“Get into the water behind the raft and push,” I say. “Nobody said we couldn’t, they said the raft had to float and we had to get to the other side.”
Faye glances at me. “You’re a genius.”
We all stand and jump off the raft, surfacing at the back of it. We all grip on and then start kicking. Slowly but surely, we overtake Linda and Quincy and the other rafts in the water and reach the other side of the lake in record time. By the time we’re there, we flop down onto the shore, panting and puffing.
Elias and Enzo arrive behind us on a small boat, grins on their faces.
“Impressive, ladies,” Elias tells us.
“They cheated!” Linda yells.
“Nobody said we couldn’t get into the water. The rules were we had to keep the raft afloat and get to the other side. We did both,” I point out.
Linda’s head whips towards Enzo, her eyes wide. “Surely that’s cheating, you can’t say it’s not!”
“Technically,” Enzo murmurs, “I didn’t say they couldn’t get off the raft, so I guess they won.”
I squeal with delight, flipping Linda the bird. She mutters something, and the two of them get on the raft and turn around. The entire way back, Linda bitches at Quincy about not coming up with that, and why didn’t she jump off the raft and push it. Poor Quincy, she just stares at Linda, nodding as she speaks.
“Yes!” Alice cheers. “I need a night on the town more than I need my next breath. God, it has been so long. When are we going?”
“We’ll go in one Friday night, it’s always great on a Friday,” Enzo tells us.
I grin at the two ladies.
Hell yes.
Take that, Linda.
7
“You did?” I say happily, watching my gorgeous son on the screen as he tells me about his day at school and how he won an award for being the cleanest student that week.
His big toothy grin makes my heart flutter.
“Yep.” He smiles. “Dad is taking me out for ice cream tonight.”
“You’re so lucky, I bet you’re going to get chocolate with sprinkles.”
He laughs. “Yeah, maybe two scoops.”
“Lucky dad then.” I chuckle.
“Dad wants to talk to you now. Bye, Mom, I love you.”
I blow a kiss to Hudson and watch as he runs off, leaving the screen vacant for a few seconds before Ronnie appears.
“How’s things going?” he asks me, his eyes seemingly a little distracted.
“Everything is good, are you okay, Ronnie?”
“Yeah, I just wanted to ask ... You changed the locks when you moved in here alone, right?”
Something about his tone has my heart slamming against my ribcage. “Yeah, of course. Why?”
“It’s probably nothing, but I could swear when I came home a few days ago, things seemed to be moved around. It could be that Hudson moved them and I was in such a rush I didn’t notice, but it sure was odd.”
I swallow the thick lump in my throat. My keys were in the bag that went missing, the keys that open my house. Suddenly, this doesn’t feel like a cruel prank from one of the ladies here and something more sinister. Something I don’t even want to consider.
“My bag went missing from my room a few days back, and magically reappeared. My keys were inside it. You don’t think ... You don’t think he knows where I am, do you?”
He would be the only person outside that would do something like this.
The only one.
“No, no way. We covered all of our tracks. Besides, he’s still in prison. I’m sure there is a simple explanation to all of this and we’re just overreacting. I’ll change the locks tomorrow, just to be sure. Hudson and I are going away for a few weeks to visit family, we’ll be okay.”
I nod. I’m sure he’s right. After all, he should still be in prison and so we’re probably overreacting, but ... No, there is no way.
I’m being paranoid.
I nod and force a smile into the screen. “He’ll love that.”
“Yeah, he’s excited for a vacation. We’ll call you every night.”
I nod. “Thank you, Ronnie. For everything. You’ll never know how much I appreciate you.”
He smiles. “I already know. Now go and have fun, enjoy yourself, I’ll send you a photo of Hudson with his award.”
I hang up from the call and lie back in my bed.
It was a crazy day building rafts and even though I should be exhausted, my mind is wired, and I really want to go out and have a few drinks. I get off the bed and walk out into the living room where Alice and Faye are talking amongst themselves. They both turn their heads when I come in.
“Who wants to get drunk?”
Alice’s hand shoots up without thought, and Faye grins.
“We’re not here to sleep and relax, we’re here to let our hair down, I’m more than in.” Alice nods happily. “I’ll call Chev, she’ll want to come.”