"Yes," Gloria replied. "We are very grateful to have them to start over with." They were in the kitchen preparing the Christmas meal: standing rib roast, of course, roasted rosemary potatoes, cheddar and chive biscuits, sauteed spinach with garlic and toasted almond slivers, cranberry and hazelnuts on a salad of baby greens with honey Dijon dressing, and dark chocolate pots de creme for dessert.
They chopped, sliced, minced, and diced as they caught up with each other's lives. "I'm sorry to hear about Fred," Gloria offered.
"Don't be. He was an ass."
"But you were together for - what? - twenty years?"
"Twenty-two. And you would think I could learn to love him for who he is in that time, wouldn't you?" Ginger laughed.
Ginger was a professional dancer when she and Fred met but she gave up her career to be with him. Fred was what they called a Player. Most likely, he still was but Ginger managed to overlook the signs. Fred was overly friendly with neighbors of the female persuasion, which Ginger, in her denial, consigned to thinking of as merely neighborly.
"Fred had his faults..." Ginger said.
"Who doesn't?"
"...but he was a slave to his phone. He would text while I was talking to him. Drove me mad. Phone calls, e-mail, text - if it came over on his goddamn phone, that took priority. Over everything. Over me. Didn't matter if we were out to dinner, or in bed."
"Even in bed?"
"Well, no. He was attentive in bed. But that's not my point."
"So what happened?"
"I told him I wanted to go to Belize for Christmas." Ginger was seasoning the beef.
"And?"
"It was Sunday, and I was making stew. Fred was watching football and fiddling with his phone. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said 'Belize.' And then, later, I told him I needed him to run to the store for a couple things and his filter kicked in."
"My husband has that filter, too." Gloria laughed. "Somehow, no matter what I say, all my husband hears is, 'Blah blah blah sex blah blah.'"
The roast was in the oven and they were melting the chocolate in the double boiler.
Ginger let out a sigh. "Apparently, 'Belize' sounds like 'bay leafs'."
Gloria asked, "And that's it?"
"Yes, that's it."
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