“Then change his mind,” Olivia said.
They had reached the main gate to the Camden Hall estate. To the left was Young Pete’s small house and to their right was a three-story stone tower. Decades ago, the neighborhood kids had named it Pete’s Spy Tower. Three generations of the family had watched through the open porch on the top, and it did resemble a prison guard’s eyrie.
When Elise and Olivia stepped onto the property, Young Pete was standing there. His long, unsmiling face was wrinkled from a lifetime of being outside in all weather. His blue eyes were watery, but it was said that he could see a fly at a hundred yards.
As calmly as she could manage, Olivia asked how he was doing and introduced Elise. Young Pete said nothing, just gave a sort of grunt and nodded.
As the women walked toward the cottage, they suppressed their giggles. If Young Pete had seen them just a few minutes earlier...
The man’s voice came to them. “Well, Olivia, I see you’ve been up to your old tricks.”
Olivia froze in place. He was telling her that he knew what she’d done today and who the culprit was so long ago. She could feel her entire body turning red. Deeply embarrassed, she started running so fast that Elise had trouble keeping up with her.
In the cottage, Olivia barely let Elise inside before she slammed the door behind her.
Ray was sitting on the couch reading a trade magazine. “You two look like you’ve been up to no good.”
Elise started to laugh, but the look on Olivia’s face stopped her.
“If he knows, the whole town does,” Olivia muttered. “The church, the quilting circle. Oh no! Maybe my parents knew.”
Elise turned to Ray. “Do you know how to make a drink? Not one of those nasty tea-colored things on ice, but something that tastes good?”
Ray gave Elise a slow glance up and down, as though he was seeing her for the first time. When his eyes met hers, it was with a look the waitress at the diner would have loved. He was interested.
But Elise didn’t budge. She glared at him.
With a nod of concession, he went to the kitchen and they heard ice tinkling. In minutes, he returned with two of those wonderful glasses that were a big triangle on top. Two olives on toothpicks were in each glass.
“Girlie enough for you?” Ray asked Elise.
She sipped hers. “Delicious. You must have had bartender experience.”
Ray shook his head in disbelief. In a sentence she had taken away his years of success and put him back to going to school during the day and bartending at night. “Daddy cut your allowance off, did he? Terrified you’ll have to get a job like the rest of us?”
Before Elise could speak, Olivia held out her empty glass. “Another one, please.”
“I hope you two floozies don’t get drunk. I’ve got a tuna casserole in the oven.”
That was too much for the women. The drinks on an empty stomach, the memory of what they’d done, Young Pete’s knowledge, and Ray’s casserole made them fall on each other laughing. They could hardly stand up.
Chapter Four
Bartending in a college town had given Ray a lot of experience with drunken females. He put his big hands on their shoulders and half pushed, half pulled them into the kitchen and set them down on the long seat that ran under the window. They were laughing and saying nonsensical things like, “Will he put the two new ones in the frame with my old one?”
“Maybe he’ll have three separate display cases.”
“I have a scrape on my right cheek—and I don’t mean my face.”
“I have a scar on my leg from the first time! That damned wall needs to be sandblasted so future adventurers are protected,” Olivia said.
“Explain that one to a contractor,” Elise said. “Oh. Wait! Carmen’s brother might be able to do it. Think I could get a discount? For services rendered?” They collapsed in laughter.
Ray was shaking his head as every sentence made them go into more laughter. They were nearly hysterical with it.
Opening the oven, he pulled out the big casserole. It had been a long time since he’d cooked anything, but he’d remembered rather easily. Boil the noodles, drain, flake the cans of tuna. Add cheese. It wasn’t difficult.
Behind him, the women were now on people named “Kevin” and “Hildy.” Whatever had happened, he wished he’d been there to enjoy it with them. But then, if he, a male, had been there, he doubted if it would have happened. From their laughter, it sounded like one of those girl things.
He got out some plates and forks, dumped a bag of salad mix into a bowl, pulled a bottle of dressing from the fridge, and put it all on the table.
Elise was now lavishly complimenting Olivia for having hit a wine bottle with a rock. “I was aiming for that big metal planter three feet away.” That made them laugh harder.
Ray poured Coke into three glasses. Maybe the caffeine would sober them up. But as he picked up the bottle he realized that he was jealous of their merriment. There wasn’t anything in his life right now that came close to happiness. His wife was a wonderful woman. She kept a beautiful home. She was his boss’s daughter.
If he went through with what he planned, he was going to lose it all. His wife, who was his best friend, his home, and probably his job would all disappear.
And for what? For love? Was it worth it?
He looked at the two women by the window. All he knew about the girl, Elise, was what Olivia had told him—and that seemed fairly horrifying. As for Olivia, when he’d first seen her, he’d thought her eyes looked haunted. She smiled and was gracious, but there was something else there too, as though a part of her was missing. Not complete.
He looked at the three glasses. “What the hell,” he murmured, then opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of rum. Maybe this cottage was magical and he could get drunk enough that he could laugh as hard as they were. Too bad that experience had shown him that alcohol only made him worry more.
“Here you are, ladies.” He set the drinks down. “More booze. I’ll keep them coming all night if you’ll tell me what you did that was so funny.”
“Do you have any tattoos?” Elise asked, then laughed as Olivia shushed her.
“I’ll show them to you if you tell me everything,” he said in a low, sexy growl.
“Ewwww,” Olivia and Elise echoed. Then they looked at each other. “I’m in,” they said together.
Ray quietly smiled as they drank their rum and Cokes and decimated the huge casserole. As he listened to them, most of it told in disjointed phrases, he managed to pick up the story. It seemed that the two of them had stripped off and run across a forest together.
He wished he’d been there—not to see them naked, but to see their happiness. He deeply wished he could share it with them.
After they’d eaten all they could hold, he got up from the table, pulled it out about three feet, then held out his hands to the two women. Olivia took his hand but Elise didn’t move.
Both of them had that unmistakable look of drunkenness in their eyes. “You still have your shirt on,” Elise said.
“And you want it off because...?” His tone was suggestive.
“A shirtless man reminds me of the best part of home.” Elise’s words were a bit slurred and her eyes dreamy.
“Your husband?”
“Heavens no!” Elise said. “Carmen’s brother. He works in the garden and has his shirt off rain or shine. He’s prettier than the delphiniums.” She took a drink. “And he’s my friend.”
Both Olivia and Ray were aware that Elise wasn’t telling everything, but neither of them asked for more. This wasn’t a time for seriousness. They all needed the great cure of laughter.
With a one-sided smile, Ray pulled his expensive knit shirt over his head and tossed it on the window seat. “Will I do?” His words were smug; he knew he looked good. He was thick and muscular, with little body fat. Four hours a week with a personal trainer kept him in very good shape.
“Turn around,” Olivia said, and he obeyed.