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Cricket had had her boobs done a couple of years ago to go from an A cup to a C. And, honestly? They looked spectacular, high, round, and firm. Since the pregnancy, Hannah’s body had taken on a kind of softness. She’d breastfed Gigi for a full year. And Bruce had already wondered aloud if maybe it was time to start trying for another one. So, svelte was not in her immediate future. Or in her distant future. Or in her past for that matter.
Cricket ran and did Pilates or yoga at least four times a week. Hannah barely had time for a shower.
Mako’s eyes roamed Cricket’s body as she climbed gracefully into the tub. Hannah kicked him under the bubbles and he gave her a guilty shrug, like:I’m only human. Cricket was oblivious, or pretended to be.
Hannah cleared her throat, sank a little deeper into the bubbles. “Where’s Joshua?”
“You know,” she said, not looking at Hannah. “Looks like he went into town. The Wi-Fi is down apparently and there are problems at work. He left a note, said he looked for us. Must have been when we were out ghost hunting.”
Okay. That was weird, right? Hannah flashed on that moment when they first met. That strange feeling of familiarity, the way he’d been watching Hannah at dinner. There was something off about him.
“He said he’ll be back soon,” Cricket went on.
“The Wi-Fi is down?” said Hannah. Bruce was logged in online upstairs, wasn’t he?
“Yeah,” said Mako, with a shrug. “But I have a decent cell signal. I was able to use my hot spot to get online, check email just now.”
Hannah didn’t say anything about Bruce. Either he’d lied about checking in at work, or he, too, was using his hot spot. Wouldn’t Joshua have a hot spot to use, as well? Why would he need to go into town? Would anything even be open there?
But Hannah stayed quiet. She could tell by the pitch of her friend’s voice, the furrow in her brow that she was annoyed about it, but trying to stay cool. Cricket wouldn’t want to admit that Joshua’s behavior was odd, especially in front of Mako.
“I don’t know,” Cricket said with a shrug and a sigh. “But if he’d rather be driving around looking for Wi-Fi than here in this amazing tub with me, what can I do?”
Hannah could say the same of Bruce.
She looked at her phone, which she’d placed on the edge of the tub. She had a couple of bars. She’d still be able to reach Lou and Gigi, and they her, if there was a cell signal. So it was fine.
“Why would the Wi-Fi go down?” she asked.
“Because we’re in the sticks,” said Mako. “And I heard there might be weather coming. I’m surprised we have service at all.”
Hannah glanced at her phone again. Now there was one service bar.
“This place, though,” said Cricket, changing the subject. “It’s amazing. Thanks for this, Mako. It’s so generous of you and Liza.”
He waved her off. “Hey, do you remember that time when we got drunk at your parents’ anniversary party—at the yacht club—and they found us making out in the state room of their boat?”
Cricket tilted her head back and laughed, throaty and deep. She pushed playfully at Mako.
“Oh my god, I was grounded for the rest of the summer.”
And then the Cricket and Mako show was back on, their attraction to each other barely concealed, laughing over shared memories of their youth—memories which had become idealized, overblown over time and which rarely, and although she was almost always there, rarely included a mention of Hannah. Because she was the one covering up for them, cleaning up after them, comforting Cricket when Mako was a dick, holding Cricket’s hair while she puked, or lying to their parents.
Hannah zoned out, letting them chatter on.
Mako took three beers from a cooler Hannah hadn’t seen behind the tub, popped the lids and handed one to her and to Cricket. Hannah took a deep swig even though she’d had way too much already.
Hannah looked through the big glass doors into the sweeping great room.
Where was Bruce? She kept waiting to see him come down the stairs in the new trunks she bought for him.
“So let’s hear more about Joshua,” said Hannah.
But Cricket and Mako were laughing so hard about something that neither one of them heard her.
She looked out over the property and a glow coming from the trees caught her eye.
“What’s that?”
