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Deleted scenes from upcoming work-in-progress. Pregnant newlywed, Lenore Porter, believes the romance has already left her marriage.
She made so many mistakes.
While trying to give her sons the best life possible, Lenore Porter had misjudged her own situation. By first ignoring Ranard, and subsequently divorcing him, Lennie felt she kept her focus on her boys at all times. But were they her true focus?
Lennie buried her face in her hands as her heart screamed the truth.
It was a lie.
Her commitment as a mother couldn’t be denied, but Lennie floundered as a wife… and as a woman.
In the early days when they were dating, Ranard was always so attentive… always holding her hand or stroking her hair. When they became intimate, he couldn’t seem to get enough of her. The sex wasn’t mind-blowing compared to her past relationships, but Lenore cared deeply for the awkward young man and reveled in his constant attention.
The young couple found out Lennie was pregnant with Duncan a few months into the marriage. Their lovemaking all but stopped. With all the changes in her body and hormones racing, Lennie read books, crawled through the Internet, and daydreamed of new ways to seduce her husband. A few times the seduction worked, but more often than not, a rejected Lenore Porter would leave their bedroom in tears finding solace in the guest bedroom or on the living room sofa.
Ranard would offer a heartfelt apology the next morning, with promises of candlelight dinners, followed by slow, passionate lovemaking. Frustrated, Lennie would feign forgiveness and end up the one place she felt the most calm — her parent’s home.
— -
The two women worked together in silence on opposite sides of the large kitchen island. Linda Kelimore stirred the peach filling, tasting and adding more sugar, while Lennie readied the dough pockets for the fried pies.
“I’m pretty sure that dough is sorry.”
Lennie paused from punching and rolling the dough and frowned.
“Huh? What?” She looked down at the pastry dough on the floured counter. “Sorry for what?”
“For whatever it did to make you abuse it like that,” Linda smirked. “We’ve made fried pies together dozens of times, and I can’t remember you ever punching the dough down so many times. “
Lennie’s face heated hearing her mother’s words. Laying the rolling pin aside, she wiped her hands and grabbed a bottled water from the fridge. After several sips, she looked pointedly at her mother.
“Is it normal for married couples to not have sex?”
Linda continued stirring the large pan of fruit but regarded her daughter with an understanding smile.
“Yes, it is.”
Eyes widening, Lennie sat the bottle of water on the counter and leaned toward Linda Kelimore.
“Are you messing with me, Mom? How is it normal?”
Covering the pot with a lid, Linda removed it from the stove top burner and set it aside to cool.
“Marriage is between two people, honey. Two flawed, imperfect people who make mistakes, forget special dates, and can sometimes be incredible pains-in-the-ass.” Linda chuckled at her own comment. “So much goes on in life’s day-to-day routine, of course, there will times when sex isn’t even a consideration.”
Lennie’s expression blanched, her eyes wide in disbelief. “I guess… I… never really thought about it that way.”
“Of course, you didn’t. You’re a young woman. A newlywed chasing the happily-ever-after.” Her eyes flared to match the wicked grin on her face. “You’re still living in the days of your husband rushing in from work, ripping your clothes off, and taking you right in the middle of the living room floor.”
Horrified, Lennie backed away from the counter, holding her hands up in front of her. “Enough, mom! This just got awkward!”
Linda popped from around the island counter, dancing toward her daughter. “How is this awkward, sweetie? We’re just two old married ladies discussing life!” Wiggling her eyebrows, the older woman gracefully slid from side to side, dropped into a squat and bounced back up, perfectly executing the Cabbage Patch.
Brushing off her mother’s previous statement, Lennie grinned. “Wow, mom! Didn’t know you could still move like that! You got some moves!”
Still dancing to the music in her head, Linda twirled gleefully, melting away the years. “Thank you, sweetie! You know your dad and I always loved to dance. That man really has the moves on… and off the dance floor.”
Screaming, Lenore Porter clamped her hands over her ears. “Mom! TMI! TMI! This conversation is over!” She watched her mother dance in her direction. Lennie turned and fled from the kitchen in a very quick waddle.
Laughing to herself, eyes still on the door her pregnant daughter just hurried through, Linda plopped down on a counter bar stool to catch her breath. She was proud of her performance. She succeeded in taking Lennie’s mind off her troubles… if only for a little while.
Linda wasn’t a fan of Ranard Porter. Honestly, she didn’t like him and felt he was not the man her daughter needed. But it wasn’t her call. Lennie chose and married him. In a few weeks, the young couple would be new parents. No matter what her personal feelings were, Linda would never do anything to hurt her oldest child.
And Ranard had better not either.
