Chapter 76

Author’s Note: There is no sex in this chapter, but the end of this book won’t stay that way for long! Apologies for these two back-to-back slower chapters on the debauchery front, but for a long time I’ve envisioned these events to be part of the finale of this book. I think it does justice to this main character, and I hope you agree.

I didn’t sleep. Rita dozed off with her head on my chest and, before it got too chilly outside, I roused her and helped her inside. Kat slept peacefully, and Rita and I carefully and quietly slipped into bed beside her once we had gotten ready. My mind refused to let me even doze off. The agony of waiting until morning was hell. I sifted through any number of possibilities that might lie behind Rita’s fear. Part of me was angry that she obviously had a secret. Another part of me wondered who he was.

Finally, I reached for my phone to text Jess.

“You can’t sleep either?” Rita said faintly.

“How could I?” I said, a little gruffly. “The unknown is probably my biggest fear.”

I sent Jess a message that simply read, “Rita needs a family meeting ASAP tomorrow. Big.”

“What?” Jess responded immediately. “What about?”

“Don’t know,” I wrote back. “Just be ready for it, please.”

“Won’t stay too late,” she said.

I put down my phone. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness in our bedroom. I watched Kat as she slept on her back. Her breathing was so gentle. I noticed for the first time the faintest frown line at the corner of her mouth. I looked where her stomach must have been underneath the comforter and imagined the growing tadpole inside her that, in only a few months, would be our child. Then the fatalistic thought crept into my head: would the baby have two moms or three? Then a cynical thought crept in. Well, two is better than one. My mood matched the darkness the blackout curtains enabled.

Rita’s breathing had become more shallow. I raised my head slightly and saw she had fallen asleep. Seeing her, the gentle slope of her nose and her full lips, calmed me. My thoughts veered back closer to the rational. This was Rita. My Rita. Always even-keeled, always a rock, it was okay that she had a problem. Whatever it was, we could overcome it. She was a perfectionist. She was almost stoic sometimes. If she needed to lean on us for something, she might overreact in her presumption of how we would respond to it. It would be fine.

Still, I couldn’t sleep. I got up and went to the kitchen. I made coffee and picked up the book on the golden age of Hollywood I was reading. It was a welcome distraction and worked effectively to keep my mind away from speculating. Around 3 a.m., Jess came home. She was carrying her heels and practically ran to the couch when she saw I was still awake.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “What happened?”

I noticed she was mostly sober. I relayed very briefly my conversation with Rita. Then I punctuated it by saying, “Do you think she could have found someone else?”

“Oh, John,” Jess said, putting a hand on my thigh and shaking her head. “This is Rita. She is so full of devotion there is zero chance of that.”

“But something is really, really wrong,” I said.

“Rita won’t even see Ashley since Kat found out she was pregnant,” Jess said, referring to the stunning football wife who was obsessed with playing with Rita when she could find the time. “She’s nesting as much as Kat is. Or maybe being a den mother is more accurate!”

“I’m really worried,” I said.

“Because you’re so much like Rita,” Jess said. “You’re both perfectionists, but if something doesn’t live up to your ideal, you think it’s shit. It’s really kind of cute that that’s your biggest flaw. But she is the same way. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“How can you be so sure?” I said.

“Okay, maybe not sure,” Jess conceded, “but I can’t imagine it being anything so serious we can’t handle it.”

“I hope not,” I said.

“You need to get some sleep, baby,” Jess said and kissed my cheek.

“I can’t,” I said. “You go, though. You need it. How was the party?”

“A blast,” she said. “We almost got kicked out because Alix and Jamie were fucking in the bathroom.”

I chuckled.

“The bouncer recognized Jamie and didn’t have the heart to do it!” Jess said.

“I’m a little surprised,” I said. “I thought Katie and Jamie were together.”

“Well, it depends on your definition of together,” she said.

“I’m not sure I’m the best person to give that definition,” I said. “Mine is pretty twisted off the straight and narrow path.”

“Katie and Jamie are both Type A in the strongest way,” she said. “They will only do whatever they want. So when they’re together, they might be into each other, or they might be using it as a springboard to find something else.”

“So kind of a relationship by convenience,” I said.

“Yes and no,” Jess said. “I think they like hanging out. I know for sure they like fucking each other. If you pressed me on it, I’d say they are like the perfect definition of friends with benefits. They don’t want to get more deeply involved than that.”

“Interesting,” I said.

“It is,” Jess said. “And you are so cute.”

I laughed. “Why do you say that?” I asked.

“Because you’re trying to act like seeing Katie with someone else doesn’t make you a little bit jealous,” she said.

“I’m not jealous,” I said.

“Yes you are,” Jess said confidently. “You like her. And it’s fine. We all know it and are fine with it. Katie is an absolute doll. She has a heart of gold, and she is so much fun. I love her!”

“I like her, too,” I said.

“Not as much as she likes you,” Jess said and stood up. “Now I’m going to bed. I quit drinking as soon as you texted. But now I’m so sleepy. Get some rest, my love. We’ll get this all sorted out in the morning.”

I finished my book around dusk. Then I sat outside with fresh coffee as the sun came up. It was a perfect, slightly crisp morning. Dew sparkled on the grass as the day’s first rays of sunlight hit it. The stale smell of marijuna tickled my nose from the party the night before. Then I noticed a bit of a stale smell emanating from myself. I needed a shower.

Instead of taking the risk to wake up the girls, I went upstairs to a guest bedroom and showered. As I walked downstairs, wrapped in a towel, I heard the coffee maker bubbling away again. It had become standard for the girls to all wake up at the same time, and this morning was no different. It was as if our body rhythms needed us together to function properly.

I hope it stays that way, I thought to myself, and then brushed the negativity aside.

“Good morning, girls!” I said cheerfully when I came down the stairs.