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“What?” I peek down and see my nipples oozing. “Oh, for God’s sake, I just expressed.” I grab a face cloth and wipe myself.
“Where are you going, anyway?” she asks, seeming content to be missing a honeymoon. Maybe James doesn’t want her to travel. Maybe he’s taking unnecessary precautions. We all know Beau can fly, but after what they’ve been through, I dare anyone to tell James he’s being overprotective. Anyone except Beau.
“To the spa.” I grab a sponge and get a lather worked up. “It’s been weeks since I checked in on the remodel. Want to come?”
She wedges her hands into the wood of the vanity and uses them as an anchor to lift her ass and swing off the unit. “Would love to, but?—”
“Why do you lie to me?” I ask over a laugh, working the sponge into my legs. I’ll start there. It looks less daunting.
“Trust me, I would love to, but my husband has other plans.”
“Like what?”
“The apartment he bought.”
I straighten. “What about it?” I hate the mild wave of panic that comes over me. The apartment that James said he was selling because it was a mistake buying it? Because he realized he and Beau would be happier here, surrounded by their family and friends who could support her through the trauma of having to kill her mom or let her mom kill James? And that was before Beau found out she was pregnant.
“Exactly. What about it?” Beau pouts. “I think he wants us to have our own space.”
“This house is enormous, Beau.”
“And so is the occupancy,” she says, laughing. “Speaking of own space . . .” She lowers to the toilet seat. “I’m worried about Brad.”
“Yeah, me too,” I admit. He’s not been right since he was shot. He doesn’t crack many jokes anymore, doesn’t play much, doesn’t get involved. “I was talking to Doc.” God love the lack of patient/doctor confidentiality around here. “I’m worried he has post-traumatic stress.”
“You think?” Beau doesn’t look convinced.
“What else . . .” I pause, realizing where her thoughts are. “Pearl,” I breathe. “You still think it’s got something to do with Pearl?” He can’t even be in the same room as her.
Beau pulls a face, eyebrows high. Pearl was definitely asking too many questions about Brad after her ordeal when he was laid up. “Maybe.”
“Whatever crush Pearl had is dead in the water,” I say. “Especially since she found out about his adventure at the Four Seasons with too many hookers and too much cocaine.”
She hums, apparently not convinced.
“Beau?” James voices comes through the wood, and I instinctively hold a palm over my bits.
“I’m naked!” I yell. “And it isn’t pretty.” Good grief, I think I’m hairier than Otto, Mason, and The Vikings right now. Combined.
“I’m in here.” Beau chuckles, getting up and going to the door, nodding back at the razor in my hand. “If that doesn’t work, call me and I’ll have the gardener bring up the hedge trimmer.”
I gasp, disgusted, and throw my soggy face cloth over the screen. It slaps the door, just as Beau’s amused face disappears behind it. “Cheeky bitch.” I look down again. She has a point though. I take a deep breath and get to work.
* * *
Airy. It’s an odd sensation as I step out onto the terrace, my skirt swishing with the breeze. Lowering to the lounger, I slip my sandals on, smiling as I look around. My eyes land on an ashtray. What can I do to make him quit?
“Hey, Rose!”
I frown and get up, going to the edge of the terrace, looking down onto the garden. Beau’s there, her face a picture of delight. “I’m coming to the spa.”
“I thought you were going to the apartment?”
She shakes her head. It’s a win. He’s letting her out of his sight? It’s the small, simple things, I think, as I tie my hair into a ponytail. “I’m coming.” I knot the tails of my silk blouse, slip on some bangles, and snatch up my purse, excited to be spending some time with my other girl. As I pass Anya and Pearl’s room, I knock. “Anya, we’re heading to the spa, do you want to come?”
The door opens, and she smiles, her almond eyes sparkling. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes, will you wait?”
“Of course.” I dig through my purse and get my cell. “I’ll call Pearl to see if she wants to meet us there. See you downstairs.” I dial and make my way down to Beau, hearing the sound of my baby crying coming from the kitchen. I wince, my heart squeezing, telling myself they’ll be fine as I take the handle of the front door and pull it open. “God damn it.” I cut my call to Pearl and breathe in, going to the kitchen. Danny’s on a stool, bottle in one hand, baby in the other. Esther spots me but Danny is too focused on Maggie, his smile both fond and worried as he teases her lips with the teat.
