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Elizabeth shook her head, then looked at her closest friend. Could she trust her with her thoughts, crazy as they were, about wishing Court dead? Could she? “Tara . . . there’s something I should tell you.”
Chapter 17
“What?” Tara asked, looking at her expectantly over the top of her glass of wine.
Before Elizabeth could answer, Vivian sashayed up to them, leading a waiter who held a tray of tropical drinks. “Maui Wowies, the drink kind,” she announced. “I’ve ordered some pupus, too. Don’t start making potty humor jokes,” she warned loudly to the men who were paying no attention to their conversation.
“You were saying?” Tara asked Elizabeth.
“Nothing.” The moment had passed and it was crazy, anyway.
“Gil’s buying,” Deirdre said as one waiter set the tray of drinks down and another placed a huge tray of different appetizers, from teriyaki sticks to broiled pineapple wedges to sticky rice balls to fish tacos, next to it. Elizabeth had sampled some of the fare the one time she’d been to the bar, but she’d planned on just having a salad or soup and even the thought of either of those didn’t stir her appetite. But seeing how everyone was looking at her, waiting for her to choose as if she were the guest of honor, she felt obligated to pick up one of the chicken teriyaki sticks and nibble at it.
As soon as she chose, the women made their selections, then the men descended on the food and drinks in a ravenous horde. Maui Wowies or no, Elizabeth had already decided she wasn’t going to switch from her wine, but Gil Dyne brought her one of the glass mugs filled with pinkish-purple liquid and garnished with a spike of mango and a wedge of the white pulp, black-seeded center of dragon fruit. She’d set her glass of wine on one of the scattered tables flanking the benches and Adirondack chairs. She placed her half-eaten teriyaki stick on a napkin beside it and accepted the mug, though she had no desire to drink from it.
“Thank you,” she said, finding a spot at the end of the benches.
Immediately, Gil took the nearest Adirondack chair. The flame from the fire pit threw shadows on the faces but not a lot of warmth so Elizabeth wrapped her sweater coat closer around herself, glad she’d swept it up from the car on her way inside.
“I hear you’re a member at Fitness Now!” Gil tried as another conversation opener.
“Well . . . yes.”
“I lived there after my wife died. Worked out all the time. I don’t remember seeing you there, but then, I haven’t noticed anything for a while.”
“My husband was the one who really used the club.” She felt obligated to at least take a sip of the drink, which was heavy with guava and passion fruit, a little too sweet for her liking.
“You use it, too,” Vivian said, moving to a seat on the other side of Gil. “We’ve been there together a lot.”
Overhearing her, Tara moved closer. “We used to all go to classes together when we first met each other. But now, well . . . kids, work, and life have gotten in the way.”
The couple that had been sitting on the other end of Elizabeth’s bench saw that they were being taken over by another group and moved to a different fire pit, so Tara grabbed the nearest spot next to Elizabeth. Nadia sat on the other side of her and Deirdre came to stand nearby while the husbands found chairs on the far side of the fire pit.
“Is that the one off Jamboree?” Nadia asked. Since she hadn’t been with their Moms Group from the beginning she’d missed out on joining Fitness Now! at the time the rest of them had.
Deirdre took a large sip from her drink and nodded. “But it’s Jade who was the real workout fiend in the beginning, and in between her pregnancies, too. She still makes me feel like such a slacker.”
“I might have to join,” Nadia said.
“Where is Jade?” Tara asked.
Deirdre replied, “Oh, I tried to get her and Byron to come, but she said she had some family thing.”
“She’s feeling very pregnant, too,” Vivian said.
“We all know what that’s like,” Deir
dre agreed.
“Well, I’d better join the men,” Gil said, getting up from his chair, which was a welcome diversion as it covered up Deirdre’s gaff. Nadia acted like she hadn’t heard her comment, which helped cover the awkward moment.
Gil’s gaze lingered on Elizabeth as he circumvented the fire pit to join the guys on the other side and she couldn’t help but worry that Gil was thinking about her in ways she wasn’t ready for. He’d bought the drinks, and she was pretty sure he’d buy her meal when they went in to dinner if she let him, but she didn’t want to give him any encouragement. She felt out of sync and weird. Court had only been gone a week but at times, it felt like ten years. How could that be?
“You’re missing him,” Nadia suddenly said, her gaze on Elizabeth’s face.
“Who?” Elizabeth responded, startled.
“Your husband.”
