Free Marriage Matters by Cynthia Ellingsen

“I’m happy you’re back. And . . .” Her hazel eyes danced behind thick black-framed glasses. “I have something to tell you that will just smack you across the face.”
    Kristine laughed. “That sounds awful.”
    “Oh, it’ll smack you in a good way,” Annie promised. After nodding at Sara, one of their college helpers, she said, “Have some coffee with me.”
    Intrigued, Kristine followed Annie to the sunken area of the store with the purple velvet couch and coffee display. Slipping off her sandals, Kristine tucked her legs underneath her. The soft velvet of the couch was cozy as a blanket and she yawned.
    “Wild night?” Annie joked, pouring them both a cup of coffee.
    “You know me.” Kristine kept her voice light. “As wild as they come.”
    “Give yourself more credit.” Annie passed over a full mug. “You could be wild if you wanted to.” After adding sugar to her coffee, she eyed the display table. “Should we have some cake?”
    “Yes,” Kristine said automatically. “Without a doubt.”
    Each day, The Places You’ll Go set out complimentary coffee cake from the bakery next door. They spent a good part of each day debating whether or not to eat it or skip it. Considering the selection today was a crumbly pastry covered in powdered sugar, Kristine was not going to let today be a skip-day.
    “Decadent
and
messy.” Kristine laughed as crumbs spilled down her turquoise button-up shirt. “Okay, so tell me.” Brushing the crumbs into her hand, she made a neat little pile on a napkin. “What’s this big news?”
    “Well . . .” Annie raised a pierced eyebrow. “One of our fabulous employees entered The Places You’ll Go in the Valiant Travel essay competition. And . . .” She paused dramatically. “We
won.
”
    Kristine gasped. “You’re kidding!”
    Valiant Travel was a well-known online travel site. People from all over the world visited to voice compliments or complaints about hotels, airlines and tour companies. Kristine always encouraged her customers to post their travel clips. It was rewarding, somehow, to watch people she knew climb pyramids or cross a desert while carrying guidebooks from her store.
    “That’ll be some good publicity,” Kristine said excitedly.
    “Not just publicity.” Annie spoke into her coffee cup like it was a microphone. “The winning essay has won the owner of the store and the essay writer a weeklong, all-expenses-paid trip to . . .”
    “A trip?” Kristine’s heart started to pound. “Oh, my gosh. Really? Where?”
    “Rome.”
Annie bounced up and down. “Kristine, you finally get to go to Rome!”
    Kristine set her coffee cup on the table in surprise.
Rome?
She had wanted to go to Rome for years! But just like most of the fabulous foreign cities she ached to travel to, she had been saving it for the future, when she and Kevin could go together.
    “You’ll have to speak at some luncheon or something that Valiant is throwing.” Annie gripped her hands. “But the rest of the time is yours. We just got the message this morning. You’ll have to listen to it. I’m so excited for you.”
    “Wow,” Kristine said softly. She imagined what it would be like to see the Colosseum, to explore the ancient ruins. To drink Italian wine with . . . “Oh, wait. Who wrote the essay?”
    Annie raised a pierced eyebrow. “Ethan.”
    “Ethan?” Kristine was horrified. “No, no,
no.
”
    Flushing, Kristine remembered the moment when he’d linked his arm in hers. Traveling to the other side of the world with him was
not
a good idea.
    “What do you mean, no?” Annie squealed. “It’s yes! Just think, you can make him stand next to the statue of David and tell us all which one is better looking.”
    “David’s in Florence. And I always pictured him as a blond.”
    “Either way,” Annie said, taking a big bite of cake.
    Kristine shook her head. “I can’t do it.”
    “Do what? Rome?” Annie stared at her like she was the most