You knew my shoulders, all right, I thought, and every other part of me too.
I climbed the ladder in the deep end and sucked in my stomach when I emerged from the water. Regrettably, my six-pack had morphed into a little paunch. I lifted myself out with a little swinging movement, hoping it would make me seem more fit and virile.
“Nice swimsuit,” she said and covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter.
“Father’s Day gift. What are you doing here?” I said. Jesus, I thought, she’s still devastatingly beautiful. My heart was racing. Be cool, I told myself. I picked up my sunglasses and put them on. Joe Cool.
“Why, I’m on vacation with my family. You?”
“Yeah, me too. You have a family?” What a stupid thing to say, I thought.
“I sure do.” She turned and pointed to the little girl in the kiddie pool. “That little angel is mine.”
I looked and there she was. She was around the twins’ age, with blond, blond hair and no doubt blue eyes like her mother’s. I sighed. Of course she had a child! Why wouldn’t she? The daughter that, in a different life, could’ve been ours.
“She’s beautiful,” I said. “Like you.”
“Oh, Adam. Go on now. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
All I could manage was “Thanks.” But then I finally found my voice and said, “Why don’t y’all come over for a glass of wine around six? That’s our condo right there.”
“Sure. I’d like that. It’ll be fun to catch up!” She kissed my cheek and turned to go back to her daughter. “Can I bring my husband?”
“What kind of a question is that? Of course! I have to meet the guy that stole my girl!”
Yeah, I thought, that son of a bitch. Let’s see what he’s got.
“I thought I’d never see you again. What a coincidence,” she said.
There are no coincidences, I thought.
“See ya later!” I said cheerily.
I felt like a young man of eighteen then. Adrenaline rushed through me and I was energized and excited. I could run a marathon! By God, I could!
What were the odds on this serendipitous meeting? But if I didn’t believe in coincidence, what was the meaning of seeing her again?
Across the terraced area, I spotted Eliza setting the table with our lunch. She was hairy-eyeballing me with grave suspicion.
Eliza’s probably not going to like this, I thought.
chapter 2
meet eliza
“You did what?” I said.
“I invited her over for a glass of wine. With her husband, of course,” Adam said as he surveyed his lunch. “Wow, this looks great, sweetheart. Thanks!”
I detached the straws and pushed them through the tiny openings on pouches of Capri Sun for the boys. Then I poured iced tea from a covered plastic pitcher for Adam and myself. The boys scraped the heavy metal chairs across the cement closer to their food and then climbed over the arms to sit. The enormous patio umbrella was situated to keep us all in the shade. If need be, we could reposition it as the sun traveled across the sky.
“Well, that’s fine, but who are they?” I asked.
“She’s a girl I knew in high school. No big deal. You’ll like her.”
I smelled a rat. I had been standing right there watching Adam preen and hold in his stomach.
“What makes you think I’ll like her? She’s nine feet tall, skinny as a stick, and blond. She’s going to wonder what in the world you ever saw in the likes of me!”
“No, she won’t! She’s going to know in less than a minute that I married the most glamorous, fabulous woman in the world! Isn’t that right, boys?”
Luke and Max, who were almost completely self-absorbed, were totally oblivious to the fact that I was feeling a little insecure. They didn’t understand the word or the concept. Thus far, their young lives had been a succession of brass rings. As far as we knew they had yet to experience even a playground bully.
“Uh-huh,” Luke said. “Pass the ketchup, please.”
“Yep,” Max said. “More potato chips?”
“Say the magic word,” I said.
“Please?” Max said. “Hey, Mom? You know what? I like eating lunch in my bathing suit!”
Anything new and different was okay with Max.
“Good, sweetheart.” I passed the platter to him and said, “Save some for your father.”
“Thank you,” Adam said, “but I think I should start watching my weight.”
“Really? Thirty minutes ago, it was okay for me to hang over a pot of boiling oil to make them for you.”
“Oh, okaaaaay. I’ll have a few.” He took a handful and dropped them on his plate.
I scrutinized Adam as he sucked in his stomach muscles again and could see that his mood had changed. He was considerably more lighthearted than he had been in the morning when he was offering me diamonds in exchange for cottage fries. He hadn’t stopped smirking since we sat down for lunch. I hated smirkers. Who was this woman, anyway? And what had she meant to him? Did he sleep with her? Was I really supposed to be nice to a woman who’d slept with my husband? Was Adam losing his mind to invite her over? Did he think he could will away his gut by the cocktail hour?
Men are so stupid, I thought. And vain.
“What’s her name?” I said.
“Eve. She was Eve Church . . . I don’t know her last name now. She’s got a husband. It will be very interesting to see who she married.”
The fact that Adam thought meeting Eve’s husband would be very interesting, not merely interesting, told me that Eve had been more than a fling.
“Her name is Eve? Really? Like Adam and Eve? You’re kidding, right?”
There sat my husband, giddy with excitement, mouth full of sandwich, looking pretty silly in his giddiness and excitement. He was smiling even as he chewed. “Yeah. Eve. Isn’t that funny? Anyway, that August we went off to different colleges and I never saw her again,” Adam said as a nearly tangible air of gloom descended around him.
I knew there was no way he would be this animated if that woman meant nothing to him. Plus, he had never mentioned her name before today. And I knew the name of every single girl he had ever dated. Why? Because boys like to kiss and tell.
If I were in his shoes, I’d never let on that I was that excited to see an old flame. Not in a million years. Why didn’t he even have the good sense to mask this tsunami of rapturous glee?
Because he had been in love with her, that’s why. Men!
I waited for a moment and watched his face as he stared off into space, wistful and remembering. “So, she broke your heart, did she?”
“What? No, no, no. That’s ridiculous,” he said. “Anyway, it was high school, for heaven’s sake! Ancient history! They’re just coming for a glass of wine. No big deal.”
I could tell by his sudden change in expression that Eve had, in fact, broken his heart. Suddenly, instead of feeling insecure, I was annoyed. Who was this Eve person who had hurt the man I loved? I’d show her what she had walked away from! Who did this Eve think she was? Why, she was a fool! A damn fool!
“What time are they coming?”