“Ooh, I wouldn’t think that anymore, coming from a high powered business woman.”
A warm glow surrounds me. I like that he sees me that way. “I can’t be that forever, can I?”
“I suppose not. You could be a beach bum with the kids, teaching them to surf.”
“Swim with dolphins, grow up to be lifeguards, that sort of thing.”
His hands brush over the bottom of my back, making me shiver. It doesn’t help that I can feel the warmth of the sun radiating over me as if we’re on the beach right now, living the life that we’re talking about. With him and I married, living our fantasy existence. I wish it could really happen. It would be amazing.
“Should we have a cat or a dog?” Jace muses, living it too.
“Neither, we should have a set of ducks.”
“Are you mad?” He pulls back to look at me. “We can’t have ducks on the beach.”
“But the ocean…”
“Ducks don’t live in the ocean.” He shakes his head and giggles at me. “We’ll need a pond.”
“Well, we can have a pond, right? That isn’t too much of a stretch.”
“It might be trouble with the kids…” He nods. “But we could wait until they’re older. So, they won’t fall in.”
“That sounds perfect.” I snuggle into his chest. “Lyle and Hannah can help me look after them then.”
“So, what are we going to call the ducks?”
“Now that is a tough question…”
It’s okay, I can live in this fantasy for a little while longer. Him and I, our pretend children, it will keep me going for a little while longer. It’ll implode, but I’m prepared for it, so it’s fine.
18
JACE
Ring, ring… Ring, ring…
“Urgh, what is that noise?” I mutter under my breath. “And how do I make it stop?”
Ring, ring… Ring, ring… Ring, ring…
I force my eyes open, taking in the unfamiliar room surrounding me, which I quickly remember belongs to Addie. The whole night floods back to me in an instant, making me grin. God it was amazing. We made love on her couch, then later on after talking and joking around, we went up to her bed to do it again. Slowly, romantically, sweetly, it was the best thing that I’ve ever been through and I’m so glad that I’m still here.
Ring, ring… Ring, ring…
“Oh shit!” It’s my phone, and it’s still ringing. It could wake up Addie at any moment and she looks so beautiful, there fast asleep. Like a beautiful angel. I hate even sneaking away from her, but I have to so she can sleep. The phone seems to be getting louder with every single ring. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”
I slide my arm away and creep out of the bed. My cell phone sits in the middle of the room as if it’s been dropped and discarded. It probably was in the craziness of last night.
Andrew’s name is on the screen which makes my heart sink. I’ve been avoiding this as much as I can but I’m going to have to talk to him now. There’s no getting out of it. And this will be a long phone call as well so I need to sneak out of Addie’s room. I grad my t-shirt and trousers and I slip away.
“Hello?” I answer quietly while I pull my clothes on. “Andrew, is everything okay?”
“Er yeah…” He sounds hesitant, like he doesn’t quite know what the hell is happening. I bet the other guys have put him up to this. He’s always been the peacemaker of the group and I guess that hasn’t changed. “Erm, all is good thank you. How… how are things with you?”
“Oh well…” I don’t know what to say either. “You know. As good as can be expected.”
“And how are things with your mom? Is she… doing okay?”