“Look at him, dressed like some kind of Greek god. Really, who’s he trying to impress?” Abby asked.
“Over there, near the bushes,” Bethany said.
There was Anya with a look of pure adoration and lust, gazing upon her summer Poseidon. My Adonis was somewhere across the camp.
“It’s enough to make you want to puke,” Mindy said.
I couldn’t put it off any longer. The news about the camp ownership was going public, and I wanted Ronnie to hear it from me directly, not by email.
I made the call from the privacy of Bethany’s room. “Hi, Jana, it’s Lori. Can I speak to Ronnie?”
“He’s busy right now preparing for an extremely high-profile case. Can I take a message?”
“This is really important. I need to speak to him right now.”
“Are the girls okay?” Jana asked.
Was she screening my call? “Yes, the girls are fine, but I need to speak to him.”
“I don’t think you appreciate how important Ronnie’s work is to him and to the firm.”
She had to be fucking kidding me—lecturing me about my husband and keeping him from me. I decided now was a good time to see if my suspicions about Ronnie and Jana were correct. I snickered into the phone. “Jana, does he tell you his wife justdoesn’t understand him? Did he tell you that when you were sipping Ouzo, overlooking the Mediterranean?”
There was an audible gasp and then silence. I could practically hear her heart thumping through the receiver. She finally said, “Give me a sec.”
I must have really flustered Jana because she didn’t press mute. “Your wife’son the phone,” she said. “You told me not to tell anyone you took me to Greece. How did she find out?”
I couldn’t make out Ronnie’s muffled response. Jana tersely said, “I’ll transfer you, but he told me to tell you to keep it brief.”
“Ronnie here.”
“No, ‘Hello, Lori, how are you?’”
“I don’t have time right now. Can it wait? I have a deadline.”
“Quickly then: I’m buying the camp.” I made a split-second decision. “And I’ll need to stay here longer. You’ll take the girls on vacation without me. Good luck with your deadline.”
“Lori, wait. What?”
“What part didn’t you understand?”
“You said you’re buying the camp?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense. I won’t allow that. Nothing you said makes any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense to me. You’ll take the girls on vacation while I stay at Woodlands so I can do—what’s that word you always use?—reconnaissance.”
“I have to go. Can we talk about this when you’re home?” He sounded annoyed.
“Perfect, so we’ll talk in a week or so. Don’t forget to pick your children up from the bus. Have fun at the beach.” I hung up.
My brain was humming—Jana and Ronnie’s affair had just been confirmed. I’d pondered this scenario, and there it was—like a slap in the face.
I wasn’t innocent. This wasn’t a case of being the wronged woman, since I spent my days counting the minutes until I’d be kissing Teddy. Would I admit to my affair and then work on repairing our marriage, or would we both walk away? If our children weren’t involved, my answer would be easy.
Was I even upset that Ronnie was screwing his secretary? It was such a cliché. That made me the bored housewife shagging the soccer coach. My actions were as horrible to him as his were to me, only he didn’t know it—yet.
