Shoving her feet into a pair of flip-flops, she moved from the bedroom, though the living room, to the kitchen. The noise from the neighbors’ party grew louder and she reached into the refrigerator. Voices floated in through her open windows as she pulled out a bottle of carb-reduced merlot.
She was alone and lonely and apparently feeling quite sorry for herself too. Which really wasn’t like her. She never felt sorry for herself. There were too many people in the world with real problems.
The shrill screech of at least a half dozen Piccolo Petes sliced through the air, and Maddie almost dropped the corkscrew. “Damn it,” she cursed and placed her free hand over her heart. Beyond the French doors leading out to her deck, she could see the pale shadows of dusk and the darkening surface of the usually emerald-green lake. She poured red wine into a glass and carried it outside to the deck and set it on the railing. A dozen or so people stood on the neighbors’ deck and the beach below. Along the water’s edge three mortar tubes stuck out of the sand and pointed toward the sky. Several children held sparklers while men supervised, lit more Piccolo Petes and something that flashed like little strobe lights. Smoke from bombs of every color clouded the beach, and the children ran through the paisley haze like genies from a bottle.
Against the smoke and chaos, Mick Hennessy stood in profile with a punk between his teeth like a long thin cigarette. She recognized his wide shoulders and black hair and the boy who stood gazing up at him. He handed his nephew a lit sparkler and Travis spun on one foot and waved it about. Mick took the punk from between his teeth, said something, and Travis immediately stopped and held the firework in front of him like a statue.
Maddie took a sip of her wine. Yesterday, seeing him at the hardware store had been a real shock. She’d been so intent on her box of poison that she hadn’t noticed him until he’d stood right next to her. Looking up into those blue eyes so close and so much like his father’s had forced a stunned “Christ almighty” out of her.
She lowered the glass and set it on the railing as she watched Mick with his nephew. She really didn’t know what to think about him. Not that she knew enough to form an opinion or that it even mattered. The book she planned to write had nothing to do with him and everything to do with the love triangle between Loch, Rose, and Alice. Like Maddie, Mick had been just another innocent victim.
Louie Allegrezza and two other men knelt close to the water and stuck bottle rockets into several soda bottles. They lit one fuse right after the other, and Maddie watched the rockets fly up high over the water and explode with soft pop-pop-pops.
“Be careful with those around the kids,” Lisa called down to her husband.
“These never hurt anyone,” he called back as he once again loaded up the bottles. Four of the rockets flew straight up, while the fifth flew straight at Maddie. She hit the deck as it whizzed past her head.
“Shit!”
The rocket landed behind her and exploded. With her heart pounding in her ears, she straightened to peer over the railing.
“Sorry about that,” Louie called out.
Through the light wash of gray night, Mick Hennessy looked up and stared at her for several seconds. His dark brows lifted as if surprised to see her. Then he rocked back on his heels and laughed like the whole thing was horribly funny. The dimples denting his cheeks and the amusement in his shining blue eyes gave the illusion that he was as trustworthy and harmless as a Boy Scout. But harmless Boy Scouts wore their beige shirts buttoned and tucked into their pants. A Boy Scout didn’t leave his shirt hanging open, showing off washboard abs and a lickable happy trail running down his sternum, circling his navel, and disappearing behind the waistband of his Levi’s. Not that she was in any danger of licking any part of him. But just because he was who he was and she was who she was didn’t mean she was blind.
“Louie, warn us before you set those things off,” Lisa said above the noise. “Maddie, come over here. You’ll be safer.”
Maddie tore her gaze from Mick’s chest and looked across the ten feet of yard at her neighbor. When it came to safety, trading her deck for theirs didn’t make a bit of sense, but since staring at Mick’s chest was the biggest thrill she’d had in weeks, she was obviously bored and sick of her own company.
She stood, grabbed her glass, and walked the short distance. She was quickly introduced to Louie’s daughter Sofie and her friends who lived in Boise and attended BSU but were in Truly for the weekend. She met several neighbors from farther down the beach, Tanya King, a petite blonde who looked like she hung from her heels and did crunches all day, and Suzanne Porter, whose husband Glenn and teenage son Donald were on the beach setting off fireworks. After that, she lost track of names and couldn’t remember who was whom, where they lived, or how long they’d lived in town. They all blurred together except for Louie’s mother and his aunt Narcisa, who sat at a table wearing equally disarming scowls of disap proval and speaking to each other in rapid Basque. No way could she forget those women.
“Would you like more wine?” Lisa asked. “I’ve got Basque Red and Chablis. Or you can have beer or a Coke.”
“No, thanks.” She held up her half-full glass and looked at it. “I’m a cheap date tonight.” She needed to get up early and get to work, and wine tended to give her a headache.
“Before I married Louie and had Pete, these Fourth of July barbeques were out of control. Lots of drunks and dangerous fireworks.”
As far as Maddie could see, not a lot had changed.
The last person she was introduced to was Lisa’s sister-in-law, Delaney, who looked about twelve months pregnant.
“I’m not due until September,” Delaney said as if she’d read Maddie’s mind.
“You’re joking.”
“No.” Delaney laughed and her blond ponytail brushed her shoulder as she shook her head. “I’m having twin girls.” She pointed toward the beach. “That’s my husband, Nick, down there with Louie. He’s going to be a great dad.”
As if on cue, the great dad-to-be turned and his gaze sought his wife. He was tall and unbeliev ably handsome, and the only other guy around who gave Mick Hennessy any competition whatsoever in the looks department. Then his intense gaze found his wife and the competition was over. There was just nothing sexier than a man who only had eyes for one woman. Especially when that woman looked like Buddha.
“Are you okay?” Nick Allegrezza called out.
“For goodness’ sake,” Delaney grumbled, then yelled, “Yes.”
“Maybe you should sit down,” Nick suggested.
She spread her arms. “I’m fine.”
Maddie’s gaze slid to Mick, who knelt on one knee as he helped Travis light a flashing strobe. She wondered if he had ever looked that way at any one woman, or if he was more like his father and had eyes for a lot of women.
“Fire in the hole,” Louie yelled, and Maddie’s gaze flew to the bottle rockets whizzing upward. This time none of the rockets buzzed Maddie’s head and instead exploded above the lake. Relief calmed her beating heart. A few years ago, she’d volunteered to be Tasered in one of her self-defense classes. She wasn’t a chicken, but those flying missiles worried her.
“Last week I started to have a few contractions, and the doctor said the babies are probably going to come early,” Delaney said, drawing Maddie’s attention. “Nick’s totally freaking out about it, but I’m not worried. We’ve been through hell to have these girls. The hard part is over and everything else will be fine.”
Maddie had spent her adult life trying not to get pregnant and wondered what Delaney had been through, but she didn’t know her well enough to ask.