The Girls of Mischief Bay

by Susan Mallery

  He stared at her earnestly, obviously concerned he’d overstepped his bounds.

  But more important to her was the fact that he’d cared enough to show up. He’d bought her food and movies. He was such a good guy.

  She took the bags from him and put them on her side table, then raised herself on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around him.

  “Thank you,” she said, holding on tight. “You’ve really made me feel better.”

  “You sure? You’re not mad?”

  “Why would I be mad? You went to all this trouble. You’re very sweet and I’m overwhelmed.”

  He hugged her, then kissed her lightly. “Good, because you being overwhelmed does it for me.” He stroked her hair. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better. It was food poisoning and the worst of it is over. Now I just have to wait until I’m back to normal.” She released him and reached for the bags. “Soup is exactly what I was thinking I wanted tonight. So you’re not just a great guy, you’re a mind reader.”

  “I appreciate the credit, however undeserved.”

  “Want to stay?”

  The words were out before she could think things through. Adam probably had a million things to do. Not to mention she looked like crap. Weren’t things too new for them to be sharing her being sick?

  But he only smiled and said, “I’d love to.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were sitting at her table. He’d found a frozen dinner he liked in her freezer and heated it in the microwave while she warmed her soup on the stove. He had a beer while she sipped on Sprite. It was all very domesticated, she thought. And she liked it.

  “Thank you for coming by,” she said. “I appreciate you taking care of me.”

  “Happy to do it.”

  She looked at him and he met her gaze. “What?” he asked.

  “It’s a married thing. Men who have been married are better at dealing with things like a woman getting sick or hurt.”

  “Are we?”

  “Yes. I assume it’s the practice.” If Quinn had found out she’d been sick, he would have avoided her for weeks. Adam had simply shown up.

  “There were a lot of things I liked about being married,” he admitted. “Things that I miss.”

  “Do you miss her?” A risky question, but one that needed to be answered, she thought.

  “No. It’s over. Long over.” He hesitated. “I told you she cheated, but the end of our marriage wasn’t that simple. When Tabitha and I were first married, everything was fine between us. We had our fights, but we mostly got along. Then a bunch of things happened at once. We had Char and moved and my dad started talking about taking early retirement. Over the next three years we had Oliver and I was responsible for a multimillion-dollar company and sixty employees.”

  He reached for her hand as he spoke. As if he wanted a physical connection as he told the story.

  “I always knew I’d take over the company, but I thought I’d have a couple of decades to learn to be the boss. I was scrambling to learn everything and not screw up. Work was my priority.”

  “Something Tabitha didn’t take well?”

  “No. She was pissed. She tried talking to me and when that didn’t work, she threatened me. She said if I wasn’t around, she was going to find someone who would be. I didn’t listen and I should have.”

  “That’s when she cheated?”

  He nodded. “By the time she came clean, things were better at work. I was ready to be a part of the family again. But it was too late. I’m not saying it’s my fault she cheated. She made that decision on her own. And obviously there were problems in the marriage in the first place. We were both wrong, but I take a lot of the responsibility. I wasn’t there. I didn’t show up.”

  He stared into her eyes. “I learned from my mistakes. That’s why I make it a priority to be where I say I’m going to be. I call when I say I’m going to call. I’m on time to pick up my kids. I don’t ever want to make anyone feel the way I made Tabitha feel. I was wrong.”

  No, she thought with wonder. He was perfect. Okay, not perfect, exactly, but close. Oh, so close.

  She moved forward the last few inches separating them and pressed her mouth to his. “You’re a good man.”

  “Thank you. I consider myself a work in progress, but I appreciate the compliment.”

  He released her hand and picked up his fork. Conversation shifted to the movie filming by the pier and the subsequent traffic nightmare.

  Later, when they were curled up together on her sofa watching one of the movies he’d brought her, she allowed herself to admit the obvious. That there was nothing about Adam she didn’t like. That if she were to make her fantasy list of what she wanted in a man, he would be it. All of it. So the odds of her not getting in too deep with him seemed pretty slim.

  Which should have terrified her. Only this was Adam. Whatever happened, she trusted him to catch her when she fell.

  * * *

  “Don’t be nervous,” Pam said.

  Her daughter looked at her and tried to smile. “I’m not sure saying it is going to help. What if I’m carrying an alien instead of a human baby? What if it has a lizard tail?”

  “Did you have sex with a lizard alien?”

  Jen rolled her eyes. “Of course not.”

  “Then unless Kirk has some very unusual relatives, you can let the lizard fears go.” She patted Jen’s hand. “But I get that you’re scared. Every mother goes through this. Once you have your ultrasound, you’ll feel much better.”

  “I know. I’m sorry to be a freak.”

  “You’re not a freak. You’re my pregnant daughter. That makes you spectacular.”

  Jen smiled, then sucked in a breath. “No offense, but I wish Kirk was here.”

  “None taken.” Unfortunately Kirk hadn’t been able to get the afternoon off work. He was part of a joint task force with the Los Angeles Police Department and they’d had a training exercise he couldn’t get out of.

  “He’ll be here for the later appointments,” Pam assured her. “And when you have the baby. If there’s a crisis, you always have me.”

  Jen leaned against her. “Mom, I couldn’t do this without you. You’re always so calm. The voice of reason.”

  “I try. Besides, this is an exciting appointment. They’re going to date your pregnancy so we’ll get to know when I’m going to be a grandmother.”

  “Because it’s all about you?”

  “You know it.”

  Jen laughed, then started to cry. Pam put her arm around her and rode out the emotions. Some of it was the stress of not knowing how things were going with the baby. Once Jen heard everything was normal, she would feel much better. The hormones didn’t help, either.

  “I used to cry every time I peeled potatoes,” she admitted. “Holding them, I thought about the earth and that morphed into Mother Earth, then all mothers, then babies. Your father insisted we eat rice for the rest of my pregnancy.”

  Jen hung on to her, both laughing and crying. “I’m a mess.”

  “Kind of, but I love you so I’m not overly embarrassed. Plus, Kirk’s not here. That’s hard.”

  Her daughter wiped her face. “I thought you’d tell me to suck it up and be a grown-up.”

  “That doesn’t seem like it would be helpful. He’s your husband. This is your first child. While we both understand that he feels horrible not to share this with you, it’s not because he doesn’t care.”

  “He does car
e. He loves me.”

  The tears flowed again. The receptionist gave her a sympathetic smile. Pam had a feeling the staff was well used to the rush of emotion that came with pregnancy.

  “You’re going to be the best grandmother,” Jen told her.

  “Probably.”

  They both laughed.

  Pam continued to hold her daughter. This was what she wanted, she thought happily. A connection with her children. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember why she’d been so upset when Jen had told her about the pregnancy. So she was a grandmother? Age was just a number. She had a wonderful family and a new grandbaby on the way. She was also having more sex than was probably legal for a woman her age. She and John were still going at it like rabbits. Since their sex weekend getaway, the longest they’d gone without making love had been two days. Last night they’d joked that if they were paying for condoms, they’d have to take a mortgage out on the house.

  Jen grabbed her hand and held on. “Mom, I want Kirk and me to be just like you and Dad when we’re your age.”

  Pam grinned. “I want that, too, honey. I’m just not sure you could handle it.”

  * * *

  Nicole used her straw to stir her iced tea. Not that the drink needed stirring, but she wanted something to do with her hands. Otherwise they would flap all over and betray her nervousness.

  “So we have an approximate due date,” Pam was saying. “Jen feels so much better now that she’s had her first ultrasound. You remember what that was like.”

  “Scary,” Nicole admitted. “You want to know everything is okay.”

  “Exactly.” Pam sighed happily. “I’m going to be a grandmother. I can say that and be proud.”

  “I would expect no less,” Nicole told her, knowing it was the truth. Pam was so warm and loving. She would be a great grandmother. Nicole wouldn’t have minded her as her own mother. At least then she wouldn’t have been pushed to be famous. Not that she hadn’t loved dancing, but she would also have liked to have the time to be a normal teen.

  Which wasn’t what she wanted to talk about. But her mind was swirling and she couldn’t seem to figure out how to ask her friend for marital advice.

  They were at Let’s Do Tea, in the upstairs dining room. The original structure had been a private residence built in the 1920s. Over the years, the neighborhood had become more business than residential and eventually someone had converted the house into a restaurant. About ten years ago, it had changed hands and become Let’s Do Tea.

  On the first floor was a retail store that sold all things tea with a small section of imported British food. There was also a take-out counter for sandwiches and scones to go. Upstairs was the actual restaurant with a menu that offered everything from high tea to ploughman’s lunches. It wasn’t unusual to see mothers with their ten-year-old daughters dressed in hats and lace next to a table of businessmen. Let’s Do Tea had the best shepherd’s pie in the state and petits fours that had been known to save more than one troubled marriage.

  Nicole wondered if she should take a box home with her and see if they would help.

  They placed their order, both getting the high tea with coronation chicken sandwiches and the scones of the day. When their server left, Pam glanced over her shoulder, as if making sure they were alone.

  “Okay, so you can’t tell anyone what I’m about to say.”

  Nicole held up one hand. “I promise. What?”

  She wasn’t worried—not exactly. Pam was looking too happy for the news to be bad.

  “John and I went away for the weekend a few weeks ago,” she said quietly.

  “Right. To Palm Desert. You told me.”

  “What I didn’t tell you was that we didn’t just go to a hotel. It was like a sex camp.” Pam flushed, even as she grinned. “It was the strangest thing. How-to classes and toys and lots of porn. But it turned out to be exactly what we needed.”

  She looked around again, then turned back to Nicole. “We’re not like you and Eric. We’ve been married over thirty years. I can tell you the thrill really does fade. But now, it’s all new again. We’re like teenagers and it’s so fun.”

  “I’m happy for you,” Nicole told her honestly. “And only a little jealous.”

  “Oh, please. You two are probably still doing it twice a day.”

  If only, Nicole thought grimly. To be honest, she couldn’t remember the last time she and Eric had hugged, let alone had sex.

  “Uh-oh.” Pam’s humor faded. “That’s not a happy face. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing’s new, if that’s what you’re asking,” Nicole admitted. “I’m genuinely at a loss. I don’t know what to say to him. We barely speak. He’s doing more around the house, but the other day we had a big fight about Tyler’s birthday party.”

  “Didn’t he like the party theme you’d chosen?”

  She grimaced. “He has no idea what it is. It’s not that he disapproves of what I’m doing with the party. It’s that he’s pissed he has to be there at all. It’s one of his critique group afternoons and coming to his son’s fifth birthday party will cut into that.”

  Pam’s eyes widened. “Oh, hon, I’m so sorry.”

  “Me, too. Okay, he has a dream. I get that. I want him to be happy and if writing a screenplay fulfills him, then go team. But what about us? We’re his family. Tyler is his only son. Shouldn’t he be excited about his kid’s birthday?”

  The server returned with their pot of lavender Earl Grey. Nicole waited until she left before continuing.

  “He’s gone all the time. Do you think he’s having an affair?”

  “Do you?”

  “I don’t know.” Nicole watched Pam pour them each tea. She stirred in milk, then held the beautiful rose-covered china cup. “If I had to answer that question right now, I’d say no. I don’t think so. It just doesn’t feel like that. Wouldn’t he have all this sexual energy? I mean look at you. You’re glowing.”

  “It’s the BOTOX. I look younger.” Pam sipped her tea. “You would have a sense of him cheating. I really believe that. Plus, he’d feel guilty and be a lot nicer.”

  Nicole sat up straighter. “You’re right. That makes me feel better. Now I don’t have to worry about hating another woman.”

  “Have you read his screenplay?”

  “No. That’s the other thing. I’ve asked and asked about it. And he kept saying it wasn’t ready. So I stopped begging. Then a few weeks ago, he accused me of not being interested. How is that fair? I just don’t get him. He’s so different from the man I married. It’s like he’s a stranger. Aliens have sucked out his brain and replaced it with someone else’s.”

  “What is it with you young people and aliens? Jen went on about being afraid she was having a lizard baby. I get sweating the fingers and toes, but a lizard baby? Is it a generational thing?”

  Pam asked the question so earnestly, Nicole couldn’t help laughing. She put down her tea and let the tension flow out of her body. When she finally caught her breath, she inhaled and felt significantly lighter.

  “I love you so much,” she said easily. “You’re the best.”

  “That’s so sweet, but you didn’t answer my question.”

  “No, I don’t think lizard babies are generational.”

  “I don’t want to seem out of step.”

  Nicole grinned. “You can let go of your lizard baby concerns.” She picked up her tea. “I welcome any marital insights you might have.”


  Pam shook her head. “Eric confuses me. I’m with you on the affair. I trust your gut and I go back to the he’d feel guilty and be nicer statement I made earlier. He’s obviously obsessed with that ridiculous screenplay. I don’t like that he won’t let you read it. I don’t suppose you want to snoop on his computer?”

  “Not really.”

  “I wouldn’t, either. What if it’s horrible? Of course, it could be brilliant and that would be gratifying.”

  “I’m not sure I’d be able to tell the difference. I’ve never read a screenplay before.”

  “Good point.” Pam paused for a moment. “Have you thought about negotiating with him? Maybe he’s been secretive because he’s convinced you simply want him to abandon his dream. If he knew that you were on board with him writing for a certain period of time, he might relax about it. So suggest he has six months to finish it and then he has to start bringing in money again.”

  “Maybe,” Nicole said slowly, wondering if any kind of compromise was possible. “I’m not sure he wants to return to his regular life, but maybe we should talk about it.”

  “Knowing there’s an end in sight would certainly help you.”

  “What if there isn’t? What if he wants to go on like this forever?”

  “Then you have to decide what you want,” Pam said gently. “How long can you keep doing what you’re doing?”

  Their server arrived with their plates of sandwiches. There was a handful of chips on each, along with a small fruit cup.

  A timely interruption, she thought ruefully. Because she didn’t have an answer to her friend’s question.

  Thirteen

  Lulu trembled as she cuddled close to Pam.

  “I know,” Pam murmured as she stroked her dog, careful to avoid the angry red blotches from her latest rash. “I know, sweet girl.”

  The dog had started scratching the day before and this morning she’d woken up with the painful rash on her side and down one leg.