As You Wish (The Summerhouse 3)

“I certainly haven’t,” Elise said. “Hey! This was all years ago, so what happened to everyone? Especially to the floor gymnasts.”

“Including Andy the unattainable,” Olivia added.

Kathy shook her head. “You can never predict the future. I guess I believed it was the 1890s and that my exposure of Felicity’s tryst would get her thrown out of society. But it elevated her. People said, ‘Oh, you naughty girl, Felicity,’ then laughed.”

Kathy took a breath. “Larry got back together with his old girlfriend, whose family is so rich they make mine look poor. I recently heard that he had an accident and hurt his back and can no longer work for his father-in-law.”

When Elise snickered, Kathy couldn’t keep from smiling. “Andy, the man I wanted, eventually asked Cheryl from accounting to marry him. She’s about my size and they have two kids now.”

A bit of a laugh escaped Olivia.

“My favorite is that Felicity went to a doctor about her mole. Last year she and the doctor got married.”

Elise was the first one to let out her laughter, and the other two joined her.

“What about Cal?” Olivia asked. “Felicity did a real number on him. How did he feel about such a public humiliation?”

“I have no idea.” Kathy refilled her wineglass. “He’s not married, if that’s what you mean, and he has a different date for every party. What’s with you and Cal?”

“He just seems to be the one who gets left out,” Olivia said. “I wonder how he reacted to that night? Anger at Felicity? Understanding? That kind of thing shows the true character of a man.”

“I don’t know. Like I said, Cal stays away from me. I do know that after that night he liked me even less than he did before. For months afterward, he wouldn’t even stay in the same room with me. At my wedding he said, ‘I hope you get what you want out of life.’ The way he said it made my hair stand on end. Actually, the man kind of scares me.”

“And now Ray is your life,” Olivia said softly. “More or less.”

“Maybe Andy was afraid to speak to you because you’re the boss’s daughter. Why didn’t you ask him out?” Elise asked.

“I’m fairly secure about what I can do in the advertising world. I’ve come up with a few good ideas. But—” she motioned to her body with her hand “—I’m not so secure in a, uh, personal way.”

“Oh well,” Elise said. “At least your husband knows you have a brain. Mine thinks I’m a not-very-bright child.”

“And mine thought I was only good for work.”

“Not if you get the right one,” Olivia said. “If I’d had Kit all these years I wouldn’t have gone after Alan and his son.” She sighed. “They would have had a life with people who made them happy.”

“I wish I hadn’t thought I was so powerful that I could make Kent love me.”

“And I wish I’d gone up to Andy and asked him out to dinner.”

The air in the room had become heavy with their regrets.

Olivia wanted to lighten the mood. “You think you young chickies have it hard? Let me tell you that when it comes to romance, there is nothing as bad as being an unmarried, older woman who is financially comfortable. You know how on TV and in movies when an older man’s wife dies a zillion women show up with casseroles? What I didn’t know is that people actually believe that what a financially secure widow truly wants is to take on some man to support, feed, and endlessly find whatever he’s lost. ‘A nurse or a purse.’ That’s what they want.”

She took a drink of her wine. “On the day of Alan’s funeral, three old men hit on me. Each one seemed to think it was his decision whether or not he would move into my mortgage-free house. And when I said no... The anger! None of the men wanted me. They just seemed to think it was my duty to take care of them. Sometimes I think I moved in with my stepson to protect myself.”

Kathy put down her glass. “I have a big, beautiful husband who has such a raw sexuality that women follow him down the street. He and I are best friends, and genuinely love each other—but he never touches me. He is kind, considerate, and generous—and I’d trade it all for one really great screw.”

They looked at Elise.

“Me? I’m a good girl. Obedient always. I never gave my parents any problems. When they pushed me toward marriage with Kent, I agreed. And why not? He’s gorgeous and smart and ambitious. I didn’t grow up fantasizing about rock stars. For me, it was always Kent. When I was eight, I started cutting out photos of the house he and I would have together. I made myself exactly what he liked. Shoulder-length hair with a headband? Check. Preppy clothes? Right. The schools that he said the woman he married should go to are where I went. I did it all. I never even questioned it. But what happened? He married me, he likes me, but he is passionate about Carmen. It’s not possible for me to be more opposite than Carmen.” She gave a pointed look at Kathy’s magnificent bosom.

“Don’t think these babies would solve your problems!” Kathy said. “I live on lettuce and broiled chicken, but even if I were as skinny as you, I don’t think that spark would be between Ray and me.”

Elise looked at Olivia, her eyes questioning. Should they tell Kathy that Ray was planning to leave her?

Olivia gave a curt nod and opened her mouth to speak, but a loud knock on the door startled them. She got up to answer it.

It was getting dark outside and Young Pete, his wrinkled old face scowling, had on a yellow slicker with raindrops on it. “I told those two to get out. They did, but they left the windows open.”