Waters Fall Read Online Free PDF Page A

you ought to congratulate your sister for real?”
    “Sure. Congratulations, Lester the Lion.”
    Leslie raised both hands like claws and growled deep in her throat , but she grinned at his use of her favorite nickname.
    ~ ~ ~
    In his office, Jake stared at the phone sitting on the glass-topped desk in front of him. Why couldn’t things go his way just once? It had taken G & G nearly a month to make a decision on his proposal before opting to keep things as they were. A whole month of him assuring his wife that things were going to start happening, he just knew it; that by the holidays, she’d be able to cut back her hours significantly. He knew that was what she really wanted—the love notes, the chocolate, and the extra care he took in bed with her were his way of telling her that he was trying.
    He should call Nora, but he didn ’t think he could bear to hear her voice right now; her disappointment, both for him, and in him.
    Nora often seemed sad these days, even though she refused to acknowledge it. A few weeks ago, when he came out to the driveway to see what was keeping her, he was shocked to find her sitting in her car, bent over the steering wheel. He thought she was crying, but he was even more concerned when he realized she was just sitting in the sweltering heat, pink-faced, and sweating, as though enduring some self-inflicted punishment. She assured him she was fine, but inside the closed up car in the middle of an uncharacteristically warm September afternoon? Who does that?
    He’d been trying so hard these last few months, and in many ways, things were greatly improved. But Jake couldn't help noticing Nora’s smiles rarely lasted once the kids left the room, that everything seemed forced and unnatural when she was alone with him.
    “Are you okay?” He asked her that question almost every night, certain she wasn't, but her answer was always the same.
    “I'm fine, Jake. Just tired. It's been a long day.”
    Was her day any longer than his? Any longer than Felix’s or Leslie’s? When he probed, though, she only grew impatient with him.
    Nora ’s work load was one of the things that hadn’t improved. It had gotten worse.
    She used to bring a file or two home every once in a while, stuff she had to finish in time for a client meeting the next morning, but now it was her nightly routine; dinner, dishes, and decorating. In fact, more often than not anymore, instead of bringing work home, she headed back to the office after putting the kids to bed, explaining, “It’s hard for me to concentrate here, and everything takes twice as long. It’s like a mental block. It just works better for me to go back to the office.”
    Well, it didn ’t work better for him, especially since it meant he went to bed alone.
    “At least sex is still good,” he muttered to himself. He lifted his gaze in a halfhearted prayer. “Yeah, I know. Spoken like a true man. But it seems like the only thing I can do right for her. Don't get me wrong,” he added quickly, lifting a hand in a halting gesture. “I'm not complaining. Don't know what I'd do if that wasn't happening, either.”
    He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, imagining his wife standing in the doorway, crossing the room to him, brushing her fingertips along his jaw, lifting his face to hers. He loved thinking about her; about her curves, her silky auburn hair, her eyes, her full mouth. His skin tingled when she said his name; the special way she answered her cell phone when she knew it was him. At least, he reminded himself with a grimace, the way she used to answer it. Anymore, he got her voice mail more often than not, and when he did catch her, she was always in the middle of something, or in a hurry to get somewhere…besides home to him.
    It was days like this that made him seriously consider going back to working for someone else. He didn't miss driving a forklift. He didn ’t miss the warehouse atmosphere. He didn't miss the early and long