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"What? No way," David argued, pushing his glasses up on his nose and grabbing his ball from outside the course.
"Those are the rules, dude." Ryan shrugged, looking smug.
David just set his ball on the tee again and took another shot. The ball careened up the ramp, rolling swiftly down the other side and making a beeline for the hole, where it settled with a satisfying plop. "Hole in one!" he cheered, pumping his fist triumphantly into the air.
"It doesn't count. You forfeited, remember?" Ryan reminded him. His face was a bit red, probably from all the beer.
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Mara was laughing at something Tinker was saying when she noticed the boys were facing each other, neither of them smiling. Seriously, why couldn't they just relax?
"Dudes, it's just a game," Tinker said cheerfully. "Mara, it's your turn."
Mara looked from her current boyfriend to her ex, confused at how the pleasant evening had suddenly turned frosty. She could swear it looked like they wanted to punch each other but were being too polite to let it show.
"C'mon, guys," she said, trying to defuse the situation. "It doesn't really matter who wins, does it?"
"Winner takes nothing," Ryan replied smoothly, easing back into his and Mara's own private in-joke. Tinker looked uncomfortable and giggled nervously.
"Whatever." David shrugged. "I'm going to go get another beer."
"All's fair in hate and war," Mara couldn't resist replying to Ryan, setting up her shot and slicing expertly, sending the ball flying through the air and landing perfectly in the clowns mouth.
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JACQUI MODELS FALL'S LATEST ACCESSORY: BABY PUKE
"LOGAN-I MEAN JACKSON-I MEAN WYATT-DON'T TOUCH
that!" Jacqui begged as Wyatt reached curiously for a steaming brown lump on the ground that could only be horse poo. She had taken the kids to a nearby farm with a petting zoo, which featured pony rides, tractor pulls, and a varied menagerie. She grabbed the little boy's hand and brought him over to the shady spot where she'd been tending to baby Cassidy, who seemed none too happy to be experiencing the great outdoors.
Jacqui had offered to take the kids for the day so Mara could get in some alone time with David. She'd felt guilty about fobbing the kids off on Mara all summer so she could play supermodel, and she wanted to make it up to her. Although at this particular moment, she wished she hadn't been so generous.
She'd forgotten Cassidy was allergic to cats, so the baby's nose was running and dripping all over everything. She didn't know
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that Violet was scared of horses. The twins thought a "farm zoo" was beneath their intelligence and had boycotted the event by taking seats under a shady tree and refusing to budge. Only Wyatt threw himself into the activity with gusto and had already fallen into a bale of hay, been chased by a pig, and been bitten by an angry duck.
She wiped Cassidy's nose with a baby wipe and tried to manage her frustration just as the now-familiar flash of a camera momentarily blinded her.
"Hold it, just like that. . . . Marvelous," Marcus directed.
On top of everything, the afternoon was also supposed to be a fashion shoot for Vogue. The editors had flipped when they heard Jacqui was also an au pair--they declared that children were the hottest accessory of the season, what with all the big stars making child care a fashionable event, and Marcus was quickly dispatched to take some quick shots of Jacqui tending to her young charges.
He had promised that it would be fun and that he would help with the "rug rats," as he playfully called them, but so far all he'd done was jump in her face with his camera and get in her way.
"Don't mind me, just go on with what you're doing . . . ," he said cheerfully.
Easy for him to say. She jiggled Cassidy on her shoulder, trying to soothe him. The baby suddenly vomited all over her new
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cross-back sundress. It was the only sample in existence. How exactly was she going to make this look glamorous?
"Ick," Marcus said, making a face. "You're going to have to change. Puke is not fall's new color," he joked.
Jacqui put the baby back in his car seat and scrubbed at the stain with a baby wipe, hoping Cassidy would be good. She hadn't expected Marcus to be hands-on with the kids, but she wasn't prepared for utter revulsion either. She briefly remembered how attentive and sweet Marcus had been with the kids on the day they'd met. Was that all an act, part of the courtship process? And if that was an act, what else was? Jacqui shook off the thought as she wiped baby Cassidy's pink cheeks, hoping he wouldn't throw up again--she was almost out of wipes.
