Tightening the Knot (12 page)

           
Meredith nodded and got ready.
 
But Katie would not stay still or open her mouth.
 
They tried offering treats, but the dog always managed to close her mouth too fast for Meredith and the floor was starting to get slippery.

           
“This just isn’t working.”
 
Meredith put down the
baster
.

           
“Do you think there’s any chance we could just put it in her dish?”

           
“What do you mean?”

           
“I mean, she eats washrags and batteries… maybe she’d willingly drink peroxide.”

           
“I guess it couldn’t hurt to try.”
 
Meredith squirted a bit into the dog’s dish and called her over.
 
Katie lapped it up eagerly.
 
“Now I feel pretty silly.”

           
“Hey, at least you’re not the one who ate batteries.”

           
Meredith laughed.
 
She was only slightly concerned for the dog and already had the feeling this was going to make a good story, one that she and Greg could tell together.
 
It was not exactly a romantic story, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it would still be something they would share.
 
She loved making new memories, but her reverie was short.
 
It was rudely interrupted by a horrible gagging sound.
 
She turned quickly away.
 
“I’m not watching; just tell me when you see batteries.”

           
“Um… yeah, there they are.
 
Wait, no!
 
No, no, NO!
 
I don’t believe this!”

           
“What?”
 
Meredith spun around to see Katie licking the floor.
 

           
“She just ate them again.”

           
“
Ewww
… again?
 
That’s so gross.”

           
“What do we do now?”

           
Meredith shook her head.
 
She didn’t need to answer because it was obvious that Katie was about to give up the batteries a second time.
 
Greg quickly put the leash on her and pulled her away as the mess hit the floor.
 
Meredith grabbed the leash.
 
“Good idea.
 
But this time I’ll hold her and you deal with that.”
 
She pointed at the centerpiece of the less than delightful new memory.
 

╣ Chapter 15 ╠

           
The story of the dog and the batteries went over well with Meredith’s family that night, even if it wasn’t terribly appropriate dinner conversation.
 
She arrived home in good spirits and pulled the page from the church bulletin out of her bag, the one Jenna had given her over lunch.
 
She couldn’t wait much longer to broach the subject with Greg and still have any hope of getting a reservation.
 
But it felt funny to be holding the suggestion as he walked in, like she was waiting to pounce or something.
 
There was no need to be overly aggressive.

           
An idea struck and Meredith raced up the stairs.
 
She put the page on the bed next to where she had taken off her church clothes, planning to “notice” it when they were getting ready for bed.
 
She could mention it very casually.
 
The sound of the garage door seeped through the
floor,
it could probably use some WD-40, and told her that Greg was home.
 
Her stomach fluttered as though she was about to approach a cute boy at a party and she made it back to the living room just in time to meet him at the door.
 
Immediately, she recognized the church bulletin in his left hand.

           
“Hi.” He smiled at her.

           
“Hey.”

           
“That was a pretty good dinner, huh?”

           
“Yeah.”
 
Why were they both so stiff?

           
“I can’t believe Ellie actually asked about your dress.”

           
“Uh-huh.
 
I’m starting to think she really doesn’t care and just wants to find a free dress.”

           
“Well, if I remember right, wedding dresses aren’t cheap.”

           
“True.”
 
The bulletin was folded open.
 
Had he gotten to the page with that ad?

           
“Would it be weird if she wore yours?”

           
“I don’t think so.”

           
“Hmm… hang on a sec.”
 
He unzipped his coat.
 
They had both been standing in the middle of the room and he now moved to the closet to put the coat away.
 
He held the bulletin in his teeth as he took it off.
 
Meredith watched closely, wondering why he wouldn’t put that bulletin down.
 
He fiddled with it for a moment, then brought it to the couch and sat down.
 
“Can I talk to you about something?”

           
He seemed to want Meredith to join him, but she didn’t like where this was going.
 
She hadn’t read the rest of the bulletin.
 
What were the chances he was going to bring up something else?
 
Or anything not related to the paper in his hands?

 
          
Her heart sank as he put the familiar page into her lap.
 
He pointed quickly and then began his speech.
 
“I was hoping you’d like to go to this with me.
 
We don’t have any plans for New Year’s and it might be fun to do something for a change.
 
Now I know how you feel about marriage counseling and it does say marriage enrichment, but it’s not like therapy or anything.
 
It’s just an excuse to do some things together.
 
And we could use those dance lessons you made me take for our wedding.
 
I mean, if I can remember anything.”

           
Meredith sat quietly.
 
This wasn’t right.
 
It was the second time today someone had tried to convince her of the merits of this idea.
 
But the point was for it to be her idea.

           
“So what do you think?”

           
“Umm…”
 
What did she think?
 
She hadn’t considered what it would be like to actually go to this event.
 
Its promise had been in what it might mean for her to suggest it.
 
And he had just taken that away from her.
 
She wanted to stall to collect her thoughts.
 
“It, uh, it says space is limited.
 
Do we know if we could go?”

           
“I already called, just to get some information, and the woman told me there was just one room left so I went ahead and booked it for us.
 
We can still cancel so that doesn’t mean we have to go, but I thought it was best to take it, in case I could convince you.”

           
Meredith felt cornered.
 
She also felt suddenly useless.
 
Making plans had always been
a strength
for her.
 
Did she not make a plan for her classroom each day?
 
And in that setting, she had no trouble adapting when things didn’t work out.
 
When
Aiden
put a bead up his nose, she hadn’t panicked for a moment.
 
Where was that kind of resiliency now?
 
What did she think?
 
While she was disappointed in not being able to suggest this, it did seem that agreeing to go could be a smaller, though still positive, step.
 
And it wasn’t as though she could say no just so she could ask him later.
 
But it was taking her an awfully long time to answer.
 
It was going to seem like he was dragging her along.
 
How helpful would that be?
 
Hoping to salvage the situation, she finally blurted, “I’m just surprised because I was thinking of suggesting this myself.”

           
“Oh?”
 
He looked… What
was
that look?
 
“So you’re okay if we go?”

           
“Well, you already signed us up and everything.”
 
That sounded snottier than she intended.

           
“I said we could cancel.”

           
“No, it’s fine.”
 
Fine!?
 
Fine was the answer of someone looking for a
fight.
 
She didn’t mean that kind of fine.
 
“I mean good.
 
It’ll be good.”

           
“I’m not trying to make you do this.”
 
It sounded like an argument, but his expression was more concerned than annoyed.
 
Meredith looked into his amazing eyes and felt herself in danger of forgetting every fight they had ever had.
 
She wanted to tell him how much she loved him and how she wanted more than anything to get through this rough patch.
 
She wanted to say a lot of things and couldn’t figure out why any of it was so difficult.
 
She sat silently and helplessly as he stood up.
 
He spoke softly as he left the room.
 
“The number is right there if you want to cancel.
 
I’ll just leave it up to you.”

           
Greg went upstairs and Meredith heard the shower running a few moments later.
 
He didn’t usually shower before bed.
 
Meredith took Katie outside and stood shivering in the backyard until her fingers were numb and she could think of nothing but the cold.
 
The relief was welcome.

╣ Chapter 16 ╠

           
Monday morning felt peculiarly like a Monday morning.
 
Meredith was on vacation and it was Christmas Eve.
 
There should not have been any reason to dread getting out of bed.
 
In fact, the pitiful whining coming from the nearby crate should have made staying in bed pretty unattractive.
 
But Meredith hadn’t slept well and she was having a little trouble rousing herself.
 
She noticed the shower running in the next room.
 
Greg had been still showering when she went to bed.
 
She couldn’t believe he needed another already.

           
Wait a minute!
 
She sat up quickly in bed.
 
Greg had been getting the dog up with him.
 
Why was she still in her crate?
 
Was it… it couldn’t be possible that the shower had been on all night.
 
It would have kept her up.
 
It was true she hadn’t slept well, but there had to be a more rational explanation.
 
Dark thoughts began creeping into her head and she tried to push them away.
 
A feeling that something was wrong here took hold of her and she could not shake it.
 
She sat frozen in place trying to listen for movement from the bathroom.
 
She couldn’t hear anything over the pathetic creature in the corner.
 
Katie had gotten more excited when Meredith sat up and she was now pawing the bottom of her crate.