“I know, but I wonder about things all the time and even more so since he dropped a colossal bomb last night.”
I sit up and face her. Her eyes drop and her finger spins her engagement ring back and forth. I look down at my hand, now bare, but still harboring a faint tan line. I look my rings off after Harrison kissed me the first time. I didn’t want to, but felt that I was cheating on my love for Mason, or close to it with the feelings I was having toward him. It saddens me to be without my rings, but Harrison deserves my finger to be free of something he didn’t place there.
“What did Liam say to you?”
Josie fiddles with the tie on her swimsuit. I look over my shoulder at the cougar, apparently my subconscious doesn’t want to miss anything. It’s like a bad soap opera playing out on a live stage. I turn back, raising my eyebrow to let her know I’m waiting.
“I can’t be mad at him, but I can be hurt.”
“Josephine Preston, what in the blue hell are you talking about?”
“Liam and Sam.”
I shake my head, not understanding where she’s going with this.
“When they were together, she got pregnant.”
My mouth drops open, slowly. Josie doesn’t look at me, but her eyes gaze over the pool before dropping her hands back to her lap.
“Liam told me he doesn’t have any children other than Noah.”
“He doesn’t, she miscarried.”
“Wow! I’m… I don’t know what to say,” I reply. I sit back and resume my position. My daiquiri sits half full. I pick it up and take a long pull through the straw.
“He was using her for sex. He said he never wanted to have kids with anyone but me. When she told him, he freaked out. She wanted to get married and already had a nanny picked out. He left her and then she called him to say she had miscarried.”
“I’m calling bullshit. Look how shady Sam is. I bet she wasn’t even pregnant, just trying to trap him.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Josie says solemnly.
“You’re right, it doesn’t because in a month, you’re going to marry him and as petty as this sounds, you had his baby before she did, so you win.”
Josie looks up and smiles. “I win.”
“Yeah, Josie, you win.” I signal to the waiter as he passes by. He takes our empty glasses with promises of his imminent return with more fruity drinks. “She’s on the move.” I nod toward the cougar. She’s picked up her bag and is walking in the opposite direction of the lifeguard.
“He’s probably on lunch.”
“Or he needs to check in with his mom,” I say biting back laughter.
“That could be Noah someday, can you imagine? He’s acting more and more like Liam and it scares me.”
“He’s just testing you, I’m sure.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Am I? Who am I to give parenting advice? I know there’s something bothering Peyton, but I’m not sure if it’s still Mason or something else. Since school has started she’s been more withdrawn and not willing to engage in anything. Aside from watching Noah play football, she sits in her room facing her wall and it’s like I have to force her to be social. Dr. Brooks says it will pass, but I’m not sure how long I’m supposed to wait until I can comfortably start freaking out that my kid is walking around like a zombie.
I lose sight of the cougar when the waiter arrives with our drinks. I hold the ice-cold glass in my hand, using it to cool down while I search for her. I don’t know what my fascination is with her, but she intrigues me. How does one decide to flirt with a lifeguard, or anyone else for that matter? I failed miserably at it with Harrison, and if it wasn’t for his persistent pursuit, I’d be alone right now.
“Hello?”
I choke on my drink when the cougar speaks to us. I hit my chest, trying to clear my airway. I can hear Josie next to me trying to stifle a laugh.
“Hi,” Josie says for the both of us. I set my drink down and covertly wipe my mouth with my towel. I must look like a complete fool.
“Mind if I join you?” Josie and I share a glance, both of us conveying ‘what the hell’. Really? We are in a private cabana and she wants to join us. What about all the general population of chaise lounges that are poolside?
“Sure,” Josie says. I want to whack her upside her head.
The cougar sits down on my chaise, setting her oversized bag down on the ground. Now that I can see her more clearly, my earlier assumption of her age is far off. The woman sitting on the edge of my chaise is young, mid-twenties I’m guessing, but she’s been weathered, as my mother would say, one too many trips in the tanning bed. “So, I’m Alicia.” She extends her hand to Josie and then to me. We shake, and I offer up the fakest smile possible. We are supposed to be relaxing, not entertaining.
“It’s just so nice out today, don’t you think?”
Small talk too? I wonder if I can ask her about her personal life, act like I’m writing a book so I can get into the mind of a cougar and how someone can even hit on guy that doesn’t even look eighteen.