Free The War of the Roses by Warren Adler

and embracing the troubled girl. She waited until her caress soothed her.
    'Mom and Dad. They've decided to go their separate ways,' Eve said when she was able to speak.
    Ann, of course, knew what had happened. But the idea hadn't quite sunk in. It was the unthinkable incarnate. She continued to deny it to herself. No one is prepared for a suddenly realized fantasy. She began to feel the full impact of her guilt.
    'I'm sure it's temporary,' Ann said quietl y. Some secret, transient tension, she decided, not being privy to what really went on between them. 'Married people are always having spats/ She had never seen them raise their voices to each other.
    'Not a spat, Ann,' Eve said, finding her self-control. She seemed to be teetering on the edge of maturity. Such events, Ann knew, could be a catalyst, forcing adulthood. Eve sat on the edge of the sleigh bed and lit a cigarette, picking an errant tobacco crumb from her tongue.
    'It was a declaration of independence, Ann,' Eve said, clouds of smoke pouring out with her words. 'I didn't know who she was, although I knew what she meant. She said it wouldn't affect my relationship with Dad, that it was all going to be very civilized and understanding. She was sure of that.' Eve shook her head and sighed as Ann waited for her to continue. But what was the real reason? she wanted to ask. Eve seemed to read her mind.
    'She said it was her idea. She said that I was a woman and would be sure to understand. What she wanted was to be free to fulfill her own aspirations and didn't want to be an appendage anymore. She said Dad was strong and time would heal his hurt.' She looked up fiercely at Ann. 'I didn't know what she meant, so I asked her and she explained.' She paused and her face seemed bemused. 'I never knew she was "an appendage." For me, the worst part was the thought that she wasn't happy with Dad.'
    'Maybe he wasn't happy as well,' Ann blurted out, instantly sorry. In her heart she was fishing for another explanation.
    'She didn't say.'
    'I'm sure there are reasons on both sides.'
    'After she told me, I felt like I was in a car accident. I'm still in shock. I mean everybody, all my friends, even me, believed they had the best relationship of any married couple anywhere. The way they did things together. Doing all the things with this house.' Her voice rose and she mashed out her cigarette in a dish of paper clips. 'She asked me to understand, to try to understand. I said I'd try. But I lied. I don't understand this at all. What does she want to be free from?'
    Ann blew out a long gasp of air.
    'Well. . .' She was groping for words of explanation. 'Maybe it's too complex for us to understand.'
    'She has everything. Absolutely everything. And she's just started out on a great new business. Certainly we're no bother.'
    'Did she tell Josh?'
    'He got it first. But you know Josh. When something hurts, he goes off into the corner like a whipped dog. Just like Benny when Dad yells at him. I saw him leaning against the tree in front of the house, just bouncing his basketball. I knew something was wrong. But this?'
    'Have you discussed this with your father?'
    'He was long gone. He slept in the guest room last night. No, I haven't discussed it with him. I'm afraid to. Considering what he's just been through. Thinking he was dying and none of us coming up to be near him.'
    It had confused Ann as well. She had watched Barbara's initial agitation when she first got the news. Then, with uncommon speed, it subsided. She hadn't after all, heard the other end of the conversation and the way Barbara had gone about filling the casserole dishes with the cassoulet for the Paks one would have thought that Oliver had only a mild indisposition. 'He'll be fine,' Barbara had said, and she was right. 'It can't be a heart attack. He's too young. And the Roses have the genes of longevity.'
    'I can't blame him if he was upset,' Eve said. 'But I didn't expect her to be the one who . ..' She was obviously