“HERE. YOU NEED ANOTHER.” TATE’S sister Carly hands me another glass of champagne while the girl at my feet props them up to paint each nail. I sigh and lean into the chair with a smile.
With both my best friend and sister almost nine months preggo, finding bachelorette party activities that suited everyone was a challenge. We ended up with plans for lunch and an epic spa afternoon, followed by a trip to the movie theater for a chick flick and even more food. All of this is perfectly fine with me, but by the look on Carly’s face, maybe she doesn’t agree.
“Everything all right?” I take a sip of the bubbly and it goes down all too smoothly.
She tips her glass until it’s gone and slides into the empty seat beside me. “Fine.” When she doesn’t smile I raise my brow. She shakes her head. “Okay, not fine. It’s stupid, but I still get stressed when the boys go out to the desert with guns.”
Jon and Tate have been taking her sons out shooting for months now, and I thought Carly was on board.
“Jon’s the best. He’ll keep them safe.”
“Oh, I know that . . . rationally. But I can’t relax. Not after everything . . .”
I reach out and grip her hand in mine. “Hey, I get it. I do. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Drink with me?” She giggles and shakes her head.
“Carly! I never knew you to be the party girl!”
“With Kate temporarily out of commission, I feel inclined to step up. Another?” She nods at my glass so I finish the rest in one big gulp and hand it back.
“Thank you. And thank you for accepting me, for always treating me like family.”
She holds the glasses in one hand and squeezes my arm with the other. “And now you will be. I always wanted a sister. Shh… don’t tell Tate.” She winks and walks back to where a table is set up with champagne, sparkling cider, and chocolate covered fruit.
“There. You sure you don’t want a design?” The technician assesses my toes with one last look and I shake my head.
“No, thank you. They look perfect.” My something blue for next week.
She helps me into my flip flops and I shuffle over to where my sister sits for her manicure. Both she and Kate finished their pedicures first and are almost done with nails. One of Kate’s endless contacts found us this locally owned spa usually closed on Sundays and called in a favor so we could enjoy the day in private. Manis, pedis, and massages with catered food and beverages—we may never leave.
“And another . . .” Carly sets a full glass of champagne on the table in front of me and joins Kate one row over.
Melissa’s eyes dart to my glass and she lets loose a deep sigh.
“I’m sorry. It’s mean drinking this in front of you.”
“No, go ahead. I’m big as a whale, and whales don’t hate dolphins for having more fun.” She pouts.
“Sea analogies. That’s new.” I tip my glass.
“Oh, God.” She leans back and groans.
I set my drink down and scoot closer. “Is everything okay? Is it the baby?”
“She’s kicking. Yeah.” Her hands run smooth strokes over her belly.
“Can I?”
“By all means. Tell her to be nice to her mama and stop thrashing around during spa day.”
I place my hand over the cotton fabric of her top and grin when I feel a body part press against me. “She probably can’t wait to get in on the fun.”
“Or it’s a sign she’s going to be a handful. What am I gonna do with two of them, Evie?” We’ve joked about this before, but this time when Melissa meets my gaze her chin quivers.
“You’re the best mom to Claire, Mel. You’ve got this.”
“But I can’t do it alone.” Tears leak from the corners of her eyes and she sniffles, giving her head a shake while her hands are still held hostage.
“Here.” I grab a tissue and dab her face. “You’re not alone. You’re never alone. Got that?”
“But I can’t do this without Drew.”
“And you won’t have to. Jon and I are on the case. We’ll get to the bottom of it all. I’m sure it’s simply a misunderstanding. Drew would never—”
“Don’t. Don’t feed me lies.”
“I’m not, Melissa. I swear. You know of the two of us, I’m the cynic. If I had proof he was cheating, I’d tell you.”
“There’s another thing.” She takes a deep breath, her belly rising with the expansion of her chest and then falling with the fear etched in the worry lines of her forehead. “I haven’t told you yet. It’s . . . it’s just that I didn’t put two and two together until this week. I’ve been meaning to call you and Jon but . . . I guess I’m still in denial.”
“What is it?”
“It’s Drew. He’s been making regular ATM withdrawals, every Tuesday for the past six weeks. For one hundred and sixty dollars. I didn’t notice it the first few times, but since . . .”
“Oh, God.” Kate gasps.
“That’s not good, right?” Melissa sniffles back her snotty nose.
“I have no clue what’s going on, but I’m not drunk enough for this.” Carly stands and returns to the refreshments.
“Calm down, Melissa. It’s probably nothing. Just a coincidence.” I rub her arm but she only cries harder.
“We’ll give you a few minutes,” one of the nail techs says, then she and her friend head toward the back room.
Melissa shrugs off my touch and shakes her head. “No. Don’t feed me your bullshit. You do this for a living. If this were any other client—if it weren’t Drew you were looking into—what would be your first suspicion?”
Her eyes dare me to feed her a lie and I almost don’t want to answer. I glance over to Kate, but when my eyes come back to my sister I realize I have to be honest. “That he’s seeing someone.” I bite my lip.
“And the money?” Melissa raises her eyebrows.
“I’d guess they’re going to dinner and he doesn’t want a paper trail.”
She nods, and even though she’s probably come to the exact conclusion, she can’t help but ask one more question. “But since he doesn’t leave her apartment?”
“Oh, God.” Kate shakes her head, most likely discerning the same thing.
“I’m thinking it so you might as well say it,” Melissa murmurs.
I shake my head, because no, I can’t go there. Not when I don’t believe it. Not of Drew. “He would never do that. It doesn’t make sense!”
“He’s paying for sex, isn’t he? He’s probably into some sort of kinky dungeon crap and he has to pay a woman to get him off. She probably does all sorts of twisted shit! God, does he ask her to spank him? I would spank him if he wanted. Is that what he wants? Does he like it up the ass? I can get a strap on. Well, maybe not until after I have this baby because I’m not sure I could fuck him properly with my belly this big—”
“Stop! Stop! Stop! Melissa, we know nothing. Everything is speculation. Trust me when I say we have a good handle on this situation. Jon and I, this is what we do. We’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just—” The waterworks resume and I wrap my arms around her.
“I know. I know.”
“Hey! Enough! This is a happy day!” Kate claps her hands as if that will somehow fix this mess.
“That’s right. We should drink more.” Carly sets down the entire bottle of champagne and a big bowl of candy. “And chocolate for the beautiful whales.”
A bell chimes behind us with the opening of the front door and I turn to investigate. We aren’t expecting anyone else.
Two uniformed officers step inside. “Excuse me. We received a call there’s been a disturbance in the area.” The receptionist is nowhere to be found, and the nail techs are still taking a break.
“I’m sorry, I’ll go find someone who works here. There must be a mistake.” I stand.
“Ma’am. Please sit back down.” One of the officers saunters closer. “Are you Evelyn Harper?”
“Uh, yeah?” It’s then I turn to catch Kate’s guilty expression. She didn’t! Before I can open my mouth to scold her, he speaks again.
“Evelyn Harper. You have the right to remain seated and enjoy your last day of freedom. Anything you do or say will not be held against you when you walk down the aisle.”
Within moments, techno music blares from a handheld speaker box. Oh, right. The other “cop.” Both dancers make their way to the center of the small waiting room. Shirts fly off. Abs roll to the rhythm of the beat. The thrust of their hips syncs with the bass of the music.
Talented.
“Kate!” I scold as soon as I get the full attention of the lap dancer, but she only claps wildly, laughing as he backs up against me with his ass shaking.
“Enjoy this, Evie!” she shouts above the hip hop beat.
“I’m not sure I can!” I yell back.
The telltale sound of Velcro ripping makes me squeeze my eyes shut, but not before I get a glimpse of the banana shaped penis covered man thong, complete with flashing lights.
“Mayday! Mayday!” I cover my face and shout over the girls’ laughter.
“Evelyn, you’ve been a very naughty girl,” the stripper declares. I peek through my fingers as he gyrates over one of my legs, straddling my chair and doing more of the same.
“Kate Bryant, you are gonna pay for this!” I threaten, but that only makes Melissa, Carly, and her laugh harder.
“I already am.” Kate grins, and then points to the guy holding the speakers. “I’ll hold that. Why don’t you give our girl some double lovin’?”
I pretend to be put off, because really, I don’t need strippers at my party and I’m certain Tate won’t be keen on hearing about our activities. But part of me is relieved to see my friends’ smiles, and hear my sister’s genuine laughter. So, even though I’m the butt of it, I’ll take one for the team.
“Here.” Carly squeezes between the two dancers dry humping my legs and hands me a cup. “Drink up. It’ll make everything better.” She winks and takes a step back as the boys take their thrusting to another level, each grabbing one arm of the chair. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep your glass full.”
Bringing the champagne to my lips, I tip it to her retreating form. “Best sister-in-law ever.”