Newlywed Games by Mary Davis

the roses back into the living room and set them on the table. As she did so, she heard Bruce say, “Where would you like to go, Mom? What do you most want to do in our fair city?”
    Her mother touched her fingers to her chest. “Me?” Bruce nodded. “Anywhere?” Bruce nodded again. “I would love to go for a nice, quiet drive somewhere. I’ve been cooped up too long. And it would give your housekeeper a chance to do her job in peace without an audience.”
    “Natalie’s here?” He gave Meg a quick look.
    She responded with a sharp nod.
    “That’s right. Today is her cleaning day.” He considered Meg thoughtfully.
    Before she could say anything, her mother rose and smiled at the two of them.
    “I’ll go change for our drive. You two decide where we’re going to go.”
    Meg watched her leave the room, then turned her gaze back to Bruce. She opened her mouth, but he cut her off.
    “I need to make a couple of quick calls while you ladies get ready.” With that he made a hasty exit.
    Meghann sat herself carefully in one of the dining room chairs and hunched over the table, cradling her forehead in her arms. Staring at her dim reflection in the shiny black table, she began making faces at herself to release some of the tension for the trouble she had caused everyone.
    Bruce joined her a few faces later. “Where’s your mom?”
    “She’s changing clothes,” she said dryly and raised her head.
    Mrs. Barr came out of the kitchen, heading for the bedroom.
    “Good morning, Natalie,” Bruce said.
    She gave them a stern look and a curt nod while continuing on her way.
    “You could have warned me you had a housekeeper coming!” Meg hissed at him once Mrs. Barr was out of earshot. “I didn’t know what to do.”
    He looked at her, exasperation evident on his face. “I tried, but you wouldn’t answer the phone. I called three times.”
    “That was you? How was I supposed to know?”
    “Pick up the phone,” he said gently.
    “I couldn’t just answer your phone.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because.”
    “Because why?” he asked pointedly.
    She squared her shoulders. “Because it wouldn’t be right. Because it could be awkward for you as well as for whoever is on the other line. Because it would be like snooping or prying.”
    “Your mother must have thought it a bit odd that you didn’t answer the phone.”
    “Well, what would someone think if they called you and a woman answered? What if your mother called?” She sniffed. “Unless women answer your phone all the time.” Where had
that
come from? She shouldn’t have said that but found she desperately wanted to know the answer.
    “I’m ready,” her mother said cheerfully, coming from the bedroom into the dining room, abruptly ending their conversation.
    Meg searched his face a moment for the answer. It wasn’t there. She would never know now because his love life was a subject she wasn’t going to bring up again. She hadn’t meant to say anything. It just shot out of her mouth. It really wasn’t any of her business. And the sooner she resolved herself to that fact, the better off they both would be.
    Bruce held the back door of his Infinity open for her mother, which blocked Meghann from getting in the front. After closing Mrs. Livingston’s door, Bruce hesitated opening Meghann’s door just long enough towhisper, “You are the only woman I’ve had in my apartment besides my own mother and Mrs. Barr.”
    He opened her door before she had a chance to respond. Her heart leapt with joy to know he didn’t entertain a lot of women up in his apartment, but that didn’t mean he didn’t date or have a girlfriend.
    They drove through the Garden of the Gods and spent over an hour at the visitor’s center.
    “Are you getting tired? Do you want to head back?” Bruce said to Meg’s mom.
    His concern and thoughtfulness for her mother’s well-being touched her. It seemed so genuine, so sincere, she couldn’t believe it was a part of maintaining