Ladies' Night Andrews, Kay (great novels .txt) 📖

you tell Eric how much you enjoyed it? Or try doing the same thing again?”

“No,” Suzanne said, her voice small. “The time just never seemed right. And not long afterward, I … discovered he was cheating on me. So there wasn’t any point to any of this, was there?”

“You had fabulous sex! There’s always a point to that,” Ashleigh said.

After the laughter died down, Grace brought up something that had been on her mind since the first night she’d met Suzanne.

“Suzanne, you say you and Darby are really, really close. And it sounds like you’re pretty wrapped up in her life and her soccer and everything. I’m wondering if maybe you’re too involved.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re one of those helicopter parents I hear about,” Ashleigh said. “Why do they always call them that, I wonder?”

“Because those are the parents who’re always hovering right over their kids’ shoulders, doing their work for them, or interfering with teachers or coaches, or whatever,” Camryn said. “I did a story about it. It’s a real problem.”

“Helicopter parents? That’s ridiculous,” Rochelle scoffed. “You’ve never had kids, Grace or Ashleigh, so you don’t understand. Suzanne is a great mom. Darby’s a senior this year, right, Suzanne? So this is will be her last year at home before going off to college. It’s totally understandable that you want to be part of her life. When Grace was in school, I never missed a class play or one of her tennis matches.”

“Maybe,” Wyatt said, carefully choosing his words, “you got so wrapped up in your daughter’s life, you forgot to pay enough attention to your husband. Maybe Eric felt, I don’t know, neglected?”

“Spoken just like a man!” Rochelle snapped. “Honest to Pete, I am so tired of hearing men make excuses for their own bad behavior. If her husband was feeling neglected, maybe he should have gone to those soccer tournaments with them, instead of sleeping with any woman who caught his eye. Right, Suzanne?”

“Maybe,” Suzanne said quietly. “Maybe if Eric was feeling abandoned, he could have told me that. Or maybe I should have made more of a point of including him. I just don’t know anything.”

“You knew enough to kick his cheating butt to the curb,” Rochelle said. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a tall black man with a gleaming bald head standing pointedly in front of the cash register at the bar. She jumped up. “Oh, Lord. There’s Garland, from the health department. Hold that thought,” she told Suzanne. “I’ll be right back.”

*   *   *

Five minutes later, Rochelle returned to the table, grim-faced, with Sweetie clutched firmly under her arm.

She glared at Grace. “Of all the dumb luck. Garland drops in for a beer, and this little mutt comes scampering down the back staircase and into the kitchen.” She thrust the dog at Grace. “You know anything about this?”

Grace sighed and held the wriggling dog against her chest. “This is Sweetie. She was left behind at Mandevilla Manor. I know you don’t like dogs, but…”

“But you decided you’d bring her here to the Sandbox. Are you crazy? We can’t have a dog in a restaurant. You want the health department on my ass? I could lose my license, if Garland decided to report this.”

Grace glanced over her shoulder. Garland gave her a stern look and waggled a finger at her. “I’m really sorry. I thought I’d closed my door tight. I don’t know how she got out. I’ll take her back upstairs.”

“And then find her a new home, tomorrow,” Rochelle said firmly.

*   *   *

Grace carried Sweetie to her bedroom and examined the door where the dog had scratched and clawed to escape.

She carried Sweetie into the bathroom and set her down on the floor. Sweetie gave her a quizzical look. Grace sat on the edge of the bathtub, to lecture the dog at eye level.

“I know you don’t like being penned up, but you just can’t go downstairs, or you’ll get me kicked out of my mom’s house. And then we’ll both be homeless.” She pulled a treat from her pocket and tossed it to Sweetie, who caught it and retreated beneath the pedestal sink to savor it.

“Stay here for now, and we’ll figure something out tomorrow,” she promised, giving her a final, reassuring head scratch.

*   *   *

When Grace got back to the bar, the group was still having a spirited discussion and Rochelle was back behind the bar. She set a fresh basket of popcorn on the table and tried to avoid her mother’s disapproving stare from across the room.

“What did I miss?” she asked.

“Just a lot more man bashing,” Wyatt said, helping himself to a handful of popcorn. “The usual.”

Camryn rolled her eyes. “It seems like Suzanne’s husband was jealous of all the time she spent with their daughter, so that’s his excuse for having an affair?”

“Affairs. Plural,” Suzanne said quietly. “But I wouldn’t really characterize them as affairs. More like one-night stands, from what I could find out.”

“Oh, no.” Grace blurted. “That’s so awful.”

“Like my asshole husband,” Camryn said disgustedly. “Men really are such shits.”

“Thanks,” Wyatt said. He stood up and pulled some money from his pockets. “On that note, I think I’ll just take my sorry, shitty man self on home and let you girls continue the vagina monologues.” He did a little half bow. “Ladies?”

Camryn reached out and caught him by the elbow as he started to walk out. “Don’t be such a wuss, Wyatt. You know I wasn’t talking about you.”

“Don’t go!” Ashleigh pleaded. “We really don’t hate all men. Well, I don’t. I don’t know about the others.” She turned to Suzanne. “You tell him.”

“Please stay,” Suzanne echoed. “We want to hear a man’s point of view. Right, Grace?”

She could feel Wyatt watching her, one eyebrow cocked expectantly.

“Right,” she said finally, looking anywhere but directly at him.

Camryn tugged impatiently at his arm. “Come on, dude. Sit back down. Don’t make us beg.”

“It’s getting late,” Wyatt said, his resolve ebbing a little.

“It’s not even nine o’clock yet,” Ashleigh pointed out. “And didn’t you tell us