throughout her chest.

“Where’s Daddy?” Katie asked.

“At the restaurant. Now choose something else to make the river.”

“But it’s Monday.”

“Yes it is.”

The restaurant was closed, but she was sure Phillip was there banging pots and pans around the kitchen. He was gone when she came home from the coffee shop, and when she picked Katie up from school this afternoon, they returned to a still empty apartment.