Autumn Leaves by Barbara Winkes

“What are you reading?”
    Maggie showed her the cover. “Mike says we’re not supposed to read things like that. It doesn’t matter. Mike doesn’t read at all, anyway.”
    If she wasn’t this upset, Rebecca would have smiled at the hint of distaste in her daughter’s expression. Clearly, Maggie did not understand people who didn’t read.
    “How can he know then, right?” she asked, thinking she’d need to have a word with Betty sometime soon. She just didn’t have the energy today.
    “Grandma says you don’t like her.”
    Oh, boy. Grandma sure says a lot of things.
    “That’s not true. Adults disagree sometimes. We might not be best friends, but that doesn’t mean I dislike her.”
    “You’re best friends with Callie,” Maggie mused.
    Yes, she was, and there was no reason to blush. We’re best friends, and don’t we ever disagree sometimes .
    “Yes. So you did like the book? We could see if there are others.”
    “Really?” Maggie’s face lit up.
    “Really. I’ll go get my laptop, and we’ll look them up.”
    Not like she’d done it before, only a hundred times or so.
    * * * *
    David didn’t return until after dinner. “I’m sorry,” he said, sounding sincere as he hugged her in the doorway. “Traffic was bad. What is everybody up to?”
    “Last time I checked, Maggie was in bed. Dina’s watching a soap, and I...well, I’ve been waiting for my husband. Took him quite some time to find his way home.”
    “Yeah. What a bum.”
    She couldn’t quite hide her reaction. David brushed his fingers gently over her cheek. “I think I see a smile?”
    “Not so sure about that.”
    “You’re still mad at me?”
    “David...”
    “I know,” he sighed. “You were right. Mom went overboard there. I was just... Work was brutal. I didn’t think.”
    “I get that.” Suddenly, the discussion seemed rather pointless. They had so little time together. Wasn’t it stupid to spend it fighting over things that neither one of them could change anyway? “It’s okay. Did you want to watch anything? I think I’m going to bed.”
    “Good idea. Why don’t I join you?”
    Truth be told, Rebecca would have liked some more quiet time reading. Thinking she’d probably used up her bitch quota for the day, she just smiled.
    Upstairs in the bedroom, she hesitated at locking the door. It wasn’t like it was the first time.
    “It’s fine,” David said. “You said it yourself, the girls are okay, and they sure will be for a while longer.”
    “Yeah.” She tried to relax in his embrace, enjoy the intimacy she was missing so much during his absences. Her mind wandered to this morning, Callie, how it had felt to hold her. Today. Before. Inappropriately, the memory stayed with her. David kissed her again, more hungrily this time. She shivered, finding herself out of her shirt without remembering how it happened. She had always felt safe and sheltered with him and she did now, but Rebecca was distracted.
    “Is everything okay?” he asked softly.
    Can’t we just get it over with? Shocked by her own thought, Rebecca just leaned into him. “I’m good,” she whispered. She wasn’t supposed to have these images and sensations lingering, not right now. What did that say about her? Rebecca was determined to push aside everything that didn’t have a place here, enjoy the touch of hands gentle and familiar. It felt like her body was playing tricks on her. She couldn’t fool David either.
    “What’s wrong?”
    Rebecca wanted to cry, but she forced another smile instead. One of too many. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired.”
    He brushed his fingers over her arm softly, and she shivered under the caress, wishing she could just turn back time for half an hour and start over. For all the good it would do.
    “You’ve been tired often lately,” David remarked. “Maybe you should see a doctor, just to be on the safe side.”
    Rebecca was torn between being defiant and guilty. She didn’t exactly have a lazy