by Elaine Fox
Penelope shrugged, but inhaled tensely. “I had to. I was late coming here. But what do you think he could want?”
“Best not to wonder, sweetie,” Georgia said. “That’s how they get you. They make you wonder, then the next thing you know you’re up nights thinkin’ about ’em, wonderin’ what they’re up to, what they’re thinkin’, what they want from you. Then they’ve got you right where they want you. Rat bastards.”
“Georgia’s date canceled,” Megan explained to Penelope and Lily.
They nodded with looks of understanding.
“So what did you tell him?” Lily asked. “Are you going to see him again?”
“I told him I’d meet him tomorrow. For brunch.” She smiled wistfully. “We used to love to go to brunch. We’d play tennis early Sunday, sometimes with our friends, Terri and Jeff, but mostly just us. Then we’d go home, shower, and head to Andrew’s Mediterranean Bounty for that fabulous buffet they have on the weekends. I loved that ritual.”
“Well, get over it,” Georgia said. “Your future is here, darlin’, not behind you. Do you see that guy over there by the dinin’ room?”
They all swiveled as one toward Brady, except Lily, who kept her back to him, facing Penelope.
“The one with the pecs to die for,” Georgia continued, “and the ass that could stop traffic? Well, you can’t see the ass, but trust me. It’s fine.”
Penelope peered around Lily, trying to look discreet. “The guy standing next to the woman in the suit?”
“The very one.” Georgia put her hand on Penelope’s forearm. “That’s your future, honey. That’s Brady Cole, and he is hunkier than anyone I’ve laid eyes on in years.” She glanced at Megan with a grin. “Except Sutter, of course.” Silence reigned for a minute. “Oh, and Gerald,” she added grudgingly.
Penelope gave an excited gasp. “Oh Gerald’s here. That’s right! Where is he?” She looked around.
Lily started to point but Georgia interrupted.
“Penelope, did you not see the delectable man I just pointed out? That’s Brady! If he doesn’t knock Glenn completely off his perch in your mind, then there is somethin’ seriously wrong with you.”
Penelope glanced back across the room like a chastised child and nodded, giving Georgia an appreciative look. “He is handsome.”
“That’s it?” Georgia protested. “Handsome?”
“Are you not interested in meeting him?” Megan asked. “Does he not look like your type? He was asking where you were earlier, but if you aren’t interested, don’t worry about it. I just hope I didn’t set someone up for disappointment.”
“Of course I’m still interested!” Penelope said. “I’m sorry. I’m just so distracted by Glenn’s visit. I can’t imagine what he wants to talk to me about. We haven’t had a real conversation since the divorce papers were signed, something like five years ago.”
“Who gives a damn?” Georgia said. “Glenn,” she scoffed. “Been there, done that.”
Lily, Megan, and Penelope all gaped at her.
“Not me.” Georgia laid a palm to her chest and looked affronted. “Penelope has, for God’s sake. What is the matter with you all? You know I’d never poach anybody’s ex.”
They looked at her dubiously.
“Anybody I’m friends with, that is,” she amended, with a roll of her eyes.
They laughed.
“Okay,” Penelope said, “first things first. Which one is Gerald?”
“Over there,” Lily said, pointing toward the hallway. “The tall one, in the suit.”
“Oh, he wore a suit,” Penelope said. “How elegant.”
“Some might say too elegant for the occasion,” Georgia said. Then, apparently feeling Lily’s eyes upon her, added, “But they’d be jerks for saying so.”
“He looks quite the Southern gentleman,” Penelope said reassuringly. “And handsome, from this angle, but I can’t quite see his face.”
Lily gazed at Gerald. He was leaning forward to hear what the woman across from him was saying, so that she didn’t have to raise her voice. The musician in the next room was a little loud if you were standing in that hallway. Gerald was nothing if not courteous.
“Let me get him,” Lily volunteered. “I can introduce you.”
“Not right now, okay, Lil?” Megan said. “Brady just escaped Montgomery. This would be a perfect time to introduce Penelope.”
Penelope gave Lily an apologetic look but turned immediately to Megan. “Lead on,” she said with a bracing breath. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“No problem,” Lily said vaguely, as Megan took Pen’s arm and led her away.
She watched them cross the room toward where Brady stood by the shrimp cocktail table. She watched as Megan got his attention, then introduced Brady to His Future. She watched as Brady’s smile got broad, and those hazel eyes turned to embers as he looked at her. She watched as Penelope and Brady—perhaps the most attractive couple on the planet—were created.
“Have you tried the falafel?” a voice said beside her. Gerald, Lily thought with a sigh. “I’d never had it before, but that woman over there, the one with the frizzy hair, recommended it, and I have to say it’s quite tasty. A delicious little morsel, one might say.”
Lily turned and looked up at him. He was examining what was left of the “delicious little morsel” on his plate, a slight frown of concentration on his face.
“I wonder what in the world it’s made of,” he added.
“Chickpeas,” Lily said.
“Ugh, God,” Georgia muttered behind her. “Chickpeas give me gas.”
Gerald’s gaze rose to rest on Lily’s. “Chickpeas? You’re joking.”
She shook her head. “I’m pretty sure.”
“Me too,” Georgia said.
“Gerald, have I introduced you to my friend Georgia?” Lily made a half turn and put a hand on Georgia’s upper arm, drawing her with subtle force into their conversational circle.
Gerald extricated his attention from the falafel and gave Georgia his signature smile, along with an outstretched hand. “Georgia, hello, I’ve heard so much about you.”
“All of it scandalous, I hope,” Georgia said, one brow raised.
“Every last bit.” He laughed.
Georgia smiled, pleased. Lily’s heart warmed toward Gerald for the first time all day.
“Feel free to spread it around,” Georgia added, grinning. “I live for being the object of heated whispers and unfounded rumor.”
“You’re going to have to do something about the ‘unfounded’ part, then,” Lily said.
Gerald laughed and put an arm around Lily’s shoulders. “She does speak her mind, doesn’t she?”
Lily wasn’t sure if he was talking about herself or Georgia, but he was at ease and charming and—she could hardly believe it—quite possibly winning over her most difficult friend.
“So tell me, Gerald,” Georgia said, “are you having a good time?”
“Oh absolutely. The food is divine. The company uniformly friendly and interesting, and I even think I’ve made some valuable business contacts. Not that that’s the object, mind you, but it does come up in conversation, as you know.”
“Oh yes,” Georgia said, looking skeptical again. “It does, doesn’t it? So tiresome. Just when I think I’ve escaped the tedium of dog breedin’, someone brings up Sage’s sperm. Sage is my champion Great Dane, you understand. You just can’t imagine how fatigued I get of talkin’ about his sperm. But, of course, it was in the news not so very long ago because my ex-husband and his new wife stole some of it—we have it on ice at a sperm bank, you see—and after that it was on everyone’s lips. So to speak. You know how people love to talk about things like sperm.”
“Ah, yes, I, ah, suppose so,” Gerald said, glancing at Lily.
Lily couldn’t suppress half a smile. There was nothing Georgia loved better than shocking people, and shocking Gerald was no doubt something she’d been wanting to do for years.
>
It was no mistake, either, that Georgia’s volume had risen with the topic.
Sure enough, one or two of the people nearest them turned to see who was talking so loudly about sperm.
“It invariably happens at these sorts of soirees,” Georgia went on, waving a hand at the company around them. “I’ll be chattin’ with someone when some dog owner with a bitch in heat will up and want to know all about Sage’s reproductive history! Oh sure, they ask about his title and pedigree. Sometimes they want to see pictures. But mostly they want to know how many inseminations there’ve been, how many pups he’s sired, who the bitches are. You know, that sort of thing. Now I ask you: Who can remember so many bitches’ names?” she finished, gazing up at him with her wide baby-blues, making clear the question was not rhetorical.
“Ah, I, um, I couldn’t say. Just how many have there been?” Gerald asked tentatively.
“Dozens and dozens!” Georgia boomed. “I mean, there are all the ones he actually mounted himself, back in the days before his knees got so fragile. You know how tough sex can be on the knees, I’m sure.”
“I—I—I—” Gerald’s face went beet red.
“Well it’s no different for dogs, let me tell you. Maybe worse, because it’s always, you know, doggy style.” She let out a girlish laugh. “Tough for the bitches’ knees, too, as I’m sure you can imagine. I mean, who among us hasn’t woken up with rug burn on our knees a time or two?”
Gerald looked around as if desperate for escape.
Lily glanced back over at Brady and Penelope. They were turning toward the French doors at the opposite end of the dining room, obviously intending to go outside.
“Excuse me a moment,” Lily said, turning a smile on Georgia and Gerald. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll go with you,” Gerald said quickly.
“No, no,” Lily said, “I’ll only be a minute. Just going to the restroom.”
Lily headed that way, went down the hallway—amazed at how the lights preceded her as she walked, illuminating as she approached and going out as she departed; what would it be like to live this luxurious life?—past the bathroom, through the back parlor, and into the kitchen. The huge room was bustling with caterers who pulled trays from the enormous Sub-Zero refrigerator, loaded and unloaded cooking sheets from the three convection ovens, and artistically laid out delicacies on an array of ornate trays on the granite countertops. The caterers smiled at her even as they questioned with their eyes why she was there. She made her way quickly through to the dining room, then out the French doors onto the back patio.
She spotted Brady and Penelope immediately by the koi pond and went to the bar to get herself another white wine. She could see them from there, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. All she knew was they each looked engaged in the conversation and not about to break away for food, drink, or mingling with anyone other than the one right in front of them.
She looked around the backyard. This was silly, to be stalking her friend and neighbor when Gerald was inside hopefully impressing the rest of her friends. She should go back in, she thought, but she really didn’t want to. Instead, she wandered across the grass to where Megan’s older dog, Peyton, lay in the shade of a large tree.
An hour later Lily sat miserably on a chaise longue in the backyard, nursing yet another wine and fingering one of Peyton’s silky ears, having lost track of Brady completely. He and Penelope had talked for a long time, and they’d both looked as if they’d enjoyed it. It wasn’t until Georgia had come out that Lily realized how pathetic she was being. Watching Brady as if she had anything at stake other than the fact that he had admired her once, and now was going to fall in love with one of her best friends.
She and Georgia had talked a while, and Georgia had even tried to cheer her up about Gerald, telling Lily that she had found herself liking him, as he’d ended up handling the sperm conversation with some actual aplomb.
Georgia had just gone off to get another drink when Brady emerged from a group of people near the fence line and crossed Lily’s line of sight.
“Can I get you another beer, honey?” he called back to someone.
Lily followed his gaze to see a tall, gorgeous woman with sun-streaked hair and the toned body of a professional athlete. She looked like a race horse come to life, all sleek and powerful and ready to move.
“Thanks, Brady,” she said with a smile. Her eyes were ice-blue.
He’d called her “honey,” Lily thought. Who the hell was this woman that he was already calling her “honey”? Had Brady brought a date?
No, she shook her head. He knew he was here to meet Penelope. So maybe this was some woman he’d just picked up. The sleazy pig! Lily felt anger flare to life and told herself it was on behalf of her friend, who’d been looking forward to meeting him for weeks. Now here he’d gone and picked up somebody else, right under all their noses. And him supposedly on a date diet. She scoffed to herself.
She watched Brady stride to the bar, his gait confident, even cocky. Having women all over you would do that, Lily surmised, ignoring the fact that his gait was always confident. When he turned around to return to that group, he caught her looking at him, raised one of the beers in her direction, and smiled at her.
Lily scowled. How dare he? Did he think he could come over here and give her all that macho “honey” crap, too, and get away with it?
“Here you go, honey,” he said, handing the blonde the beer, then he turned and headed for Lily. “Hey,” he said as he got close. “What’re you doing, sitting over here all by yourself?”
He pulled Georgia’s lawn chair a little closer and sat down next to her.
“I can’t believe how you just spoke to that woman,” Lily said, watching the blonde to see if she was watching Brady. “Did you just meet her today? Because that’s pretty condescending, don’t you think?”
“What?” Brady looked confused and glanced behind him. “What woman?”
“That blonde!” Lily said, indicating the woman with a twitch of her head. Vaguely, in the back of her mind, she knew she was irked all out of proportion to his actions. “Not to mention that it’s pretty tacky trying to pick up another woman even though you are here expressly for the purpose of meeting Penelope. Poor Penelope, who certainly doesn’t deserve this!”
Brady gave her an incredulous look. “What the hell are you talking about? That blonde is my copilot. I’m not trying to pick her up. We work together, for one thing.”
“Your copilot?” Lily repeated, momentarily stunned. Then she sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the chaise because being offended while reclined was unconvincing. “But that’s even worse! You work together. She works for you, and you’re calling her ‘honey’? Oh my God, that’s just so—so sexist, I can hardly believe it. You’ll be lucky if she’d doesn’t sue you for harassment.”
“Good God, Lily, what in the world has gotten into you?” he asked. “Should I get you another drink, or have you had too much already?”
“I have had just enough, thank you,” she said, wondering as she said it what she meant. “I didn’t take you for a chauvinist, Brady. And I have to say I’m very sorry to discover it.”
“Lily,” Brady said, leaning forward so his elbows were on his knees and his face was intent on hers. “‘Honey’ is her name. Honey Miller. I’m not picking her up, and I’m not sexually harassing her. I’m calling her by her name.”
He leaned back in the lawn chair and looked at her speculatively.
“What is it, Lily? Are you not having a good time? No more marriage talk today?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked defensively. What a fool she was making of herself. His copilot? He worked with that beauty? Why didn’t she just shut up when something was none of her business?
He gave a one-sided smile, his eyes lazy. “Just what I asked. I saw Gerald in there, schmoozing his way around the crowd. He not paying you enough attention? Is that why you had to leap all over me fo
r calling my copilot by her name?”
“First of all, I did not know that was her name,” Lily said, infusing her tone with more import than the words deserved. “Second of all, Gerald pays me plenty of attention. More than I want, even. Sometimes.” She frowned. That wasn’t what she meant to say. Was she drunk? “More than you do, anyway.”
“Well, I would hope so.” He tilted his head.
“Yes, me too.” Good Lord, I’m not making any sense. “So, what did you think of Penelope? She’s great, isn’t she? Don’t you like her?” Her tone was combative, though she hadn’t meant it to be.
“Of course I like her,” he said. “What’s not to like?”
“Nothing! There’s nothing not to like. She’s perfect.” Lily threw up her hands and leaned back in the chaise again. “I just hope you’re not only falling for her beauty without a thought to what’s behind it. Because there’s a lot behind Penelope. She’s a dear, dear friend, and I would appreciate your not hurting her.”
He shook his head, laughing slightly. “How would I hurt her? We only just met.”
“For one thing,” Lily said, leaning toward him, one elbow wobbling on the arm of the chaise, and lowered her voice, “by telling her about that kiss.”
He leaned in, too, his eyes sparkling. “What kiss?” he whispered back.
She narrowed her eyes. “You know what kiss. The one you and I had, a few weeks ago.”
“Ohhhh.” He leaned back in his chair and smiled like the cat that had swallowed the canary. “That kiss.”
“Yes, that kiss, and I’d appreciate it if you’d quit talking about it. I don’t want anyone to know.” She glanced around them like she was talking to Deep Throat, and everyone else was wearing a wire.
Brady’s brows rose. “I’m not the one who brought it up. In fact, I’d nearly forgotten about it.”
Lily gasped and straightened so fast she almost pulled a muscle in her neck. “You’d nearly forgotten about it!”
Brady grinned, then laughed out loud. “Don’t be ridiculous, Lily. Of course I hadn’t forgotten it. It’s been the highlight of my year so far, if you want to know the truth. And it’s good to know you haven’t forgotten it, either.”