Free Two for Kate by Lola Wilder Page A

don't know how much more of this I can take."
    Kate frowned, but didn't respond. It was bad enough they had been
arguing so much at home, but the last thing she wanted was to get into another
shouting match out in public. She could read his mood clearly and his twitching
temple meant he was on the verge of blowing his stack.
    "David..." Kate said, low and soft.  
    When he didn't respond, she reached across the table for his hand
and felt him flinch when she put her hand on his. He shot her a look of
disgust, like anything he’d ever felt for her was gone. She pulled her hand
away and tried to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes and threatening to
spill down her cheeks. She remembered when just looking at one another would
send sparks between them. In those first years of marriage, they would get a
small booth at the back of the deli specifically so they could snuggle and feed
one another food between kisses. But those days were long gone now; that was
evident from the cold look in David's eyes when he looked back at her.  She
wondered if even liked her, let alone if he was still in love with her.  She
was starting to feel more like some problem that needed to be tolerated, rather
than the woman he supposedly loved, the woman he once wanted over everything
else.
    Kate drew her hand back sharply. She hated feeling this way and
hated even more that she apparently was the reason her husband was so
miserable. Maybe it really was over. Maybe she was just holding onto something
they had lost a long time ago. That thought made her stomach sink and a wave of
nausea washed over her.
    She used the cloth napkin to dab at her eyes, trying not to meet
his gaze for fear that one look at the disgust in his eyes would make her burst
into tears in the middle of the restaurant. But she couldn't help herself. She
stole a glance at him and for the first time in a long time, she saw that his
expression had softened slightly, although she wasn't sure whether it was love
or pity.
     
    Just when she thought she saw him start to move, to lean in and
take her hand, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He paused for a moment but
like usual, David was a slave to his job, and when he plucked his phone out of
his jacket to answer it, Kate knew the tiny moment of reconciliation between
them had passed and she had no idea how long it would take, if ever, for them
to get it back.
    Once she realized his call was work related she tuned it out and
focused on watching all the people in the café. After a few minutes, she
shifted her attention to checking Pinterest on her phone.  She pinned a
few pictures on coconut oil and makeup tips before she realized that they had
become “that couple” in a restaurant. They were the couple they always
swore they’d never be: too bored with each other to even bother having manners,
turning their attention instead to their cell phones. This realization
bothered her so deeply that she decided to take a stand and turned her phone
off.  My marriage might be falling apart, but I refuse to be that
couple, she thought to herself. About the same time, David abruptly ended
his phone call, pushed his chair back and stood up.
    "Look, I have to get back to the station."
    "Mmm-hmm." Kate tried to put on a polite smile but she
knew he could see right through her.
    He stood there awkwardly for a moment, obviously torn between
whatever crisis had come up at the station and their crisis that had been going
on at home for months. 
    "Look, Katie..." he said quietly.
    She looked up at him. The longer this rift had continued to grow
between them, the more formal he’d been with her, and the fact that he’d just
now called her Katie for the first time in months gave her a glimmer of hope.
    She tried to manage a weak smile, but when his phone vibrated
again, David cursed under his breath, leaning over to give her an obligatory
kiss on the top of her head before turning to leave. "I'll see you tonight."
    Watching her husband storm off,