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What Rhea never bothered to explain to her friend was that Danny was the one who still used the pool every other day. In prior years, both Rhea and Paige agreed that it saved money to close the pool between late fall and early spring. Yet ever since Danny moved in with them a few months ago, he practically lived in the shallow end of the pool even on colder, cloudier days.As long as his doctor says it’s okay…The nurses never appreciated watching him in the pool, but their visits were becoming less common as Danny came closer to recovering.
Paige wished that meant he was about to move back into his Malibu bungalow, but reality did not deal such cards. As it was, Rhea spent the days her fatherwasn’tin the pool helping him clean out the house in preparation for selling. Paige was pleasantly surprised to discover that her father-in-law was open to the idea of moving into an assisted living facility in Santa Monica. While a specific place hadn’t been pinned down yet, they knew that besides geography, the most important aspect was the level of independence he could maintain while having help only a button push away.And someone checking in on him once or twice a day…Rhea and Paige were already used to visiting him out in Malibu at least once a week. Paige also hoped that this meant her father-in-law would have a social life outside of his daughter again.
Until then, he still lived with them – but the balance between privacy and family life had gotten easier once Danny was able to do most things on his own again.
He made a big deal about that today when he emerged on the patio without the aid of his wheelchair. While he immediately sat at the covered table overlooking the backyard and pool, the color was there in his face and he had no qualms amusing himself with his phone.At least he’s not critiquing my grilling…That might happen as soon as Rhea took over in a few minutes. Danny was alotmore open to criticizing the way his daughter prepared food than his daughter-in-law, who sometimes still only awkwardly existed around him.
That might never change, and Paige was fine with it. She had her parents down in Anaheim to contend with, such as during Christmas, when the three of them packed up to see Paige’s whole extended family for two days.Never again.She wouldn’t have blamed Danny if he suffered a third heart attack with all of the ruckus Paige’s cousins and their kids caused.
“Rhea?” Paige called to her wife, who was the center of attention among all of their guests. “Could you take over the last of this while I grab the salad from the fridge?”
She walked over, taking the tongs from Paige’s hand. “Oh, while you’re in there,” Rhea began, “could you pop into my office and grab that red folder on my desk? It’s for Loren. Information from my publisher.”
“Sure.” Paige would do that first. The salad could wait.
She only barely knew what the folder was about – something regarding Loren getting into nonfiction publishing based on what she knew about archaic religious stuff.I honestly don’t know what she does.Paige knew what Religious Studies was, but the fine details between history and modern context were lost on her.
Paige bypassed the kitchen and went straight down the hallway toward Rhea’s office. The door was slightly ajar, and the whole room smelled of the peppermint-scented candle Rhea had been burning every time she spent the morning in her office.
Sure enough, the red folder was perched atop the desk. So was a regular manila folder marked for the acquisition’s editor ofForever Escapes.There was a sticky note on top with Rhea’s handwriting on it.
“You know, you could always ask before snooping.”
Sounded like theperfectinvitation for Paige to snoop!
They had been playing this game since autumn, and Paige appreciated it for the surreptitious rules it abided. Rhea had kept writing sexy stories in between her next “serious” project, and they would show up in the strangest places: the bathroom counter, inside the kitchen, drawer, right inside Paige’s handbag… Rhea 100% understood that any story left lying around the house was likely to land in Paige’s grubby hands. (The trick was to not put it anywhere her father might accidentally find it…)
Paige leaned against the desk. Beyond the window, which muffled most of the conversations on the patio, she heard the faraway world that she had stepped away from.
Because in her hands was the only thing that mattered – a peek into her wife’s dirty mind.
Whatever Paige found in here would fuel their next date night, be it roleplaying in the nightclub or stealing away to a hotel room for a night. It also kept the spark alive here in the house, where they agreed things had to stay more vanilla for a while. Yet Paige didn’t mind. She enjoyed plotting the next scene with her wife, and having somethinghotto look forward to make the days go by quicker.
And Rhea knew how to plot out her own getaways, too. More than once, Paige had been on the other end of a conniving woman who only cared about getting under her skirt.
This isn’t anything like that, though.The story on top of the folder was only a page and a half long, but Paige got the gist.Virginal religious kid at college?Check.Sorority mean girl who wants to ruin the other student’s reputation?Double check. Now, Paige didn’t like to betypecasted,but she admitted she knew how to play a capital B Bitch in the bedroom.
Laughter from the patio cut into her thoughts. Paige shoved the paper back into the folder before grabbing the other one from the corner of the desk. On her way back out, she stopped by the kitchen, where one of the guests rummaged through the fridge for sparkling water.
“How’s it going?” Jeanette asked after shutting the door. “Been a while.”
Paige tapped the red folder against the island counter. “Not bad,” she said with a satisfied sigh. “Work’s good. Life’s good.”
Jeanette grinned. “You and Rhea doing good now too?”
“We’ve always donegood,” Paige corrected, which made Jeanette playfully roll her eyes, “but things are definitely more fun right now. I told you about our recent revelations this year.”
Jeanette’s pursed lips reminded Paige that she was talking to a professional model. Which was hard to ignore even when Jeanette wore a turtleneck and jeans. If anything, Paige was forced to stare at nothing but Jeanette’s flawless features and symmetrical heart-shaped face.
Which always reminded Paige that Jeanette knew her way around a sexy nightclub. If there was anyone she could talk to about her marriage, it was the woman who once walked naked through the club – on ladies’ night, anyway.
“Glad to hear things are working out, considering everything that’s blown up the past few months.” Jeanette offered to help carry out the large bowl of salad to the patio. The only reason Paige accepted the help was so she could carry the folder to Loren, who conveniently stood near the door. She was grateful to receive the folder of information, and Paige shared alookwith her wife, who currently plated grilled veggie dogs and veggie skewers.
They crammed eight people around one large table, leaving little room for the bottles of condiments and drinks that everyone needed to make their meal complete. Paige opted to skip the chair and sat directly in Rhea’s lap, who put on a show that no one heavier than Paige hadeversat on her before. Didn’t stop her from eating a hot dog, though.
“You’ve got something on your lip right there.” Paige referred to the mustard on the corner of her wife’s mouth. “No, the other side. No… oh, for fuck’s sake.” Paige had no choice but to slam her lips on Rhea’s, kissing away the mustard as they both erupted into laughter halfway through the act.
She expected Rhea to be mortified in front of her father, who sat on the other side of them, but Danny politely engaged in conversation with Maya, whose family was from the same region of Mexico as Rhea’s grandmother.
Can’t get away with that again, then.Yet it didn’t stop Paige from throwing her whole weight against Rhea, who begged for mercy from all of their friends.
The January sun wasn’t hot enough to make Paige sweat, yet there it was, touching her eyes as she blinked away the laughter tearing her apart.
She might have to take off her sweater. That was how hot her wife made her – even after fifteen years together.
Good thing she knew the perfect way to cool themselves off. The pool called as soon as they were done with lunch.
THE END
