by Julia Kent
“Nice of you to notice.”
The words were out before he could stop himself. The look on her face cut through his anger and, finally, he could rein himself in.
One hand on his hip, the other buried in his hair, pulling it back from his forehead, he faced her, ready to apologize.
Splayed out on the bed, turned at the just-so angle for showing off that gorgeous, full ass of hers, mouth open in surprise and eyes bright with excitement, Laura waited.
He opened his mouth to say...what?
She interrupted him, turning her head slowly toward the window, pointing.
To a large picture window with the curtains wide open.
And Sandy and Cyndi staring, full-faced, gape-mouthed, and bright red.
This was not his fucking day.
Laura saved him, leaping up, offering a strangely cheery wave to the shocked women, and yanking the curtains shut.
In a very loud voice, Cyndi called out, “Jillian! Aaron! Adam! Let’s go find the big playground here so we can have some fun for half an hour!” Her emphasis on the last three words was so obvious that Laura burst out laughing.
Squeals of toddler delight drifted off, fading as Cyndi kept her promise and pulled the kids away.
There would be hell to pay in the form of permanent, mortal embarrassment forever. But for now...
He held his breath, counting to twenty-one before a big gust of air forced its way through his mouth, his throat making what passed for laughter.
“I don’t think any part of you will go unnoticed here,” Laura said softly, eyes on his midsection, a smile tickling her lips.
Half an hour, huh?
Dylan chose that exact moment to come into the room, eyebrows drawn down in confusion, his footsteps pinging in Mike’s ears and his body right there before Mike could react.
Their third partner stopped, dark hair sweaty, inky eyes catlike and devious.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
Mike did a facepalm.
“So I get yelled at when I want to have a little sexy time with Laura,” Dylan declared with an arched tone, clearly prepared to grind it in.
“Sexytime?” Laura squeaked, laughing harder.
“Yes.” Dylan looked a little hurt. “Sexy time. Even if it’s phone sex, it’s sexy.”
“You could have told me,” Mike grumbled, looking down at his rapidly deflating cock.
“Told you I was having phone sex with Laura? When? When you were giving Jillian a bath or when you were prying Aaron’s shoe out of his mouth?”
“There’s always a moment to pull me aside.”
Dylan’s eyes took in all of Mike, which took some time, given that he was closer to seven feet than six feet tall. “You seem to be evening out the imbalance.”
“What imbalance?” Mike glowered at them both. “Have you been—”
Laura took it upon herself to strip off her cotton t-shirt, leaving her on the bed in an even more breathtaking position.
Things started looking...up.
“What are you doing?” Dylan asked, head turning slightly, giving Mike a quick glance as his voice held a note of intrigue, caution, and hope to it.
She gave them both a come-hither smile and licked her lips. “Look. Sandy and Cyndi just saw Mike naked.”
“What?” Dylan sputtered.
“And,” Laura continued, “we’re already embarrassed.” She reached behind her back, unhooked her bra, and unleashed nirvana. “Might as well actually do what they think we’re doing. Cyndi said half an hour...”
“You mean, if we’re guilty in their eyes, might as well be guilty for real?” Mike asked as a rush of movement to his left showed Dylan stripping out of his clothes in record speed.
“If you’re going to do the time, you might as well have done the crime,” Laura crooned.
“You’re comparing sex to jail.”
“Shut up, Mike, and get in bed.” Dylan was already there, pulling Laura’s bike shorts and panties off, nestled under the light quilt and sheet with their naked wife.
Tongue rolling between his gums and cheek, Mike surveyed the moment. He’d rather have Laura all to himself right now, but this would have to do.
Poor me, he thought. He’d settle for some threesome fun.
Chapter Ten
Josie
“What do you mean I have to use an outhouse?” Marlene complained, carrying her towel and a bucket filled with showering supplies.
While the campground owners had done their best to give everyone the accommodations they desired, because Josie’s mom had insisted in staying near her Uncle Mike, Calvin and Cathy, she’d gotten a tiny shed with a fridge, a microwave, a coffee maker, and a breathtaking view of the ocean.
And it wasn’t enough.
“It’s not an outhouse, Mom,” Josie explained as she led her to the community bathrooms. When they stepped inside, Josie was relieved to see polished wood floors, loveseats around a small coffee table, and a set of separate shower stalls with doors on one side, toilets on the other. “Not an outhouse. See?”
Even Marlene had to admit the bathroom was nice.
“But you have a bathroom in your cabin,” she said, as if it were an indictment. “And you and Alex have two bedrooms. Why can’t I bunk with you?”
Josie nearly choked on her own tongue. That might have been better than having this conversation.
“Because I’m getting married in the morning, Mom. To Alex. We’d like privacy.”
“Oh,” Marlene frowned. “Right. That’s right. Of course you need your own place.” Her mom picked out a shower stall and closed the door, locking it. The sound of shuffling, then the flick of clothing over the door, helped Josie to relax. her mom would shower and Josie would get thirty minutes alone.
Aunt Cathy was done with her mom. D-O-N-E done, as Cathy would say. She’d had it for years, but the threesome incident in the airplane had been the final straw. Sheer terror coursed through Josie, because she relied heavily on her mother’s sister and brother to help keep an eye on Marlene. Alex had offered to move to the Cleveland or Pittsburgh area to be closer, but Josie would rather be cooked over hot coals and fed to Ted Cruz before she’d move back home.
The unspoken agreement she had with her aunt was fraying, and fast.
“Josie!’ her mom called out, the spray of hot water starting to steam the enclave. “I forgot my tampons. I’m on the rag. Could you go get me some?”
Josie’s face morphed into a mask of disgust.
And at that exact moment, her future mother-in-law walked in and did a double take.
“What’s wrong?”
“My mom asked me to go get tampons for her,” Josie said with a shudder, expecting Meribeth to understand how unseemly that was.
Meribeth gave her a blank look. “Oh. Don’t they have a machine in here?”
Josie’s skin crawled with ants. Alex’s mom wasn’t reacting with disgust, or grossness. She was all-too matter of fact, which was typical Meribeth. But Josie had expected at least a tiny bit of solidarity on this one.
“I guess?” was all Josie could muster. Meribeth searched the room until she found a machine.
Josie dug in her pants pockets, found a quarter, and bought her mom two tampons.
“Here,” she said, opening the stall door and placing them on her mother’s shoe, which sat on a bench on the outer part of the shower stall.
“Thanks!” Marlene said from behind the shower curtain.
Meribeth looked at her like that entire exchange was normal. “Why are you green?”
“My mom asked for a tampon,” she said dumbly.
“And that upsets you?” Meribeth’s cool detachment that infused her voice suddenly was so therapeutic that Josie started laughing,
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“Well, first of all, my mom is old. She shouldn’t have periods any more.”
“How old is she?”
“Old. She’s,
like, fifty?”
Meribeth cleared her throat. “Really?” She arched one eyebrow. “I thought Marlene was considerably older than that. You do realize, as a former nurse, that menstruation continues well into the fifties for most women.”
Oh, shit. Josie had just offended her future mother-in-law. She had Alex when she was eighteen, and Alex was thirty-two now, which mean Meribeth was...
Damn.
“No, it’s just, well....” Hmmm. Maybe Josie was overreacting here. If Laura or Darla had asked her for tampon help, would she freak out? No. So why the twanging nerves when her own mother needed a simple favor?
Boundaries. That’s why.
But boundaries could be pushed in one area and respected in another. Nothing stopped her from helping Marlene with an obvious basic need.
“Where’s Alex?” Meribeth asked as she unshouldered her bag, which held clothes and shower supplies. The women in the wedding party seemed to all decide it was worth a shower this mid-afternoon, as travelers trickled in. Meribeth and John had asked for one of the tiny sheds, which Josie had thought cute at the time. It was only later that she realized by doing so, Ed and Madge had their own, full cabin with a bathroom inside.
“He’s out on the water. Some of the guys here are all sea kayaking.”
A surprised smile tickled Meribeth’s lips. “Really? Alex isn’t much of a swimmer.”
Doubt made Josie’s vision blur for a second. “What? I’ve seen him swim.”
“Oh, he has the basics down. I made sure of that when he was little. He just, well, he’s so tall and so muscular. He’s a better hockey player than a swimmer. But how wonderful that he’s making some nice male friends!”
Again, Josie’s suspicious nature came to attention.
“Male friends?”
“Have you ever noticed he has no best friend, Josie?”
“Sure. His best friend is the cord clamp,” she joked. “For when he delivers babies and has to cut the umbilical cord.”
Meribeth nodded slowly. “He’s wedded to his work.”
Josie said, “He’s about to wed me, so that’ll make him a bigamist.”
Meribeth watched two men walk by through the open outer door. One was the campground owner, Pete, who she’d met last night, and Josie was pretty sure the other guy was his son. The tall one. She couldn’t remember his name.
“Alex has my father,” Meribeth said softly. Wistfully. “And I married John when he was in college. Alex played hockey and has had teammates as pals, but once he settled on medicine he became an island unto himself.” Meribeth swallowed, shifting her bag onto her shoulder, clearly making moves to start her own shower. Marlene’s water shut off, and Josie began to feel a sense of mounting anxiety that didn’t make sense.
“But Alex doesn’t have guy friends. Never really has. I worry about him. He didn’t want a bachelor party, and sometimes I think it’s because he wouldn’t know who to invite.”
Josie’s throat tightened.
“He said he didn’t want one,” Josie whispered, but as something passed between her and her future mother-in-law, Josie understood her concern. She’d felt it, once in a while. Josie had Laura as her best friend. Wouldn’t know how to live without her in her life. Alex joked he was fine with family and work, but he was the oldest cousin by far, with Meribeth having him so young. He really was a loner.
A loner who spent a hundred hours a week in a hospital, his job to welcome new people into the world.
“Maybe he’ll make some friends here. At this event. He does hang out and have a beer with Trevor and Joe when they come with Darla to our place.”
Meribeth lit up. “Really? I didn’t know that.”
“Darla offered to have them help throw him a bachelor party, but they all got kind of weird about it.” As Marlene exited the shower stall, she gave her a look that Meribeth picked up on immediately, bless her.
Alex, Trevor and Joe had been mighty scarred by the last bachelor party they’d gone to.
The one Marlene had attended.
And then there had been the crazy Christmas Eve fiasco where they’d actually worked as strippers for a bunch of church organists who hired them the night Darla was arrested for alleged prostitution.
Come to think of it, she thought, as her eyes narrowed, Trevor and Joe were the last men on earth she’d have plan Alex’s bachelor party.
“You talking about bachelorette parties?” Marlene called out. She’d wrapped her towel around her head like a turban, and was wearing flip-flops and a robe.
“Mom! Go get dressed. You can’t walk around the campground like that.”
“How will I flash people if I wear clothes?” Marlene gave Meribeth a wink. Josie died. Right there. She died because matter met antimatter and created a black hole.
The black hole of her mother.
Ewww. She cringed at that thought.
Meribeth laughed, humoring Josie’s mom. Having Marlene in her real life, here in New England, was fueling more than anxiety for her. Marlene had never left Ohio except for a few trips to Pittsburgh. When she was little Josie’s father would talk about going on trips when he had saved a little more money. Most of their vacations were spent at Cedar Point, the big amusement park in Sandusky, or going to small hotels off Lake Erie. She knew her dad had wanted to take them all to Niagara Falls or Europe, even, but there wasn’t the money.
And Marlene, being a local girl, just stayed put.
So far, it was Aunt Cathy, Uncle Mike, and her new step-uncle, Calvin, who appreciated Maine the most. Right now, they were sightseeing at a nearby lighthouse. Darla had met up with Trevor and Joe and were on their way, taking forever. With the wedding happening tomorrow at four p.m., she wasn’t surprised to find Darla dragging her feet.
That woman could be late for the Pope.
“Josie, I’m fine walking back to my little garden hut like this. I have panties and a bra and a t-shirt on. See?” She flashed her and Meribeth, opening the bathrobe like it was a trench coat. She was, indeed, wearing what she said she had on.
Meribeth laughed until she couldn’t speak.
“I just left my pants in the cabin. You know I’ve always had a hard time keeping my pants on!” Wink wink, nudge nudge.
Josie just sighed. This was well-worn material for her, but Marlene had a new audience in Meribeth.
“This wedding,” Meribeth gasped, “is going to be so much fun.”
She was completely sincere. Josie couldn’t believe it. Meribeth had this way of living between two worlds. On the one hand, she had a Ph.D. and walked in rich, educated circles. On the other hand, she came from working-class Watertown, the daughter of an Armenian immigrant, and she could seamlessly blend in with her Ohio relatives.
She was a chameleon.
Josie was, too, but in a completely different way.
As she and Marlene said their goodbyes, leaving Meribeth to her shower, they ran into Alex, who was carrying a kayak on his broad shoulder, dripping wet, and sweetly smiling. Josie couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen him so relaxed.
Actually, she’d never seen him like this.
She liked it.
“Hi!” He put the kayak down, gave her a wet smack on the cheek, and grinned at Marlene.
“You go swimming?”
“Not on purpose!” He seemed almost ecstatic to admit he’d tipped over.
“You’re awfully happy for someone who fell out of a boat.”
“It was so much fun, Josie. Mike—Mike Bournham, I mean—taught me how to flip the boat back. You get under it and pop it and—”
As Alex chattered on, excited and animated, Marlene wandered off in the general direction of her little cabin. Josie watched Alex’s face, not really hearing the words, just seeing the hint of sunburn on his nose and the thin crescents of his wide cheekbones, how he ran a hand through his wet hair, the way his swimsuit clung, wet, to all the right muscles.
They needed more of this in their life.
How
could she shape their time so she and Alex got more time together, but more important—more leisure time to just be? Life was supposed to be a rolling series of experiences that enrich, entertain, and deepen. At the end, you have all your memories to feed the slowing down that comes with age and the inevitable winding down of a life well lived.
Ed happened to walk by, his body so much like Alex’s, shoulders straight and strong, but so different, his skin stretched and loose by the loss of collagen and too much sunlight, his features obscured by time. Madge was a match, and Josie corrected herself.
You hoped you had all those memories at the end of a life well lived.
And if you didn’t?
At least you lived well.
Working for Good Things Come in Threes and having Alex work hundred-hour weeks as he came to the end of a very long road that was supposed to finally pay off with a good position as an obstetrician/gynecologist meant putting so much of life on hold.
It was a gamble.
Delayed gratification sounded like a mature, sensible plan.
Until you realized the gratification might never come.
“Hey!” Alex whispered, nuzzling her ear. “You listening, or am I boring you with talk of ocean currents and buoyancy?”
“No. Not boring. Just thinking.” She felt the tempest inside her stir up a bit.
“About what?”
“About how happy you are. Right now.”
He squeezed her shoulder and looked back at the ocean, eyes going unfocused as he stared at a distant island on the horizon. He made a small huffing sound of agreement. “You’re right. I am happy. Haven’t felt like this since...high school? Maybe even before?”
“You push yourself too hard.” The words came out of Josie’s mouth, and if she had a twin she’d be gaping at herself in disbelief. Those were the words everyone always said to her, as she scrambled to get out of tiny little Peters, Ohio, and away from her mom. Years of working too many crap jobs, taking too many classes, busting her ass to get away from and out of the hole of her life had gotten her to Cambridge, Massachusetts, into the nurse’s job she had when she met Alex.
He gaped at her, too.
