Her chignon from the night before had come loose. Her long dark hair hung tangled and matted in a half-up, half-down mess. Pulling the pins out, she tried finger-combing her locks intoobedience. Realizing that was a joke, Taylor quickly platted it and used one of her pins to secure it at the base of her skull.
With all the most basic toiletries attended to, Taylor grabbed one of the decorative bath towels hanging outside the shower door. Wrapping it around her, she tiptoed back to the bedroom and began frantically searching for her clothes. Other than a ripped thong, all she could find in the bedroom were the ridiculously high heels she had worn the night before.
A naughty image of herself looking up at her heels as her legs dangled in the air above her almost had her running back to the bathroom. Promising herself that nothing like this would ever happen again, Taylor pushed all thoughts of the night before out of her head. She had to concentrate on getting dressed and getting out of there. She left the torn thong on the floor where it lay ripped to shreds but picked up the shoes and kept looking for her other clothes.
Quietly sneaking down the hall to the front room, Taylor followed a trail of clothing that told a sordid tale. Everywhere she looked, different pieces of clothing littered the room like pieces of evidence of her crime of adultery.
She noticed the decor she had missed the night before. As Taylor was frantically searching the room for her missing pieces of clothing, she could not help but be impressed by the modern graceful lines of the chrome and black furnishings. Decorated in a minimalist style, the room appeared pristine and ordered, except for the clothing scattered around it. Several large and interesting pieces of art dotted the walls. Something about the pieces seemed familiar, but Taylor did not have the time to study them to figure out why. Instead, her attention was centered firmly on finding her dress, which she found draped across the corner of a couch.
Continuing her search, she saw that off to one corner was the boat’s bridge, complete with the steering wheel, throttle, and acaptain’s chair. She had never ridden on a houseboat before. All the gadgets and buttons looked very complicated. There, she found her cream lace bra hanging from the ship’s wheel. The one thing she did not see was Greer. Taylor was more than a little relieved to be alone on the boat. It gave the time she needed to dress quickly without having to talk.
Once she had dressed, Taylor toyed with putting the heels back on but decided she could walk faster barefoot. Any nagging guilt she had about sneaking out without saying goodbye or leaving a note was tramped down by reality. Taylor had no idea what she would have written in a note, so what would have been the point? It was best if she found her purse and got out before Greer returned from wherever he had gone. She spotted her purse on the bridge just as her cell phone started ringing. Grabbing it, she saw it was Joules.
“TJ? Where in the hell are you? Are you okay?” Joules sounded frantic.
Taylor had never heard Joules sound as stressed and worried as she did now. Whispering because her head was literally about to explode, Taylor replied, “I am fine. I am on a houseboat but am about to head back to my car now. How did you know I was not at the cottage?”
Sounding somewhat relieved but still irritated, her friend said, “Because I am standing outside of it. I have been ringing the doorbell and calling you for the last half hour. I almost called the police.”
“Why are you here?” The events of the night before had left Taylor confused and on edge.
Sounding irritated, Joules said, “Remember, I am here in the jet to pick you up and take you home for the gala. But never mind that. Did you say a houseboat? What in the world are you doing on a houseboat at 9:00 in the morning?”
Suddenly, Taylor remembered. The stupid gala was that night. She had to return to Searcy and face the music regarding her life, whether she was ready to or not. Taylor made her way up the long dock as she said, “It’s a long story. Can we talk about it later?”
“Well, yeah, I guess,” replied Joules. “Are you sure you are okay? Why are you whispering?”
“I am whispering because my head feels like it is in a vice,” snapped Taylor, keeping her eyes peeled for any sight of Greer.
“Wait a minute. You are whispering because you are hung over. Aren’t you? Did you even come home last night?” asked Joules. Taylor did not miss the accusatory tone in her friend’s voice, but she did not respond to it.
After a second of silence, Joules practically yelled into the phone. “OMG, TJ, who are you with? What were you thinking? What if someone saw you?”
Joules continued to fire questions at Taylor, who made no effort to answer them. After several minutes of this, Taylor said, “Look, I can’t talk anymore right now. I will be home in fifteen minutes. If you love me, please just shut up and have hot coffee and aspirin ready when I get there,” and then she hung up on Joules for the second time in less than a week.
Throwing her phone in her purse, Taylor made her way up the stairs to the parking lot of the River Rat. As she did so, she could not keep her mind from remembering how Greer had swept her up into his strong arms here the night before. She honestly didn’t remember everything that had happened in the night.
She was ashamed of herself for becoming the kind of woman who would cheat on her marriage vows. She acted foolishly and allowed her hurt pride to goad her into a situation she should never have been in. She was sorry she let it happen, but guilt and shame didn’t kill you. They just made you more human. She could overcome them.
However, another part of her, a deeper, more intimate part of her, was disappointed for a very different reason. She was sad because she knew the night before could never be repeated. Even though it had been wrong and shameful, it had also been glorious. She was thinking about how wonderful it had been. That sent a fresh bout of lust zinging through her body. Too bad, she thought, because she knew she could never see Greer again. She sadly accepted that Greer and the night they spent together would forever be a part of her past and had no place in her future. Getting in her car and driving away, Taylor promised herself that this would never happen again.
Chapter 13
Stone Cottage
Gulf Shores, Alabama
March 2012
By the time Taylor returned to the cottage, Joules had calmed down a little. At least she had the coffee ready and aspirin on the counter."So, are you going to tell me what's going on or not?"
Taylor looked at Joules over her coffee cup and asked, "Is not really an option?"
Joules practically screamed, "No, of course not! I must know what is happening, or I can't protect you. Really, TJ, after all we have done to keep this campaign afloat, how could you go off and pull something like this?"
Joules's words hit their mark, but Taylor's head still hurt too much to engage in a full-out discussion of the night before. She simply said, "First of all, I am not the one who put the stupid campaign at risk. Secondly, I could give two figs about that election. And lastly, what happened last night was a gross mistake that will never be repeated. No one saw me leaving, and there will be no repercussions from it. I will answer your questions the best I can, but we will never speak of it again after this conversation.Understood?" Taylor gave Joules a look that told her friend she meant business.
After a moment, Joules nodded and said, "Fair enough, but I do need to make sure of a few things before we drop it. Why were you on a houseboat, and how did you get there?"
