Chapter 10
“YOU SHOULD HAVE COME WITH ME,” Fen said when he picked up Bree for a Sunday afternoon of beach volleyball.
“Yeah, I haven’t read a fairy tale in a while,” she said as they drove off down the street in his Wrangler.
“Hey, fairy tales can be fun.”
“Well, yeah, ’cause you stop with the glass slipper. Nobody ever tells you about what happens when the king takes a mistress.”
“Not every man cheats,” Fen argued.
“Enough do.”
“Love how you lump us all together,” he grumbled.
She shrugged. “It’s what I’ve seen.”
“In your life, in your one corner of the world. It’s like judging an entire city by one sketchy neighborhood. Not logical.”
“It’s logical to protect yourself,” Bree argued.
“Yeah, from bad guys. But we’re not all bad, Bree. Look at my family. My parents have been married for thirty-three years and they’re still best friends.”
“They’re the exception, not the rule.”
“So, I guess, bottom line is, you have to make up your mind whether you’re gonna be the exception or the rule. I already know which one I’m gonna be.”
You say that now, but you can’t guarantee how you’ll act in five or ten years.
It would have been rude to let that thought loose. Fen was a good guy. But he was as human as the next, just as human as Gary, who’d wound up ruining their family.
“Nobody makes wedding vows expecting to break them,” she pointed out.
“Nobody gets up in the morning expecting to be in a car crash or get cancer. Life’s full of risk, Bree. You can’t hide from it all.”
No, but you could make sure you had your armor in place. “I’m not hiding from anything,” she insisted.
“Okay, if you say so,” he said.
“Can we drop the subject?” she snapped.
“Fine with me. Like my dad always says, just because you want someone to open a locked door it doesn’t mean they will.”
“Whatever that means.”
“I think you know. But hey, done talking about it. What did you get up to this weekend?”
Here was another less than desirable topic.
She’d done . . . nothing. Her Saturday had been as lackluster as her Friday.
Bree had called a couple other friends, looking for someone to hang out with but had struck out.
It seemed all her friends were either deep into serious relationships or starting them.
She’d liked to have gone clubbing with Gaylyn, but Gaylyn’s plans with her two-second love didn’t include a third wheel.
Monique had also had plans, with her family.
Bree hadn’t been in a family mood, so she’d binge-watched the Jack Ryan series with John Krasinski, who she was sure was the nicest actor on the planet and who she would have loved to have had for a dad.
“I just hung out,” she said vaguely, and hoped Fen didn’t ask for more details.
“Well, you missed a great band and awesome food,” he said.
“There are lots of great bands in LA.”
He nodded. “Truth.”
And that was the end of all conversation. He turned up the music and kept it going until they got to the beach.
Once there, it was all about surfing and playing two-on-two pickup volleyball games.
The beach was populated with smooth-chested men in board shorts and girls with long hair, showing off perfect bodies in bikinis.
Bree, herself, was aware of a couple of guys checking her out—who were there with girlfriends, the skeezoids!
Well, that was the beach. Everyone checked out everyone.
Had her dad’s cheating on Mom started with just checking someone out?
Neither one of her parents had said much about what happened.
It was obvious neither of them wanted to think about it.
Her dad’s favorite line was “It didn’t work out.
” Her mom’s was “We got married too young.” That was the deal with Dad, but she’d been older when she married Gary.
That time should have worked. It hadn’t.
Two love fails, two broken hearts. Mom insisted she wouldn’t go for a third try. She’d better not.
A woman with a serious butt hanging out of a thong bikini walked by as they were taking a pop break on their beach blankets and Fen sneaked a look. But he quickly moved his eyes another direction. As if he knew Bree was watching him.
“Too late, I saw you looking,” she teased. Except it was more of an accusation than a tease.
“Hey, tell me you’re not looking when a fine set of pecs and a six-pack walks by on full display.”
He had a point. “You’re right.”
“Nothing wrong with looking. Nothing wrong with moving past looking and getting to know someone, either. Or maybe even falling for someone.”
Here they went again. She rolled her eyes.
“Or committing to a life together, to having each other’s back.”
“Or just staying friends all your life.”
“Friends with bennies?”
She smiled. “I like bennies.”
He smiled back. “Me, too.” Then he sobered. “But I want more than just friends with bennies. I want a whole life with a partner. Kids someday.”
She nodded, acknowledging both his words and the fact that things wouldn’t work out for them the second time around any more than they had the first time. They wanted different things.
As if sensing the conversation taking a downward turn, he got up. “Come on. Let’s get back in the game.”
MONDAY MORNING IT was time for Zona to return to work.
Louise hated to see her go. It had felt a little like a party having her daughter home for several days in a row.
Except for the pain and the itch of the cast, and the frustration of swinging herself around the house and having a hard time doing things.
The cumbersome cast made things she’d taken for granted difficult.
She’d caught a glimpse of the mysterious woman who appeared to be living with Alec James from the dining room window.
The woman was certainly pretty. She looked younger than him by maybe ten years.
Which meant she was younger than Zona. So their brute of a neighbor liked younger women he could bully and control. Zona didn’t need that in her life.
Maybe this other woman didn’t either, though. Louise should keep an eye on the neighbors. If the woman was in danger, someone needed to step in.
She was back in her bed after a bathroom run and Zona had just returned from taking Darling on a quick walk when Gilda arrived to take over. Zona opened Louise’s bedroom door and announced, “Gilda’s here. I’m just going to show her what we’ve got in the fridge, then I’ll be going.”
Left with Gilda the caregiver like she was a little kid with a babysitter. It was so embarrassing. Louise nodded and tried to smile. She could hear voices as the two women walked down the hall toward the kitchen, could hear Darling’s excited barks. She supposed voices were better than silence.
What was everyone doing on the cruise? Had all the singles paired off?
Were people enjoying drinking champagne and watching sunsets?
Dancing till all hours? She knew she shouldn’t be dwelling on what she was missing.
It would only make her grumpy. But too late. She’d dwelled, and now she was grumpy.
Zona returned with Gilda behind her. “I’m on my way. I hope you two have fun,” she said, and kissed Louise on the cheek.
Be a good girl. Louise frowned.
Zona hurried past Gilda and then was gone, leaving Gilda leaning against the doorpost, a canvas bag over her shoulder. Darling came and parked next to her.
“You look unhappy,” Gilda observed.
“I am,” Louise said. “I feel like a little kid who’s been left with the babysitter.”
“You’re not going to throw a tantrum, are you?” Gilda asked, deadpan. “I hate it when patients throw tantrums.”
Louise chuckled at that. “No, I’m not. And do they?”
“You’d be surprised,” Gilda said with a knowing nod.
“Part of me would like to,” Louise confessed. “Except I can’t jump up and down or throw myself on the floor, so what’s the point?” She sighed. “I should have been in the Hawaiian Islands by now. Who falls over a deck chair and breaks her leg? So pathetic.”
“Is that what happened?”
“Sadly, yes. I got a little off-kilter.”
“That stinks,” Gilda said. “But things do happen for a reason. Sometimes even bad things.”
“I can’t see any reason for this,” Louise said. “But oh, well. As the saying goes, it is what it is.”
“Yeah, it is,” Gilda agreed. “You want to freshen up before breakfast?”
“I can’t shower yet,” Louise reminded her. Which was a good thing. She’d met this woman all of once. The idea of getting so personal with her did not appeal. Even taking a sponge bath held a certain ick factor.
“Good, because I never shower on a first date,” Gilda quipped. She pulled out a pack of body wipes from her bag and set them on the bed. “This will probably be enough for today. I’ll be back to help you get your pants on,” she said and left.
Louise smiled and got busy.
Later, as they sat at the kitchen table, eating the egg casserole Zona had made the night before and chatting, Louise quickly realized that Gilda could become more than a part-time nurse. They could become friends.
Gilda proved it when, after Louise finally settled on the couch and they got talking about favorite novels, she pulled out her favorite mystery novel by an author Louise hadn’t yet discovered. “I brought this in case you want some bedtime reading.”
“That was so sweet of you,” said Louise, her fingers itching to get her hands on it.
“This has so many twists and turns in it you won’t know which way you’re going. And some of the people seem so nice, but oh, my, they are anything but.”
Louise nodded knowingly. “Just like in real life.”
“Absolutely,” Gilda agreed. “We had a neighbor when I was growing up. Everyone thought he was the kindest man. He was single. Always had treats for the kids.”
Louise knew exactly where she was going. “Oh, no.”