“So, I’m any man.”
“And I’m just another woman.”
They were adversaries again, which was how they started out. Realizing that, he stood. “I’m leaving.”
“I think that’s best.” She stood, too. “Call me when you have things straightened out. If I’m free, I’ll see you again.”
“What the hell do you mean if you’re free?”
“Exactly what that implies.”
He raised his arm with an open palm. “Now we have an ultimatum and a threat. You’re two for two, girl.”
Instead of responding, she left the room. He heard the front door swish open. He walked to the entrance and right outside. He didn’t turn to her again. He couldn’t, because he feared he’d give in before he figured things out with his family.
* * *
“Hey, cuz, good to see you.” Rafe met Haley at the front door of his house. She’d never seen his place, though Seth said Rafe owned it for twenty years. “We’re so happy you could come to the picnic.”
“Thanks. I’m psyched, too.” She hugged her cousin, grateful to be with people who cared about her today.
Anything, that would make her forget the scene with Paul yesterday morning. In the afternoon she found a way not to second guess herself. But she’d slept poorly. Today, she’d distract herself with her cousins.
And wow, were there a lot to take her mind off things, she thought as she went out onto Rafe’s new deck. All four cousins were around the pool, along with their children. She counted seven kids. Funny, though, she thought as she looked at the adults. None of them were married, except for Rafe, who’d tied the knot only a couple of months ago.
“When did you put the pool in?” she asked him.
“Right after we went to your cottage. Tommy couldn’t stop talking about your pool, so we got one.”
“That was quick.”
“Life’s short, kiddo.”
Discomfort wormed its way inside her. As a firefighter, of course Rafe knew that. Hayley forgot sometimes. Had she been rash yesterday with Paul?
“Did you wear your suit?”
“Yeah.” Under a sage green cover-up that Paul said highlighted her eyes.
“We’re planning a rousing game of pool volleyball before we eat.”
“I’m in.” She was still a pretty good athlete. She’d been on the swim team at the private prep school she’d gone to and college at Radcliff.
Alessia sat on a chaise halfway down on the slate deck of the pool, watching the kids swim. Hayley joined her. “Hey, Ali. Want some company?”
“Sure.” Hayley leaned over and hugged her cousin.
Just as she straightened, she heard, “Hey, Hayley, catch.” She turned fast but not quick enough and the beach ball hit her in the face. “Ouch.”
“Sorry,” Seth called out. He stood in the water on the other side of the pool with Gideon, both cousins wearing bathing suits and Ray Bans. “You okay?” Seth was not referring to the beach ball.
“Yeah, sure.”
After removing her dress, she stretched out in the chaise next to Alessia.
“Where’s Finn?” Ali asked. She was his age.
“I wish he could have come. I called yesterday and reminded him of the invitation, but he was taking his boat on an overnight down the coast with a friend. He would have changed his plans, otherwise.”
“Too bad.”
Hayley scrunched her nose. “And I wish Ronan was here, damn him. I miss my oldest brother.”
“I’ll bet. I can’t imagine not having Rafe in my life.”
“He’s a gem.”
“That he is.” Rafe’s wife, Kate Cassidy Casella, had come up to them. She’d gotten a bigger baby bump since the picnic at the lake house in June. Which seemed like a lifetime ago. “Can I join you?”
“As if you have to ask.” Ali started to stand. “Need help.”
“Not quite yet.” Kate maneuvered herself onto another chaise. “Hell, I got five months to go and I’m already having trouble sitting on these.” She rolled her eyes. “Last time, I got huge, too.”
“I think you look adorable now, Kate,” Hayley told her, a bit envious. She’d had some fleeting daydreams about her and Paul making a baby.
Kate and Ali exchanged glances.
“What was that for?”
Ali asked, “Where’s the guy you told Rafe you were bringing?”
Well, he pretty much broke my heart over the weekend. But she didn’t say that. It would overshadow the day and everybody would worry about her. “He couldn’t come, after all.”
“Sorry about that,” Kate said.
Ali squeezed her arm. “Too bad.”
“So, give me updates on everything.” Hayley wanted to switch the subject. “I haven’t seen you in a month.”
Hayley joyfully listened to Ali talk about her kids and her plans to go back to school. “So, I’ll be in the city sometimes.”
Kate talked about her job this summer in the fire department helping at Hale’s Haven, a camp Megan and Mitch Malvaso had started. Surrounded by family, both women lifted her spirits. Coming here was what she needed.
Seth cornered her on the upper deck when she came out of the house after using the bathroom. Everyone else was at the pool. “Come sit, Red.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m no longer redhaired. It’s auburn.”
He grinned. “Sitting around with the others, it takes me back is all, to when we were kids and it was flaming red.”
She smiled. “I’ve had the same thoughts here.”
“How’d it go after I left yesterday?”
“Badly. Similar to when we were in court. Both stubborn. Both throwing zingers. In some ways, I’m embarrassed by my behavior. In some ways, I want to clobber him over the head.”
He couldn’t help but laugh, then he sobered. “You can’t live with him still keeping secrets?”
“No. Not when he’s made such a big deal of this. Seth, I’m falling in love with him.”
“Wow, big admission. Did you tell him that?”
“No, I got too mad at him.” She closed her eyes. “I should have known this wouldn’t work.”
“You’re throwing in the towel on your relationship already?”
“Maybe I should before we get in deeper. We’ve only been close a few weeks.”
“Want some advice?”
“Yes, of course.”
“You’re already in deep. By your own admission. Hang in there.”
* * *
After another night of only a few hours of sleep, Paul was going crazy. He went for a long run, picked up the New York Times, got coffee and went back to his place. Sitting outside, he tried to read the paper. He got five minutes into the news and couldn’t stay still. Maybe he should call someone, a woman he dated off and on, the arrangement casual by mutual consent.
If I’m free, I’ll see you again.
What the hell do you mean if you’re free?
But he wasn’t up to a date. He didn’t want to be with anyone but Hayley. So he showered and got his car. Maybe he’d go out on the boat. But when he reached the marina, he couldn’t do that either. Being on board would remind him too much of her, of what they did down below deck.