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Honor said she’d love to have some help--proof that she wasn’t at all mean But by the end of Hadley’s first day, Honor asked Jack to come by her office She closed the door after hi straight to it
"Shit," he said "You sure? It’s only been a day"
"I thought she could start out by pickingsoreat She loves buying stuff And rearranging" Just last night he’d caught his shin on the coffee table, which Hadley had moved for the fourth time
"Well, she had other ideas" His sister fiddled with a pen
"Like what?"
"She wanted to redo our logo and every label on every bottle we sell Redesign the tasting roo in Italian "
Italianroo roo barwood from a tree that had fallen in a winter storm ten years back Blue slate floors Two stone fireplaces, post and beas
"She also thinks we should sheetrock the Cask Room, because the stone walls are--" Honor ’"
And the Cask Room was one of the best parts of the vineyard, an old stone cellar where the as aged in wooden barrels Tourists loved it
"I’d told her ere all set on those things, and she" Honor paused "Well, I think her feelings were hurt Youher flowers"
Flowers didn’t help Hadley was seething, stating over and over that Honor hated her and didn’t believe in her
"Honey," he said, "you have to understand that we all love Blue Heron We don’t want it to change New ideas are great, but--"
"But you don’t want new ideas!"
"Not an overhaul of everything, no The tasting rooly"
"Not according to our visitors," he said, his voice a little tight He paused "Honor knohat she’s doing, babe Maybe telling her to change everything on your first day wasn’t the best idea"
"Fine Take her side You always do"
Her feelings of being persecuted baffled him After all, his father called her sweetheart and always kissed her cheek and hugged her, Goggy beamed when Hadley made Jack show up at church each week, Pops told her she was the prettiest thing Manningsport had ever seen Faith sent her eave her the recipe for lemon pound cake, Jack’s favorite dessert, which al-Qaeda wouldn’t have been able to pry out of her Pru invited theood Hadley smelled, and Honorwell, okay, Honor didn’t like her But she never said anything that could even remotely be construed as impolite, not to Hadley, not to Jack
Granted, the first year of e was the hardest, everyone said And it wasn’t all bad, not at all There were moments when Jack couldn’t believe he had a ho literally skipped into his arms when he came home (sometimes) and who constantly told him how smart and handsome and wonderful he was Who put her head on his shoulder and told him that all her drea that for every nice thing she said or did, he was expected to reciprocate in triplicate, and Hadley was definitely keeping score One night, they went out to dinner to a really nice place in Corning, but Hadley barely spoke to hiht went on, refusing to anshen he asked rong Finally, and only after they’d gotten ho a new black dress When he pointed out that she owned quite a few black dresses (eight, to be precise, he counted later), she slammed the door so hard a picture fell off the wall
She had an endless need to be complimented If he said she looked pretty, she’d pout until he said beautiful or gorgeous or sexy She’d ask if he noticed anything different about her, and God help hiuess it was a new perfume or a different shade of pink on her toenails, because she’d accuse hih he often brought flowers ho down his pockets to see if had anything else for her The thing was, she h, the one exception being her engage for an anniversary ring--a sapphire-and-dia to the website she showed hiain, there were days when she’d tell hih, and her eyes would dance, and he’d feel this almost painful pressure in his chest, because this was the way he’d always thought it could be Sometimes she’d call hiht bake cookies and bring them down, still warm from the oven, for him and Dad and Pops
And, certainly not least of all, their sex life was fantastic Frequent, boisterous, interestingplannedraphed By her Hey, he wasn’t co It was just always a bit of a production
In four o to bed at the end of the day and make love to his wife Nor was he able to come home fro roo sex was frowned upon Lunchti as he let her know a day or two in advance so she could get ready Jack sort of thought that was his job, getting her ready, butwell It was okay Frequent and boisterous, those were good things
Still, itcandles Or scattering rose petals (he’d done that on their honey certain ht, and Jack would be asked to guess what that theme was
These productions required a special wardrobe for Hadley, as well--new lingerie and red-soled high-heeled shoes, or skihties, when all Jack really wanted was nudity
While it was great that she put so e, it was a bit And, yes, all the ht after he opened the Adorf?"
"Nope Not a
"When were you at Bergdorf Good up fro on the computer
"And what did you order?"
"A pair of shoes"
"What else?"