Dominic growled. “Hey! No slapping my ass, grandma!”
Sugar found herself tossed over my shoulder so I could run faster and get us out of the orgy we’d proposed in the middle of. She laughed wildly like she was having the time of her life.
“What’s the condition, Sugar?” Dominic was high-stepping next to me, both of us still running, even though we’d reached the parking lot.
In the distance, I heard a younger woman shout. “Oh my lord! Not this again! At least use condoms! Oh, see you later, Sugar! Call me!”
Barrett was waiting for us at the car, looking around nervously like he expected another granny to approach from anywhere, at any moment. “What’s your condition? Because I have one. We never come back to this place. Ever. Someone grabbed my ass. The grip was firm and squishy at the same time and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover.”
Sugar, once she was upright, couldn’t contain her laughter. She was bright red and crying. When she managed to calm down for two seconds, she spit the words out. “No funny business.”
I groaned. Dominic muttered something about spanking her ass. Barrett was still twitchy about his own ass.
“Hey, where’s Grandma?” A beat passed. A second beat passed. Then, Sugar shouted, “Oh my god. I just left my grandma in an orgy.”
I failed at holding in a laugh. “You take after your grandma in a lot of ways, Sugar.”
She got my joke and smacked my arm. “Disgusting! You’re lucky I already agreed to marry you.”
62
***SJ***
Five Months Later
Ineededchocolate.Samanthaand I had just had our weekly lunch date, an act of love between two friends who wanted things to be normal between them again. Things were still awkward at times, though. She’d forgiven me for lying to her and hiding my relationship with Barrett. I’d been seeing a therapist for months to help get past what had happened and I’d come close to forgiving her over and over again. Then, someone walking down the street would call me a nasty name when they recognized me and I’d have to start the process over.
Some weeks, the lunch date was great. Things were normal and we talked about her wedding and the babies. Yep,babies. As in more than one baby was growing inside me. We laughed. We had fun. The next week could end in tears, though. It was getting better, but it was slow. The process left me feeling drained and confused some weeks. I’d keep doing it until things were okay, though. I loved Sam. Even more than that, I loved Barrett and I knew that what happened between Sam and I affected him.
Lunch that day had been especially hard. Sam had brought up her mom and the conversation had turned to Maggie’s stories about Barrett’s cheating. After talking to Barrett, and Dominic, I’d learned that after a decade of being cheated on by Maggie, Barrett had cheated while on a business trip. He’d felt disgusted by his own actions and told her right away. Maggie saw it as a chance to try to take his money. She had no clue he had records of her affairs, dating back to Sam’s kindergarten teacher.
I knew Barrett. I knew his heart. I could see the way that he’d allowed himself to be punished for over a decade because of what he’d done. He didn’t dispute paying Maggie a huge alimony settlement, even though she didn’t deserve it. He’d made sure Sam had everything she’d ever need. He’d taken a million tongue lashings from Maggie, and Sam, because he felt like he deserved it. Even if the narrative that Sam got was fake and disgusting.
Sam still seemed unsure of her father’s role in her parents’ marriage, and seeing her question Barrett had left me feeling cranky and helpless. Telling her my opinion hadn’t gotten us anywhere, so we’d finished another lunch date with tension between us. It was exhausting.
On my drive home, Reba called. My relationship with her was the most surprising. We’d become closer after we each took responsibility for our part in our past troubles. I answered her, hoping she’d cheer me up.
She sounded happy as she spoke over the sound of seagulls. “Hey! Hold on a second! Sorry, jeez. This flock of seagulls just showed up out of nowhere and started screaming at me.”
“Your transformation from evil stepmother to Cinderella is complete, it seems. Congratulations!”
She laughed, knowing I was joking. “I would love a bunch of animals to clean my stuff. And make dresses to make my ass look great, no matter what I ate on vacation.”
She and Dad were in Key West, visiting Grandma. Grandma had experienced one orgy and refused to leave the retirement community. Luckily, Mazie pulled strings to get her a permanent house.
“I just picked at a plate of French fries while trying not to cry. Tell me all the amazing things you’re having. Coffee?”
After she checked in with me about the lunch date and gave me a rundown of their meals, she cleared her throat and got to the reason she’d called. “I know you’re busy working on Rotayno’s social media while you can still get around, but something happened today at breakfast that might make you want to tell the guys to start looking for another social media person.”
I pulled into the driveway in front of the house and just sat there. “What happened?”
“You father, who says hi, and I were having mimosas and this woman sat down next to us. She was tapping away at her computer and I was being nosy. It looked like she was writing something, and I told Bill. Well, your father has become your number one cheerleader, and he leans over and brags to her about how his daughter is SJ Sawyer. He tells her all about your blog, just goes on and on.”
I cringed for the poor lady trying to work next to them. “Please tell me this ends with her getting a restraining order against Dad for ruining her mimosas by talking about me.”
“No, even better!” She screamed suddenly and the sounds of seagulls seemed to have multiplied. “Oh god! They’re back! This is like that movie!”
“Go inside, Reba!”