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Her hand trembled as she tapped in his number, walking briskly to the shaded awning at the far end of the pool. The phone rang and rang, until it went to voice mail.
“Damn,” Pandy said aloud, hanging up. She immediately sent him a text: “Do they LOVE it?”
“Where are you?” came the reply.
“Pool Club.” She was tempted to add, “Answer your damn phone,” but couldn’t be bothered to tap in all the letters.
“On my way!” Henry wrote back. He’d added an exclamation point; that meant it had to be good news. Suddenly feeling giddy with anticipation, Pandy hurried toward her friends, waving her phone in the air.
The club was filling up again, this time with mothers and children who must have just gotten out of school. Pandy skipped around a toddler wearing so many flotation devices, he looked like a small astronaut.
“Henry’s coming!” Pandy said to Suzette, who was now awake due to the screams of the many children who appeared to have taken over the club. “I think it’s good news.”
Unable to contain her excitement, Pandy began pacing, circling around the nest of deck chairs as she mumbled incoherently. “After all this…I can’t believe…Ohmigod.” Overcome, she had to sit down.
“Honey, are you all right?” Suzette asked.
Pandy put her hand to her chest. She wished she could explain to her friends how important this was, but she knew they’d never quite understand. She vigorously nodded her head instead. “Where is Henry?” she cried out impatiently.
“Henry’s coming?” Portia asked, strolling over with a drink in a plastic martini glass sloshing onto her hand. She looked at Pandy assessingly. “Doll, you’re all sweaty. Why don’t you take a dip in the pool?”
“Don’t want Henry to see you all sweaty like that,” Suzette joked pointedly.
“Maybe I will,” Pandy replied, realizing that the excitement of her impending triumph had indeed made her perspire. She grabbed her cell phone and walked to the edge of the water. Unable to bear the suspense any longer, she tapped in Henry’s number.
He picked up after the first ring.
“Henry,” she said eagerly. “They do love it, right?”
“We’ll talk about it when I get there.”
“When you get here? What’s that supposed to—”
What felt like a giant sponge slammed into the back of Pandy’s knees. She took a step forward, her arm swinging upward to correct her balance. The toddler in the astronaut suit rolled past her and splashed into the water as Pandy watched her cell phone plunge into the pool.
As her phone hit the bottom, the realization that Henry had bad news dropped like a brick into the pit of her stomach. Motioning wildly, she stumbled back to her friends. “I need a phone!” she screamed.
“Why?” Portia asked.
“I need to call Henry.”
“I thought he was coming here.”
“I need to know. Before he gets here.” Pandy choked out the words, reaching for Portia’s phone and dialing.
And then the sun must have gone behind a cloud because a shadow began to darken Pandy’s vision. A wave of nausea caused her knees to buckle as she dropped onto the chaise and Portia’s phone fell out of her hand.
“Sweetheart. Are you all right?” Portia bleated as Suzette picked up the phone and held it to her ear.
“Henry?” Suzette asked.
She looked over at Pandy and nodded. “I see. Yes, I will,” she said briskly, and hung up.
“Whadhesay?” Pandy screamed.
“He’ll be here any minute. He’s hired a car.”
“A car?” Pandy asked in confusion. Black and white squares began pinwheeling in front of her.
