Her mother nodded and led the way to the kitchen. “They’re in the basement. Your father put together a new train for his track, and the kids couldn’t wait to see it.”
Regan’s heart swelled when she spied her father. A hardworking man who’d spent his entire adult life in the lumber business, he was recently retired and spent most of his time listening to Johnny Cash and the like, and working on his model trains. In the summer, he made it out one night a week for nine holes of golf and dinner with his wife, but other than that, he was more than happy to stick close to home. He was a big man with a big heart and big hugs, and beside his love of family, God, and country, he had an obsession with plaid.
At the moment, he sported a pink-and-white plaid shirt and was deep in conversation with Carly’s parents.
“Hey, you!” Carly enveloped her in a big hug and whispered, “We need to talk.”
Great. The problem with small towns? Everybody’s business pretty much belonged to everybody in town. Regan shouldn’t be surprised that Carly already knew she’d spent the night at Wyatt’s place. What she was surprised about was the fact her mother hadn’t brought it up as soon as she walked in the door.
“Sure,” Regan replied, pasting a bright smile on her face. “After dinner.” She turned to her mother. “What do you need me to do?”
By the time dinner was over and they’d cleaned up, it was nearly nine o’clock. Violet and Adam hadn’t stayed for dessert—the twins were falling asleep—so once the coffee was made, the only ones digging into the strawberry shortcake were Regan and Carly. Their parents had retired to the family room, something about a show on the History Channel, and an easy silence settled between the two women.
Funny. She could go months and even years without seeing her best friend, and they could pick up as if they’d never been apart.
Carly licked her fork and set it down. “I slept with Jarret last night.”
Regan froze, a hunk of shortcake perched precariously on the edge of her fork. That was not what she’d been expecting to hear.
“You what?”
Carly sighed. “I slept with him. Had sex. Did the funky monkey. The horizontal dance. The nasty—”
“Okay, I get it.” Regan set down her fork. “I just… Wow. Jarret. I didn’t know you were interested in him. He’s always had a thing for you—”
“He has?”
Regan looked at Carly. “Are you crazy? Of course he did. Everybody knew it.”
“Well, I didn’t.” Carly studied her fork thoughtfully. “I thought he was a player like Wyatt.”
The mention of Wyatt’s name was a little too close for comfort, and Regan dove in, deciding to stick with Carly’s bombshell before discussing her own. “How are you and Jarret going to work with you living in California and him living here?”
Carly snorted and shook her head. “Jesus. You’ve got us heading down the aisle and getting married. It was just sex.”
Regan eyed her friend closely. “Was it, though?”
“Yes.” Carly nodded. “Really good sex.” She tossed her fork. “It was so good, I think I’m going to take him up on his offer of round two and go to his place after dinner.?
? She frowned. “That’s if you don’t mind.”
“No.” Regan shook her head. “Why would I mind?”
Carly was watching her closely. “Because we were supposed to watch a movie or something? Hang out?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not that girl, the one to stand in the way of her bestie practicing the horizontal dance.”
Carly poked at her dessert. “It’s just been so long since I’ve had an orgasm, you know? Like a real, hard, skin-on-skin orgasm. The blue-rabbit ones don’t count.”
Regan could only nod in agreement. “I can’t even remember the last time I got naked with someone.”
“What about that lawyer guy from the city? You dated him for a couple of months.”
“Oh. Right. Colin.” Regan shook her head. “That was nearly two years ago.”
“Nooooo.” Carly’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “Are you telling me that you haven’t had sex in almost two years? Damn, girl. I thought my dry spell was bad. Four months is a walk in the park compared to you.”
Her friend was right, and the thought was depressing.