CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Naomi
My cousins and I all met in the gravel driveway, along with Damon and Mabel.
“We should be making you two come with us,” Gabrielle said, giving her son some strong side-eye.
“But you’re not going to,” he retorted. “Because you know we’d be miserable.”
“What movie are you going to watch?” Gabrielle grilled.
“We’re going to have a Jurassic Park marathon,” my nephew replied. “But we probably won’t get through more than two tonight.”
With their backpacks, and some snacks in a Tupperware container, Damon and Mabel climbed into the backseat of Gabrielle’s SUV. We would drop them off at Lennox’s on our way to the school.
“Guys are meeting us there,” Raina said. “Apparently, Maverick and Tom were over at Man Patel’s earlier today helping him move some wood. Jagger is going to go with the rest of the McEvoys.”
We took two vehicles, since we wouldn’t be able to load all the kids into one car on the way back. I rode with Gabrielle, Damon, and Mabel, while Raina, Marco, and Danica rode together.
We’d just dropped the kids off at Lennox’s house and were over halfway to the school when I finally opened my mouth. “Do you think Lennox is too young for me?”
Gabrielle only took her eyes off the road for a second to give me a perplexed look before facing forward again. “No. You’re closer in age than Maverick and I are.”
“Yes, I know. But Maverick doesn’t have a horrific past with a child molester who took his innocence way too soon. He’s been with women his own age.”
“Does Lennox come across as young and immature? Because even though I haven’t spent a ton of time with the guy, to me he seems older than twenty-six. He’s mature, grounded, calm, and responsible. While I wouldn’t wish becoming a parent as a teenager on anyone, it did make him grow up quickly.”
“Yeah …”
“What’s the matter, Nay?”
I told her about our date at the dock the other night and how the parents were staring, and then one made a comment asking Lennox his age.
Gabrielle knew these parents because she knew every parent at the school and made a face of disgust. “Now, I’m no Jolene Dandy, but I’ve definitely heard some rumors about those two couples.
They shouldn’t be throwing rocks when their houses are made of extremely thin glass.
Glass that already has some hairline cracks in it”
“I dunno … my brain—and the islanders—won’t stop reminding me that he’s only twenty-six.”
“Yeah, that part hangs on for a bit. My brain still likes to remind me that I’m perimenopausal and Maverick’s prefrontal cortex just finished developing like twelve months ago.”
“So what do you do to quiet it down?”
She shot me some side-eye. “The orgasms he gives me help.”
I barked out a loud laugh as she turned onto the road for the school. It was already lined with vehicles.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Gabrielle muttered, slowing down in case a spot came available.
We spied our children on the playground, and they all waved at us. We had to park past the school near the beach, but that was okay.
The kids were at the fence waiting for us by the time we climbed the small hill to the field.
The DJ was already blasting out tunes from his little booth under the white pop-up tent, and most of the games were set up. The bouncy castles were still inflating, and the rock climbing wall from the climbing gym on the mainland was being secured.
I made my way toward the group of parents still setting up. Unlike last year where I did first shift manning one of the bouncy castles, this year I decided to mix it up and I was going to attempt to make cotton candy. I’d never done it before, but how hard could it be?
By four o’clock, the field was packed with families, the music was pumping, and the scent of hot dogs and hamburgers wafted on the breeze with the salty sea air.
Lennox was standing in a group of several parents, waving his arms around like an air traffic controller. Pop-up tents were being erected everywhere, and folding tables were set up for various stations.
He spied me and waved. I waved back, but that bit of acknowledgement was enough to cause several sets of parents to take notice of our exchange. The heat and nausea of embarrassment started to creep into my cheeks and gut.
“So, you’re sleeping with the principal?” came a nasally female voice behind me. “That was fast. Isn’t he a bit young for you, Naomi?”
I knew who it was before I even saw her golden hair in a shih tzu style, half up, half down.
Barb was wearing a tiny little floral romper that I was pretty sure, if she spun around, her ass cheeks would be hanging out of, and the amount of makeup and contouring on her face in this heat was surely going to cause a breakout.
She had oversized, round, white sunglasses on her face, and stood with her hip cocked and her arms crossed over her chest. Her two minions, Sarah and Sybil stood behind her, looking equally overly made up for a hippy island elementary school funfair.
“Hi, Barb,” I said with a sigh. I nodded at the other two. “Sarah. Sybil.”
Sybil—the less evil stepsister of the bunch—gave me a friendly smile and wave.
“I mean, I’m not going to deny that Principal Paul isn’t hot and that I wouldn’t kick him out of bed, but come on, sweetie.
You have to know how this looks. It’s bad enough that Gabrielle is sleeping with Maverick Roy.
Isn’t she like going through menopause and he’s not even thirty yet?
” She snorted and glanced back at her friends for support. Only Sarah chortled.
“It’s perimenopause,” I corrected. “And that doesn’t make her dead. It makes her homicidal. So I’d watch yourself.”
“Oh, that’s right. You all became single mothers so suspiciously. I bet you really do know how to get rid of men you’re tired of, huh?”
“Not just men,” I said. “And why is my romantic life such a concern of yours, Barb?”
“I just think it’s not a good look. Not for him. Not for the school. Not for your winery.”
“We’re both adults. The kids know about it and are fine with it. We’re taking things slow. The age difference doesn’t bother him. And why don’t you let my family worry about our winery? We’re doing just fine. How’s your soap business?”
Sybil had to turn her head to hide her smirk. Barb had been trying for years to establish a successful homemade soap business, but there were other soap makers on the island who already had the market cornered and whose product was just better.
Barb ignored my barb about her soap, and tipped her glasses down to stare stared at me over the rim. “But his age does bother you, doesn’t it?” Her smirk grew wider, knowing.
More heat and nausea came flooding in, and my belly spun. “I think it’s important that we remember why we’re all here today, and that’s to raise money for the new playground and have a fun evening.”
“How old is he, anyway? I heard his daughter is thirteen. So like, he must have had her young, because there’s no way that man is over thirty.”
“He’s old enough to be a father, and old enough to decide whether the age difference between us is too much or not.
So how about you leave it at that?” Then I spun around on my heel and stalked off to the cotton candy machine, my blood boiling and my fingers twitching at my sides, because all I really wanted to do was throat punch Barb and watch her tears make track marks down her contoured face.
I must have been hustling and in a huff because Raina came running up to me. “Hey. What was that with Barb and the evil stepsisters over there?”
I slowed my roll, but continued to walk.
“What did that bitch say?” She glanced back to glare at Barb and her disciples.
“Just more stupid shit about the age difference between Lennox and me.” Then I told her about the other night at the Floathouse.
“Fuck ’em all. He’s old enough. You didn’t groom him.” She brought her voice down to a whisper when she said that last bit. “Why is your romantic life everyone else’s business?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“Hey,” she rested her hand on my arm to stop me walking, “you know that what you guys are doing is totally okay, right? There’s nothing illegal or icky about it.
If your genders were reversed, not a single person would bat a fucking eye.
A thirty-seven-year-old man and a twenty-six-year-old woman.
Pffst. That’s nothing. It’s because he’s hot, and they’re jealous.
That’s all there is to it. They’re also curious about his age, and Mabel.
Don’t let their whispers and nosiness ruin what is obviously working really well.
” She gave me a lopsided smile. “You know what you guys should do? Go relax in one of the saunas on the new property.”
“Are they set up?”
“Just one. The ones on the brewery property are set up for guests, but the cabins are already all booked, so guests are enjoying them. Jagger and I wanted to test them out, so we ran an extension cord from their property through the woods to one of the saunas on the new property. It’s so great.”
I shook my head. “You do know that getting locked in a sauna is one of my biggest fears, right? After losing my children and having Ephram rise from the dead like a bloated zombie.”
“We burned that motherfucker and tossed his ashes into the landfill. He ain’t coming back.”
I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I had no clue you were afraid of being locked in a sauna. Where does that fear stem from?”
Shrugging, I exhaled and glanced out at the growing numbers of people on the field. “Well, obviously the tight spaces thing is—”
She nodded. “Right. I forgot your father was literally Beelzebub and punished his children in inhumane ways. But the heat?”
I shrugged again. “I have no idea. It just is. So, thanks, but no thanks. I’d rather find a hot tub or even a cold plunge.”
“Raina!” someone called from across the field. “We need your help.”