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He stole a kiss on my cheek. “Everything.”
Me too.Chapter Twenty-Five“Here you go, ladies.” June handed Carly and me each a strawberry daiquiri while we lounged poolside, our feet dangling in the cool crystal-blue water. It felt like perfection on a hot Texas summer night. The Hamiltons’ backyard was lit up by strung bistro lights, and the waterfall in their pool made for the perfect background noise. It felt like the good old days when Carly and I were best of friends in high school. I was glad she was able to come back for the reunion taking place next weekend, as well as to spend time with her family.
“I was going to go nonalcoholic but added a little something something to celebrate our girls’ night.” June giggled. I think she might have been partaking already.
I took the pink drink in its fancy-shaped glass. “Thank you.” I immediately took a sip and had to stop myself from coughing. Um . . . her little something something was going to make us all tipsy. It tasted like she’d used a half a bottle of rum. I set the drink down near me.
June plopped down on the other side of Carly and indulged deeply. “It’s so nice we get to have an evening to ourselves.”
“Amen.” Carly downed a large sip. “I love my boys, but I’m happy to let them spend time with their daddy.”
“I just love that all my boys are together and mostly getting along.” June splashed her feet in the water. Apparently Brooks’s company had a suite at the stadium, and he was treating them all to a Rangers game.
“Is Brooks saying more than a few words at a time to Tom now?” I leaned back on my arms, enjoying the warm evening breeze.
“About as many as you say to Brooks,” June teased me.
Carly nudged me. “Yes, I’ve heard you’ve been playing hard to get.”
“She’s been playing it smart.” June held up her glass to me.
I thought about the last couple of weeks. I wasn’t sure how smart I’d been. If anyone was playing it smart, it was Brooks. It was like he knew all the right things to do. More like he knew me. Not only had the man been having lunch with my daddy, but he’d helped Daddy weed our flower beds. Daddy refused to divulge what they talked about, other than to say Brooks had potential. Then I’d caught Brooks reading New Moon, the next book in the Twilight saga, to his daddy last week to catch him up on our new book club selection because Tom’s eyes were having some issues and it was still hard for him to process information. When Brooks had noticed me, he’d hastily switched to the John Grisham book he’d brought. That was good because I’d almost planted a big one on him after witnessing how sweet he was being with his daddy. And, man, did New Moon sound sexy coming out of his mouth.
If that wasn’t enough, he’d come to the rescue a few days ago when our DJ for the reunion up and quit on us, refusing to give us back our deposit. Brooks had heard me lamenting about it to Tom. Like Superman, he’d swept in and threatened the DJ with his lawyer powers. We got the deposit back, and Brooks called a friend of a friend who happened to be the most popular DJ in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Which meant he was ridiculously expensive and out of the reunion’s budget. Not to worry though, Brooks had picked up the tab. And made sure the man had plenty of Rick Springfield songs ready to go.
It was getting almost impossible to resist him. I was clinging to my principles and no-man policy by a thread.
“I’m still livid with that boy,” June growled. “Having sex with that girl on prom night.”
“Momma, it was a long time ago,” Carly countered. “Haven’t you been the one lately preaching about forgiveness and letting go of past hurts?”
I rubbed my neck, not liking the sense Carly was spouting.
June downed some of her daiquiri and stared out at the gently lapping water before throwing her daughter the stink eye. “I will be mad at that boy until he makes things right with this girl.” She pointed at me.
Yep, definitely not liking where this was going.
Carly flashed me a wide smile. “How long do you think you can hold out?”
“I’m not holding out. I’ve turned over a new leaf. No men.”
Both ladies giggled.
“Uh-huh.” Carly wasn’t buying it.
I leaned over so I could address June. “How have you reconciled with Tom after his betrayal?”
June gave me a knowing look. “Darlin’, we’re still working on it. I would be lying if I said it was easy. There are moments when I still want to slap him. Especially when I think about the repercussions it had on our children. Not to say I don’t bear some of that blame. Yet, when I think about how my life was with him and without him, hands down, it was better when we were together. Love is the hardest work around.” She winked.
