Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 73013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“Technically?” Rick asked. His voice seemed to have more curiosity in its tone than I had expected—or found to my liking. As if to confirm that something disquieting had arisen in him, he added, “I’m intrigued.”
Scott smiled enigmatically—as if he didn’t feel he could tell us everything about Rocky Falls, because of our youth, maybe, or because we hadn’t yet shown ourselves worthy of membership of some circle of initiates. I found the expression both irritating and, to my dismay, enticing.
“Of course you are,” Scott said. “Rocky Falls is a very intriguing place. The thing about the New Modesty, as you may know, is that Selecta gives local administrations a lot of freedom in how to implement the basic guidelines—you know, the traditional values stuff. In Rocky Falls that means that what happens in marriages like April and mine—and, if, say, you folks decided to settle down there, in a marriage like yours, where there’s a natural inclination toward the husband’s leadership role…”
I had just been thinking, only moments before, about how happy I felt to have found a guy who would take the lead in bringing home a nice big income. Hadn’t I? And yet I could feel how deeply my forehead had just creased at this older man’s supposition that Rick had—should have—a ‘leadership role’ in our relationship.
Scott had trailed off, and I realized with a new flush of heat to my face that it might have to do with me. As he spoke I had fixed my attention on the fading sunset, but when I turned back to him I saw that he was indeed looking at me, the ironic twist of his smile demonstrating, I thought with an anxious flip of my stomach, much too much comprehension of what lay hidden behind my eyes.
He went on, then, turning his attention to Rick, who didn’t seem to have noticed the pause.
“Well, in our town husbands guide their wives in certain particular ways that set us apart. That probably seems mysterious, but it’s all I can say in mixed company. If you’re interested, there’s a program you two could apply for to come and stay for a week in Rocky Falls and see what you think.”
I had turned back toward the mountains. The last light had nearly fled from the sky, so at least Scott and April—and Rick, even—couldn’t see the expression on my face, or, above all, the blazing hot blush in my cheeks.
What could Scott possibly mean? About the particular ways that he couldn’t talk about with women present? At least I knew Rick must feel as repelled as I did by the man’s arrogant idea that we must be like him and his wife because Rick had a few years on me.
Self-consciously I pulled away from Rick a little, not sure whether I wanted to show Scott that my husband and I didn’t have the same kind of ‘husband-led’ relationship he and April did, or I wanted to show Rick that he shouldn’t get any ideas from what this strange near-stranger had said. I froze as I felt my own husband, as if inspired by the other man’s insane talk about the virtues of his home town, tighten his grip around my shoulders rather than letting me go.
I absolutely did not want to look at the older couple on the other couch, and yet I did. I couldn’t tell whether Scott and April had noticed what had just happened—the little conflict that had just arisen between the newlyweds. I had the very uncomfortable feeling, though, that Scott didn’t miss much. When he spoke again, though, his voice sounded casual.
“Well, darling wife,” he said, looking over at April, “we’d best get along. You know what you’ve got coming before dinner.”
The conflict awoke in my mind again: one part of me demanding that I under no circumstances look at April’s reaction to what her husband had just said, another forcing me to turn my eyes to the wife’s face—and emphatically demonstrating its strength in the way I did look, unwillingly fascinated.
She had blushed deeply, and she had looked down at her hands, folded underneath Scott’s atop her knee.
“Yes, sir,” she said.
As Scott started to rise, I looked over at Rick, and found him returning my gaze. I swallowed very hard, trying to push down all the strange, conflicting emotions that had sprung up at the mortifying little scene. I expected my husband’s face to reflect the same embarrassment I felt at… at whatever this was that we had no choice but to witness between Scott and April.
Instead, I found him regarding me pensively, as if trying to figure something out. I frowned, but before I could make sure I had understood his expression correctly, Rick had turned back to the other couple.
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “Hope we’ll see you again.”