Brazen Virtue

anymore. So he opted out.”
    “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” The tears started again, the ones she’d been able to hold off for days. “I don’t want to do this.”
    “No.” He understood that as well. “But sometimes it’s better after you do.”

    “Everyone says they understand, but they don’t.” When he put his arms around her, she held on. “You don’t know what it is to lose a part of yourself until it happens. There’s nothing you can do to prepare for it, you know? And nothing you can do afterward, after you’ve handled all the details. That’s the worst part, not being able to do anything. How long—how long did it take you to put it behind you?”
    “I’ll let you know when it happens.”
    She nodded, letting her head rest against his shoulder for another minute. “All you can do is go on?”
    “That’s right. After a while you don’t think about it every day. Then something happens in your life like Tess did to mine. You can go on. You don’t forget, but you can go on.”
    She drew back to wipe the tears from her cheeks with both hands. “Thanks.”
    “You going to be okay?”
    “Sooner or later.” She sniffled once, then managed a smile. “Sooner, I think. Let’s take this back in. We’re going to celebrate life tonight.”

Chapter 11
    M ARY BETH MORRISON HUNCHED over her monthly budget and listened to her two oldest squabble over a board game. The natives were restless, she thought, and tried to figure out where she’d overextended in the grocery department.
    “Jonas, if you’re going to get that upset when Lori takes over your country, you shouldn’t play the game.”
    “She cheats,” Jonas complained. “She always cheats.”
    “Do not.”
    “Do too.”
    If Mary Beth hadn’t been trying to find how to cut back an extra hundred a month, she might have let the argument run its course. “Maybe you’d be better off if you put the game away and went to your rooms.” The mild comment had the desired effect. Both children calmed down enough to make their accusations in whispers.

    The baby of the family, Prissy Pat as the other children liked to call her, wandered over to demand that her mother fix the bow in her hair. At five, Patricia was all girl. Mary Beth set aside her accounts long enough to fuss with the lace ribbon. Her six-year-old son was doing his best to instigate another battle between his older brother and sister as they vied to take over the world. After a time, both Jonas and Lori turned on him. The television blared and the newest kitten was busy hissing at Binky, their middle-aged cocker spaniel. All in all, it was a typical Friday night at the Morrisons’.
    “I think I fixed the Chevy. Needed timing, that’s all.” Harry came into the family room wiping his hands on a dish towel. Mary Beth thought briefly of how often she’d told him not to spread the kitchen linens around the house, then lifted her face for his kiss. The scent of the aftershave she’d given him for his birthday lingered on his cheeks.
    “My hero. I hated the idea of breaking down on the way to the bake sale on Sunday.”
    “It’s humming right along now. Pipe down, Jonas.” Without breaking rhythm, he lifted Pat into his arms for a snuggle. “Why don’t we take her for a test drive?”
    Mary Beth pushed back from the desk. It was tempting, just the idea of getting out of the house for an hour, maybe stopping off for ice cream or indulging the kids in a round of miniature golf. Then she looked back down at her accounts.
    “I’ve got to get this straightened out so I can make a deposit in the automatic teller tomorrow morning.”
    “You look tired.” Harry planted a kiss on Pat’s cheek, then set her down again.
    “Just a little.”
    He eyed the bills and numbers. “I could give you a hand.”
    Mary Beth tallied figures without looking up. “Thanks, but the last time you helped me, it took me six months to get us back on track.”
    “Insults.” He ruffled her hair. “I’d take offense if it wasn’t true. Jonas, you’re pressing your luck.”

    “He takes his games too seriously,” Mary Beth murmured. “Just like his father.”
    “Games are serious.” He bent down again to whisper in her ear. “Wanna play?”
    She laughed. This was a man she’d known for over twenty years, and he still made her pulse flutter. “At this rate I should be done by midnight.”
    “Would it help if I cleared the kids out for a while?”
    She smiled up at him.