Chapter 8

A full moon replaced the sun over the water so swiftly Lauren wondered if the day always melted away with so little notice. She had witnessed thousands of sunrises, but never paid much attention to the approach of night. It seemed like it had taken only moments for the last remnants of light to be pulled from the sky and the dark cloak of night to surround them. The rising moon took away some of the heavy darkness, making it light enough to see the frothy water licking the shore.

At some point after the volleyball game, wood had been gathered, and there was now a small bonfire on the beach. Some of the guys stood around it chatting quietly, while a number of women wrapped in blankets sat on lawn chairs near the blaze.

Lauren stood talking to Pops when his attention suddenly drifted to somewhere over her shoulder. She saw him nod, acknowledging some sort of message, but before she could turn around to see who was there, she felt a familiar arm wrap around her waist. “Hey, baby,” Rad said in her ear. “The guys are getting together for a meeting further down the beach. You okay here?”

She nodded. “Sure. I’ll talk to Heather.”

“Good deal. I won’t be long.” He pulled off his shirt and put it over her shoulders. “Here, in case you’re cold.”

Lauren stood in the dark a moment with her eyes closed as she listened to him move away. His courtesy and consideration left her speechless, breathless. She put her arms into his oversized shirt and walked over to Heather who was sitting alone on a lawn chair beside the canopy.

“Mind if I sit?” Lauren nodded toward a blanket as she rolled up the sleeves of the shirt that completely covered her hands.

“No, not at all. You can grab the chair if you want. Annie ran back to the room to check on something.”

Lauren sat down cross-legged on the blanket. “No, this is fine.”

“It’s nice to see him so happy,” Heather said as if to herself.

Lauren followed Heather’s gaze to Rad and watched as he tapped Tork on the shoulder at the campfire before melting away into the darkness.

“Is there some reason he shouldn’t be?” She looked up curiously.

Heather appeared startled that she had spoken out loud. “Oh, no. Not really. I mean, he’s had some tough times. He’s over them now.”

“Oh.” Lauren continued to stare into the darkness as the sound of voices slowly faded away.

“I’ve probably made you curious now.” Heather got up and grabbed a soda from the cooler. “I always talk too much.”

“Kind of.” Lauren shrugged. “I mean, I don’t want to pry, but if he’s a manic-depressive psychopath, I’d like to know.”

Heather laughed as she sat back down. “Yep. I definitely said too much if you think that.” She pulled the tab on her drink, took a sip, then leaned forward and talked in a soft voice. “Wynn said you two go way back, but I take it you don’t know him that well.”

Lauren smiled at Heather’s female intuition but wasn’t sure what to say. She didn’t want to lie, yet she didn’t want to completely destroy Rad’s story. “I guess you could say we haven’t seen each other for quite a while.”

Heather sat back in her chair and took a deep breath. “Well, the short story is he was engaged to be married to a girl named Angie.” She nodded toward the two girls who were still guzzling beer as they stood by the fire. “That girl on the left, Jackie, is Angie’s cousin. Anyway, he came home from traveling about a month before the wedding to an empty apartment and a note.”

“Oh.” Lauren closed her eyes.

Heather looked down at her. “Yeah, he took it pretty hard. I think more because of the way it was done than who it was done by.”

Lauren could tell from the tone of Heather’s voice that her resentment for Angie was intense and personal. “Sounds like you didn’t like her much.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Heather leaned back and stared out at the darkness. “Nobody did.”

“Except Rad.”

“Well, he was young and they had been together a pretty long time, so I guess it seemed like a logical step. Plus, she’s manipulative and conniving, and he just got sucked up in it.” She took a sip of her soda. “He knows now what a big mistake it was.”

“How long ago was this?”

“Almost three years.”

“And he hasn’t been seeing anyone?”

“No.” Heather was quiet a moment as if thinking about it. “I’m sure it had more to do with where he was in his career than just swearing off women all together. I mean, really the only women these guys meet are hanging out in bars.” Her attention turned toward Jackie and her friend. “Or the ones that invite themselves to parties at the beach.”

Lauren noticed Heather’s hostile expression and followed her gaze. She got the feeling Heather didn’t care too much for Angie’s cousin or her friend either. She took a sip from the mini-bottle of water she had pulled out of the cooler. “So I take it Angie was cheating and left him for another guy.”

Heather nodded forcefully. “Oh yes. She sure did.” Then she got serious and spoke in a low voice. “She’s married to a senator now and has a big house and a high-paying job at CNN.” She stretched her legs out in front of her and shook the sand off her toes. “If you don’t mind my saying so, she got the poor end of the bargain.”

Lauren was silent for a moment, trying to picture the type of woman who would throw away the affection and generosity of a man like Rad for money and power. Then she decided to change the subject. “Wynn and Rad seem really close.”

“Yeah, they are. Inseparable.”

“So you’ve known Rad a long time too?”

“I started dating Wynn about four years ago. It didn’t take me long to learn it was a package deal.” Heather laughed. “Rad is part of the package.”

Lauren smiled. She could feel that warmth and love from everyone here. It seemed like a very tight-knit group. If you loved one, you had to love them all.

“Same would be true of you if you stick with Rad.”

Lauren glanced up at Heather with a questioning look, not understanding.

“Wynn and I are part of a package deal.”

That made Lauren laugh. “Sounds good to me. Three for the price of one.” She turned over on her side and propped her head on her hand. “So is this get-together celebrating something in particular or do you do this all the time?”

Heather hesitated, as if figuring out what exactly to say. “No, it’s not exactly a celebration. The guys are leaving for… some training, so it’s kind of a send-off.”

“That’s nice.” Lauren lay back on the blanket and put her hands behind her head. “It seems like everyone gets along… like you’re one big family.”

Heather grinned. “Yes, some of them can get a little temperamental at times, but we’re still pretty tight-knit.” She pointed to some of the other women sitting around the fire. “I don’t know if you met Molly, the redhead there in the middle. That’s Tork’s girlfriend. And the brunette on the end is Connie. That’s Bipp’s better half. They came late.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to know who goes with whom.” Lauren stopped and blinked at her own words. Why did it matter to her who went with whom? She was leaving in the morning and would never see these people again. For the first time, she felt a tug of regret.

They were both silent for a moment, listening to the laughter and the low hum of voices around the campfire as they combined with the gentle pounding of the waves on the shoreline.

“How about you and Rad? Where’d you meet?” Heather grabbed a towel and threw it across her legs for warmth. “You two really seem to click.”

Lauren swallowed hard. “Yeah, we do,” is all she said.

“You seem so comfortable and at ease with each other.” Heather paused and looked over at her. “Like you know what the other one is thinking.”

“Well, he knows what I’m thinking, that’s for sure.” Lauren got up and grabbed a beer. “The other way around, not so much.”

Heather chuckled. “Yeah, Wynn is the same way. Pisses me off sometimes.”

“Maybe we knew each other in another life,” Lauren said musingly.

“Sometimes it feels like that.” Heather’s gaze shifted out into the darkness where Wynn and Rad had disappeared. “It seems like I’ve known Wynn forever. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

“So when’s your wedding?”

“Next Spring. April… hopefully.”

Lauren didn’t have time to question Heather about what she meant by hopefully.

“Hey, girlfriends! What’s going on?” Annie came up from behind them, carrying her flip flops in one hand and a small cooler in the other. “I see the guys deserted us.”

“Yeah, they should be back soon.” Heather patted the chair. “We saved your seat.”

Lauren smiled. She worked almost exclusively with men and did not recall ever having any female acquaintances she would call friends. The women she did come in contact with were, for the most part, catty, spiteful, and shallow. Yet these two women were not like that at all. They appeared intelligent, sensible, and kind, and had accepted her as one of them—part of the family.

Annie sat down and opened the cooler. “How about a wine cooler, girls? I’m sick of beer.” She gave one to Heather, but Lauren shook her head and held up her bottle. “Still working on this, but thanks anyway.”

Lauren had lost count of how many beers she’d had. She hoped it was only two, but it may well have been three. In any event, it was more alcohol than she had consumed at one time in her entire life. Was it the alcohol causing this sensation of security and comfort? That made her wish she could feel like this forever?

Annie leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up on the cooler. “I had lots of emails, Heather. We should have at least a hundred pairs of shoes to pack when we get home.”

“That’s great. Biggest shipment yet.” Heather smiled, and then looked down at Lauren. “I guess Rad told you about his shoe thing.”

Lauren gazed up with a blank stare, making Heather bite her lip. “Or maybe he didn’t.”

Annie touched Heather’s arm as if to say, I’ll handle this. “Well you know how Rad is,” she began. “He bought a couple of pairs of shoes for kids who didn’t have any, and then his church back home heard about it, and now it’s kind of taken off. This will make about five hundred shoes we’ve collected altogether.”

Lauren sat silently with her eyes closed. Yes, I know how Rad is. Generous. Thoughtful. Strong. Easy-going. Perfect. And I’m leaving in the morning.

When she opened her eyes, Rad was walking up the beach in the moonlight between Wynn and Pops, his arms moving in conversation, all their faces showing deep concentration. When his gaze fell upon Lauren, he paused and studied her with an expression of solemn contemplation for a moment as if losing his train of thought. Then all three of them stopped and huddled as Rad picked up the conversation again. He spoke intently in hushed tones for a few more moments before all three headed toward the women. If ever there was a more complete specimen of vigorous, manly strength, she had never seen it.

Lauren had to struggle to suppress the panic building in her heart as she watched this larger-than-life man stroll toward her. She had no idea what time it was, but she knew it was late. Without thinking, she pulled his shirt more securely around her. Time was slipping away.

“You three being anti-social or what?” Pops came to a stop in front of Annie’s chair. “Why don’t you join the party by the fire?”

“We’re just sitting here waiting for three knights in shining armor to come riding up,” Heather said. “Figured we had a better chance over here.”

“We’re here, my lady.” Wynn bowed deeply, and Rad grabbed Lauren’s hand.

“My horse is lame, but I’ll carry you to the fire if want.”

Everyone laughed except Lauren.

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” She stood and followed him toward the now-raucous crowd.

“Something wrong?” he asked when they were halfway there. “You look upset.”

“Really?” Lauren forced a smile. “Just missed you, I guess.”

Rad put his arm around her waist. “That’s what I like to hear.”