Heart of the Country Read Online Free PDF Page A

anywhere else, when he sat next to me at the bar. I figured I’d get the usual “Can I buy you a drink?” line, but instead he bemoaned having to be there. “You look like I feel” was his pickup line. Soon after, he managed to get me to the outdoor patio on the roof. Two hours went by in five minutes, it seemed.
    We left tonight’s party early, much to Maria’s dismay. When we got home, he poured us wine and I observed him. I couldn’t imagine we’d ever have that seven-year itch Maria talked about.
    We sat on our lavish couch, staring at the yellow painting leaning against the wall above our mantel. I could tell Luke loathed it. His face clouded over as he saw it. His mood hadn’t been good since we returned home.
    I was still engrossed in the painting when I heard the pop of a wine bottle. “Another one?” I asked as he returned to the couch.
    “This could be a three-bottle night.”
    “Did something go wrong at the party?”
    “This is good,” he said, leaning forward, pretending to engage the painting as he quickly sipped his wine.
    “Is that the California cab we bought yesterday? Luke, that was supposed to be for the party tomorrow night.”
    “Why waste it on our friends?” He grinned, and I felt a little relief. At least he still had his sense of humor.
    “You’re bad,” I said, toasting him.
    “Am I?”
    “Very.”
    I raised my glass to the painting, then sighed and put it down. “It’s too much for the living room, isn’t it?”
    “It’s horrible.”
    “Come on, let’s move it.”
    “To the trash?”
    “No,” I said, elbowing him in the ribs. “Let’s try the bedroom.”
    “Now?”
    “I can’t let you sit around and pout all night about this painting.”
    “I like pouting.”
    “I know you do,” I said, patting him on the shoulder. “Come on.”
    We lifted the painting off the wall. “This is soooo heavy!” he said.
    “I told you that you should be going to the Pilates class with me.”
    “Very funny.”
    We managed it into the bedroom. Luke took down thepicture that hung over the fireplace and I got the stepladder. Together we lifted it and got it hung. I adjusted it so it was perfectly straight.
    Luke kicked his shoes off and fell onto the bed. “Maybe the bathroom?”
    “Maybe your office?”
    “Okay, okay . . . I surrender.”
    I hopped onto the bed with him. “I really like this painting.”
    “I know you do. And it’s a good thing I really like you. I can live with the painting, but not without you.”
    “That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
    “This is the biggest sacrifice I’ve ever made for you.”
    I laughed. That man always made me laugh. We sat there on the bed for a while, both looking at it.
    “You know,” I finally said, “I think it goes better in the living room.”
    I expected a slap on the arm, but instead there was silence. I looked at him. He was staring into space.
    “Hello?”
    “What?”
    “I just made an outrageously irritating statement and you’re not returning it with an outrageously insulting comment.”
    “Sorry,” he said with a small smile. “I hate when I miss a chance to outrageously insult you.”
    I sipped carefully, trying to choose my words. “Is everything okay?” I finally asked.
    “Yeah.”
    I set my wineglass down on the bedside table and turned to him, giving him my full attention.
    He glanced at me. “What? You’ve got that serious look.”
    I gathered my courage. I’d been hearing rumors. For months now. I had ignored them. But tonight, I couldn’t do that anymore. I had been in the bathroom at the party when I’d first arrived and overheard two women talking. They never mentioned Luke, and maybe it was a stretch for me to think they were talking about him or anything to do with him. But my gut had filled with an unusual dread. “Luke, what’s a Ponzi scheme?”
    There are many great things that happen when two people get married, one of them being that they learn to read