That set them both off in peels of laughter, the tension fully broken.

***

Randi held her pen poised over the pad, waiting. When nothing was forthcoming, she glanced up at Shannon, who sat across from her at the kitchen table in the house they'd shared for many years. "Shannon?" she said, drawing his attention from where it had been focused out the kitchen window. He looked at her. "What do you want out of the family room?"

Shannon sighed, tossing the pencil he'd been playing with onto the table, amidst the piles of papers and records that documented their life together. "I don't care," he sighed.

Randi hid her irritation as best she could, sitting back in her chair and setting the pen down. "Shannon, please don't start. We've got to get these lists compiled for the hearing next week."

Shannon studied her for a long moment. "Did you ever love me?" he asked, voice quiet, almost like a little boy's.

Quot;Don't do this now," Randi moaned, her face in her hands.

"What? I'm sorry if I can't be cold about all this."

"I'm not being cold, Shannon. How can you not feel that it was time and that we were beating a dead horse?"

"Because I still love you and I think you're going through something. I don't know what, but something. Menopause or whatever. Something."

Randi's anger was reaching the boiling point now, and she had no desire to sit there and fight. She pushed back from the table, gathering all the records she'd brought with her and shoving them back into the file folder they'd come from. "Let me know when you're ready to sit down like adults and work these details out. Until then, I'm going home."

Shannon watched her go, plopping back against his chair with a heavy sigh.

***

Laughter rang through the first level of Canton's newly renovated house. In the elegance of the formal dining room, Canton hosted a dinner - prepared with the help of Randi - to Randi, Blake and his new girlfriend, Kerry. The food was amazing and company was even better. The small dinner party was to reveal the new house, which had been completely restored to the glory of the original 1846 structure, replete with antique furnishings from the time period. Walking into Canton's home was walking back in time.

Quot;And so," Blake laughed, the women surrounding him already laughing as he continued his story, "I'm hanging there," he explained, raising her arm over his head like he's dangling from the beam he was describing, "I'm like, 'Hello! Anyone down there?'" The table burst into fresh laughter, Kerry sending adorning eyes to him, which was not missed by Randi or Canton.

Date: 2015-02-28; view: 650