Thy Neighbor's Wife (20 page)

Jay arrived with Jackie’s root beer. They placed their orders

with him and Alex noticed the restaurant had filled up quite a bit in

the time since Jackie had appeared.

“So?” she prodded once Jay had moved along.

“We talked. We talked about it all.” Jackie paused for dramatic

effect. “And then we let our raging hormones take over.”

“Details, damn it! Give me details!”

Jackie chuckled, then took a deep breath, trying to decide

where to begin. “She started talking about another baby again last

night. She was so enthusiastic and so excited about it and I guess I

wasn’t. She noticed and called me on it, so I just decided I needed

to get my concerns out in the open. I thought it was only fair, to

both of us.”

“Good.” Alex nodded. “Good for you. How’d she take it?”

“Better than expected,” Jackie answered, a hint of wonder in

her voice. “I don’t think she was surprised. She said she’d sort of

suspected that I felt the way I did and she was worried about that.

And she actually apologized to me for not asking me about my feel-

ings sooner.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. So, we talked and I brought up all my concerns and laid

them all right out on the table.”

“All of them?” Alex asked skeptically.

“All of them. I told her that I loved being a parent, that Han-

nah is the most important thing in our lives, but that I missed my

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time with her. I told her I missed making love with her and being

close with her and that I was afraid that it would only get worse if

we had another baby.”

“And?”

“She said she understood and she had the same concerns.”

“She did?”

“She did. Seems she’s been missing our alone time as much as I

have, and it’s actually a little worse for her because she’s with Han-

nah all day long. I never looked at it from that angle before. At least

I get to talk to adults during the day, you know? She’s stuck watch-

ing Blue’s Clues and PB and J Otter and reading Dr. Seuss.” They

both chuckled. “We laughed and we cried and we both agreed that

we do want to have another child, but only if we make an extra

effort to spend time alone, just the two of us. Whether it be setting

up a weekly date night or spontaneously dumping Hannah off at my

mother’s so we can go to Niagara Falls for the weekend, whatever.

We both need to spend more time together.”

Alex smiled, impressed with her friend having taken the bull by

the horns.

“You know what else, Alex? During that whole discussion, I

learned something that I think is pretty valuable.”

“What’s that?”

Her face got serious and Alex knew she was about to tell her

something she should pay close attention to, possibly file away for

future reference.

“I realized that I love Rita more than anything in the world and

that I’m incredibly lucky to have what I do with her. And…” She

studied her fingernails, searching for the right words. “Making love

with her is very important to me. But…we have so much more than

that…and I don’t know that it’s worth it to jeopardize the whole

thing because I think we should be having more sex. Do you under-

stand what I’m saying?”

She looked up at Alex and in all their years of friendship, Alex

had never seen her looking so sober. “I think so,” she answered hon-

estly.

“You and I have always felt the same way about sex in a rela-

tionship and lesbian bed death and all that stuff. I’m saying that

maybe…maybe we shouldn’t be so worried about it. Don’t get me

wrong. I don’t mean it’s not an important issue and I don’t mean

that it’s an okay thing with me. It’s just that maybe…maybe when

you have something real like Rita and I do, maybe whether you

have sex twice a week, twice a month or twice a year doesn’t really

matter. Maybe we make it a bigger deal than it needs to be. You

know?”

Alex was overcome with the strangest sensation that Jackie had

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truly grown up and she smiled at her friend with great affection, her

eyes misting. “Have I mentioned lately how insanely jealous I am of

you?”

Jackie smiled a genuinely flattered and grateful smile. “Lately?

I don’t think so.”

“And what did Rita say when you told her your theory about

making sex too big a deal? You did share it with her, right?”

“Yes, I did. She said, ‘You better believe it’s a big deal. When

we stop making love, we’re roommates and I don’t want a room-

mate. I want a partner and a lover.’”

“Wow. I think I want her.”

“Sorry. She’s taken.”

“So I guess you don’t have to worry about it going away com-

pletely, huh?”

Jackie breathed a giant sigh of relief. “I cannot begin to tell

you how much better I felt after hearing her say that. Jesus.”

“I want nothing more in the world than to have what you have

with Rita. You two are my role models, you know.”

Jackie smiled at her best friend for a long moment. “Some-

body’s going to be very lucky to land you, Stretch. Very lucky.”

As their conversation paused, Jay wandered over with perfect

timing and gracefully set down their plates. “Enjoy.”

Jackie watched him as he walked away.

“Family?” Alex asked.

“Definitely.”

“So, let me ask you,” she said around a bite of her taco, her

eyes twinkling with mischief. “How are you going to tell your giant

libido that sex with Rita isn’t as much of a necessity as it thinks?”

Jackie leaned forward and lowered her voice conspiratorially.

“It’s called a vibrator, sweetie. You should get one.”

Alex nearly spewed food across the table as she burst into

laughter. “Oh, I’ve got one, my friend, and believe me, it’s getting

plenty of use. It’s been over a year since Nikki and I broke up. I’ve

got needs, you know.”

Jackie chewed on a forkful of her salad. “Speaking of your ex, I

think she’s gotten herself into a bit of a situation.”

“What do you mean, ‘a situation’?”

“I’m getting the impression she’s less than happy with Diane.”

“Shocking.”

“Now, now. Let’s not get catty.”

“I’m not getting catty, Jackie. The woman’s a first class bitch

who does nothing but boss Nikki around. And Nikki doesn’t help

the situation by waiting on her hand and foot.”

“I know. I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just saying that I

think it might be a little more serious than we think.”

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Alex stopped chewing. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jackie sighed. “I mean Nikki wants to get out, but doesn’t

know how. She’s asked for some help. She’s afraid.”

“Afraid?” She studied Jackie’s face. “Do you think Diane hits

her?”

“I don’t know that,” Jackie responded quickly, holding up her

hand in a placating gesture. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. We

don’t know for sure and we could be way off base. I haven’t been

able to get Nikki to admit to it, but if that’s the case…”

“I’ll fucking kill her.” Alex said it with steely determination.

“Relax. I feel the same way, but we can’t go flying off the han-

dle. I could be wrong.”

“I never liked Diane. From the very start, there was something

about her that just didn’t sit well with me.”

“I know. You made that very clear to all of us.” Jackie flashed

her a little half-grin.

“Subtlety is not my specialty, is it?”

“Absolutely not.”

“So, what do we do?”

“Rita’s going to talk with Nikki, see what she can find out.

Then, we’ll see what the next step is. She wants to get her crap out

of Diane’s apartment and she’s asked if we’d help. I figure you, me,

and David should be enough. I’ll let you know the details after Rita

talks with her.”

Alex nodded. Rita was definitely the mother figure and voice of

reason in their little clique. If Nikki were going to open up to any-

body, it would be her. “Sounds good.”

Jackie paused, looking as if she was carefully choosing her next

words. “You know, Stretch, Rita and I are aware of the fact that you

weren’t terribly pleased with us for staying friends with Nikki and

inviting her to our parties.”

Alex nodded again, not sure how to respond since she was

absolutely right.

“She’s a good girl, Alex. We know you had your issues and

that’s why things didn’t work, but Nikki’s a cool lady. She’s sweet,

she’s kind and she deserves better than Diane.”

Alex fought down the childish surge of jealousy that welled up,

determined to act like the adult she was. “I know. You’re right. I

guess I just regressed a bit, back to my junior high persona.” She

gave Jackie a wry grin. “I just wanted you to hate the same people I

hate.”

“You don’t hate Nikki.”

Alex sighed. “No, I don’t.”

Jackie glanced at her watch. “Shit. It’s been fun, doll, but I’ve

got to get back.” She motioned across the restaurant, catching Jay’s

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eye and signaling for the check. She waved Alex off as she reached

for her wallet. “I’ve got this one, babe.” She tapped the manila

envelope. “You’re the starving artist. I’m just a Kodak grunt. You

get this book published and you can take me to dinner someplace

nice. And expensive.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Chapter

Twelve

July arrived in a wave of heat, which was somewhat unusual

for that part of New York State. Summer went very quickly in that

neck of the woods. During June, one started to get used to the idea

of summer. July was when one actually enjoyed it. Then August

arrived and one slowly became depressed at the prospect of the end

of summer. It was the cycle of nature upstate and though Jennifer

had lived there all her life, she never got used to it.

She rarely left her lake house. She spent every night there, with

or without Eric, mostly without. She worked nonstop on the inte-

rior, slowly making each room into exactly what she wanted. She

had never felt such accomplishment. Normally, she would run

things like colors and patterns by Eric for his approval, but she’d

decided that—given his continued absence—he had forfeited his

say. Whether he liked her designs or not made no difference to her.

This house is mine. The realization was freeing.

Since her acceptance of the true nature of her feelings for Alex,

she thought about her constantly, but tried to keep herself from

spending inordinate amounts of time with her. She also wondered if

these feelings might be mutual, because she got the distinct impres-

sion that Alex was avoiding her outside of volleyball. They still

played very well together, but the flirtatious banter had come to an

abrupt halt. Jennifer had her own suspicions as to why, but she was

too chicken to explore them, even in her own head.

That Monday in mid-July was a gorgeous one, hot and sunny

with a light breeze…perfect for being outside. The lake was a-buzz

with people. Boats, jet skis, kids swimming, people fishing. It was

invigorating just to be in the area.

Jennifer wore a white t-shirt over her bathing suit, fully intend-

ing to spend the day baking herself in the sun’s rays, perfecting what

was turning out to be the best tan of her life. She stepped out onto

the deck, towel in hand, and closed her eyes, taking a huge breath

and absorbing the very essence of the lake. She had no words to

describe the peace she felt.

Thy Neighbor’s Wife 111

She opened her eyes when she heard Kinsey’s muffled bark. He

was inside and Alex was outside, which explained his irritation.

Jennifer had noticed a few days earlier that Alex had pulled a

sporty-looking blue and yellow jet ski out of her boathouse, but it

had simply sat untouched until that day. Jennifer studied her. Alex

had pulled the machine so it was half on the shore and half in the

water, a bright yellow vest on the ground by her feet. She was bent

over the vehicle, doing something Jennifer couldn’t make out, but

assumed Alex was preparing to take it for a spin. She smiled as her

mind conjured up an image of the brunette skimming effortlessly

over the water, a happy grin on her face and the wind in her hair.

Alex looked up then, catching Jennifer’s eye and holding it.

Jennifer waved uncertainly, wondering if Alex was aware that she

had been staring at her. To Jennifer’s relief, Alex waved back with a

grin. She stood still for a moment, as if debating something. Then

she looked at the jet ski and at the life vest on the ground. She

pulled an identical vest from under the seat and held it up entic-

ingly in Jennifer’s direction, letting it swing from her finger.

“Want to go for a ride?” she called. It was a perfectly innocent

question, but to Jennifer, it was laden with temptation she couldn’t

refuse. The excitement that surged through her at the sound of those

six simple words was obscene.

“I’d love to.”

She scrambled off the deck and headed across the yard as Alex

bent over the jet ski again. Jennifer tried not to ogle Alex as she

approached, but it wasn’t easy. Her dark hair was pulled back into a