She shakes her head. “No way in Hell would I have imagined being happy here, living the way I do.”
“Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Happy?” I frown, because I can’t imagine that she could be.
She smiles broadly. “I have never been so happy.”
I fall back and face the sun as her words roll around in my head.
“Once I let go of my childhood aspirations and let myself live in the moment, I stopped being disappointed with everything.”
I glance over at her. “What do you mean?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I thought to be happy I had to have the three kids and the white picket fence in the suburbs with the perfect husband.”
“That’s how I feel,” I murmur.
“It’s all fucking bullshit. All of it.”
I think for a moment. “I just don’t get…” I stop myself, knowing this is none of my business and I really shouldn’t comment.
“How I’m with two men?” she asks.
I bring my hand up to shield my face from the sun. “I guess.”
“Neither could I for a long time. I never meant for it to turn out like this and I still remember the night I met them. It was about four in the morning and they were walking down the street after coming out of a nightclub. My boyfriend had just beat me up pretty bad and I had a bleeding lip and was running as I tried to get away from him.”
I watch her as I imagine the scenario in my mind.
“Jack grabbed me and I was screaming hysterically.” She pauses for a moment.
“Who, your ex?” I ask.
“Yes. He went ballistic that Jack had me in his arms and kicked me hard from behind.”
“Fuck,” I whisper. “Sounds hectic.”
“It was. Rick went crazy and they started having a fist fight.” She pauses as she thinks for a moment. “He was a nasty bit of gear my ex.”
“What happened then?”
“Jack made sure I was safe and then he helped Rick fight him off.”
“God.” I watch her for a moment. I can’t imagine being bashed by a boyfriend. How horrible?
“Anyway, to cut a long story short, I didn’t want to go home because I knew he would come there looking for me. They offered to put me up for the night.”
I smile.
She glances over at me. “What?”
“So you came back to the boat and fucked them both?” I laugh as I shake my head.
“No, nothing like that.” She smiles broadly. “We went back to Jack’s house and I slept in the spare room.”
I smile as I imagine it.