thing you want to do. No matter the request.” Bev points at him as she takes a seat and cracks a beer. “Tell me what you have in common? What are her hobbies? Her favorite color? How many times has she said no or taken a personal day or been too tired to do what you want?”
Cap parts his lips but it’s dead air. He scowls and then perks up. “She left Nat and Brady’s wedding with Jenny.” He’s smug. I hope he enjoys that feeling. I suspect it won’t last.
“You told her you didn’t want her to go?” Bev folds her arms over her chest.
The standoff continues. We’re watching like it’s a tennis match.
“No. But she chose that.”
“Without consulting you?”
“What do you mean by consulting me?” He’s getting fired up. Carson’s eyes are glistening with excitement. Geoff looks like he might leave. Mike’s chuckling.
“Did she come to you and say, ‘I’m leaving with Jenny if Lori blows this,’ which he did.” And under the bus I go as usual. “Or did she say, ‘Hey, do you mind if I go with Jenny if Lori blows this?’ which he did.”
Carson winks at me.
Cap presses his lips together.
Mike bursts out laughing.
Carson slaps Cap on the arm. “You’re getting a new wife.”
“I don’t want a wife!” Cap’s adamant. His eyes widen and he loses the anger as it turns to desperation. “What do I do? How do I stop this from becoming a wife situation? I don’t want to sell the Cape Cod house.” His desperation is adorable.
Carson and I sit back and relax and prepare for the wisdom to come seeping from her in twangy sarcasm.
Geoff is visibly confused but remains silent.
Bev grumbles, “Firstly, how often do you see each other?”
“I don’t know. Every day,” he sounds unsure of the answer, which is not how Cap sounds about much.
“Okay, you can’t date a girl, who’s almost thirty and hoping to settle down, the way you are. You have no boundaries, Cap. If I was Sukii, I would think you wanted this relationship to go somewhere hard and fast. Do you sleep over every night too?” Bev laughs but he doesn’t. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. You can’t play house and expect her to think this is a fling.”
“You sleep over every night?” Carson loses the humor he was rocking. “Exclusively?”
“Dude,” Mike agrees. “Come on now. For how long?”
Cap gulps and I cringe. “Since you met, right?” I ask.
“You and Jenny must be the same.”
“Yeah, now that she’s become my ward. The last two weeks. Before that I was lucky to see her two days a week, sometimes weeks without seeing her at all. She’s big on the boundaries.”
“Shit,” Cap says, sitting back in his chair. “So she thinks we’re heading in the marriage direction?” We all nod. “I’m gonna have to break things off. I thought this was a fun summer fling. I’d start work again and we’d cool off.”
“When was the last time you dated someone?” It’s Geoff’s turn to mock Cap, which he does with mastery in tone and expression.
“I met Sandy, my ex-wife when I was fifteen. She was it until last summer.” His cheeks flush and I realize he still loves her. This breakup was not his idea. And he has next to no feelings for Sukii beyond the rebound kind. He was smitten in the beginning and now that he’s seen the error of his ways, it’s done. Jenny’s going to be devastated for her friend. Dread trickles in as I realize this will turn into something for us. Which means I must do anything I can to avoid talking about it with her.
“Do you guys play poker or is that code for Bev giving you free lady advice?” Geoff mocks us.
“Both!” we all answer at once.
Which has us laughing as Cap grabs the cards. “Speaking of poker, we need to start playing so Bev can win and get paid for the advice.” He winks at her playfully but there’s no hiding the genuinely stricken state he’s in.
“Y’all are never going to catch up to the amount of money you owe me.” Bev scoffs and picks up her hand.
I hate it but she’s not wrong.
We’d all be lost without her.
23
Et tu, Lori
Saturday, August 19
Jenny
Stuck contemplating the job offer from Stan and our meeting yesterday, I’m mid float with bubbles so high I taste the bubble bath when Lori comes in, sweaty and gross-looking.
“How was your workout?” I ask, chuckling at how creepily domestic this all feels.
“Good. It’s