here they were, about to sit down to a family meal together. She and her husband—who
s m o o r d e b e t a r a p e s n i g n i v i l e r e w — n e t n a h t e r o m d i a s y l e r a b d a h o h w , r e t h g u a d r e h d n a.
words to her in the last few weeks
And now you've agreed to a birthday party.
She filled her wineglass again, hardly noticing the slamming of the door as Angie walked
past.
CHAPTER THIRTY
A tiny round cake, laden with what Jill assumed were forty candles—all burning hotly—
greeted her when she got to the cottage. She laughed then pulled Carrie into a quick hug.
"How did you know?"
"I snuck a peek at your driver's license. I know it's only the third but I wanted to do it
before the holiday."
"How sweet of you," she said with a kiss. "But I'm not sure I'm supposed to be enjoying
forty quite this much."
"Nonsense. Forty is a great year."
"I happen to agree with you." Jill bent down, blowing out all forty candles at once. She
clapped excitedly then hugged Carrie again. "I love you."
She felt Carrie's arm pull her tighter, heard the quiet sigh Carrie uttered when their
bodies pressed together.
"I love you too. Happy birthday."
The quiet, gentle kisses turned to more as their bodies moved sensually against each other.
After all this time, Jill was still surprised how her body reacted to Carrie's touch.
"I have champagne," Carrie murmured into her ear.
"Later," Jill whispered, turning her head to capture Carrie's mouth. "Make love to me
first," she breathed against her lips. She felt Carrie tremble at her request and her eyes
slid closed when Carrie's tongue wrapped around her own.
No more words were spoken as Carrie led her into the bedroom, carefully removing her
clothes. Jill lost patience as she stepped out of her skirt then reached for Carrie's shorts,
sliding them down Carrie's hips in one motion.
"In a hurry?" Carrie teased.
"As a matter of fact, yes."
Jill laid down on the bed, pulling Carrie with her, her thighs spreading to allow Carrie to
settle between them. But as soon as Carrie's bare skin touched her own, Jill rolled them
over, pinning Carrie beneath her.
"I changed my mind," she whispered before her mouth closed over Carrie's breast.
"I won't complain," Carrie murmured, and Jill smiled as she moved lower, wetting a path
across Carrie's stomach before cupping her hips and pulling her to her waiting mouth.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
As soon as Jill heard Craig whistling in the kitchen as he piled ground beef into the bowl,
she knew the party was a mistake. It would serve no purpose other than to give him false
hope that their marriage was salvageable. And it wasn't. But when she pushed open the
swinging door to the kitchen and found him there, a baseball cap turned backward on his
head, packages of wieners mingled with the ground beef on the counter, she didn't have
the heart to say anything. She decided she could play along for a day.
"You're starting early," she said as she reached for the coffee pot.
"Well, I didn't want you to have to mess with all this." He grinned. "Of course, if you could
do your special seasonings thing with the burgers, that'd be great."
She touched his arm. "I tell you what, why don't you go set up the volleyball net and I'll
tend to this."
"You don't mind?"
She smiled. "I believe this has always been my job."
"Great. Because I've still got to run to the store and get cokes and stuff."
"Would you like me to make a pitcher of tea?"
"Oh, don't go to any trouble. You know all the guys will bring beer."
"I remember. But I think your mother prefers iced tea."
Craig stopped, his eyebrows raised. "You're worried about my mother? Are you okay?"
Jill laughed. "I just don't want her to have anything to complain about."
"She'll complain that your spicy burgers are too spicy, as always," he said before closing
the door.
"Yes, as always," she muttered to herself as she assembled the seasonings. And as much as
Craig was making this little party out to be no big deal, she was actually terrified of it.
There would be questions, she had no doubt. Her absence at the softball games this
summer surely raised some eyebrows. And if not that, she doubted seriously that Arlene
had been able to keep their marriage problems to herself.
But questions... she wasn't ready to answer any. Would she just pretend everything was
fine between her and Craig, just to avoid questions? She shook her head. That would only
confuse Craig, Angie... and her in-laws. And that was the last thing she wanted to do.
"I don't want to go to the party."
Jill stared at her daughter, both of them standing with hands on their hips. She cocked
her head, her frown as pronounced as Angie's. "You don't have a choice."
Angie stomped one foot, then crossed her arms at her waist.
"I should have a choice. I'm not a child! And anyway, I've been invited to Shelly's."
"Look, I don't want to go to this party any more than you do. But he's making me. So if I've
got to go, you've got to go."
Angie stared at her. "Are we going to the lake for fireworks?"
"I suppose so. We always do."
Angie shifted her feet then finally uncrossed her arms. "Can I invite Shelly over here?"
Jill smiled. "Of course. You can invite whomever you like."
They stared at each other for a moment before Angie spoke. "Okay. Well, I might hang
around then."
"Good. I'd hate to think you were going to run away from home on the Fourth of July."
Angie smiled. "Well, it is your birthday."
Jill sighed. "Yeah. I'm forty."
"Good God! Forty? Man, you're old," she said as she fled from the room.
Jill watched the swinging of the kitchen door, a smile on her face. "My daughter is teasing
with me," she murmured. "Whatever in the world is wrong with her?"
"Who are you talking to?"
Jill turned, finding Craig in the doorway, his cap still turned backward. Her eyes widened.
"Oh my God. You shaved your moustache."
He laughed. "You'd make a terrible detective. It's been gone all week."
"But you've had it forever. You had it when we met. Why in the world would you shave it?"
He rubbed his upper lip with his fingers, smiling. "I figured I needed a change."
"Well, not that my opinion holds a lot of weight anymore but please grow it back. You look
naked without it."
He grinned. "How would you know? You haven't seen me naked in months."
Before she could respond, he was gone, his whistling echoing through the house as he
headed upstairs.
"Well, I see you've come to your senses."
Jill lowered her glass of wine. "How so?"
"Or is it just because it's your birthday you agreed to this party?" Arlene waltzed into the
kitchen, a huge cake in her hands. "And isn't it a bit early for wine? You don't want to have
the guests talking, do you?"
Jill blew out her breath, vowing not to let her mother-in-law get to her today. So she
smiled sweetly. "As with everything else, Arlene, it's none of your goddamn business." She
had the pleasure of seeing her mother-in-law gasp before walking out to the deck. Craig
and his father were measuring off the out-of-bounds lines for the volleyball games.
Despite her loathing for her mother-in-law, she'd always gotten along well with Carl. But
given the current situation, she wouldn't blame him if he chose to ignore her. He didn't.