Freak Read Online Free Page B

has happened since we first tried to get married, darlin’. Tried being the operative word.”
    “So you’re having second thoughts?”
    “Of course not.” He fiddled with a jelly packet. “I love you. I want to be with you.”
    “But you just don’t want to marry me.”
    And then, just like that, Sheila felt it coming. Tears, hot and salty on her lower lids, threatened to spill over. She was horrified. This was not okay. Yelling in a restaurant was one thing; crying was another. Mortified, she touched her napkin to her eyes, hoping to cut the tears off at the pass.
    “That’s not it.” Morris reached over and touched her hand, alarmed. He knew his fiancée wasn’t a crier. “I asked you to be mine again, didn’t I? You know I never say anything I don’t mean.”
    “And yet we haven’t set a wedding date.”
    He hesitated. “I don’t think the timing is right.”
    “Oh God.” Sheila pulled her arm away. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks and she blotted furiously, aware that everyone was staring. Through the haze she could see their server standing in a corner with a bunch of other restaurant employees, looking over and whispering furiously. She was putting on a show, apparently. Well, too bad. They could stare all they wanted. “I’ve been suspecting you felt this way for a while now, but I never thought you’d say you didn’t want to marry me.”
    “But I didn’t say that!” Morris’s own frustration caused his naturally loud voice to become even louder. All chatter around them came to a complete stop. Great. Forget watching, now everybody in the restaurant was listening, too. “Don’t put words in my mouth, Sheila. I’m not saying never. I’m saying not now .”
    “Same thing.” Sheila’s voice was dull. She wiped under her eyes. Dark blotches of mascara were transferring to her cotton napkin, and she knew she probably looked smudgy andclownish. She didn’t care. All she could hear was that Morris didn’t want to marry her, and the realization that her deepest fear was coming true was more painful than anything she’d felt in a long time. She’d almost lost him once. She couldn’t believe it was happening again.
    “Why don’t we get our brunch to go?” Morris stared down an older couple at the next table who’d been watching them with great interest, and they finally looked away. “I feel like we’re in a fishbowl.”
    “We’re finishing our discussion here.”
    “Hon, people are staring—”
    “I don’t give a shit!” Sheila’s voice was high and shrieky. “Let them look.”
    An awkward silence passed between them. Morris picked at his food, but it was clear he’d lost his appetite. Sheila’s food stayed on her plate, untouched. Seconds ticked by like minutes. Slowly, the conversations around them resumed to normal levels. Finally Sheila leaned forward.
    “I thought we were working through everything that happened,” she said. “Or am I misreading things? I thought the counseling was helping us both. You know I’m in a good place.”
    “You’re in an amazing place. I’m so proud of you.”
    “Then what’s the problem? Talk to me. Tell me what you’re feeling.”
    Morris sighed and put his fork down. He reached for her hand once again. “I just . . . I think it’s too soon.”
    “It’s been a year since everything happened.”
    “Yes, and maybe we need another year.”
    Another year? He couldn’t be serious.
    “Are you still thinking about . . .” Sheila stopped, not actually able to speak the name that was on the tip of her tongue aloud.
    “Ethan.” Morris said it for her, his voice flat. “Yes, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about him. Maybe more than I should be.”
    “Because of Abby Maddox being all over the news right now? Because I thought we had worked through that. I know it takes time, but—”
    “Maybe the press has something to do with it, yeah.” Morris’s jaw clenched and he was looking away—both surefire