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My life was going better than it ever had, so I suppose I should have expected to hit some bumps sooner or later. Not that it was Joshua’s fault. Instead, it was my past coming back to haunt me.
“Your birthday is coming up next week, isn’t it?” Joshua asked me one day as we sat on my balcony watching the sun set.
“Yeah, it’s March seventh,” I confirmed. “I can’t believe you remembered.”
“When is my birthday?” he asked.
“November twenty-first,” I said without hesitating.
He raised his eyebrow.
“Okay then,” I laughed. Having a boyfriend who was actually thoughtful was taking some getting used to.
“What would you like to do for your special day?” he asked. “I told Elaine this morning that I was taking that day off to spend with my girlfriend.”
“Well then I’m surprised I didn’t already hear about it from someone in town,” I laughed.
The locals in Starlight Bay were still amazed that their favorite animal doctor had a girlfriend, especially someone who was so new to town. But most of them seemed to be rooting for us to make it, which felt really nice.
“So what would you like to do?” he asked. “It’s your day, we can do whatever you want.”
“I’d like to sleep in,” I said. “Then I’d like to have at least one orgasm, followed by waffles. Oh, and bacon. If the weather isn’t too crappy the three of us should take a long walk on the beach, then we should take a nap. For dinner, I want to have a barbecue. And chocolate cake.”
“A barbecue?”
“Yeah, I love a barbecue. I know you’re going to say it’s March, it’s too cold out to barbecue, and really can’t we just grill in the house, but it doesn’t taste the same as cooking outside, and the deck is covered and there’s just something about food cooked outside so--.”
I paused as Joshua grabbed me and pulled me in for a hard, fast kiss.
“You can’t just kiss me every time I start babbling,” I said, although honestly I didn’t mind. Not at all.
“Sure I can,” he winked. “It works, doesn’t it? If we’re going to barbecue for your birthday, we should go buy a barbecue grill. And charcoal.”
My smile was radiant. “That sounds great. I’ve been wanting to buy a grill.”
On the morning of my birthday Joshua woke me up with a kiss that moved down between my legs. I moaned happily. After he made me come with his tongue, he pulled me onto my side and made love to me, slow and gentle, staring into my eyes the entire time. It was incredibly intimate.
Afterwards we took a shower together, soaping up each other’s bodies but avoiding getting too excited. There was no way I wanted to spend my forty-first birthday explaining to some Emergency Room doctor that I was injured having shower sex. Then we headed down to the Little Red Hen for breakfast so I could get my waffles and bacon, Joshua rolling his eyes as he caught me sneaking bits of bacon to Esmerelda.
The sun was shining, and it was unseasonably warm, making it the perfect day to take a long walk on the beach. I let Esmerelda off her lead and she ran and played by the water while Joshua and I walked at a leisurely pace.
We were heading up my driveway, walking hand in hand and thinking about taking that nap when my day went to hell.
“Maybelline Marie Jameson, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you. You’re not answering your phone.”
Oh no.
My spine stiffened and all the joy left my body as I heard my mother’s harsh voice. Only my mother would drop by someone’s house unannounced and then be angry that you weren’t waiting around for her. I hadn’t even talked to her in over a month.
Then things went from bad to worse as I heard the voice I’d hoped to never hear again.
“Who are you?” Stephen asked, glaring at Joshua. “And what are you doing touching my wife?”
“Ex-wife,” I snapped. “What the hell are you doing at my house, Stephen?”
Stephen was wearing loafers and a three-piece suit, as if he was on his way to court, his hair perfectly styled. His gaze raked down my body, a look of derision crossing his face.
Picking up on his thoughts, my mother asked, “Have you gained more weight, Maybelline? You look a little puffy.”
