Happy Hour

by Michele Scott

  After Wilson, there was a little girl named Juliet, and after her, another little boy named Shawn. After three hours of tacking up, leading kids around, and putting horses away, the adrenaline still rushed through Jamie. One of the best parts of the morning was spotting Maddie every so often helping out with her teacher, Gwen.

  At lunchtime, they all gathered around one of the shady willow trees on the grounds. “Mom, I cantered today. After I helped Gwen with the kids, she gave me a lesson on Roadie and I cantered.”

  “That’s wonderful, honey. I can’t wait to watch you.”

  “I wish I could have a horse,” Maddie said.

  “Someday, babe.”

  Maddie kissed her on the cheek. “Can I go get a candy bar out of the machine in the tack room?”

  “I guess. But don’t get used to treats around here.”

  “You’re the best mom ever.”

  Jamie laid back in the tall grass. Sure, she was saying that now, but from what Jamie had seen from the teenage children her friends had, being “the best” didn’t last in your children’s eyes. If she was lucky, she had three more years of being “the best” and then there would be that huge downgrade to “the worst.” From all appearances, that stage lasted anywhere from four to seven years. Great. She was really looking forward to that.

  A light breeze blew across the ranch and Jamie daydreamed of horses and children. Her sweet daydreams turned a tad erotic when Tyler waltzed into her thoughts while she dozed. The man had a body and a smile and, oh, those eyes! Why did he have to be so young? Why did he have to be…period? Jamie did not want to think about undressing Tyler Meeks or kissing him or doing anything else for that matter.

  “Must be a good dream,” Tyler said.

  Jamie’s eyes shot open and she saw that he was leaning over her. “No. I wasn’t dreaming. Nothing. It was about nothing.”

  “You had a nice smile on your face for nothing.”

  “Really, I wasn’t thinking anything at all.”

  “Okay.” He shrugged and again walked away.

  Jamie gritted her teeth. She hated to admit it, but Tyler was getting under her skin.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Kat

  It was a warm Saturday afternoon and for the first time ever, really, Kat felt like she was connecting with her six-year-old step-daughter. Granted, she’d known the little girl for three years now, but Amber’s mother Emily made sure to label Kat as the scary step-monster as much as she could. The irony was, Emily would drop Amber off on a whim, without notice, claiming she had to fly off to wherever for work. As if her company didn’t have a schedule drawn up prior to the day before, or the day of a necessary business trip? What, they would just come to her a few hours before she needed to be at the airport and tell her that she had to go to Timbuktu on business? Please! Kat hadn’t fallen off of the turnip truck recently, if ever. She knew that the word dumbshit were not engraved across her forehead, yet every time Emily called, she and Christian would take Amber.

  Kat realized that she should confront the woman about boundaries and schedules. But it really wasn’t her place. It was Christian’s. The blended family management thing could be a real bitch. Not like the nuclear family didn’t come without complications. Marriage alone was difficult—nothing at all like the ideal happily-ever-afters that played out on movie screens. Add children to the marriage and things tended to get a bit muddier. Take that idea and throw divorces into the mix, remarriages and all the kids involved. The result tended to be dysfunction junction. Ah, yes, the making for a Valium addiction. But Kat didn’t pop pills. Sure, she had herself a glass of wine in the evenings (some nights that glass was larger than other nights) while working at the restaurant, and she usually had two or three when with her friends, but she wasn’t dependent on any chemical. She’d even given up smoking.

  Blended families meant trying to balance it all while walking on a tight rope with fifty-pound weights in each hand. As a mom and wife, Kat loved her whole family, including her stepdaughter. But as a woman, Kat found that loving them all and trying to make it work was often a detriment to her sanity. And taking Amber in on a regular basis, without upsetting Christian with a discussion on why Emily needed to have better boundaries, was one of those elements contributing to her mental chaos. And then there were the boys, the Sperm Donor, and Christian’s delicate feelings around all of that. Ay, yay, yay. Yes. The balancing act weighed on Kat.

  Kat held onto Amber’s hands as she pulled her around the pool, her little fingernails shining hot pink from the polish they’d painted on earlier, a huge grin spread across her angelic face. Jeremy dove into the deep end, his body tanned and lean from all the working out, while Brian hung out in the Jacuzzi, his longish hair hanging in his eyes, still holding on to the attitude he’d copped that morning—completely insulted that his mother wouldn’t even consider buying him the new Apple laptop. And here she’d thought he’d always be sweet and that the proverbial teenage wasteland wouldn’t become a part of their relationship. Wishful thinking!

  “Can you toss me into the deep end?” Amber asked.

  “No, sweetie. You can’t swim that strong yet.”

  “I’ll catch her,” Jeremy said, his blue eyes shining.

  Maybe there was light at the end of the tunnel after all. Did Jeremy really want to play big brother?

  Amber beamed. “You will?” Obviously she was as shocked as Kat.

  “Yeah, sure! C’mon, Mom, toss her.”

  “Okay. One, two three!” Kat pumped Amber up out of the water with each count and on three tossed her across to Jeremy. Water splashed all over as he caught her.

  Then Brian jumped in from the Jacuzzi, spraying water all over them again. “Hey, I’ll catch her, too,” he grumbled. At least a grumble was better than the full-on aggrieved attitude.

  “Cool,” Kat said. “Mind if I take a break for a minute? I’ll go make us some sandwiches and grab some sodas.” Is this the way normal families worked? If so, Kat could live with it. Too bad Christian wasn’t there to see how good the boys could be with Amber, instead choosing to believe they were children with the mark of Satan on them.

  “I want turkey and cheese,” Jeremy said.

  “Me, too,” Amber yelled out.

  “No cheese,” Brian said.

  “I know,” Kat replied. As if the kid had just picked up the bizarre habit of no cheese. To her it was bizarre because he’d eat pizza all day long. But any other way, forget it.

  She toweled off and walked back to the house, the whole time hearing the kids laughing and playing in the pool. Maybe she should have a pool party. Invite her friends and their kids. Yes. Maybe that was exactly what everyone needed. Brand new pool. Hot summer on the way. A party. Perfect. Maybe she’d even do it while her mother was visiting. Could she invite her dad too, or would that be too awkward? She couldn’t really have a party and not invite her father. She’d ask him and see how he felt about it. If he was uncomfortable, then she’d do it when her mom wasn’t here.

  Peaches, their golden retriever, was on the couch when she opened the French doors to go back inside. The retriever jumped off and sulked away when Kat gave her one of her looks. “You know what, you lazy bum, you and Squeak need to go outside and play. Where is she?” she called the aging Chihuahua, who ambled into the room probably thinking she was going to get a treat. Instead Kat booted them out and went into the kitchen to make lunch.

  She’d just finished the last of the sandwiches, grabbed some chips and sodas, and started back outside when both dogs went a little berserk, Squeak with her little yip and Peaches with her low bark. “What the heck?” She opened the back door and caught herself.

  “Hey, Kat.” It was Perry and some long-legged young blonde. Typical.

  There stood Kat, hands full of a platter of food in her Land’s End bathing suit that was not covering up her cellulite the way she’d hoped the hipster bottoms would. “Hi, Perry. What are you doing here?”

  “Can you shu
t those dogs up? What the hell is wrong with them?”

  “They’re doing their job.” Using her hip, Kat opened the handle on the door and ushered the dogs inside. She must have been a lovely sight—her rear end hanging out, balancing food, and an awkward hip movement to get yip and yap in the house. She forced a smile as she turned back around. “Now, why are you here?”

  “I’m picking up the boys.” He wrapped an arm around the blonde, and ran a hand through his thick, dark hair, his dark brown eyes twinkling with their ever-mischievous glint. “This is Beta.”

  “Hello,” the child said with a Swedish accent.

  “Hi,” Kat replied. “Where’s Inga, or Iris, or…”

  “Indie,” he interrupted.

  “Yeah, Indie. Where’s she?”

  “We broke up.”

  “Ah,” Kat clucked. “Nothing like jumping right back in the saddle, huh? So you’re here for the boys, but you’re about three hours early.”

  “I called and left a message for both boys on their cell phones and also on your house phone. Beta and I are going down to Cabo for a few days and our flight leaves tonight, so I can’t take the boys to dinner. I’d figure I’d take them to lunch.”

  “I just made them lunch.” She looked down at the sandwiches. “I guess you better refigure.”

  “I’m sure they’d prefer going out. They’re out at the pool?” Not waiting for Kat’s reply, he headed that way with the blonde in tow.

  Kat tried to keep up with them while also attempting to balance the full load of lunches. “You know, it would have been nice if you’d actually waited and talked to me. We have plans.”

  Perry shrugged. “Looks to me like you’re swimming. Not much in the plans department.”

  Blonde Beta giggled.

  “Wait a minute.” She hated when he did this.

  “Dad!” It was Brian, of course.

  “Hey, bud. Hi, Jer.”

  “Hey, Dad.” He didn’t have the same enthusiasm at the sight of his father that his brother did.

  “Toss me again,” Amber whined in Brian’s arms.

  “Nah, our dad’s here.”

  Kat watched as Brian handed Amber to Jeremy and climbed out of the pool to dry off. It was no use even trying to interfere now. The hero had arrived. Brian walked over to him and gave him a high five and a hug. “What’s up?”

  “Not much. Waz up with you, G?”

  The Mister Cool act was so disgusting. Kat could get wanting to be the kid’s best pal, but at some point, didn’t Perry feel the need to act at least a little parental? Dumb question. The answer was quite obvious.

  “Same old same,” Brian said. “You know, just kicking it.”

  “Right on. Right on. Get dried off. I’m taking you guys to lunch. Come on. Go get dressed. You too, Jer. Put the kid down and get out. This is Beta. Say hi.”

  “Hey,” Brian said, not in the same tone he greeted his father. It seemed that maybe he was tiring of the girlfriend turnstile his father ran.

  “I can’t go, Dad,” Jeremy said, still holding on to Amber.

  “What do you mean you can’t go?” Perry crossed his arms.

  Kat looked from her son to her ex-husband.

  “I have a friend’s birthday party to go to.”

  “Call them up. You can’t go. You’re going with me. I drove an hour out here to take you guys to lunch. There’ll be other birthdays with friends. Let’s do this.”

  “You can’t do that,” Kat said.

  “Bullshit. The kid is going with me. I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks and I’m going to be gone for a few days. I want to hang out with him.” That glint he’d had in his eyes turned from mischief to what Kat thought was evil. Perry always lived up to his reputation as a snake.

  Kat stood up tall, nearly dropping the lunch. “Could you please watch your language? And you know what? No. Jer doesn’t have to go with you. The plan was for dinner tonight. You changed the plan, Jeremy agreed to dinner, but he has a birthday party to go to. He’s not hanging out with you, G. You can take Brian for lunch.” She made her eyes into little hateful slits. When dealing with a snake, sometimes it took acting like one too.

  “Maybe you guys should check your messages sometimes,” Perry said.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t expect to change everyone’s schedule to fit your own whenever you feel like it. Have fun in Cabo.” She gave Brian a hug. “Have a good lunch, honey.”

  “Nice pool. Restaurant must be doing well,” Perry said.

  Kat got the subtlety of the remark. “We’re fine. You must be doing okay yourself. Graphic designers are in demand obviously. Cabo isn’t exactly cheap and the boys mentioned you bought a new Porsche.” Perry owned his own graphic design firm in San Francisco, with many of his contracts coming from major businesses all over the country. Kat had been there when he’d started the firm, even helped him by doing all of the administrative work. Now he was a success and she admittedly hated that.

  “Let’s go, Bri.” Brian, the bimbo, and the Sperm Donor walked down the patio steps and headed off to their lunch. “Later, Jer.”

  Kat stifled a smile. The guy was such a jerk. He had two sons and he routinely tried to get out of his obligations in supporting them. Sure, he wanted the perks of having the boys, of playing the hero father in front of his girlfriends, but that’s where it ended. One thing for sure was that after that little scene he’d just pulled, Jeremy was as sick and disgusted by him as Kat was. Jeremy had started to see right through his father, because there was no birthday party planned. He’d made it up just to avoid having to go with him. She knew it was wrong to cover for the kid, but Jeremy shouldn’t have to hang out with dad, the new Barbie, and his little brother who put their dad on a pedestal.

  But it also made Kat sad. She turned to see Jeremy pulling Amber around the pool like he had earlier, and although there was this near-triumphant feeling knowing that Perry didn’t completely win this time, it was tempered by what she understood had to be the effect on Jeremy. She knew what it was like to be abandoned by a parent. But at least in her case, she’d been an adult when it had happened. Jeremy was still a kid and Kat couldn’t help notice a loss of innocence in his eyes as he realized how truly superficial his father’s love was.

  “Hey, you two. Come get your lunch.”

  Amber wrapped her arms around Jeremy and said, “I like you. You’re fun.”

  He twirled her around and the water sprayed out from the ends of her feet. “You’re okay, too, Monster. I think we’ll keep you around.” He boosted her onto the steps and Kat wrapped a towel around her.

  “Thank you,” Kat said.

  “No, thanks, Mom,” he replied.

  They hung their feet over the side of the pool and ate their lunch. They’d have to talk about what had happened. She wouldn’t allow Jeremy to wallow in feelings he probably didn’t completely understand. But for now, the three of them would dangle their feet in the water and revel in the fact that, although it was one strange family, they were indeed a family.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Alyssa

  Alyssa didn’t know why she couldn’t tell her friends last week about the letter. She’d even thought of telling Danielle about it over dinner after art class, but she couldn’t. Why couldn’t she be open like the other three? Who was she kidding? She knew exactly why. Alyssa knew she couldn’t tell them because it would mean taking her three pals back to the very beginning and then they would wonder why she hadn’t told them before. The past was so painful, and one of the things she really loved about Jamie, Danielle, and Kat was that they knew when to back off. They weren’t friends who tried to pry you open as if you were a closed mollusk with some precious jewel inside. And Alyssa was simply not prepared to be that honest with them or even with herself.

  She dabbed her paintbrush into a rose color and blended it with a deep red hue. Sade played over the sound system in her studio. Coffee brewed, filling the studio with its earthy aroma. The space nestled behind t
he gallery was too small to hold her classes in, but worked fine for her own time at the easel and canvas. The painting she currently worked on was taking on a darker tone than the ones she’d already painted of the boy with no name.

  It was almost seven. She’d gotten there early because she hadn’t been able to sleep. She’d tossed and turned and thought over the letter to which she hadn’t responded.

  In a few hours she’d put away her brushes and open the gallery for tourists and the few locals who came by every so often to see if she was carrying anything new. This place was her sanctuary, and a place where honesty dwelled. That was the worst part about having such good friends and not telling them her secrets; the feeling that she was being dishonest with them. They’d shown her their troubled sides, their woes, and she hadn’t shown them hers. Look at Jamie and the problems with her brother-in-law, losing Nate, and now having to take care of her mother-in-law, too. Then there was Danielle and what was going on with her and her daughter. A pregnancy. A baby. Tough stuff. And Kat. Although she played it up like not much bugged her, like her ex and her husband’s ex, and all the stuff they dealt with daily with the kids and the restaurant, Alyssa saw through Kat’s tough exterior. All of it ate at her. Maybe Kat kept some things quiet like she did?

  Alyssa set her brush aside and grabbed the wine glass that she was using as a prop. She placed her hand across the top of the glass and studied the lines in her hands and the light, the peach of her palm that bled into a soft caramel color. She picked her brush back up. She’d already painted the glass on the table in the painting and now she began to paint a hand—her hand covering the top of it. Before long, hours rushing by, she realized that it was almost ten o’clock and time to put her artwork away to open the gallery. She sat back for a moment and admired her work. It showed her hand covering a glass of red wine, as another hand reached out for the glass. It was a child’s hand. The boy’s hand. She wasn’t finished with the painting, but she’d started to paint in the little boy’s face reflected in the glass. She’d named the painting “Protector.”