Page 69 of Turning Back

“Not easily. No,” Bric says.

“Oh,” Rochelle says. She peeks over her shoulder at me. “I think it’s clean.” Meaning her hair, which I am still shampooing.

I nod and step aside so she can stand under the water on the opposite side of Bric.

“But we’re trying, Rochelle.”

I look at Bric. Are we? But I don’t say it.

“We like you. Obviously,” Bric says. Rochelle stares at him as she rinses her hair under the water. “So just give it a chance. Let’s settle into whatever this is. And don’t make any decisions without talking it through this time. Do you think you can do that?”

She nods, then drops her head and puts her hands over her face.

“Hey,” I say, stepping towards her. “Don’t.”

She wraps her arms around my waist and presses her face into my chest. I look at Bric, who shrugs as he grabs the bottle of conditioner and squeezes some into the palm of his hand.

“I didn’t want to hurt you. I swear,” Rochelle says.

“It’s OK,” Bric says, picking up Rochelle’s hair and massaging in the conditioner. “That’s over now. We’re here. Let’s just stay here for a while.”

I grab the soap and start washing her shoulders. It does feel different now. Sharing that story was good for us somehow. It brings us closer. She knows something now. Something real. Sees us as people, not players. I almost feel guilty for making Bric punish her tonight.

Almost. But not quite. It helped me, I think. Get over her betrayal. And she stayed for it. That was the apology I needed, I guess. I just wanted her to feel something. Sorry doesn’t tell me much. Letting Bric spank her tells me more. Watching her cry… well, I wasn’t going for that, but I won’t lie and say it’s not meaningful.

The three of us rinse off and step out of the shower. We take turns drying each other off. This isn’t something we normally did before. We didn’t spend the night together much. Not the three of us, anyway. Bric would usually leave. Or if it was Bric’s night, I’d leave.

But none of us are leaving now.

We all climb into bed, Rochelle between Bric and me. Arms find their places. I have one above my head, the other across Rochelle’s belly. She’s facing Bric, so he has one hand on her cheek, the other on her hip. Our legs tangle together. Rochelle pressing the soles of her feet against my shins, Bric’s knee between her legs.

And then there is one long collective sigh as things calm down and we settle.

This, I decide. This is what I’ve been waiting for.

The settling.

The bed moves, waking me up. The sliding barn doors are open and Rochelle is just slipping through them, tying a white robe around her naked body. Bric is gone. I get up, pull on yesterday’s pants, and follow Rochelle.

She’s in the baby’s room with Bric. He’s holding Adley, who is sniffling back tears. He hands her over to Rochelle, who smiles at me when she slips past, on her way to the kitchen.

“What time did you get up?” I ask Bric.

“About an hour ago. I heard Adley waking up. But Rochelle was still out, so I came in here to see what the problem was.”

“What was the problem?” I ask.

“Diaper.” He makes a face.

“You changed a diaper?” I ask.

“Yeah. I did OK. You ever change a diaper, Quin?”

“No,” I say. “I wouldn’t even know how to start that process.”

“I looked it up online, just to make sure I had it right. But I did OK.”

We laugh and follow Rochelle into the kitchen. She’s getting a bottle ready for hungry Adley. When that’s done, she takes her over to the living room and slumps down on the couch.