Unholy Matrimony Read Online Free

paper around her set the way she normally did to preserve it but tidied her hair instead. Besides, she had an appointment at the Clip and Curl to get it done for the wedding.
    Her old nightgown with the hole under the arm was hanging on the hook on the back of the bathroom door. Lucille left it there and tiptoed into the bedroom. Frank was already stretched out in bed, his eyes half closed. Lucille quietly opened her dresser drawer and took out the fancy chiffon nightgown Frankie had given her for her birthday a couple of years back. She hardly ever wore it, what with it needing to be washed separately and then air dried instead of being dumped into the dryer with the rest of the clothes.
    Lucille carefully slipped it over her head. Feathers lined the low, scooped neckline, and for a second Lucille thought she was going to sneeze. She pressed a finger under her nose and stifled it. She caught a glimpse of herself in the bedroom mirror and frowned. Maybe she’d better dim the lights a little.
    Lucille slipped under the covers and scooted across the bed until she was pressed up close to Frankie. He grunted.
    “Frankie,” Lucille said in her most seductive voice as she ran her fingers up and down his back.
    No answer.
    “Frankie,” Lucille said a little more loudly as her fingers wandered around to all the places she knew he liked.
    Frank inched away from her. “Go to sleep, Lucille. I’m tired, okay?”
    Stunned, Lucille inched over to the other side of the bed and clutched the covers to her chest. What on earth had gotten into Frankie? Normally it took next to nothing to get him interested.
    She remembered earlier that evening how he’d avoided her kiss. Wasn’t he attracted to her no more? Maybe she ought to talk to that plastic surgeon Flo had started working for. And go back on her diet.
    She’d never had to worry about stuff like that before. Frankie had always been hot for her no matter what—even when her hair needed doing or she was dressed in the old sweats she wore to clean the house.
    Thoughts went around and around in Lucille’s head, keeping her awake till way past midnight.

Chapter 3
     
     
    Lucille’s alarm went off at seven o’clock. She desperately wanted to turn over and go back to sleep, but with the wedding at two p.m. there was no time to waste. She was surprised to find herself wearing her special occasion nightgown, as she thought of it, but then the events of the evening before came flooding back. She glanced at the bed. Frankie was still asleep, one foot stuck outside the covers. He always said he was too hot with both feet under the blankets. Lucille couldn’t imagine what difference it made, but it was one of those things that made Frankie Frankie.
    She was tempted to wake him—just to see if she could stir a little something up. But she was scared. What if he rejected her again? She couldn’t understand it—it wasn’t like they’d had some kind of argument or anything. But even then, she’d never known Frankie to turn away.
    Lucille decided to leave well enough alone. She pulled on her bathrobe and went downstairs to make the coffee.
    It was kind of nice sitting in the kitchen all by herself. Louis and Millie hadn’t surfaced yet, and Bernadette was still asleep. She slept a lot these days, probably on account of the pregnancy. Come to think of it, she used to sleep a lot before getting pregnant. The only time Lucille could remember Bernadette not wanting to sleep was when she was three months old.
    Lucille sat at the table with her cup of coffee and a slice of coffee cake. She’d been trying to diet so as to fit into a smaller size for the wedding, but it hadn’t gone very well. Now it didn’t matter with the wedding only a few hours off.
    She was picking the crumbs off her plate and contemplating a second piece when she heard footsteps on the stairs, and Bernadette sidled into the room. She opened the refrigerator and stood in front of it, idly scratching her