Chapter 3: Richard

I was planning to drop Nicole and Michael at Richard’s at 1 pm, but traffic was light, and I had been driving a little fast, hoping to get back to Sarah before she could change her mind. When we had left, Sarah was upstairs deciding between the two swimsuits she had brought with her from Iowa. She’d told me twice she was fine going, then once that she wasn’t sure, then once that she wanted to go because she was tired of the rental. I left before she could change her mind again.

The drive was short. Nicole talked the whole way about whether Uncle Richard still had the pool noodles. Michael wanted to know if the pizza would have pepperoni. I told them both yes and tried not to think about how quiet the rental would feel when we got back from the party. Or how quiet it had been for the last month since we had moved in. Or the fact that I was hoping a couple of strangers might somehow fix the part of our marriage I hadn’t been able to fix myself.

I turned into Richard’s driveway earlier than I meant to. The porch light was still on even though it was the middle of the day. Richard was on the porch with a girl. She was tiny. Blonde. Pink streaks in her hair. She looked nineteen if she was a day. Richard had both hands under her ass and was kissing her like they were alone. She had one leg hooked around his thigh. When he heard the tires, he pulled back. She turned, saw the car, and went bright red. She said something I couldn’t hear, grabbed a bag off the porch railing, and walked fast down the driveway to a car parked on the street. A young guy was behind the wheel. She got in, leaned across the console, and kissed him. He pulled away.

I sat there with the engine running for a second. Nicole asked if that was Uncle Richard’s girlfriend. I said I didn’t know. Michael asked if we could still have pizza. I said yes.

Richard came down the steps when I got out. He looked a little flushed, a little embarrassed, and a lot like he was trying to pretend the last thirty seconds hadn’t happened. Nicole and Michael ran at him. He caught one under each arm and spun them until they both laughed. I grabbed the overnight bags and followed them inside.