Rain smiled. “What are you guys up to?”
“My mother always has Thanksgiving dinner at her place,” Steve said, providing Becky with the perfect opening, and wondering if she’d take it. She’d been vacillating all day, threatening not to go through with their plan.
“You can just imagine how much I’m looking forward to that,” Becky said, following Steve’s lead. She knew what was at stake, that the men her husband was dealing with weren’t the type to look kindly on a sudden change of heart. One man was already here in Rosarito, having flown in by private plane earlier in the day, and was at this very minute waiting patiently in the lobby with the special carrying case he’d brought in which to hide Samantha.
You don’t piss these people off, Steve had warned her.
Still, she wasn’t sure she could go through with it. No matter how hard she tried to rationalize what they were about to do, no matter how many times she told herself she had no choice, that Steve’s reckless gambling had put both their lives in jeopardy, no matter how many times she told herself that Caroline would survive the loss of her child—she still had one healthy little girl; she could always get pregnant again; Samantha was going to a loving home; Caroline’s perfect, fairy-tale existence could use a cold shower of reality—she didn’t know whether she was capable of inflicting such pain on a woman with whom she’d once been close.
Still, what choice did she have?
Steve glared at his wife, silently urging her to keep it simple. It was important that they start slow and build. Their spat had to sound like just another one of their endless arguments. Which should be easy. It seemed that all they did anymore was fight. “Let’s not start.”
“Stop looking at your watch,” Hunter told Caroline. He checked his own watch, feeling a stirring in his groin at the thought of his upcoming tryst with Rain. It was accompanied almost immediately by an unwelcome stab of guilt. Not at the affair itself. He’d been having casual, meaningless flings for years. This one was no different except for the added frisson that it was taking place right under his wife’s nose. But this was his anniversary, for heaven’s sake. Surely he owed it to Caroline not to betray her tonight, of all nights. Still, she’d thought little of almost canceling the dinner and had spent most of the evening worrying about the kids. They were her first priority, not him.
“You know what my darling mother-in-law said to me last Thanksgiving?” Becky asked, warming to the charade. At least she got to vent. “She’d just been to a funeral and I made the mistake of asking how it had gone, and she said, and this is a direct quote: ‘It was a lovely affair. Her daughter selected a beautiful coffin. Much nicer than the one you had for your mother.’?”
Steve bristled, despite the charade. Did she really have to bring that up again? “I assure you,” he protested, “she said no such thing.”
“That’s exactly what she said.”
“You’re exaggerating. As usual.”
“And you’re defending her. As usual.”
“So, what are we all thankful for?” Peggy interrupted, trying to keep their argument from mushrooming out of control. It was her best friend’s anniversary. Could Steve and Becky not manage even one evening without a fight? “Come on. Three things, not including health, family, or friends. We’ll just assume you’re thankful for those.”
“Never assume,” said Becky. Oh, God. Can I really go through with this?
“Oh, this is fun.” Rain clapped her hands. “Can I start?”
Peggy indicated the floor was hers, suddenly grateful for Rain’s presence. A normally positive person who made a concerted effort to find something admirable in everyone, Peggy had been struggling all week with her feelings for Rain, feelings that veered from mild amusement to strained impatience to active dislike. The truth was that she just didn’t trust her. There was something sneaky about her, the way her compliments always carried the sting of a slap. “Kidding on the square,” her mother used to call it. Still, it was nice to know you could count on Rain for something. In this case, that something was glomming onto anything that provided her with the opportunity to talk about herself.
“Well, first, obviously, I’m thankful we’ll be spending Thanksgiving in New York and not at some horrid family function, no offense intended. Second, I’m thankful for the new necklace Jerrod bought me. And third, I’m thankful gray hair doesn’t run in my family. Your turn.” She smiled at Caroline.
“I’m thankful for this past week,” Caroline said. “I’m thankful to be celebrating ten years of relative wedded bliss.”