Here's to Friends

by Melody Carlson

  “What?”

  “Paul.”

  Janie blinked. “What do you mean?” Had Paul put the move on Caroline? In a way, it wouldn’t surprise Janie. Paul had always been a bit of a flirt. And yet it would be so incredibly low. Surely Paul wouldn’t go after one of his wife’s very best friends. Really, that would be almost unforgivable.

  “I mean I walked in here yesterday, and Paul and Bonnie were standing right over there in the kitchen and …” Caroline held up her hands in a frustrated gesture.

  “You mean they were together—in a compromising position?” Janie waited.

  “No, not exactly. Not like that. But they were standing very close together. You know, the kind of close that gets your attention … too intimate for just business associates. And then when they realized I was in the house, they stepped apart real quick. You know, like they felt guilty.”

  “Oh.” Janie shook her head. “Oh dear.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are you sure that is was …” Janie’s voice trailed off. “Of course you’re sure.”

  “I wish I was wrong, Janie. I really do. But I just don’t think so.”

  “So now what?”

  “I don’t know.” Caroline looked close to tears. “I feel like this is all my fault, Janie. Why did I hire Paul and Bonnie? I should’ve known better. I am the worst friend in the world. Abby should hate me.” Caroline was crying.

  “It is not your fault,” Janie told her.

  “But I hired Bonnie behind Abby’s back.”

  “Because Paul insisted you hire her.”

  Caroline sniffed. “Yeah. That’s true. Even so, Abby doesn’t deserve this.”

  “Don’t blame yourself for Paul’s stupidity.” Janie opened her purse, pulled out a tissue pack, and handed it to Caroline.

  “Unless I’m wrong.” Caroline blew her nose. “Maybe I saw something that really wasn’t there. And if I looked at them, you know, in that way—like they were guilty—maybe they acted that way. Do you think?”

  “I don’t know what to think. But I do know this is not your fault, Caroline. Paul and Bonnie are adults who make their own choices. They work together a lot. Everyone in town knows this. Abby knows this.”

  “Does she?” Caroline cocked her head to one side.

  “I don’t know. I guess I assume she knows it.”

  “Anyway.” Caroline let out a loud sigh. “What do I do now?”

  Janie pressed her lips together, thinking. “I’m not sure. But maybe you do nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Well, what can you really do? Do you want to fire them in the middle of your remodel? If you cancel their contracts for personal reasons, you could be held responsible for paying them anyway. Can you afford that?”

  Caroline shook her head.

  “And what good does that do Abby?”

  She shrugged.

  “It’s not like you caught them actually doing something. I mean if they’d been embracing or kissing, I think you could make a case of it. I’d even help you with it. But if they were only standing too close—how do we define too close? I mean, some people have closer boundaries than others. As I recall, Bonnie is one of those people whose comfort zone is a lot more intimate than mine.”

  “That’s true.” Caroline nodded. “She does get close when she’s intense about something.”

  “So it’s possible that she’d done that to Paul,” Janie reasoned. “And maybe he was uncomfortable too, and that’s why he backed up.”

  “Do you think?” Caroline looked hopeful.

  Janie shrugged. “I think it’s all we have to go on.”

  “Okay.” Caroline blew her nose again. “That’s what I’m going to tell myself.”

  “If you walk in on something that’s—well, more obviously wrong—then we’ll confront Paul. Together.”

  “Really?” Caroline smiled. “You’d do that for me?”

  “Of course I would.”

  Caroline came over and hugged Janie. “You are such a good friend! Thanks.”

  As Janie drove over to Victor’s, where he was fixing her dinner, she wondered if that was true. Was she really such a good friend? To Abby?

  Chapter 12

  Abby

  She couldn’t believe that Paul had forgotten their counseling appointment—again! He’d missed it last week due to a double booking with his cardiologist. Although irritating, it was understandable, especially since Abby had decided to put aside her codependence some time ago, meaning she’d implored Paul to manage his own life, schedule his own medical appointments, and oversee his own fitness program. The fact that he overlooked some things to see to his health was entirely forgivable. In fact, it was to be expected. After all, he was a man! But two weeks in a row was just too much.

  Embarrassed to be at the counseling center alone, she paced impatiently in the lobby, waiting for him to answer his cell phone. Adding insult to injury, her call went to voice mail. Instead of leaving him a message like a sane wife would do, Abby hung up. “Would you like to reschedule?” the receptionist asked Abby.

  “No,” Abby retorted. “I will let Paul take care of that.”

  The receptionist smiled. “Good idea.”

  “If we don’t make it back here before the holidays, merry Christmas.” Abby forced a smile, then left. She didn’t want to be angry—she knew it would only add to her suffering. Really, it was Paul who should feel bad. But she just couldn’t help herself. Didn’t he care about her? Or their marriage? How hard was it to remember a silly appointment? If he needed to meet with a plumber or a building inspector or the kid who mowed their lawn on Saturdays, Paul wouldn’t blow it off. No, she was the only one who got the short end of the stick, and that was unfair.

  Instead of going home, Abby stopped by the inn. She knew that Caroline was watching Hunter today. Abby had taken care of the child yesterday and actually enjoyed herself. The prospects of hanging with Caroline and Hunter seemed preferable to going home to her big lonely beach house and stewing over her husband’s selfish neglect.

  “I thought you had counseling today,” Caroline said as Abby joined them in the dining room, where it looked like Hunter was doing homework.

  “We did.” Abby set her purse down. “But someone forgot.”

  “Oh.”

  “Hi, Abby.” Hunter smiled up at her. “I’m doing homework.”

  “I see that,” Abby observed. “But what I want to know is how did Auntie Caroline get you to do it?” Abby had tried to talk Hunter into doing her homework yesterday, but Hunter had weaseled her way out of it. Or maybe Abby had simply given in too easily. Really, making cookies seemed a lot more fun than doing second-grade arithmetic.

  Bribe, Caroline mouthed to Abby. “I told Hunter we’d take Chuck for a walk on the beach if she finished her homework first.”

  “Well, don’t let me disturb you.” Abby went into the kitchen and got herself a glass of water.

  Caroline followed her in there. “So are you pretty mad?”

  Abby just nodded, took another swig of water, then plunked the glass down into sink so hard she was surprised it didn’t break. “Two weeks in a row.”

  “Maybe you should’ve reminded him.”

  “Or maybe he should take some responsibility and remind himself.” Abby scowled. “Good grief, he has a five-hundred-dollar watch that’s got all these alarms and things—and an iPhone as well. He’s got the technology to deal with this. The problem is he just doesn’t want to.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetie.” Caroline put a hand on her shoulder. “You need to talk to Paul about this. He needs to hear how you’re feeling.”

  Abby firmly shook her head. “No. If Paul wants to know how I’m feeling, he needs to talk to me.”

  Caroli
ne just stood there with a frustrated expression as if she had no more answers.

  “Aren’t you glad you’re not married?” Abby challenged her.

  Caroline seemed to consider this. “Sometimes I am. Sometimes not so much.”

  “That’s only because you idealize marriage, Caroline. If you knew what it was really like—I mean years and years of being married to the same man. If you lived day in day out with a man who acts like it’s your only job to pick up after him and fix him dinner, then you’d be singing a different song.”

  “Maybe so … and my experience with marriage was pretty brief, not to mention unconventional.”

  “I’ve got a mind to just start staying here at the inn,” Abby continued. “That’d teach him.”

  “What would it teach him?”

  “Not to take me for granted.”

  “Oh.” Caroline nodded. “Hey, we missed you at circuit training again yesterday. You said after your guests checked out you’d be coming back.”

  Abby sighed. “I decided that circuit training is not for me.”

  “But what about your club membership?”

  “What about it?” Abby glared at Caroline.

  “Well, you shouldn’t waste it, Abby. Even if you don’t like circuit training, there are lots of other fun ways to work out.”

  “Fun?” Abby rolled her eyes.

  “Exercise is fun after you get used to it, Abby. Really, I promise you it is. Your body releases endorphins and you get in shape and you feel better about yourself in general.”

  Abby thought about this. She would love to feel better about herself. She just didn’t buy that exercise was going to get her there.

  “You just need to find something you like to do,” Caroline encouraged.

  “Like what?”

  “How about the recumbent bike?”

  “Huh?”

  “You know, a stationary bike. You always liked biking when we were girls, Abby. Remember?”

  Abby nodded. “That’s true. I have a bike that I keep meaning to get out and ride. But it’s a little overwhelming to imagine myself riding all the way to town and then being too tired to get back home.”

  “See!” Caroline exclaimed. “A recumbent bike would be perfect.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I do.” Caroline was actually pushing Abby out of the kitchen. “Please, Abby, for your own good, I’m begging you to go over to the fitness center, get on a recumbent bike, and just ride it for, say, thirty minutes. And remind yourself as you’re riding it that you are burning calories, and that if you do that every other day up until our Mexico cruise, you could lose—I don’t know—maybe five pounds.”

  “Five pounds?” Abby felt hopeful.

  “Maybe more. If you really set your mind to it, Abby.” Caroline patted her nice flat stomach. “You don’t think I could stay in shape without working out, do you?”

  “I don’t know.” Abby shrugged. “I always just figured you had some kind of magical DNA.”

  Caroline laughed. But Hunter was calling, asking for help with a problem. “Just go,” Caroline urged her. “If nothing else, it’s a good way to blow off steam. A good workout will help you to deal with Paul.”

  “Well, my gym bag is still in my car,” Abby admitted.

  “So go!” Caroline pointed at the clock. “If you leave now, you’ll be early enough to beat the after-work crowd.”

  Abby knew she might regret this, but she decided to take Caroline’s advice. Within fifteen minutes, she was seated on a stationary bike, and, after some brief instruction from a trainer, she was pedaling away. To her surprise, it was kind of fun. Not only that, but the club wasn’t too crowded, and the woman two bikes down from her appeared to be in similar shape—make that out of shape.

  “This is my first time doing this,” Abby told the other woman.

  “It’s only my second week,” the woman huffed. “But I think it’s helping me.”

  “Really?” Abby smiled. “That’s nice to hear. I’m Abby, by the way.”

  “My name is Ginger.”

  They made a bit of breathless small talk as they congenially continued to work out, side by side, together. And Abby started to feel a tiny bit hopeful. Perhaps she’d been too hasty to give up on the fitness club. Maybe Caroline had been right about those endorphins. Abby could certainly use some happy vibes today.

  “After the bike I do some stretches,” Ginger told Abby. “Do you want to join me?”

  “Sure.” So after about thirty minutes, Abby followed Ginger over to a stretching area and tried to imitate her.

  “The trainer said stretching is as important as working out.” Then Ginger told Abby how she planned to start aqua aerobics next week. “You should come too.”

  “I don’t know.” Abby frowned. “The idea of getting in a swimsuit … I’m just not ready for that.”

  “If you saw the other old ladies in the class, you might not be so worried,” Ginger told her.

  Abby chuckled. “I hadn’t thought of it like that. You could be right.”

  Then, realizing what time it was, Ginger explained she had to pick up her daughter from basketball practice. “Maybe I’ll see you around here another time.” Ginger waved and headed off toward the locker rooms. But Abby, feeling surprisingly strong and energized from the success of her workout, decided to stick around and see if there were any other exercise machines that would appeal to her.

  She was just getting into a bit of rhythm on some kind of stationary climber machine when something caught her eye. The climbers were situated to overlook the lobby below, and if she was not mistaken, that was Paul down there. Although she had to admit that it didn’t look quite like him. He had on navy sweats, and his paunch belly seemed to have shrunk—or perhaps his shoulders were wider—but on closer inspection she saw that it really was her husband … and he looked pretty good.

  She was about to call out and wave to Paul when she noticed a petite blond woman walking directly to him. The woman had on a pink warm-up jacket and very short white shorts. And, just like that, the two were engaged in what looked like an animated and pleasant conversation.

  Abby struggled to dismount from the machine, nearly falling on her face. She fought to get her feet under her, catching her balance by grabbing hold of the balcony ledge, then leaned over to get a closer peek at what was transpiring below. Completely unaware of Abby’s presence, Paul was leading the attractive blonde over to the tables by the juice bar, and the two were sitting down together. Paul even pulled out her chair!

  But as they sat down, Abby got a good look at the woman’s face. She could not believe it. That was none other than that conniving, husband-stealing Bonnie Boxwell—going after Abby’s husband right here in broad public daylight!

  Abby inched her way along the edge of the balcony, moving toward the stairs and trying discreetly to watch the unfortunate tryst while determining how to handle this. What should she do? Should she storm down there and confront the pair—shake her finger at the two of them and publicly accuse them of infidelity? Or perhaps she could just silently stand there, looking wounded and betrayed, waiting for their guilty expressions or lame excuses to give them away? Or should she simply wander down there and act nonchalant? She could just casually say hello, then give them an innocent look and leave. Maybe that would give them something to think about.

  While trying to decide, Abby caught a glimpse of something else—there, not far from her, stood another frumpy, dowdy middle-aged woman with frowsy hair and baggy paint-splattered sweats and really poor posture. Another poor fitness-club misfit. But then Abby realized she was actually seeing her own reflection in one of the floor-to-ceiling mirrors so prevalent in this club. She stared at herself with real disgust. Was that truly what she looked like? Or was this just a case of bad lighti
ng—a bad hair day and no makeup?

  She turned and peered back down at where Paul and Bonnie chatted amicably together, still oblivious to Abby’s presence, and she experienced a fresh wave of horror. Of course, it all made sense. Why wouldn’t Paul prefer someone like Bonnie to his old worn-out wife? Not only did Bonnie look good, she was looking at Paul like she thought he looked good too. And she was listening to him as if he were the most entertaining thing since color TV. No wonder Paul had blown his counseling appointment with Abby today. He had simply wanted to spend time with Bonnie.

  Her eyes blurred with tears as, gripping the railing for support, she hurried down the stairs and around the corner, rushing directly to the women’s locker room, where, instead of showering, she simply gathered her things and, using a side exit, scurried away, got into her car, and drove—not home—but back to the inn. Her old home, which would now become her new home.

  Chapter 13

  Caroline

  No matter how hard she tried, Caroline could not convince Abby to speak to Paul. Abby was ignoring his calls on her cell, while Caroline got to deal with the landline. Caroline didn’t want to say this to Abby, but the whole thing was starting to feel a whole lot like high school.

  “Tell Paul to stay away from here, too,” Abby told Caroline after the second time she came up to the master suite, begging Abby to at least talk to her frustrated husband. “I do not want to be within a mile of that evil man!”

  “He’s not evil, Abby.” Caroline sat down on the edge of the king-sized bed where Abby had appeared to have taken root. “You two have too much history to throw it all away like this.”

  “I’m done with him,” Abby declared. “I’m finished, Caroline. And I mean it this time.”

  “Oh Abby.” Caroline sighed. “That’s just your hurt talking.”

  “Maybe so. But this time I’m listening.”

  So Caroline returned to the landline and attempted, again, to explain what was troubling Abby.

  “It’s like I already told you. Bonnie and I were just talking business,” Paul insisted. “That’s all it was. I swear!”