A Perfect Marriage by Laurey Bright Page B

and-and strong."
    So everyone thought, Celine supposed. What a boring, predictable couple they must have appeared, even to their own families. "Maybe that was the problem," she said aloud. "Max wanted something different."
    "Max?" There was a blank silence. "I thought that you-"
    "No." Why should I take the blame? Celine decided rebelliously. His family, at least, could know the truth. Or a part of it. "It was Max's idea," she said, "to separate. I... went along with it."
    "Oh. Oh, Celine, I'm so sorry!"
    Celine winced. Pity was the last thing she needed. Maybe she should have let well enough alone.
    Michelle rushed on. "What's the matter with him?"
    "I think he's ... bored. He wants a bit of freedom, I suppose.
    "Freedom? Bored? Max?" "Lots of men do it."
     
    "Yes, but Max? And to do it to you! How could he, the pig! Next time I see my brother, I'll put a flea in his ear!" "Michelle-"
    "How dare he !"
    "Michelle-"
    "Doesn't he know how lucky he is? Men! I could kill him."
    "Michelle, please!" Half laughing, but fighting tears, Celine broke into the diatribe. "Don't!" she begged. "I don't need you to fight my battles for me. Truly. We... we're working it out. The last thing I want is a rift between Max and his family."
    Michelle sighed. "I suppose the two of you just sat down and had a calm discussion and decided to part? You wouldn't even have a row about that, would you?"
    Celine admitted, "I guess it was something like that." She recalled Max formally thanking her for taking it so well. At least she'd kept some dignity.
    Michelle said darkly, "I'd box Tony's ears if he did it to me."
    Celine couldn't help a little laugh. "I know you would. But I'm not you, and Max isn't Tony. I'm sure that Tony wouldn't-" He adored Michelle, a fact that was obvious to everyone. They quarrelled sometimes, often noisily on Michelle's part, but the sparks soon died.
    "He'd better not," Michelle said grimly. "I don't know what's come over my brother! Celine-"
    Dreading the question, Celine took a deep breath.
    "-it's not another woman, is it?"
    Celine closed her eyes, letting the breath out. "Ask Max," she said.
    "You don't know?" Michelle guessed sceptically. "I don't suppose he'd tell me if there was," she added.
    She'll find out in due time, Celine thought. But that was up to Max.
    He called her two days later. "If it wouldn't inconvenience you," he said, "I'd like to collect some books and a   few other things this evening." He was talking like a lawyer.
    Celine said graciously that it wouldn't inconvenience her. "In case we're not here," she said, "you still have your keys, don't you?"
    Of course he did. "When I've removed the rest of my stuff," he promised, "I'll hand the keys over to you."
    "The house is still half yours."
    "Yes, but-well, we can sort that out when the time comes," he said. "I can make over my half into your name."
    What would Kate think of that? she speculated. But Kate, of course, had a well-paid job of her own. Celine suspected that Max imagined her interior design business was a source of no more than pin money. He'd never enquired how much she earned from it. If she took it on full-time, she supposed she'd be able to support herself adequately.
    She asked her father if he'd care to go to a film. Ted shook his head, then seemed to think better of it. "Do you want to go out?" he asked, suddenly alert. "Shall we find out what's on, then?"
    He made a show of studying the entertainment pages of the paper in his hands, and asking her what she wanted to see. Touched, she chose a film at random. At least she didn't have to tell him that Max was coming round and she simply wanted to avoid meeting him.
    The film wasn't what she'd have chosen if she'd been thinking about it. It was a thriller concerning a jealous woman who stalked and killed her husband's lover. Celine found herself in some sympathy with the villainess.
    The film was over earlier than she'd expected. When they came home Max's car was parked in the drive. She