Peter loved watching Heather. He had finally convinced her to wear a two piece bathing suit. But she did it in her own way, pairing a bikini top with a skirted bottom. She had put away all of the bikinis he bought for their trip to Virgin Gorda and returned to her mom attire. She had a minor obsession with the size of her ass, which amused and a little bit annoyed Peter because her ass was hardly any size at all. It was definitely not too big. He guessed most people would be jealous of Heather at first glance. But, she usually managed to do something a little odd like tucking her skirt in her underwear or tripping in front of your car in the middle of a busy road, so most people wanted to hug her and protect her.
Just as Peter finished admiring his wife, he heard someone calling his name.
"Peter Adamson? Is that you?" Peter and Heather turned at the same time. Heather saw a blonde in a black one-piece bathing suit running towards him. She noticed right away that nothing jiggled as this woman ran. Her black bathing suit was timeless and sexy. Her hair bounced as she ran in a Baywatch-y way.
"Kelly!" Peter yelled as he picked George up and walked over to this running lady. They embraced on the beach with George smashed in between them.
Kelly, he knows her name. She's not just an adoring fan, thought Heather.
"How are you? Are you here for the summer?"
"I'm great. We just came up for a few weeks."
"And who is this adorable guy?" asked Kelly tickling George's tummy.
"This is George. And oh, yeah, wait, sorry! This is my wife." Peter's cheeks were pink, and Heather could see him blinking behind his sunglasses.
Heather stood back and smiled. She wasn't used to Peter forgetting her even momentarily and that's exactly what he had done. She wasn't really sure how to react so she just smiled and said, "Hi."
Kelly walked towards Heather and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Kelly Clark. I'm an old friend of Peter's." She smiled at Peter and winked. Peter smiled back and a little laugh, chuckle squeaky noise came out of his mouth. Kelly touched Heather's arm in a way that reminded her of the sympathy touches she had gotten after Hank died.
Why the fuck is she winking at my husband? thought Heather. And why does he look like he just swallowed a canary?
"Kelly and I went to high school together," said Peter to Heather before he turned back to Kelly. "What have you been up to? How is your family?"
"The kids are fine. Jason and I got a divorce last year. I caught him having an affair with one of the paralegals in his office."
"Wow. Why would he have an affair if he was married to you?" asked Heather.
Kelly smiled at Heather as did Peter. But they both smiled in a way that made Heather feel like she was about three years old. Peter's eyes moved down to the top of Heather's swimsuit. Heather followed them down and realized that Emily had pulled the suit right off of her boob and it was hanging out for the whole beach to see. Heather turned several shades of crimson, fixed her suit and walked over to her beach chair. She set Emily on the blanket so she could play in the sand. George started fidgeting in Peter's arms to get down, so he walked over and set him next to Emily. At the same time, Gracie walked back to the blanket with a bucket of shells. Henry took a break from building his sand castle, and Hayes got out of the water.
"Boy, you guys have your hands full," said Kelly. "I've got to run, but I would love to have you guys over for dinner tomorrow night. All of you. Just casual on the back deck. Say 6?"
"Sounds great. We'll see you then," said Peter without consulting Heather, and Kelly walked away.
"I'll stay home with the kids and you can go," said Heather not looking at Peter's face.
"No, you're all coming. Kelly invited all of us."
"You can’t tell me what to do! The twins go to bed at 7:30, and it just sounds like a lot of trouble if you ask me."
"Kelly has two kids. She knows exactly what kind of trouble kids are."
"If you are so desperate to go, go. I'll stay home with my kids," said Heather completely overreacting.
"I'm not desperate to go. I think you would like her. And they are OUR kids." Peter didn't want to argue with Heather, so he grabbed Henry and got into the water. He left Heather to sit and stew on the beach.
They were more than friends. I can tell. He never acts like that around women, she thought, ignoring the fact that the only thing Peter did differently was not blow Kelly off. Heather had just about had enough of the beach for the morning. She was ready to get the kids back to the house, make lunch and try to forget the ugly green-eyed monster that had reared its head at the beach. She decided it was best to wait for Peter and Henry to get out of the water because nagging him after her little rage was probably a bad idea.
The twins played with Gracie and her shells. George tried to eat each of them. Emily watched Gracie with wide open eyes, like she was in awe of her. Hayes made a drizzle castle at the edge of the water. Everyone seemed content. Except for Heather. The jealousy was leaving a bad feeling in her head on this beautiful beach morning. When Henry and Peter got out of the water, Henry flattened Hayes' castle. Heather wasn't 100% sure it was on purpose, but Hayes was sure and got up and tackled Henry. Peter peeled Hayes off of Henry without missing a beat. He picked Henry up and plopped him on the beach blanket.
"I'm ready to head up and have some lunch before we go out on the boat," said Heather.
"Okay, Meadows-Adamsons! You heard the boss, let's move out," said Peter. Heather watched him to see if she could tell if he was mad at her at all.
The combined time for packing up and unpacking was almost greater than the amount of time they spent on the beach. When they got back to the house, Heather got the twins cleaned up and Peter made lunch. Peter's parents walked in shortly after lunch and Heather got the twins down for a nap. The big kids, Heather and Peter left for the sailboat.
"I've never been on a sailboat before," said Henry.
"I've been sailing for as long as I can remember," said Peter. "I'll teach you how it's done."
The drive down to the marina was only a few minutes. The owner of the marina met Peter at the car.
"We've got your boat all set, Mr. Adamson."
"Thanks. I've missed her. It's been two years since I've been on her."
"Her?" asked Henry. "It's a boat not a girl."
"People refer to boats as females. We even name them. My boat's name is Blue."
"Hmmm...," said Henry.
When they got to the boat, Peter gave everyone a life jacket, even Heather.
"Here, it'll help cover your breasts," whispered Peter as he handed it to Heather.
"Very funny. I'm embarrassed enough about earlier."
"What part of earlier?"
"We'll talk about it later. I want to enjoy Blue and see why you love her so much." She hoped Peter could put it out of his mind and enjoy a nice sail on this day that she had already done her best to mess up.
The guy from the marina helped them untie from the dock.
"All your emergency gear is in the box on the floor. It's all tested and updated."
"Thanks," said Peter as he prepared the sails and then started a motor.
"I thought this was a sailboat not a motor boat!" yelled Henry.
"I use the motor to get out of the harbor."
Gracie and Heather sat next to each other on the boat. Hayes sat on the front and Henry stood next to Peter absorbing everything he could about driving the boat. They were out of the harbor before they knew it, and Peter put the sails to work. Heather watched as his muscular form moved one sail to the other side and pulled ropes from here to there. She had no idea what he was doing. But the view was pleasant.
Peter felt her watching him. "Want to learn?"
"Yes, sometime. Right now I just want to enjoy."
Peter smiled. He liked the idea of Heather enjoying his passion. Heather liked the idea of watching her husband drive a boat.
"I'll learn," said Henry.
"And I'll teach you. Mom, what do you say we ge
t the kids some Sunfish sailing lessons while we're in Maine?"
"YES!" screamed all three kids at the same time. Heather smiled and knew it was a done deal. When they first met, Peter had found out the hard way that if he mentioned it to Henry he would have to follow through because Henry would nag him until it was done. He had offered to take them all to the Hard Shell and Henry was relentless in his pursuit for lobster. A year and a half later, Peter was careful with what he suggested.
Being out on the boat was incredibly relaxing. Heather watched the coast blow by. The shoreline was rocky-not at all like that of the Virginia and North Carolina coast that she was used to. The patches of beach were smaller than she was used to seeing. She could see the lighthouse in the distance and small islands on the horizon.
"This is a perfect sailing day," said Peter.
"It's the second best one I've ever had," said Heather thinking back to Virgin Gorda.
Peter looked at her and smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too and this dysfunctional family we've created," said Heather.
They stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get some more food for the house. Everyone was exhausted. Heather was too tired from being outside all day to say no to all of the snacks the kids asked for. She took the path of least resistance and let them get whatever they wanted. But it was Peter who bought more desserts than the kids, loading up on s'mores ingredients. The twins were happy to see them when they returned, and Peter invited his parents to stay for dinner. He threw fish on the grill, and Heather made a big salad. After dinner was cleaned up and the kids were in bed, Peter and Heather sat on the porch in the rocking chairs facing the ocean.
"So, are you going to tell me why you got all freaky about going to Kelly's for dinner?" asked Peter.
"I didn't get all freaky. I just don't want to go."
"Why not?"
"First of all, you know how much fun it is to bring the twins places. I'll be stressed out and make a fool of myself. I already showed her my saggy boob. Can't imagine what else I could do."
"Emily showed her your not-so-saggy boob. And I'll help with them at dinner. I always do."
"Yeah, but you got all weird when she ran up. I've never seen you like that."
"It was strange being faced with my past. A past I don't ever really think about."
"Was she a big part of your past?"
"We dated a bit."
"Hmm...that explains it. I don't want to go to your ex-girlfriend's house for dinner."
"I'm tired. Let's go to sleep and talk about it in the morning. I love you and don't want to fight about it."
Peter stood up and kissed Heather on the lips and grabbed her hand to go in. They locked up the doors and went to bed. Both passing out as soon as they hit the pillow.
Chapter 23
Heather got up early with the twins the next morning. They played in the small yard in the grass before everyone else came down. Peter walked out in his pajama bottoms without a shirt holding two cups of coffee. She enjoyed the view and his low rise pajama bottoms.
"Good morning, my love," said Peter. George toddled over saying something resembling Dada. Peter set down his coffee and threw him up in the air. George giggled and smiled, and Heather held her breath. For someone who was prone to having bad luck, watching your child being thrown up in the air was nerve wracking.
"Good morning. Thanks for the coffee. Did you sleep well?"
"I did. The sea air always makes me sleep soundly. I don't realize how much I miss the ocean until I 'm back at it."
"I love the tranquility of it. We have to fix that shutter though. I heard it all last night."
"I'll call Mike the rental guy and ask him to get someone out here this morning," said Peter.
"Thanks."
"Let's talk about dinner."
"I'm not going to go and feel as awkward as I did at the beach. You go and have a great dinner. Take the big kids, and I'll stay with the twins. But, I have to be honest and tell you that I will worry the whole time you are gone that you'll be hooking up with her just like Matt and Victoria."
"You do realize that's ridiculous. Just because Matt did it doesn't mean I would. I won't go without you guys, and I want to go."
"No, I'm not going. Peter, you were mesmerized by her. You could hardly speak."
"Heather, it was not like that. She just took me by surprise."
"Well, I felt like I needed to disappear to leave you guys alone."
"That's absurd. You are my wife. I love you and adore you, and you have no reason to be this jealous."
"I'm not jealous. I just don't want to compete with your past."
"You're not competing with my past and you never will. But I compete with ghosts every single day."
Heather swallowed a big gulp of air. He had never said anything like that before.
"That's not fair, Peter. If it bothers you so much, why haven't you said anything?"
"It doesn't bother me. It's just something I accept."
"Sorry I make you have to accept stuff, but you know my life has done a 360 in the last three years. It is virtually unrecognizable, and I think for the most part I hold up pretty well." A ghost? Did he really feel like he was competing with the guy whose ashes sit on the bookshelf? thought Heather.
Peter knew this conversation wasn't going to end well. He needed to escape and find some peace. They had never fought like this before, and he had never seen Heather act so unreasonably. And he was at a point where he was saying pretty ridiculous things on his own.
"I'm taking the boat out this morning. I'll be back by lunch. We can talk then."
"Whatever." Peter never left Heather with all the kids to go do his own thing. She could tell he was furious, but she wasn't going to back down. She knew herself well enough to know going to the dinner was a bad idea. Like so many other things, Heather didn't do jealousy well. She remembered being jealous of Hank's prom date. It was something that stuck out in her head so much that she had included it in her memoir.
Hank asked me to the prom as we passed each other on the steps between third and fourth period one day in school. I said no and rolled my eyes at him. We were having one of our "off" periods. Lauren had told me he was going to ask me to the prom. I had been avoiding him as much as possible, but I couldn't help passing him on the steps. I wanted to go to the prom with John and was determined to hold out until he asked me, which he did later that day.
The day of the prom Lauren came over and helped me do my hair and makeup. I was always useless with that stuff. She told me Hank was going with Amy and I was shocked. She was the I've-got-it-all girl. She was smart, cute, athletic and popular. But not too popular. She could hang with all the cliques in school. As soon as Lauren told me that, my hackles went up. I don't think I had any inkling what hackles were, but as soon as I got that feeling in my stomach I knew that's what it must be called.
"Are you serious? She said yes to Hank?"
"That's rude! He is a pretty good catch even if you said no to him."
Of course, Lauren was right. I was just determined to beat him down. My dad brought me my favorite Mexican pizza from Taco Bell to eat before the prom pictures. John came to pick me up and my parents followed the limo over to Karen's house for pictures. We took the pictures and got in the limo. I was all over John. I channeled all of my jealousy into hooking up. One of the other guys in the limo had his big brother get us a party ball of beer. I drank it too quickly and ended up puking out the limo window. The limo driver pulled over and John bought me a toothbrush. I was tipsy at the prom and acted like a jerk to Hank. I walked right up to him and started questioning him.
"How'd you get her to go prom with you?"
"I asked her, Heather. Have you been drinking?"
"No!"
"You stink and your eyes look crazy."
"Thanks. Maybe I'll tell Amy what a slobbery kisser you are and how bad your breath is."
John led me away from Hank at that point, but my
spiteful words stayed with me all this time. I'll never forget how crushed Hank looked and I'm not sure how he found it in himself to forgive me.
That kind of scene was exactly what Heather wanted to avoid. She knew what she was capable of and had no intention of doing it again to Peter. She still felt so ashamed of herself. So, avoiding dinner was like saving Peter. He just had no idea she was thinking that way, not that he would necessarily understand anyway.
Peter came back outside and kissed the twins. He told Heather he would be back in a couple of hours and would call the rental agent about the shutter. He didn't kiss her good bye or leave in a huff, but the fact that there wasn’t a kiss let her know how he really felt. He got on the bike and pedaled to the harbor.
Henry and Gracie stumbled out of the house.
“Mom, I heard Peter talking about a ghost. Does he think there’s one too?”
“No. He was just talking about something else. There aren’t any ghosts living in this house,” said Heather. Contrary to what Peter might think, she thought.
Teenaged Hayes was still asleep. Heather was trying to figure out what they could do all morning without Peter's help. Hanging with all five of them on her own in a new town would be a challenge. She knew she wasn't up for the beach, maybe later. She decided to feed everyone breakfast and then take a driving adventure around town to see what they could find. Heather brought the twins in with Gracie's help and started to make breakfast. Fried eggs over easy for the big kids and chopped up strawberries and scrambled eggs for the twins. the twins.
Heather decided she would shower later. Leaving the twins with the big kids so she could shower required too much planning. She asked Gracie to watch them and ran upstairs to throw on some clothes. Henry was charged with waking Hayes up, a favorite chore of his.
After they were all fed and dressed, Heather herded everyone into the car. She loaded up the stroller in case they wanted to walk around some place and they were on their way.
"Mom, where's Peter?" asked Hayes.
The New Ever After (The New Ever After Series) Page 11
