had to shrug. “It was just something Gran mentioned on a calendar. But she never gave me a letter.” She waited to see if either of them knew anything about it, but Trisha had moved on to checking her phone and Daniel was more interested in observing her half-up, half-down ponytail.
“I thought you’d have called me by now,” he said. The smile came just as the now was slipping from his mouth.
The mess on her porch actually came in handy. “I’ve been busy.”
He made a sound that could have meant anything and picked up the folder beneath the pot holding a dead spider plant.
“How’s Ethan doing with the Little Genius kits?” Since Daniel had been the one to recommend them, he clearly had an interest in them.
Claire made a so-so motion with her hand.
“Maybe I can give it a try. Sometimes boys respond better to a man’s voice.”
She would have liked to challenge that, but Daniel did do a lot of reading about child development. More than she did.
Daniel took the picture on top, van Gogh’s Starry Night, and he held it up. “Ethan?” Of course, he had to repeat it because Ethan was bashing his new car into the old ones. By the time he’d said Ethan’s name four times, Daniel’s voice was more of a bark.
“Remember the FUN! part of this,” Claire mumbled to herself.
Ethan finally realized he was being summoned and looked at the picture. “Money!” he yelled.
“He means Monet,” Claire translated.
“No.” Daniel drew that out a few syllables, probably not nearly as frustrated with Ethan as he was with not proving the point about that whole male-voice thing. “Try again.”
“Riley!” Ethan shouted. And no Ri-wee, either. This was very, very clear.
Trisha and Daniel turned to her so fast that Claire heard necks pop. “Riley’s been working with him on these?” Daniel’s question sounded a lot like a jealous accusation.
Which it probably was.
“Of course not,” Claire answered. “Riley’s recovering from his injury. He doesn’t have time to play with Ethan.”
Daniel looked at her as if he expected her nose to start growing. But it wasn’t a lie. It’d been three days since Riley’s visit, and he certainly hadn’t played with Ethan then. Riley had fixed Ethan’s car and then left looking as if he was about to collapse from the pain.
“Give me that.” Livvy craned her long, lithe body up enough to snatch the picture from Daniel. She didn’t even have to say Ethan’s name to get his attention. “Okay, see this.” She held up the toy van.
Claire nearly confessed that she’d already tried that, but she decided to watch and see how this played out.
Livvy tugged off one of her shoes, wiggled her toes and put the van right next to all that wiggling.
“Van Gogh!” Ethan squealed.
Claire laughed.
But Daniel huffed. “How does that help him, giving him a clue like that?”
“Seriously? It helped because he got it right.” Livvy put her shoe back on, plucked another car from her cleavage—a candy-apple-red Mustang—and gave it to Ethan. “Here’s your prize for guessing right.” That brought on more squeals of delight, more giggling.
More huffing from Daniel.
And a bitchy look from Trisha. “What else do you have in there?” Trisha tipped her head to Livvy’s boobs.
“A picnic basket.” Livvy stood and patted Trisha’s arm, and Claire could almost feel the condescension coming. Livvy looked at Trisha’s breasts, which were impressively sized but looked more like fried eggs when compared with Livvy’s. “Maybe you can try growth cream on them or something. Then you’ll have a place for a Lunchable or maybe just some Goldfish crackers.”
Time for some interference since Trisha was no doubt gearing up her bitchy-response generator. Claire looped her arm around Livvy’s waist. “Livvy and I will get some iced tea.”
Trisha must have taken that as a call to arms because she followed them, leaving Daniel and Ethan on the porch.
“Are you falling for Riley again?” Trisha asked the moment they were out of Daniel’s earshot.
Claire kept moving toward the kitchen. “That’s an are-you-still-beating-your-wife question. Because you’re assuming I’ve fallen for Riley before.”
Claire had, but that wouldn’t help her win this argument, and if she started losing too much ground, Livvy would step in and try to win the argument for her. It could turn into a catfight. Not an actual one, but there’d be some name-calling and shouting. Something that Claire didn’t want Ethan to hear.
“Riley won’t be as good with Ethan as Daniel,” Trisha added as if it were gospel.
And, of course, if Riley was indeed with Ethan and her, then he wouldn’t be with Trisha. That’s really what this was all about, but Trisha skittered out of there before Claire could remind her of that. Trisha probably hurried so she could tell Daniel he needed to watch his back, that he had some competition.
Livvy unscrewed the wine bottle, dumped a generous portion into a glass measuring cup that she took from the drying rack in the sink. “You want a side of backbone to go with that slice of milquetoast?”
Claire didn’t have to ask for clarification. Livvy was talking about Daniel’s and Claire’s reactions, or Claire’s lack of reaction, to each other.
“I can’t imagine you ever having sex with that guy,” Livvy added.
Claire skipped a glass and drank right out of the bottle. “Daniel’s really good-looking.”
“So is that painting by van Gogh. Doesn’t mean it’d be great in bed.” Livvy downed half a glass of the wine in one long swig. “Was he ever a great?”
“Of course.” Claire had more wine. Figured she’d regret what she was about to say but said it anyway. “If I grade it on a curve.”
Livvy leaned in and lowered her voice to a real whisper. “Never grade a fuck on a curve, Claire. Never.”
And with that screensaver-worthy advice, Livvy gave a satisfied nod.
Probably because Livvy knew she was right. Still, there were other things more important than sex. Like being with a man who hadn’t had a hole blown in his shoulder. A man who would go back for another hole-blowing as soon as he could.
Gosh, that was a dismal thought. One that ate away at that safety net she’d spent too long building around herself.
Since it seemed as if Livvy was about to dole out more advice, Claire went on the offensive. “How are things with the albino? Did his pinkeye clear up?”
Livvy
