What is Love? Read Online Free PDF Page B

sent Patty to her room instead.
    “I come bearing
comfort,” Patty said, putting her arm around Ellen’s waist.
    Ellen returned the
hug, unable to force a smile. “What exactly is your idea of comfort?”
    “The new Escada
catalog, a box of decadent chocolate truffles, and my personal favorite—a
bottle of ’76 Tattinger Rosé  … oh,
and I tucked in a book on seducing your man.”
    Ellen looked toward
the window. “Bit hard to seduce a man when he’s not here.”
    “Well, you can be
ready for his return.” Patty set her bags down. “This, my dear, is war.”
    “And I’m a one-woman
army.” Ellen faced her. “I’ve been in battle for a long time.”
    “Well, you were
winning, if that’s any consolation,” Patty said with a laugh.
    “Yes, I was, until
guerrilla warfare sabotaged my efforts.” Ellen peeked in the bag and pulled out
the truffles and champagne.
    “Well, now you’re an
army of two. I think I can help. I also have the name of a very good private
eye to help find some dirt.”
    “How very grand. I
do need a plan. I can’t fight a battle when he’s not playing fair.” She
hesitated. “When he won’t even talk about—” Tears broke through again and her
eyes burned trying to hold them back. She reached for a tissue as Patty
surveyed the room.
    “I see you’ve been
torturing yourself. How about a break from all this self-pity?”
    “I don’t want a
break,” Ellen said, dabbing her eyes. “I want to wallow in it and feel sorry
for myself until he comes home.”
    “Well, I’d hate to
see you just rot away like this. Any idea how long that will be?”
    “Who knows?”
    “Well, this is a
shitty position he’s put you in. He’s a complete ass.”
    Ellen stared at the
floor.
    Patty touched her
arm. “Sorry, but he’s being nasty.” Patty opened the box of truffles and helped
herself. “Was he always this heartless?”
    “No,” Ellen answered
in a hushed voice and sat on the leather sofa next to the fireplace. She
smoothed her hand across the cushion. “No, he used to be caring. He used to be
kind.” She hesitated. “I don’t know who this man is.”
    The room was quiet
except the faint barking in the distance and the rhythmic tick of the clock on
Jonathan’s mantel. “I don’t understand any of it,” Ellen continued. “He never
complained before, always went along with everything. If there was a problem,
if he was that unhappy, why am I the last person to know about it?”
    Ellen mindlessly
combed her fingers through fringe on the throw pillow beside her. “Of course
we’ve had disagreements, everyone does. Of course we aren’t as affectionate as
we once were  … everyone loses
that over the years. What we do have, what we always had, is friendship and
support. We were always good friends.” Patty stood before Ellen and held out
the truffles. Ellen picked out a dark powdered one as Patty sat beside her,
resting the box on her lap. Ellen continued, “It seems impossible to me he’d
just walk away; he knows I would do anything for him. At least he should know.”
    “Maybe he’s
forgotten.”
    “Yes, I’m sure he
has. He’s forgotten everything else, it seems.” Ellen examined the deep ebony
truffle, then let the smooth chocolate dissolve on her tongue as she wiped her
fingers on a tissue. She stood and went to wash her hands. “Every one of those
photographs shows what we shared,” she called out from Jonathan’s bathroom. “I
look through them and all I see is how happy we were,” she continued. “I see a
man who loved his wife and children.”
    She walked to the
bed and stood beside Patty, who was leaning forward, studying the assortment.
“I see a man who gave time and energy to make sure we had a great life
together. We did so much over the years.” Patty sat and studied the pictures
and picked up an album. “You? Fishing? I would never imagine you roughing it,
my dear. Quite the rustic little trip, rubber boots and all.”
    Ellen blushed