A Safe Distance

There was something about Joanna Fox that rubbed Ellie Barrett the wrong way. It wasn't just because Joanna was slim and athletic while Ellie was, well, not. It wasn't even that Joanna was a competitive freak who constantly pitted her daughters against Ellie's. What really bugged Ellie were the wolfish stares Ellie's difficult husband Martin threw Joanna's way and the pathetic school-girl-crush expression Joanna wore whenever Martin was around. But Ellie was being silly. Martin would never. Right?

Joanna Fox had a solid marriage and her husband was kind, hardworking and dependable. Nothing like her charming neighbor Martin Barrett who, honestly, wasn't half the man her husband was. But there was something about Martin that drew Joanna in, again and again. It had to end. Once and for all. Didn't it?