7
Standing, Carlie walked over to Jon and threw her arms around him. Jon hugged her back and then held her at arm’s length. She looked refreshed. Her eyes were clear and bright, and they no longer had the dark circles he had seen earlier.
She had also changed her clothes. She was wearing a different housedress now, a purple one, but she was still wearing the same pair of black and white tennis shoes he had seen her in earlier. Jon didn’t even know Carlie owned a housedress, let alone a pair of tennis shoes.
“Nice dress. Where did you find that?”
“What, this old thing? I’ve had it for years.”
“Funny, I’ve never seen you wear it before.”
“Where would you like me to have worn it? To the office, or court—maybe the bar association’s annual dinner? Jon, I’ve never worn it because I’ve never found an appropriate place to wear it—until now, that is. Don’t you like it?”
“Of course I like it; it’s just so different.”
“Well, it’s comfortable—and I like it.”
Changing the subject to avoid an argument, Jon said, “My God, Carlie, something smells incredible.”
Pushing him away, Carlie headed for the stove. “I almost forgot. Go shower. Dinner will be on the table in about fifteen minutes.”
As Jon showered, he couldn’t believe the difference in the way Carlie looked since this morning. She was actually acting differently, as if she were enjoying life again.
While Jon pulled on a clean pair of jeans, he couldn’t help but think that he actually preferred his wife this way, and before he upset the applecart, he would keep all these inexplicable changes to himself.
As he walked into the kitchen, he couldn’t believe his eyes. There was enough food on the table for a small army.
“Carlie, are we expecting the 5th Fleet?”
Pulling out a chair, Carlie pointed to it and laughed. “Of course not, silly. This is all for you. Sit down and eat.”
Carlie served up dinner, and they both ate in silence. As she filled Jon’s plate for the second time, he took her hand in his; that was when he noticed her finger with the torn nail. The tip of her finger was red, swollen, and caked with blood where her fingernail had been.
“My God, Carlie, what happened?”
“Oh, I was gardening today; actually I was weeding the garden.”
Jon just looked at her; he didn’t know what to say. Her smile was radiant and she was full of life, something he had not seen in her in years. He couldn’t find it in his heart to bring up what he had seen earlier when he came home or to go into his discussion with Dexter. He just couldn’t.