‘You haven’t seen my engagement ring, have you?’ Beth scanned the shelf above the kettle where she normally put the two-carat diamond solitaire when she was cooking.
‘When did you last have it?’ Max leant against the bench and sipped his coffee.
‘I remember taking it off before the launch party to roll out the pastry, but then I must have forgotten to put it back on.’ She started opening drawers. Her plain gold wedding band was still in its proper place on her finger, but the engagement ring was worth so much more, both in dollar value and sentiment.
‘So, it’s been missing for almost a week?’
Beth whipped around to face him. ‘In case you haven’t noticed, the last few days have been a bit of a roller-coaster.’ There’d been the launch party, then the fire. Beth shivered every time she thought of just how bad it could have been. Thank goodness Poppy and Cara were okay, and the damage to the shed more cosmetic than anything. It certainly hadn’t stopped them from cooking and delivering 105 meals to fifteen different locations.
Today being Saturday, Cara wanted to capitalise on the momentum of their first week by recording a video for social media of them preparing a signature Nourish meal. Alex had agreed to play videographer.
‘Well, suppose I’ll be heading off now, then.’ Max emptied the dregs of his coffee into the sink.
‘You’re not going to help me look?’ Beth cursed the amount of stuff in their drawers. Batteries, pens, sticky tape and old bank books, and the chaos of it replicated what was going on in Beth’s head. Her thoughts were a mess of fragments, about Max and his distracted state, the mysterious note, the kids and their lack of interest in anything else other than themselves, her kiss with Adam, and now, her determination to achieve some financial independence out of Nourish.
Max checked his watch. ‘I’ve got to get to the gym.’
Beth closed the drawer and leant against it. ‘Why?’ Her gaze narrowed on him. ‘What’s the rush? Meeting someone?’ She folded her arms.
‘Ah, no.’ Max felt in his pockets. ‘I’m doing a class.’
Max never did classes. He hated classes. All that shouting, and waiting around for it to begin. He went to the gym to do weights. Get in, get out, go home. He said his aim was to be fitter and stronger at the age of fifty than he was at forty. Training for the charity run took care of the cardio fitness, but his doctor had told him that where middle-aged men went wrong was to ignore their strength. A few weights would take care of that.
Beth was suspicious. What man in the history of men had actually ever listened to their doctor? Only a blind person could fail to see the way in which the gym was changing Max’s physique. In the bathroom last night, while Beth was brushing her teeth, she’d felt a twinge in her nether regions as Max showered, unaware of being watched. His eyes were closed, and the water ran down over his sculpted arms and torso, with its beginnings of a sixpack. The gym had uncovered muscles that Beth hadn’t seen since they were in their twenties. After the shower, she’d hopped into bed and waited for Max, who slid between the sheets all soapy and fresh.
Beth couldn’t help herself. She’d reached for him. What difference did it make? No feelings. No emotion. Just two bodies, doing what two bodies were made to do.
After twenty minutes of vigorous love-making, Max had lain spent and breathing heavily. ‘Wow,’ he muttered, closing his eyes. ‘Where did that come from?’
Beth hadn’t answered, and whatever small sense of satisfaction she’d felt from showing Max that this was what he’d be missing quickly evaporated into the warm night air. She rolled over and pretended to sleep. Sex with Max had always been good. Certainly, after children, it wasn’t the wild, tear-at-each-other’s-clothes type of sex that it had been in the beginning. After all, if someone did tear a shirt, then Beth would have to be the one who mended it the next day. They knew what each other liked. There was no need to waste time experimenting any more. A particular touch here, a lick there, a grab somewhere else and everyone went home happy and, more importantly, got a good night’s sleep, which, as every parent knew, was more of an aphrodisiac than the best oysters or champagne.
What killed a sex life wasn’t familiarity, it was exhaustion. At least it was for Beth, and she had been feeling even more tired lately. Was she pre-menopausal? Hot flushes and hairy lips were the last thing she needed.
‘I’ve really got to go.’ Max was looking anxious now.
Beth felt a chill in her bones. Was he meeting her?
‘All right, just go then.’ She slammed the drawer shut and Max gave her a quizzical look.
‘Last night was … different.’ He paused at the bench. ‘Is everything okay?’
I suspect you’re having an affair and if you can treat sex as just a ‘thing’, then so can I.
Beth couldn’t meet his eye. She didn’t have proof of an affair. Not solid proof. And until she did, she would say nothing, at least not until after their anniversary party. ‘Of course it is. I just want to find the ring.’
He headed for the door. ‘It’ll turn up, and anyway, it’s not the end of the world. It’s just a ring. You can always get a new one,’ he called over his shoulder.
As the front door closed, Beth’s shoulders slumped. Was that really what Max thought? That she could just get a new one? Certainly, diamond solitaires with a plain gold band weren’t exactly hard to come by, but it wouldn’t carry the same sentiment. Not unless he took her up in a seaplane and presented it to her high over Sydney Harbour, the way he had all those years ago, shouting to be heard above the thrum of the propeller engine while a family of four German tourists looked distinctly uncomfortable at the wild display of kissing in the back of the tiny plane.
A new ring could never carry the significance of that moment.
Maybe this was an omen. A sign. She had lost the ring because her marriage was ending. Beth patted her chest. There was pain, real pain inside of it. A bit like indigestion, only she hadn’t eaten that morning.
Beth took the iPad off the shelf and opened the screen to messages.
About to leave. You still okay for 10 am?
Absolutely. Got some hot new moves for you today!
Can’t wait! See you soon.
That dirty, lying cheating rat! Beth felt an urge to smash the device to the ground, but resisted. Chloe and Ethan would need it for homework and if it broke, they would ask questions and demand a replacement.
‘Hellooo. You there, Beth? It’s me, Cara.’ Her neighbour tapped on the glass at the back door and Beth, hands trembling, returned the iPad to its shelf before heading out of the kitchen.
As she went to pull the door open, she glanced quickly at her fingers on the handle. It occurred to her the plain wedding band now looked quite different without its companion, the diamond solitaire. It looked lost, and lonely.