Roseanne, dressed in a simple black dress and chunky gold necklace, with her blonde hair brushed until it shone, felt impossibly nervous. She paced her downstairs lounge, her stomach twisted in so many knots it was just a tangle of wool. How long did it take to get from the airport, Roseanne thought mutinously, eyeing her watch for the hundredth time in ten minutes. Lisa'd texted from City over an hour ago. Surely Lisa should have been at Roseanne's house by now?
Roseanne poured herself another glass of water and returned to her pacing. What if Lisa'd been in a car accident? What if Lisa'd been racing to get to Roseanne, and something had happened? The very notion filled Roseanne with nausea. Roseanne couldn't imagine it, and so she didn't.
Another nerve-crippling twenty minutes later, her doorbell rang.
Roseanne sucked in a deep breath and began to move across the floor.
When she opened the door, and stared back at Lisa, Roseanne almost sobbed.
"What's happened to you?" Roseanne demanded, staring at Lisa in absolute horror.
Lisa must have lost half her body weight in the three weeks they'd been apart. Lisa's hair was long and disheveled not like Lisa's usual styled and tidied hair.
Roseanne stared at Lisa in total confusion. Lisa was dressed in a suit – that much was normal – but it was oversized on her newly slender frame. Lisa's skin was grey beneath her caramel tan, and dark bags were scored beneath her eyes.
Lisa's lips curled into a derisive half-smile. "What do you think?"
Roseanne continued to stare at Lisa, shock spiraling through Roseanne at Lisa's totally Un-Lisa appearance. "You look ill. Are you sick?"
Lisa let out a harsh bark of laughter. "You could say that."
Roseanne's heart turned over. "Oh, God, Lisa, what is it? Tell me now. Tell me what's wrong." The thought of something being wrong with Lisa filled her with such total, gut-wrenching despondency that Roseanne could hardly think.
Lisa felt odd. Light headed. Lisa tried to remember when she'd last eaten. It could have been the day before. Or the day before that? Lisa knew Anna had been bringing her food, but she'd had little time nor interest in it. Lisa leaned against the door jamb, feigning nonchalance to cover the sudden wave of exhaustion.
Lisa was pretty sure she looked like shit, going from Roseanne's reaction. If anything, the opposite could be said of Roseanne. Roseanne looked... stunning. Lisa's groin tightened in reaction to the nearness of Roseanne, as Lisa scanned Roseanne's glowing face, her beautiful eyes, her long, fair hair, and her beautiful body. God, Lisa'd missed her.
"Can I come in?"
Roseanne nodded. "Of course." As Lisa moved inside Roseanne's home, Roseanne wondered if she should put an arm around Lisa's waist. Lisa looked in need of support. "Are you drunk?" Roseanne blurted out, thinking it could explain the way Lisa seemed a little unsteady on her feet.
Lisa laughed again, that same sound of gravelly disbelief. A hoarse noise of dissent. "No, Roseanne, I'm not drunk." Lisa'd been through that phase. The first week after Roseanne'd left her – again – Lisa'd spent solidly examining the bottom of a bottle of Whisky. Work had become her new obsession, and Lisa'd hardly left her office in the last two weeks.
Lisa moved into the lounge room and remained standing. "Your place looks different."
Roseanne nodded, and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. "I sold it today."
Lisa stood very still. "You're moving?"
"Yes."
"Where to?"
YOU ARE READING
THE INNOCENT WIFE
RomanceI DO NOT OWN THIS BOOK She walked out on their marriage but that didn't mean that she stopped loving her... G!P. This is a converted book.
