“I’m almost afraid to ask what that means. Dirty, depending on the context, may or may not be more enjoyable than doom.”
“No doom. And only the grown-up women can play. And there’s alcohol. It’s basically a girls’ night out without going anywhere. Or so I’m told. Paige and I haven’t played it yet, either. They only play during their camping trips, I guess.”
“Do we lock the men in the bathhouse?”
Emma laughed. “No. I guess they have a men-only campfire far enough away so it’s like a guys’ night out. Only here.”
“What makes it dirty?”
“I guess it’s regular Scrabble, but you get a double word score if you wouldn’t say the word in front of the kids. And if it’s a word you wouldn’t say out loud, it’s a triple word score.”
“So the alcohol might make a difference,” Paige said.
“And whether or not Aunt Mary or Rosie play, too,” Liz added.
Emma nodded. “Anyway, start thinking up naughty sex words, ladies.”
Liz snorted. “I have three sex words. Not. Getting. Any.”
“You need to start dating,” Paige said. “Who do I know who’s single in Whitford? Oh, there’s Max Crawford. He’s a little odd and works out of his basement. It has its own security system and nobody knows what he does, so the popular theory is that he’s a serial killer.”
“Great. Give him my number.” Liz rolled her eyes.
“But he’s smoking hot.”
“But wait,” Emma said. “How would being a serial killer make him money?”
“Don’t poke logic holes in our gossip.”
“I don’t want to date Max Crawford the alleged serial killer,” Liz said.
“I mentioned the smoking-hot part, right? Just sex. You don’t have to go in the basement.” Both Liz and Emma gave her a raised eyebrow. “Okay, fine. Who else do I know...”
“I don’t really want to date anybody.”
“But you said yourself your only sex words are not, getting and any. Why don’t you want to start dating?”
Because I only want to date your husband-slash-my brother’s best friend and he seems to have a split personality when it comes to reciprocating that feeling. “I just moved back. Let me get settled in before you start pimping me out to odd guys with locked basements.”
“He likes sports,” Paige added.
“Not going to happen.”
“Fine. There aren’t that many single men in Whitford, though, so if you see one you like, act fast.”
Oh, she’d seen one she liked, all right. And they’d both acted fast. Now, though, they seemed to be spinning their wheels, rocking back and forth but remaining stuck in the same rut.
The worst part was not being able to pour out her troubles and get advice. Certainly not from Mitch’s wife. And secret keeping wasn’t exactly a dominant Kowalski trait. So she kept her mouth shut and let the subject veer off in a different direction.
Inevitably, with a new mom and a soon-to-be mom, the conversation turned to baby stuff and Liz rested her head back against the chair and half listened. The others would be back anytime, so she was determined to enjoy the peace and quiet while she had it.
And, as with any game, she played to win, so she started building up a collection of naughty words in her head. She might not be having any sex, but that didn’t diminish her vocabulary in any way.
“There aren’t any hyphens in Scrabble, are there?” she asked, breaking into a debate on cloth versus disposable diapers.
Convenience versus bleach buckets were forgotten as they got down to the serious business of dirty Scrabble strategy.
*
This was what Drew had signed up for. A roaring campfire, a comfortable chair and a cold six-pack. The kids were in bed and the women were almost out of earshot, playing Scrabble. And it was one hell of a game, judging by the laughter echoing through the trees.
“I don’t remember Scrabble being that funny,” Drew said, popping the tab on beer number one.
“They’re making sex words,” Mike said. “They get extra points or whatever if nobody will say them out loud. But I don’t think we’re supposed to know that’s what they’re doing.”
Drew couldn’t help glancing over, wondering what sex words Liz might be spelling. She was as cutthroat as the rest of her family when it came to competition so, judging by the furrow between her eyebrows, she wasn’t coming up with anything too raunchy. If she was winning, her face would show it.
He’d be happy to educate her on all manner of things people didn’t say aloud outside of the bedroom.
“Speaking of sex, Drew,” Mitch began, and Drew’s entire body tensed. “When are you going to jump back into the dating pool?”
He forced himself to relax into his chair, taking a long swig of his beer. “The divorce has only been final six months, Kowalski. There’s no rush.”