by Lynda Curnyn
“No, I mean I won’t be at the house. Vince is cooking me dinner at his place.”
“Sage, don’t go over to Vince’s until I get there.”
“Excuse me, Zoe, but I think we just eliminated Vince as a suspect, did we not?”
I hesitated, then said, “Look, Sage, we can’t be sure how high up this thing goes. Vince could be in on it, too.”
“Need I remind you that Vince spent most of the past year in China? And then Italy. Why don’t you trust my instincts for a change?”
“Okay, okay,” I said, hearing the anger in her voice.“But promise me you won’t talk to him about it?”
“Zoe—”
“Just promise me,” I insisted. “At least until after we talk to Tom about what’s going on. And I think we should do that together, Sage.”
She sighed.“All right. I’ll wait for you. I have the invoices with me but I’m not sure what time Tom is getting to the beach tonight. I guess we can talk to him in the morning.”
“Okay, I’ll see you out there, then.”
“See you at the beach.”
* * *
Chapter Forty-three
Nick
Busted
What ferry did you say your dad was coming on?“
Francesca narrowed her eyes at me, as she braced herself on the bathroom vanity. “I didn’t. But he’s not here now. So why don’t we stop talking and start fucking.”
I smiled down at her.“You got some mouth on you, little girl.”
“And you love it,” she said, pulling my hips until my erection had nowhere to go. Except in her, of course.
Ahhhh. Oh, man, this was good, I thought, looking up into the mirrors that surrounded us, gazing at Francesca’s hair falling over her back, her sweet little ass sliding backward on the counter as I pounded her. Clearly Sage and Zoe had gotten the better bedroom out of this deal. Who knew their bathroom had such possibilities?
“Harder,” Francesca cried out, sinking her teeth into my nipple.
Oh, fuck. That hurt. Not in a bad way.
I pounded harder. So hard, in fact, I thought I might slam her into the mirror. That’s all I needed was to break the damn thing. Reaching around, I slid my hands over her ass to brace her, knocking over the water glass on the sink in the process.
Crash!
“Shit!”
“Nick?”
I looked down, though I was fairly certain that wasn’t Francesca calling out my name.
“Is that you in there?”
Sage. I froze, staring at Francesca’s flushed face. Oh, fuck. Sage must have gotten an early ferry. She was right outside the door!
Something told me that might even be worse than having Tom out there.
I held my fmger up to my lips in a shushing motion as I disentangled myself from Francesca’s limbs. She smiled up at me, ready to jump off the counter and right out that door, until I stopped her. Wait here, I mouthed to her, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my waist.
I slipped out the door, quickly closing it behind me. “Sage, you’re here bright and early,” I said, smiling at her.
She folded her arms. “What were you doing in there?”
“Using your shower?”
She narrowed her eyes at me.“l don’t hear any water running.”
“I was, uh, just finishing up—”
Suddenly the door swung open, and out popped Francesca, wearing only a bath towel and a smug little smile on her face.
“I can’t believe you, Nick,” Sage said, once Francesca had paraded herself past us and out the bedroom door.
“I can explain,” I replied, pulling the towel around my waist tighter, as if it might somehow protect me from the rage I saw in Sage’s eyes.
“Oh really?” she replied. “Then what I want to know first is, why you are carrying on your sordid little affair in my bathroom!”
I gave her a sheepish smile.“You’ve got some awesome mirrors in there.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “Nick, this is not funny. The only thing I asked you to do this summer was to steer clear of Tom’s daughter—”
“Oh, was that the only thing?” I challenged her, suddenly feeling pretty mad myself. “What about the request that I refrain from talking up my label to your friends? Schmoozing, I think you called it. Or the unspoken request that I disappear into thin air whenever you ran off with one of your boy toys—”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I haven’t been with any of my so-called boy toys all summer.”
“No, you haven’t,” I agreed. “Except for Chad.”
I watched as her face turned bright red. Oops. Bad example. Still, she didn’t run my life.“Look, Sage, I’m entitled to a little fun, too, you know. Isn’t that the reason you dragged me and Zoe out here? At least I thought that was the reason. But ever since the summer began, it’s like we’re all living on your fucking planet. And we can’t have any fun on Sage’s planet. Nooooo. We can only have fun when you want us to have fun, laugh when you want us to laugh—”
“That is so not true.”
“Well, it certainly feels like that. Sometimes I think the only reason you keep me and Zoe around is for props on the set of your latest adventure. Hey, folks, tune in as Sage Daniels and Friends Do Fire Island! Hey, don’t worry about us friends—we’re just walk-ons in the set of Sage’s life!”
“Is that what you think? That I don’t care about you? That I only invited you out here to make me happy?”
Her voice cracked, and I thought I saw tears filling her eyes. Oh, shit.
“I thought I was doing this for all of us!” she cried.“Ever since Bern left town, you seemed so down in the dumps, Nick. And Zoe—” She swiped at the tears that began to run down her face. “Forgive me for giving a shit about you!”
Now I felt like an ass. Especially when Sage sat down on the bed and really started crying.
I sat down next to her. “Sage, I’m sorry.”
She looked up at me, her eyes so red I felt like fucking crying. When did she get so sensitive and shit? Maybe it was that time of the month.
“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” I began.
“Well, how did you mean it, exactly?”
I sighed. There was no getting out of this conversation.“It’s just that’s what it feels like sometimes. Like I’m living in the shadow of your happy little life. Everything just seems to come so easy for you.”
“Everything comes easy for me?” she said, her eyes going wide. “Goddammit, Nick, how could you say a thing like that?”
Shit. I might as well salt up my foot, because I was bound to put it in my mouth again. Now she was crying even harder. Crying like I hadn’t seen her cry in a long time. Come to think of it, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d ever seen Sage cry. Not even at her sister’s funeral.
Oh, yeah. I guess she hadn’t had it so easy.
I reached out, putting my arms around her. “I’m sorry. Sage. I really, really am.”
She leaned back to look at me.
“I don’t even know what I’m saying half the time,” I continued. “Maybe it’s because I’ve had a rough time of things lately, you know? Seems like everything I touch turns to shit. The label—”
“I thought you said things were going well.”
“Yeah, they were,” I said. “I finally got a little money together. Not too much,” I added quickly.“Then I sink most of that money into a band I believe in, only to find out the singer is a fucking head case.”
“I’m sorry about Les—”
“It’s not your fault.” I shook my head. “Anyway, I’m sorting it out, making some new plans. I think it will be okay, but it’s hard to trust that, you know?”
“Don’t I know it,” she said, a smile touching her lips.
Damn, I never felt so glad to see Sage smile.
I smiled right back at her. “So can you blame a guy for taking a little stress relief?”
She looked at me.“Is that all Francesca
is to you? Stress relief?”
I thought about that a moment. “Nah, she’s a good kid.”
“But she’s Tom’s kid, Nick. And you don’t have the greatest track record with women.”
“What? I was with Bern for, like, two years.”
She raised an eyebrow. “All told. But you guys, like, broke up at least sixteen times. And that was before she even left New York.”
“This is different, Sage.”
“I hope so. Because if you break Francesca’s heart, Tom’s going to suffer the consequences. And he’s suffered enough this year.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about Tom. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think he gives a shit when it comes to Francesca.”
“That’s not true. He just doesn’t know how to show it—”
“I’m telling you, Sage, he practically caught us in the act and seemed just as clueless as ever about his daughter. I think it kinda hurts Francesca, you know?”
“You really like her, don’t you?”
I smiled. The gig was up.“Yeah, I guess I kinda do, you know?”
Sage smiled, wrapping her arms around me and giving me the kind of squeeze she used to give me when we were kids.
“Then go be with her,” she said, leaning back to look at me. “With my blessing.”
“Okay, Mother Sage,” I said, and ruffled her hair until she was laughing like I hadn’t heard in a long time. Probably all summer long.
* * *
Chapter Forty-four
Sage
I’ll take the beach house and the beautiful man (hold the wife and kid).
I was standing on Vince’s front porch for only two minutes when it became clear he wasn’t there.
Pulling my cell phone out of my bag, I looked at the clock. It was almost six-fifteen. We had plans for six.
With a sigh, I shuffled through my bag, found the e-mail he had sent me with his phone number on it, and dialed.
“Hi,” I said, when he answered on the second ring.
“Sage, where are you?”
“I’m at your house. Where are you?”
“I’m sorry. I’m actually glad you called. I got held up. Gabri-ella was supposed to pick up Sophia earlier, but of course my ex is on her own schedule.” He sighed. “I really am sorry. I would have called sooner, but your number was in my car and I was at the house with Sophia.”
I bit back on my disappointment. After all, this was what I signed up for when I set my sights on a man with an ex-wife and a kid. “That’s fine. I guess I’ll just head back to my house.”
“No, no. Go inside. The key is hidden on top of the window ledge. I’m right across the water. I just need to throw a few things in a bag and I’m there. Shouldn’t be more than forty-five minutes. An hour tops.“
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Make yourself a drink. Sit on the deck and relax.” He paused, then added softly,“Besides, I like the idea of you waiting at home for me.”
Mmm. So did I. “Then I’ll be there waiting.”
“Looking forward to seeing you,” he said in a husky whisper that sent a warm shiver right down to my toes.
Getting into the house was easy enough. Being in it was another matter. Once I flicked on the lights, flooding the shadowy living area with light, I was very aware of the fact that I was here alone. I hadn’t paid much attention to the decor last time I was here—unless, of course,you count the sheets in the bedroom. And without the distraction of Vince, everything suddenly seemed so unfamiliar.
Now, as I dropped my bag down on the plush sofa and glided through the quiet empty rooms, I was all too aware of how little I really knew about Vince.
And reminded of what I did know, I thought, as my eye fell upon a large framed picture hanging on the living room wall. A photograph of a mother and child.
Gabriella and Sophia, 1 realized, once I’d stepped up to it, studying the dark-haired, attractive woman who sat on a swing chair in a lush garden, a smile touching her lips as she looked down at Sophia, who was curled up in her lap, asleep.
Okay, it was his child, but couldn’t he find another picture of Sophia to keep at his house? Like one that didn’t feature his ex-wife?
She was the mother of his child, I reminded myself, turning away from the photo, my gaze roaming over the soft pastel sofa, the wicker easy chair, the hand-painted fan that dominated one wall. And apparently, the decorator of this house. The decor was decidedly female. I guess that made sense. They’d probably bought the house together.
Still, it only reminded me how much a part of Vince’s life Gabriella was.
I headed to the bedroom, smiling at the memory of me and Vince lying on those cozy white sheets last Saturday, even picking up a pillow to breathe in his scent.
I smiled wider, suddenly feeling like I belonged here.
Deciding to make myself at home, I headed back into the living room and fixed myself a drink at the small bar in the corner.
As it turned out, Vince not only had tequila but good tequila.
Now that’s my kind of man, I thought, shaking the ice around in my drink then raising it to my lips to sip.
Now that’s my kind of drink, I thought, feeling the burn move down my throat and settle warmly in my stomach.
Opening the sliding glass door, I stepped out onto the deck, studying the wrought-iron patio furniture, which seemed innocuous enough. I pulled the recliner around so that it faced the sun, which was just beginning to set, and settled in.
Not bad, I thought, putting my drink on the deck beside me as I listened to the reeds surrounding me blow in the wind. Not an ocean view, but this cozy little deck had its own merits. Like privacy, I thought, pulling off my tank top to get the full effect of the sun’s last rays on my skin.
Mmm. I could get used to this. I was used to this, I thought with a smile. The beach was the only place I had ever found peace. And now, I thought, as a vision of me and Vince in an intimate tangle on this very recliner filled my mind, perhaps I would find more.
Of course, just as soon as I got comfortable, my cell phone rang. I thought about letting it go, then gave in to it, jumping up and heading to the living room to retrieve it from my bag.
My mother, I thought, once I looked at the caller ID.
“Hi,” I said, suddenly remembering that I should have called her. The Keep Hope Alive festival began last night. How had I forgotten that?
“Sage, how are you, honey?”
“I’m good, how are you?” I said, returning to the deck and the recliner.“How’s the festival going? Things get off to a good start?”
“A wonderful start. We did Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last night. You should have seen Janice Woodrow in the role of Maggie. She was stunning. I -wish you could have been there to see it.”
“I’m sorry.” I hesitated. “I would have if I didn’t have so much going on.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m at the beach.”
“Oh,” she replied. Then she added, “Well, you work so hard. You need your downtime, right?”
“Right,” I said, wondering if she even believed the excuses I gave for why I rarely came out to the house anymore. I remembered the avalanche of feeling I had suffered last week, the relief I had felt in the tears that had flowed when I had allowed myself to remember my sister. And I had thought about Hope a lot this week. More than I had in years.
“So what’s next on the agenda for the festival?” I asked.
“Well, tomorrow night we’re doing a series of ten-minute plays. And Sunday night we’re doing Peter Pan for the kids. Your father did all the set designs. And you’ll never guess who’s playing Peter Pan—Charlie!”
I rolled my eyes, trying to imagine Charlie, who was fifty if he was a day, donning green tights to play Peter Pan. But I guess he was tiny. And in my parents’ world, there was a role for everyone. Even me, I realized, thinking of how many years I had tried to play caretaker to my parents. Always worrying about how they w
ere going to eat, how they were going to live. Maybe for a change, I could just be me.
Which was why I probably found myself saying,“Hey, maybe I can take an early ferry on Sunday and catch the last show.”
“Oh, Sage, that would be wonderful! You know how much we’d love to see you.”
I did know, which was why her words sent a stab of guilt through me. But I shook it off. “I’m looking forward to seeing you, too.”
And I realized, for the first time in a long time, I was.
Maybe it was the comfort 1 took from my conversation with my mother. Or maybe it was the tequila, but I found myself drifting off to sleep in Vince’s cozy little recliner. I didn’t fight it. After all, these were the lazy days of summer, right?
I was awakened abruptly by the sound of the sliding glass door opening behind me.
Blinking, I smiled when I saw Vince standing above me, looking at me rather hungrily.
But then, I was topless.
“Well, hello stranger,” I said, my body tightening with anticipation.
* * *
Chapter Forty-five
Maggie
Be careful who you lust for.
When a woman thinks of having an affair, she’s not looking for a man with a pension plan or a fat 401K. She’s looking for a man who will love her like no other. Who would die at the thought of losing her and would risk everything to be with her.
Maybe I’d listened to one too many rock ballads, but I had been looking for that kind of man all my life. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Donnie Havens was not him. Donnie was more “Paradise by the Dashboard Light,” which was why I never fell prey to him. I was looking for a man who was more “Baby, I’m Amazed.”
And I found that man in Vince Trifelli.
Before I met Vince, all I knew was the myth Tom fed me. Of the man who had befriended Tom when he was first starting out in New York. Of the partner who risked everything to help bring Luxe into being. Of the pioneer who traveled to China with a young wife, even started a family there, as he set up Tom’s manufacturing overseas.
