“Ouch,” he said, wincing. “OK, I deserved that. But I promise you’ll like this one. I met a preschool teacher last week—”
I raised my eyebrow.
He laughed. “Come on, Ans. A sixty-five-year-old preschool teacher. She’s coming to watch the kids and put them to bed while we go out for dinner.”
I gasped. “You’re kidding.”
He looked at me seriously. “I would never kid about something as serious as bath time.”
TWO HOURS LATER, SHOWEREDand mercifully childless, we were sitting on the patio at Azure, one of my favorite restaurants, sharing a bottle of Opus One. James ordered it and he was paying, so I figured, why not?
“You impressed me today,” I admitted.
“I did?” he said, taking a sip of the decadent wine.
“Yeah. I honestly thought you’d leave Preston with me, claiming some work emergency or something.”
He laughed. “I know I have flaws, Ansley, but I take my kids seriously.”
I wanted to roll my eyes and ask if that’s why he abandoned them earlier this year for a supermodel.
“Plus,” he said, “I promised Caroline I would do this for her.” He looked at me intently. “I know I screwed our life up royally. But Caroline is my world. I would do anything for her. I will do anything to get back in her good graces.”
The waitress filled my wineglass again and placed our tuna tartare between us. The wine had made me a little loose lipped, so I asked, “Are you shocked she’s giving you another chance?”
“Honestly?”
I nodded.
“Beyond.”
James motioned for me to help myself first. Despite his unfortunate Yankee upbringing, he did have good manners.
I served myself two slices of tuna, a few of the soba noodles, and a bit of the seaweed alongside it, and said, “I know she’s a lot, James. I know she is. I still blame you, but I think even Caroline knows marriages fall apart because of two people.”
He smiled. “She’s a handful, that woman. But her complexity is what makes her so beautiful.” I noticed tears in his eyes as he said, “She is everything, Ansley. She is my life. I will fight to win back her trust until the day I die if that’s what it takes.”
I could feel my heart shift just the tiniest bit. I thought maybe he was sincere, maybe I should be on his team. “That’s good to hear,” I said. “It really is.” Then, trying to lighten the mood, I said, “And the day you die may be really soon if you ever cross her again.”
We both laughed. I took another sip of wine and felt myself relax—until I saw Jack walk through the front door of the restaurant. With Georgia.
James followed my concerned gaze and shook his head.
Maybe it was the wine, maybe because he had been such good company, but for some reason I found it all spilling out to James. The breakup, how I missed Jack, how awful it was to see him with someone else.
He paused for a few seconds, long enough for me to feel like a totally irrational, middle-aged fool of a woman. I was about to formulate some excuse, blame the wine. But then James said, “She’s just some woman, Ansley. For Jack, you’re...” He paused. “You’re the moon.”
I smiled and took a sip of wine. As I swallowed, I hoped against hope that James was right. I hoped that someday, somehow, Jack would find his way back to me. That he could find it in his heart to choose me again. That despite what I had put him through, he would take the moon over Georgia.
THIRTEEN
top of the food chain
sloane
It was the first time I had slept through the night since I got the news about Adam. Maybe it was the rocking of the boat, the way the waves tossed you ever so gently, like a baby in his mother’s arms. I woke up that morning to the sun coming through the porthole in my room, and praise the Lord, I missed my children. I wanted to squeeze them close to me, run my fingers through their hair, and kiss the tips of their little noses. The hardest part about Adam being gone was the numbness, the coldness, the horrible fear. My emotions had shut off. With the water surrounding me and the light streaming in, I felt like a mother again. I felt my heart ache for my boys. I felt stronger, cleansed, as only the sky as seen from the sea can do.
I walked up the stairs and out through the main cabin. I could see my bikini-clad sisters, sipping mimosas at the table. “There’s our girl!” Emerson exclaimed when she saw me. Even in my self-absorbed sorrow, I couldn’t help but notice how prominent her collarbones seemed.
