Chapter 5
Stone Cottage
Gulf Shores, Alabama
March 2012
The morning of the third day, Taylor wandered onto the cottage deck. It was the first time she had been outside in days. She was still wearing the same, now smelly PJs from the first day. She had not bothered to shower since that first morning. She washed her face and brushed her teeth at least once daily. That counted as her big move. She spied a set of beach chairs, coupled with an umbrella, only a few feet down on the beach with the name EDNA STONE on the back of them. Instantly, she realized that the chairs must come with the cottage. Seeing them, the first inkling of interest in something other than lying in bed watching reruns of bad reality television appealed to her. Racing back inside, she quickly scraped her hair into a ponytail, donned the swimsuit she bought a few days before, slathered on as much sunscreen as she could, grabbed two bottles of water, her phone, one of Edna's large, fluffy towels, and her sunglasses and headed to the beach.
She was only seated for a few minutes when a very muscled young man ran up and introduced himself. He was the beach chair man of the day. He used air quotes as he said "Chair Man" andchuckled as if he had said the most amusing thing in the world. He had seen her coming from the cottage and just needed to confirm she was a guest of Mrs. Stone. Once that was done, he explained that he was there to adjust her umbrella as needed and then provided her with a number to the restaurant in the next-door hotel. Mrs. Stone has a standing agreement that food and drinks were to be served as needed by calling the number.
Wow, thought Taylor, that would have been good information to have had the last two days. She could have gotten the wine without the pretense of food. But even as she thought it, she knew that the little bit of food she had eaten the last two days was all that was standing between her and a full-blown, all-out drunk. As it was, she had been sporting a pretty good headache since she got to the beach, some from crying, mostly from the wine. Speaking of which, her current headache would best be addressed by a little hair of the dog. She quickly dialed the number the guy had given her and ordered a large Sex on the Beach, complete with umbrellas and a large straw! She could not resist. The drink seemed the most appropriate given the week she had had. She also ordered some cheese fries and fruit for good measure. Junk food was quickly becoming her spirit animal.
It was amazing how quickly the order arrived. Taylor had not thought to bring any money with her, and when the food and drinks arrived, she was momentarily taken back about what to do. She explained that she would have to run up to the house for her purse when the waiter said the bill and tip had already been paid as Mrs. Stone had a standing account. As appreciative as Taylor should have been of the convenience of being able to charge the food, it irked her that, once again, Edna Stone was all up in her business.
Forcing all thoughts of Edna out of her mind, Taylor focused on enjoying her sugary drink and very unhealthy lunch. She only managed a few bites of food, but she did finish off the drink.Neither did anything to improve her mood, but her headache did subside.
Laying back in her chair, Taylor closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift back past the last few days to when she and Bennett were a new couple. Her mind immediately landed on a memory she had almost forgotten.
It was from the night of their rehearsal dinner. Even then, she knew things were not exactly right. She almost called the whole thing off. In fact, Bennett found her crying in the front room of the club and took her in his arms to comfort her. Her comforter and protector. That was what he had always been.
She had told him she was unsure they were doing the right thing. Taylor tried to call it off and Bennett refused to hear of it. He told her it was just nerves. They both needed a fresh start after all the hurt and pain they had been through the previous year. At the time, she had thought he was referring to her parents and Tatum's death.
Now, she realized that Poppy Thompson had played some part in that hurt. Obviously, she and Bennett had been a couple, though no one seemed to have known about it. Taylor briefly wondered if Tatum had known. Probably not.
She guessed they must have been together while she was in Scotland doing her student teaching. Something must have happened to split them up. Whatever it was, a baby was conceived. Taylor believed wholeheartedly that Bennett would never have married her if he had known about the child. He would have moved Heaven and Earth for his child. So what happened, she wondered? Whatever it was, it had to have been massive. That, coupled with the deaths of her parents and brother, had left Bennett broken. No wonder he was looking for a safe place to rebound, and she had provided one. At the time, she thought he was once again rescuing her. Now, she wondered if it had been the other way around. After promising they deserved it, Bennett convinced her to go aheadwith the wedding. They married the next day in a small private ceremony at the First Presbyterian Church and then drove to Hot Springs for a short honeymoon.
The first two years were the best. Coming into her marriage as a virgin, Benentt was a kind and considerate lover. He never rushed her, and the whole business was all very slow and soft, if a bit messy. He never pushed her to be adventurous sexually, and she certainly never broached that topic, either.
Of course, she would hear other women talking about sex and think how lucky she was that Bennett never demanded more of her. Most of what she heard others talking about sounded slightly gross, unclean, and possibly painful. She supposed their sex life would be considered boring by many, but it seemed to work for them. Bennett seemed happy, especially when she realized, shy of their second anniversary, that she was pregnant.
It had been a magical, innocent time. She had never known anyone who had had a miscarriage, so it was not even on her radar. Instead, she was knee-deep in baby books, thinking about names and picking out colors for a new nursery when everything went south. Just shy of ten weeks, she began to spot. Her doctor did not seem overly concerned but did advise her to go on bed rest until it stopped. She did, and it seemed to help. Then, on the third day, she got up to use the bathroom, and all hell broke loose. She began bleeding profusely. She immediately called Bennett, who rushed her to the emergency room. But it was too late; they lost the baby. They mourned the loss of their child together, just as they mourned the loss of Tatum together.
They continued to try to grow their family. Babies were conceived, and babies were lost. Again, together they mourned.
Back then, Bennett would often make love to her so softly and slowly as if he might break her. Looking back, she admitted it was nice, but sometimes, she yearned for something more. What thatwas, she was not sure. Her sexual experience was minimal; maybe that was the problem. And then, suddenly, a crazy thought popped into her head. Maybe their sex problems had not been her issue but his. Maybe Bennett just did not know what to do to turn a woman on sexually. Perhaps he did not know how to fill that yearning she had felt so deeply within her. That thought died a quick death when the image of Poppy Thompson's face filled with passion and lust flooded her brain. Nope, Bennett knew precisely what to do. He just never did it to her.
Not liking the turn her thoughts were taking, Taylor turned her mind away from her lackluster sex life and focused on memories from the last few years of her marriage. Once Bennett decided to run for state office and later for US Senator, they became united. They were too busy trying to get him elected to lament the lack of connection that seemed missing in their marriage. Instead, they spent their energy on campaigns and trying to have children. It was during these years that Taylor lost three more babies. During these years, their marriage and sex life were very civil, pleasant, and kind. They never fought or argued. Each always tried to be very considerate of the other. Except for the miscarriages, it was all so devoid of drama that it often bordered on boring. It was as if they were two friends playing house. When she was ovulating, they scheduled sex. If she was not, sex was not even discussed. Sex became only a part of the baby-making aspect of their life.
Bennett slowly stopped giving her a goodnight kiss on the lips and replaced it with one on her forehead. She could not remember the last time they really kissed or even hugged each other. If they held hands or he gave her a peck on the lips, it was for the cameras. Privately, they rarely touched. They had become a public-only couple. That thought made Taylor very sad.
Forcing herself to think back to the last time they had been intimate, she realized it had been almost eighteen months. She hadbeen ovulating, and they had timed everything perfectly. Just as planned, the pregnancy stick turned blue two weeks later. She carried that baby longer than any other. She made it just four days shy of thirteen weeks when she lost it.
After that, her doctors referred her to a specialist in New York. She underwent a new experiential procedure that promised her a much greater chance of carrying to term. The specialist also encouraged her to begin fertility drugs, given her advanced age. Taylor had laughed at that until she explained that women over thirty lost fertility much more quickly, and by thirty-five, she would be considered a high-risk pregnancy.
Since baby-making was put on the shelf as she went through the whole process, there had been no reason to be intimate. Neither one seemed too bothered by the lack of sex. If Bennett had pursued it, she would have complied. If he had made an overture, she would have responded. But he never did. He was always too busy or too tired. She should have realized that meant they were on a dead-end path to nowhere.
It had been a month since she was given the all-clear to start trying for a baby again, but they were too busy trying to get Bennett named VP to worry about a baby. Now, it seemed she had undergone everything for nothing. She was destined to walk away from her marriage with no husband, child, job, position, or family. She was right back where she was ten years earlier.
Only now, it was worse because the one person in the world she would have sworn would never hurt her had ripped her world apart. Worse, he had done so in a very public and humiliating way. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought he would have an affair. She never envisioned something so horrible as finding her husband in the country club screwing another woman. To be fair, they weren't actually screwing, but Taylor was confident the only reason they weren't was because they had been interrupted.
One question kept coming back to her like a boomerang. How long had it been going on? How long had Bennett and Poppy been involved? She had so many questions about Poppy, Bennett, and the boy. And no answers. Bennett was the only person who could give her those answers, and she was not ready to deal with him yet.
There was one person who might know something. Over the last three days, she and Joules had only texted. The poor woman was working double time to save Bennett's career. By now, Joules would have gotten every sordid detail out of Bennett. Taylor wanted to know what she had learned. Grabbing her phone and dialing the number before she could change her mind, Taylor called Joules.
Joules answered on the first ring, "Hey, TJ, you okay?" It was the first time in days that Joules had sounded like her childhood friend and not her husband's campaign manager.
"Yeah, I am doing better. Nothing a little wine and Sex on the Beach can't fix."
