Free Redemption For Two by Tobias Tanner Page B

you can just forget about it.”
    He felt like an idiot, having to concede all that, but even irresponsible idiots could learn new tricks. And he found that he really did want to take responsibility for their finances, and for other things, too. It was his job. Had been all along, and he hadn’t been very good at it.
    “Why are you doing this?” Sandy asked, watching him.
    “I want to be better,” he said. “You know, like Jack Nicholson said to Helen Hunt in that movie. You make me want to be a better man.”
    “You are a good man,” she said, bending forward to grip his hand in hers. “Honey, I’ve never thought otherwise.”
    Oh, yeah, Mickey thought, flashing on Linus Davidson and who the hell knew how many men before him? He wanted to ask her. Make her tell him how many times she’d slipped off with someone else during their life together. He had his suspicions. Looking back, he thought it might be three, with two more possibilities. Five guys including their high school days and the six years of their marriage. And here Mickey was making excuses, when he ought to be kicking her ass, or walking out the damned door. He looked over at Cindy on the couch, the three year old light of his life, and then he looked back at Sandy.
    “It’s time,” he said finally. “Past time, maybe.”
    She blinked. “Not past time,” she whispered. “Just tell me what you want, Mickey. All you have to do is talk to me. It doesn’t matter what about.”
    Mickey drank more coffee and put the cup down again. Sandy released his other hand and propped her elbows on the table with her chin resting in her upturned palms. She had on a white blouse, unbuttoned and knotted under her breasts, and the position deepened her cleavage so that was about all he could see for the moment.
    “Stop that,” he said. “I can’t concentrate.”
    “Really?” She smiled at that.
    “Yes, really.”
    She sat back again and Mickey wondered how to tell her what he was really thinking. He was engaged again, but it was different this time. He was like anyone else. It was necessary to feel strong and confident, but he wanted her to depend on him. To trust him. He wanted her to need him, and above all, to trust him. And he wanted more than anything to be the man she could do that with, and do it without reservation.
    One day, he would have to tell her about venting his rage on Linus Davidson. Not because of any catholic need on his part for confession or absolution, but because he didn’t like lying to her, even by omission. And because he wanted her to know how strongly he felt, and maybe, just a little, about how dangerous he could be. There was something about that inside, a straightening of the spine, the strong pulse of hot blood, the hardness of his cock – something tangible and provocative.
    “Just tell me,” she said softly, looking very directly at him.
    “I want you to be mine again,” he said then. “All of you, like it was when we started. And I want to deserve you.”
    Tears spilled from Sandy’s eyes, but that was all. She turned away so that Cindy wouldn’t see her and after a minute got up without saying anything then went into the bedroom and closed the door. Mickey let her go.

Chapter Eleven
    They went back to the Bob Graham beach on Sunday morning and took Cindy along. Sandy wouldn’t wear the black bikini, choosing something with a tropical print, instead. The bottoms tied at her hips and Mickey teased her because the one she insisted on was actually a little smaller and more revealing than the black one. She treated that dose of logic with serene indifference.
    Watching her picking up seashells with Cindy was worth the effort. They ate hot dogs at from the concession stand for lunch, and Mickey paid for them with cash, which felt pretty good considering how empty his pockets had been for two months.
    When it got too hot, they went home. Sandy took the little one in for a shower, and then went to Cindy’s room. Her