Behind Closed Doors by Kimberla Lawson Roby Page A

bad day, but Regina wished she would cut it out. “You should be buying one yourself. You never know when Mr. Right might come along.”
    “Girl, please. It’s like I told you a couple of days ago, that’s never going to happen.”
    “Don’t be so negative. I mean, look at me, I found the perfect husband two years ago, but before I met Larry, I had the same attitude you’ve got right now. You just have to have a little faith is all.”
    “I’ve had faith all along, but as you can see, it hasn’t gotten me anywhere. You’re just one of the lucky ones. There aren’t a lot of Larrys out there.”
    Regina spotted a paisley robe with mixtures of red in it and pulled it off the rack. “Yeah, I am blessed to have a good husband, but I can’t believe he’s the only one. As a matter of fact, I know he’s not the only one, because John is definitely the ideal husband. Karen couldn’t have made a better choice if she had planned it.”
    “And I’ll bet that’s the only other man you can think of, too.”
    “You just have to be patient. If I’d rushed into marrying someone that wasn’t right for me, there’s no telling what I might be going through right now.” Regina glanced at her watch and saw that it was a few minutes past seven-thirty. “Girl, I didn’t know we’d been in here this long. I wanted to get this stuff home and put away before Larry made it back, but by now, I’m sure he’s already gotten there. There’s no way I can let him see any of this, because he knows I only buy outfits like this when I’m planning to go away somewhere.”
    “Just tell him you were out shopping. He doesn’t have to know what for, and all you have to do is throw the stuff in the trunk until tomorrow.”
    “Yeah, I guess that’s the only choice I have anyway. I’m going over to the checkout counter, so I can get everything rung up. But you can keep looking around if you want to.”
    “I’ll be over in the shoe department. Just come over there when you’re finished, and then we’ll leave.”
    Regina passed her selections over to the smiling, blond cashier and watched her scan each of the price tags. Her situation wasn’t as bad as she’d thought. Nothing was like being alone and trying unsuccessfully to find the right man to settle down with. She felt sorry for Marilyn. And one thing was for sure, she wasn’t about to go back to living her life like that. All she needed to do was put some fire back into her marriage. And this “skimpy little nightgown” was going to help her do just that.

CHAPTER 7
    I T WAS ALREADY 8 A.M but Regina was still rushing around the bedroom trying frantically to finish packing. She couldn’t believe it had only been a week and a half ago that Larry had first told her about his business trip. Her plane was leaving at noon and she wanted to be at the airport at least ninety minutes earlier. Now, she wished she’d taken one of the later flights. But at the time, it just hadn’t seemed logical to spend two hundred dollars more when all she really had to do was get her lazy butt up a little earlier than usual. Not to mention the fact that she would’ve had to hear Larry throwing a pissy fit when he received the American Express statement at the end of next month.
    She unzipped the garment bag hanging on the bedroom door, walked into the closet, and took down the items she’d picked up from the cleaners two days ago: asleeveless red linen dress, a medium blue after-five pantsuit, and an off-white London Fog trench, just in case it got cool.
    Next, she removed the shorts set she’d purchased last year from Lord & Taylor’s end-of-the-season sale. Usually, she took twice as many clothes as she needed, but she didn’t see a reason to do that this time. All she was going to need for this particular weekend were the three nighties lying over there on the edge of the bed.
    She picked up the black lacey one, folded it, and placed it neatly inside the left end of the suitcase. She