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In ten minutes, he returned with a huge greasy bag and a cardboard drink tray of chocolate malts and iced tea. Using a baby wipe, Katy cleaned off the table, then opened napkins and placed their food on top.
They hunched over, moaning with delight at each bite, enjoying a meal after a long run.
“I’m going to explode,” she said.
“Can we nap here?”
“Lie right on the bench,” she said. “I’ll do the same.”
They rested, reaching out hands under the table, for half an hour. The baby woke up and Adam fed her the second bottle and changed her while Katy cleaned up their lunch mess.
“Wow, this was nice,” she said. “However, now we have to walk two miles back to my house.”
“Ha! It’ll seem like nothing after what we did today,” Adam replied.
They held hands for two miles, and by the time they returned to his car, they had sealed the deal. They were dating.
Chapter 3
Blazing sun, sweat running down the side of her body, the smell of coconut suntan lotion, the sound of sea gulls and ice clinking in a glass. Arousing Ashlie’s physical senses, nothing could break the numbing paralysis of her mind.
“You look amazing for having had a baby less than two weeks ago,” Terry Marco muttered as his arm swung over his eyes to shield them from the sun after he took a good, long look at her body stretched out on the chaise. At his direction, she wore a tiny white bikini that left little to the imagination.
It was the last thing she wanted to be reminded of. Her body did enough of that on its own, breasts still hard and leaking milk, her vulva swollen and sore, enough discharge needing a pad in the tiny bikini bottom, a recap of what it had gone through only eleven short days ago.
“Did you hear me?” he asked, lifting his head just enough for her to know she’d better respond or a lecture would be forthcoming.
“Yes, Terry, I heard you. Please don’t keep reminding me.”
“You don’t look like you just had a baby,” he said, enunciating every word. “Your belly is as flat as a board.”
“It’s as soft as dough,” she replied, hoping it was enough of a visual that he’d leave her alone.
“Every guy at this pool can’t take their eyes off you. Your boobs are gigantic.”
“That won’t last, thank God.”
“I’m going to examine you tonight.” This he said loud enough so there was no mistaking what he said. “I don’t think we need to wait for six weeks to have sex.”
It was hopeless to argue with him, so she just shrugged her shoulders. “I’ll call Paul and ask him.”
“That’s unnecessary. And Paul doesn’t need to know what we’re doing on vacation, either.”
“Terry, A. You will not examine me, and B. I’m not having sex with you until six weeks has passed. If you try, I’ll scream rape. I mean it.”
“Wow, you must have postpartum craziness,” he said, reaching for his drink. Her mental state would be the only ailment he’d attribute to birth.
“This is so much fun. I’m so glad I let you talk me into going away,” Ashlie said. “It’s bordering on abuse.”
She wanted to be home, in bed, sleeping. Her mother bringing her tea and muffins, the smell of clothes out of the dryer while she folded the load for her daughter instead of letting the housekeeper do it.
“Why are we here?” she cried, not caring that other vacationers who could hear her surrounded them.
Terry got up and sat on the edge of his chair. “I thought it would help you,” he said. “I know what I had asked was a lot. It was probably unfair, but I wasn’t raising another man’s baby. If you feel so bad about it, file for a divorce from me and try to get her back.”
“I’m overwhelmed at your compassion and generosity, Terry,” she replied, tears cruising down her cheeks. “I’ll never get her back. I gave up all rights with visitation at the discretion of the custodial parent. It’s as final as an adoption.”
Ignoring her, he turned around. “Can you put some of this crap on my back?” he asked, handing her a tube of suntan lotion.
