Sisters and Husbands Read Online Free PDF Page A

went. They were either yelling at each other or dishing out the silent treatment. As a psychologist, Evelyn knew
     that the problem was far deeper than a simple disagreement over paint colors. Kevin was in the throes of a midlife crisis
     or a severe case of male menopause. But as a wife, she was clueless as to how to get them through this confusing period.
    She could remember when Kevin first decided to leave his job as a partner at one of Washington’s top law firms to start his
     own firm about ten years ago. She had initially been dead set against the idea, thinking it too risky, too life altering.
     Yet she also saw that it was very important to Kevin, and she let him talk her into going along with it. In the end, as his
     firm began to take shape and do very well, she became his strongest supporter. In return, Kevin had enthusiastically backed
     her when she wanted to return to graduate school to pursue her Ph.D.
    That kind of give-and-take, which had sustained them for so long, would never happen now. Kevin had become too self-absorbed,
     too stubborn, too selfish. He had erected a wall around himself, and she just couldn’t seem to get through to him anymore.
     Yet she hadn’t given up on him completely. A part of her still hoped that she would one day come home and find the man she
     had married waiting there for her.
    She strode across the kitchen and into the foyer. She kicked off her heels, picked up the mail from the center table, and
     tried to clear her head of all her worries. After meeting the chef with her sisters, she had stopped by Andre’s apartment
     in Baltimore and fixed dinner for him. It had been a long day, and her feet were aching. Kevin was probably on the computer
     in the den, and she wanted to relax, maybe read a good book and catch some news on CNN. She picked up her shoes and the mail
     and headed up the staircase.
    She heard a commotion coming from the master bedroom as she reached the top landing. A couple of thumps, footsteps shuffling
     across the hardwood floor, drawers being slammed shut. Was Kevin cleaning or something? These days she never knew what to
     expect from the man.
    She entered the bedroom just as Kevin closed the door to his walk-in closet. She was about to ask what all the noise was about,
     but instead she stopped in her tracks and stared at him—her heels dangling from one hand, Fendi bag and mail in the other.
     Kevin had shaved his head; not a single strand of hair was left. All thoughts of the commotion she’d just heard vanished from
     her mind.
    “My God, Kevin. What did you do?”
    “What’s it look like?” he responded curtly.
    It wasn’t his tone that bothered Evelyn the most these days. It was the indifference in his expression. He walked toward the
     bed, and that’s when she noticed about a dozen of his suits lying across it, including a couple of his prized Brionis.
    “What are you doing with those?” she asked as he scooped them into his arms.
    “Giving them to Goodwill. I won’t be needing them anymore.”
    “You’re not serious?”
    “Oh, yeah,” he said. “I’m very serious.”
    “But why? You spent thousands of dollars on those suits.”
    “Exactly. I told you, I’m sick and tired of this materialistic lifestyle. Hell, you’re probably wearing two or three designer
     labels right this very minute, between the suit, the bag, and the shoes. It makes no sense.”
    Evelyn rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Not this again, she thought. She was about to tell him not to do something he would
     later regret. But given all the changes he had made in his life lately, getting rid of his designer suits was nearly nothing.
     “What is going on with you, Kevin? You left your law firm, a firm you spent a decade building from the ground up. You’re working
     at Blockbuster now, for God’s sake. You sold your Mercedes and bought an old beat-up BMW. When is this craziness going to
     stop?”
    He scoffed. “I’m just getting started, and it’s