But why do I care? I'm the one who left her. Those words came uninvited into Jim's head.
Jim lifted his body and propped himself up on his elbows, his lower back suffering the consequences of his actions. His eyes scanned the beach. Craig and his friend Cameron were out in the water, snorkeling. Mark was a short distance away from Jim, lying in the sun while Angela walked down the strip of beach looking for seashells. Glen and Lisa had gone on a beer run. But despite everything else Jim could have focused his eyes on, they still returned to Claire.
Jim thought back five years to when he started looking at Diane instead of Claire. He'd just turned forty-one, he was working all the time, and his daughter was grown and in college. Claire was always busy with her boutique, or so it seemed, and Jim found himself spending more time at the office and less time at home. He and Claire had been together for twenty years. They'd grown comfortable with each other. Too comfortable. They no longer etched out time to spend together as they had earlier in their marriage. There were no date nights, no dinners out, and no going to the movies. They saw each other in the morning before work and on Sundays when both were home and Mandy came home for dinner. As far as either of them knew, their marriage was typical of other couples their age. But then, Jim met Diane, and something changed.
Jim had felt he was growing old, and if he admitted it to himself, he'd been afraid of it. Diane, on the other hand, was only twenty-five, had a zest for life, and for some unknown reason had a crush on him. Instead of ignoring her, he'd enjoyed the attention of this younger, attractive woman who built up his ego and made him feel young again. She told him he was handsome, she laughed at his stupid jokes, and she was available. He fell hard for her, and had left Claire behind.
"Why?" he asked aloud as he sat alone on the beach.
"Why what?" Glen walked over with a cooler full of beer and plopped down beside Jim, offering him a bottle. Lisa waved at them and headed out to where Claire and the girls stood in the water.
"Nothing," Jim said in answer to Glen's question. "I was just talking to myself."
"Hmmm. Could be the first sign of heatstroke. Maybe we should get you in the shade," Glen said with a grin.
Jim took a sip of beer and let his gaze trail off toward Claire again. She was laughing at something Lisa had said to her. He wished he could make her laugh again. With him, not at him like she had last night about the creaking cot."
Jim pulled himself up into a sitting position and made an old man grunt from the pain it caused his back.
"What was that coming from you?" Glen asked.
"That's the noise of an old man who slept on a cot last night," Jim told him. "And it isn't pretty."
Glen laughed. "That's what you get for divorcing my sister. It's karma, man."
Jim looked over at Glen. They hadn't spent much time together since the divorce, but when they were together for family events like Mandy's college graduation, Glen had always been nice to Jim. "Why don't you hate me for leaving Claire? You're her big brother. You should have punched me out."
"Well, I did think of it, but I figured your punishment was losing Claire. And if you were happier not married to her, then I guess I thought she'd be happier without you."
Jim stared at Glen. "Is she? Happier without me, I mean?"
Glen shrugged. "She has Steven now. You have Diane. People move on."
Jim turned to look in Claire's direction again. The women were walking back toward shore.
"You have moved on, right?" Glen asked.
Jim looked at Glen. "Huh?"
Glen pointed toward the women. "I have a feeling you're not watching Mandy, Kaylie, or Lisa. If it's Claire you have your sights on, watch out. You're married to Diane now. Claire is off limits."
Jim sighed. "Even if I had my sights on Claire, she'd be the first one to tell me off. So you don't have to worry."
"Good," Glen said. "Don't hurt her again, Jim. She deserves better."
Jim nodded. Glen was right. So why did it bother him so much?
***
Mandy and Claire walked slowly through the water on the sand bar toward the beach. Kaylie had gone ahead of them to lie on the towel beside Mark and Lisa had gone back to sit with Glen.
"How'd it go, sharing a room with Dad last night?" Mandy asked, concern in her voice.
"It was fine," Claire answered, trying to sound upbeat. She laughed. "The cot was the perfect revenge. He could barely walk this morning."
Mandy pursed her lips and stared at her mother. "Mom, that's terrible. I want Dad to enjoy this trip, too."
Claire sobered. "Sorry, hon, but you can't expect me to be happy about sharing a room with your dad. I'm trying to make it work, though."
Claire watched as a worried frown crossed Mandy's face. No one at only twenty-four years old should look that serious on her wedding week. "Don't worry, Mandy. We'll be fine. I was only teasing."
Mandy sighed. "It's not that. Craig and I got into a fight last night about me making you share a room with Dad. I guess his parents were upset about what happened in the office yesterday, and complained to Craig about it. Then he got all uptight about it, too."
Claire looked confused. "What were they upset about? They didn't have to share a room with your father."
"His parents don't like confrontation. It makes them nervous," Mandy said.
"No one likes confrontation, but you can't agree all the time," Claire said.
"I know. I think Craig's actually upset about how uptight his parents are acting and he's putting it on me. So, do you think you and Dad could just try to get along so no one feels uncomfortable?"
Claire sighed. "We're doing the best we can, sweetie. You and Craig shouldn't be worrying about us. Just have fun and ignore us if we get weird, okay?"
Mandy grinned mischievously. She looked so much like her dad when she grinned like that. "Honestly, I'd like to tell Janice and Carl to pull the sticks out of their asses, but I guess that wouldn't be very nice."
"You sound exactly like your dad," Claire said, laughing.
Mandy walked off to go sit beside Kaylie and Claire headed on down the beach where she'd left her things with Jim. She waved at Glen and Lisa who were lying on their towels a short distance away. The sun was high in the sky and her shoulders and arms felt hot already despite the heavy layer of sun block she'd rubbed on earlier.
Jim lay on his towel, his sunglasses covering his eyes, and a beer dug half-way into the sand beside him. He was already tanning, not burning like Claire. She always hated the way he could tan in a day, yet it took her all summer. And she had to admit, he looked good with his shirt off. She didn’t remember him having such a muscular body when they were married. He must be working out.
Claire dropped a small, wet starfish she'd found on the sand bar onto his bare chest, then walked around to the other side where her towel was laid out.
"What the heck is that?" Jim howled when the coolness of the starfish hit him. He sat up suddenly and snatched it off his chest.
"It's just a starfish, silly," Claire said, giggling.
"Yuck. You know I don't like slimy things. Is it alive?"
Claire laughed. "You're such a baby. Of course, it's not alive, or else I wouldn't have taken it out of the water."
"Hmmm. It is cute," Jim said, inspecting it. "Here. Take it back." He gingerly handed it back to Claire. She set it carefully in the sand beside their towels.
Jim lowered his sunglasses. "Your shoulders and back are burnt. Here," he pulled himself up onto his knees with a small grunt of pain and picked up the bottle of sunscreen. "Come over here and let me rub more lotion on you."
Claire narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't really want him touching her. "That's okay. I'll just put on my shirt."
"You still need some lotion on so it doesn't peel. Come on. I promise I won't bite."
Claire bit her lip, but she kneeled down on the towel in front of Jim and let him gently rub in the lotion. She had to admit, the lotion felt good on her
tender skin.
"See now? It's not so bad," Jim said. Claire could almost feel him grinning at her. "You should be more careful here. You know you burn easily."
Claire started twirling her charm bracelet around her wrist. Having Jim touch her, especially so gently, made her nervous.
"There. All done." He reached around her and placed his hand over hers to stop her from jangling her bracelet. Then he lifted her arm up higher to inspect it. "I'm surprised you still wear this," he said softly.
Claire sat very still. Jim leaned over her from behind, and his breath tickled the back of her neck when he spoke. It unnerved her.
"Of course I still have it," she said, pulling her arm away from his grasp and moving over to her towel. She quickly slipped on the T-shirt she'd brought along. "You may have paid for it, but Mandy was the one who actually picked it out. And she's added to it through the years, see?" Claire pointed out the new charms. "Here's a pink dress to symbolize the success of the boutique, and here's a diploma to celebrate her college graduation."
Jim watched Claire intently as she pointed out the new charms.
"I'm glad you still wear it," he said. "For Mandy, of course."
Mandy and Craig walked over with their towels and gear packed up and slung over their shoulders. "Everyone's getting toasted out here, so we thought we'd better get out of the sun for the day. We're all going to hit a few of the outdoor bars on the way back to the lodge. You guys game?"
"Why don't you go with them, Jim? I can drive back to the lodge. I'm really not up to bar hopping right now," Claire said.
Jim looked up at his daughter. "You guys go ahead. We'll catch up with you." Mandy waved and off they went down the beach.
Claire looked confused. "Aren't you going with them?"
"No," Jim said, getting up and shaking out his towel. "We're both going with them. It'll be fun. You don't want to miss out on the fun, do you?"
"I'd rather just go back to the lodge and clean up before dinner. I'll drop you off where the kids are and you can catch a ride with one of them."
Jim waggled his brows. "Aw, come on, Claire. You don’t have to drink to have fun. If you don't watch out, I'm going to have to call you Janice."
Claire narrowed her eyes at him.
"I promise," Jim said. "After the first stop, if you still want to go back to the lodge, we'll go. Deal?"
"Fine," Claire said, sighing. She felt like all she'd done this whole trip was give in.
Chapter Seven
Claire, Jim, Glen, and Lisa all sat at one end of the table at the Water's Edge Bar while the younger people sat around the rest of the table. They'd stopped at the Last Stop Bar & Grill first, then moved on to the bar at the Red Snapper Inn. This was the third place they'd stopped and the last before they would head back to the resort. Everyone was in good spirits, and despite the fact that Claire was the only one drinking virgin drinks, she was having just as much fun as the rest.
Claire watched Jim as he joked around with Craig's friend, Cameron. Cameron was a computer programmer like Craig, and he and Jim had literally nothing in common, yet Jim could always find common ground to talk about with anyone. Claire had always marveled at Jim's ability to do that. She swore that he could have sat at dinner with the President of the United States and have had an interesting conversation.
"Having fun?" Glen asked, leaning over toward Claire.
Claire smiled at her brother. He'd had a lot to drink, but it didn’t show. He was a guy who could hold his liquor. "Yeah, I am. I didn't even want to come along, but now I'm glad Jim talked me into it."
"Hmmm," Glen said, turning his sights on Jim.
"What?" Claire asked.
"Oh, nothing. Have you heard from Steven since you got here?"
"He called this morning. I'd told him not to bother since it was so expensive, but he did anyway."
"He probably misses you," Glen said.
Claire looked out past Glen at the ocean view. Every place they'd gone today had an outside patio with an amazing view. "Probably," she agreed. "He's always thoughtful like that."
"That's good to hear. We should all get together sometime. I've only met him once."
Claire nodded, her eyes turning back toward Jim. She was surprised to see him look over at her, too, and he raised his glass to her in a silent toast. Claire smiled.
"Be careful, baby sister," Glen said, then got up to get another drink from the bar.
Claire stared after him. What in the world did he mean by that?
As the sun began to set, the group decided it was time to go back to the lodge. Craig started worrying about his parents, and that made Mandy anxious as well. Claire just wished the Fishers would relax so their son could.
They all walked over to the golf carts. Claire and Jim had been sharing one, so when they got to it, she put out her hand. "Hand over the keys. I'll drive back."
Jim didn’t put up a fight. Claire figured he realized he'd had a bit too much to drink and his back still hurt, too.
It was only a five minute drive to the resort and soon they were in their room again. Mandy had said they should all meet down at the patio in a half-hour to go to dinner. Claire hurried into the bathroom with clean clothes and quickly showered and changed. She wasn't sure where they were going to dinner, so she decided on white cotton pants and a silky blue camisole top. When she came out of the bathroom, she saw Jim had claimed one side of the bed again and was talking on his phone.
"It was nothing," he insisted into the phone. "I didn't even know she'd taken a picture." He paused, and Claire heard a screeching voice come through the speaker.
"What the hell do you care anyway?" Jim said. "Oh, just get over yourself."
Claire grimaced. She didn't want to hear this conversation. She grabbed her sandals and stepped out onto the balcony, closing the glass door behind her.
Claire stood on the balcony and looked out over the resort grounds. It was dark, but the grounds and walkways were lit up, as was the pool. People were down by the bar, and others sat on the porches of their cottages. She took in a deep breath, enjoying the aroma of tropical flowers and salty air. She was so absorbed in her surroundings that when the patio door slid open, it startled her.
"I'm off the phone now," Jim said gruffly. "You can come back in."
Claire turned and looked at him. "Trouble with the wife?" she asked, teasing.
Jim narrowed his eyes. "Just a misunderstanding," he said sharply. "Apparently Mandy took pictures this afternoon at the beach and posted them on her Facebook page. There was one of us from behind, when I was rubbing lotion on your back. We weren't even the focus of the picture, but Diane had a hissy fit about it."
Claire bit her lip. Divine justice, she wanted to say. The other woman now jealous of the ex-wife. But she saw how upset Jim was, so instead she just said, "Sorry."
Jim grabbed clean clothes out of his suitcase and looked up at Claire with piercing eyes. "Yeah. Sure you are," he said. He turned and headed into the bathroom, slamming the door.
Claire's face heated with anger. "Jackass," she said under her breath. Every time she tried being nice to him about Diane, he threw it back in her face. Fine. She wasn't going to be nice anymore. She went to the closet and grabbed the light jacket she'd brought along and then headed out the door and down to the patio.
Some of the group was already down there, waiting, so Claire sat down with Cameron's wife, Angela, and started up a conversation. Angela was a pretty girl with golden red hair, very pale skin, and light blue eyes. She was a registered nurse and worked in the pediatric department of a hospital in Minneapolis. Claire had noticed today at the beach that Angela had laid in the shade to protect her skin. She was a smart girl. Claire asked her about working with children and they fell into an interesting conversation about her nursing job.
Mandy appeared with Craig a few minutes later and they had a small huddle with their friends. Just as Jim came down the stairs, the rest of the wedding party left together, leaving
only Claire, Jim, Mandy, and Craig.
"What's going on?" Claire asked Mandy.
Mandy glanced nervously behind her before answering. "I sent everyone else off to have dinner. We're waiting for Craig's parents."
Craig cleared his throat. "We thought it might be nice to have dinner with just the parents tonight," he said. Craig lowered his voice. "I think my parents are a little uncomfortable with being thrown into the whole crowd since they don’t know anyone here but us. I thought if we had dinner in a smaller group, they might get to know you two better and be more relaxed."
Claire thought the Fishers were just unsociable and that's why they didn't feel like they fit in, but she kept that to herself. "That sounds nice," she told Craig with a smile. He seemed to relax a little when she agreed with him.
Jim didn’t say anything. He still appeared to be in a foul mood from his conversation with Diane.
"Are you okay with that, Daddy?" Mandy asked.
Jim shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me," he said brusquely.
Janice and Carl came out of their second floor room and down the stairs. Mandy and Craig turned to greet them. Claire took this chance to kick Jim in the ankle. "Be nice tonight. The kids are under enough strain with Craig's parents."
Jim glared at her but didn’t say anything.
"We thought we'd try the Blue Bay Grill downtown," Mandy said as they all stood there in a circle, staring at each other.
"Sounds good," Claire said. "What about Glen and Lisa?"
"Lisa said she was tired after today. They're going to grab a bite down at the pool bar and head back to their cottage," Mandy said.
Claire nodded. Chickens. "Well, shall we go?"
The group walked in twos down the narrow street. Mandy and Craig were in the lead, Janice and Carl were in the middle, and Claire and Jim brought up the rear. The two front couples had their arms linked, but Claire stayed as far away as possible from Jim. If he was going to be a jerk, then she was going to ignore him.
Destination Wedding ~ A Novel Page 6
