The Marriage Mender by Linda Green Read Free Book Online

walk across hot coals in bare feet than be entering my room, about to bare their souls.
    It was a close call but, of the two of them, he looked more apprehensive. It didn’t surprise me. He was of a certain age. One thing you learnt pretty quickly was that men over sixty were probably the least comfortable discussing their emotions. And yet the expression on her facesuggested she hadn’t dragged him here against his will either. She was trying hard to smile through the pain, but there was no doubt that was what it was.
    I smiled at them. My comforting, reassuring ‘It’s OK, I’m not going to eat you’ smile. I pushed a strand of loose hair back behind my ear and extended my hand to each of them in turn.
    ‘Mr and Mrs Crossley, pleased to meet you. I’m Alison Bentley. Is it OK if I call you by your first names?’
    They both nodded. I gestured to them to take a seat. Bob let her sit down first, then pulled his grey slacks up slightly as he lowered himself into the easy chair.
    ‘Now, I’ve had a look through the notes my colleague passed on, so I know a bit about the background to this. But I’d like to go through it with you, to make sure you’re happy with everything and we’re all agreed about how things stand.’
    I looked up. Neither of them said anything. I carried on.
    ‘Right. So you’ve been married thirty-six years and have one daughter, Cassie, who’s thirty-three.’
    I glanced up and saw Jayne swallow. Bob nodded, so I continued.
    ‘You’ve both recently retired – Bob from your job as a sales rep and Jayne from yours as a part-time hotel receptionist. You say the problems in your relationship mainly stem from your daughter’s decision to emigrate to Australia.’
    Jayne started crying. Small tears that rolled delicately down her cheeks and plopped on to her pleated skirt. Bobshifted in his seat for a moment, took a tissue from the box on the table between them and leant forward to pass it to her. Jayne took it, removed her glasses and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.
    ‘Please, don’t apologise for crying in here. I’m used to it. It’s why the tissues are there. I understand that this is really difficult for you. Take all the time you need.’
    She sniffed, a small, delicate sniff, and dabbed at her eyes some more. I glanced at Bob. He was looking down at his hands, his shoulders hunched. I waited a while longer.
    ‘Are you OK for me to go on?’
    Jayne nodded and put her glasses back on.
    I turned to Bob. ‘When did Cassie announce she was going to emigrate?’
    He cleared his throat before speaking. ‘Two months ago. She met a chappie from Sydney, see. Through work, it were. Always been a bit of a career girl, our Cassie. Never thought she’d want to settle down. Never thought she’d go off to another country either, but there you go.’
    ‘And understandably you’ve both found that really hard,’ I said. ‘Have you been able to talk to each other about how you feel?’
    Bob opened his mouth to say something and then looked down at his hands again.
    ‘It’s not Bob’s fault. It’s me who can’t talk about it,’ said Jayne. ‘It’s me who’s finding it difficult. That’s why we’re here.’
    ‘Right,’ I said. ‘Are you able to explain how it’s made you feel?’
    She looked down at the tissue, which was scrunched up in her hands. ‘Empty,’ she said. ‘Bereft, really.’
    I nodded. ‘Thank you, Jayne. And Bob, no doubt you’ve found this tough too.’
    ‘I’ve done everything I can,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t seem to be enough, though. I’m at a loss to know what to do.’ He shrugged.
    Jayne started crying again.
    Sometimes people came to me and they behaved so badly towards each other that, if they were characters in books, I really wouldn’t have cared if they stayed together or not. I still helped them, of course, I was always professional. But, if I was brutally honest, I didn’t have too much invested in it. And