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Authors: K. J. Gillenwater
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you?”
James.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I looked over my shoulder at Joaquin on the bed, resting on his elbows, his shirt loose and his belt unbuckled. Holding the phone to my ear, my mind was a blank. I felt sick to my stomach at what had happened, how far I let things go. What was wrong with me?
The question echoed in my head as I cleared my throat, hoping my voice sounded like good old Suzie. “Hey, honey! I was about to call you,” I said, more weakly than I wanted. Without giving Joaquin another glance, I grabbed the whole phone and dragged it into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.
“I got your message yesterday, but didn’t want to call too late,” he said. “Aren’t you in a different time zone down there?”
James.
His voice, clear and steady, filled my ears, and it transported me back home to our little three-bedroom ranch right outside the city. We bought it together three years ago, right after I cancelled our first wedding date. I pushed him to buy the house to prove I honestly wanted to marry him. It was something permanent I could look at every day and think: here is our house with our garage and our half-dead lawn.
Now, I wished more than anything I’d never left that little green-and-white house in the cul-de-sac.
“I think we’re one hour behind here, but I’m not exactly sure.” I tried not to think about what waited behind that bathroom door—my shame, my guilt, my deceit. I told him with a lightness I didn’t feel, “We went kayaking today. Can you believe it? Me, kayaking?”
How could I sound so normal? Talk about everyday things, as if nothing was wrong? James would know. He would sense my deceit. He knew me better than anyone.
“Kayaking?” James laughed. “That Janice, she always talks you into doing something crazy, doesn’t she?”
“You know Janice. Never a dull moment with her.” I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, the slightest rash stood on my cheek where Joaquin’s face brushed against mine when we kissed. I put my hand up against the reflective glass so I couldn’t see myself. “Oh, hey, I think she might have met someone.”
“A guy?”
“Of course a guy.” I turned away from the mirror and sat on the edge of the tub.
“Hey, you never know when she might start pitching for the other team.”
“James!”
He laughed, “Oh, you know I’m kidding, Suze. That’s great she met someone. That doesn’t leave you as the odd man out, does it?”
“No, she just met the guy today. His name is George, and he owns some kind of river rafting outfit in West Virginia.”
“West Virginia? Are you sure he isn’t engaged to his sister?” James guffawed at his poor joke.
Men and their sophomoric humor. “All right, all right. Enough teasing, hon. He’s a good guy, and he really seems to like her.”
“Good enough for me. As long as you don’t run into any river-rafting studs, too.”
My thoughts flashed to the half-naked man behind the bathroom door. A nervous laugh burst out of my mouth. “Oh, James, stop it. Hey, honey, I’ve been thinking about something ever since I got on the plane.”
“You have?”
“Yes, when I get home, we are definitely going to pick a date for the wedding. And I’m sticking to it this time.”
“That sounds like a plan.” The happiness in his voice was unmistakable. “Maybe going to Mexico had been the right thing after all.”
I thought back to a night several weeks before I left on this trip. The night my plans came together.
*
“Come on, Suzie!” Janice insisted over the phone. “You have to go with me to Acapulco. My Spanish is lousy, and it wouldn’t be any fun for me to go alone. Plus, I’ll pay for everything—all you have to do is say yes.”
I had kept up my Spanish-speaking skills since college, that was true. Living in San Antonio I had plenty of opportunities to use it. But I didn’t think James would be happy with me gallivanting around in a foreign country with an old college
James.
CHAPTER SEVEN
I looked over my shoulder at Joaquin on the bed, resting on his elbows, his shirt loose and his belt unbuckled. Holding the phone to my ear, my mind was a blank. I felt sick to my stomach at what had happened, how far I let things go. What was wrong with me?
The question echoed in my head as I cleared my throat, hoping my voice sounded like good old Suzie. “Hey, honey! I was about to call you,” I said, more weakly than I wanted. Without giving Joaquin another glance, I grabbed the whole phone and dragged it into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.
“I got your message yesterday, but didn’t want to call too late,” he said. “Aren’t you in a different time zone down there?”
James.
His voice, clear and steady, filled my ears, and it transported me back home to our little three-bedroom ranch right outside the city. We bought it together three years ago, right after I cancelled our first wedding date. I pushed him to buy the house to prove I honestly wanted to marry him. It was something permanent I could look at every day and think: here is our house with our garage and our half-dead lawn.
Now, I wished more than anything I’d never left that little green-and-white house in the cul-de-sac.
“I think we’re one hour behind here, but I’m not exactly sure.” I tried not to think about what waited behind that bathroom door—my shame, my guilt, my deceit. I told him with a lightness I didn’t feel, “We went kayaking today. Can you believe it? Me, kayaking?”
How could I sound so normal? Talk about everyday things, as if nothing was wrong? James would know. He would sense my deceit. He knew me better than anyone.
“Kayaking?” James laughed. “That Janice, she always talks you into doing something crazy, doesn’t she?”
“You know Janice. Never a dull moment with her.” I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, the slightest rash stood on my cheek where Joaquin’s face brushed against mine when we kissed. I put my hand up against the reflective glass so I couldn’t see myself. “Oh, hey, I think she might have met someone.”
“A guy?”
“Of course a guy.” I turned away from the mirror and sat on the edge of the tub.
“Hey, you never know when she might start pitching for the other team.”
“James!”
He laughed, “Oh, you know I’m kidding, Suze. That’s great she met someone. That doesn’t leave you as the odd man out, does it?”
“No, she just met the guy today. His name is George, and he owns some kind of river rafting outfit in West Virginia.”
“West Virginia? Are you sure he isn’t engaged to his sister?” James guffawed at his poor joke.
Men and their sophomoric humor. “All right, all right. Enough teasing, hon. He’s a good guy, and he really seems to like her.”
“Good enough for me. As long as you don’t run into any river-rafting studs, too.”
My thoughts flashed to the half-naked man behind the bathroom door. A nervous laugh burst out of my mouth. “Oh, James, stop it. Hey, honey, I’ve been thinking about something ever since I got on the plane.”
“You have?”
“Yes, when I get home, we are definitely going to pick a date for the wedding. And I’m sticking to it this time.”
“That sounds like a plan.” The happiness in his voice was unmistakable. “Maybe going to Mexico had been the right thing after all.”
I thought back to a night several weeks before I left on this trip. The night my plans came together.
*
“Come on, Suzie!” Janice insisted over the phone. “You have to go with me to Acapulco. My Spanish is lousy, and it wouldn’t be any fun for me to go alone. Plus, I’ll pay for everything—all you have to do is say yes.”
I had kept up my Spanish-speaking skills since college, that was true. Living in San Antonio I had plenty of opportunities to use it. But I didn’t think James would be happy with me gallivanting around in a foreign country with an old college
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