Practice Makes Perfect (24 page)

o0o

“REALLY, LADIES, I’m far too old for this.” Nora’s youthful grin and maidenly blush belied her words. With her hair piled up on her head, and a cotton sundress draping her body, she looked about their age. She frowned at the garment in her hands.

“You’re never too old for silk underwear, Nora.” Slouched in a stuffed chair in the corner of Dan’s great room, which looked out at the lake through huge sliding doors, Jade grinned from ear to ear.

“But there’s so little of it,” Nora said.

“Better not tell Dan you have those under your wedding dress.” Jade’s voice was all devil. “He won’t be able to concentrate on the ceremony.”

Nora’s blush deepened, obscuring the freckles that had come out after the afternoon in the sun. “Stop.”

Paige chuckled, remembering the excursion all six Serenity House women had taken in Charly’s van that morning. They’d decided to have an impromptu shower for Nora and wanted
unusual
gifts. “Hey, we held her back in that shop, Nora. You should have seen what she first picked out.”

“Where is this shop, anyway?”

“In Elmwood.” Paige grinned at the memory of the discreet little store being invaded by six women. “On the outskirts.”

“How did you find out about it?”

All eyes turned to Taylor. Shy Taylor, who hid a wealth of secrets. “Nicky took me there to pick out something for our wedding anniversary.”

“What’d you get?” Darcy’s green eyes twinkled like polished emeralds. Paige had forgotten how much fun Darcy could be.

“None of your business.”

“Have some more wine,” Jade suggested. “You’ll tell us eventually.”

“Open mine next,” Charly said. She, too, was smiling from where she sat on the floor in shorts and a tank top.

It had been a pleasant two days together and everyone was feeling more relaxed. The only downer for Paige was that she missed Ian. A lot. She’d talked to him several times, but she longed to be with him.

Nora opened Charly’s gift. “Charlene Donovan, I’m shocked.”

“Well, I know how you like to read,” Charly said archly.

“
The Kama Sutra?
”

“Look on page fifty-six,” Jade said glibly. “There are great suggestions for foreplay.”

Rolling her eyes, Paige said, “You’ve read this book?”

“Hasn’t everybody?” Jade’s innocent expression led to another chuckle around the room.

Paige’s present was next. When Nora delicately eased off the paper, she frowned. “You got me a first-aid kit?” She sounded disappointed. “Well, it’s—”

“It’s got special, um, medicines in it.”

Nora must have caught the gleam in Paige’s eye. “Is this going to embarrass me, too?”

“I hope so.” Paige sipped her merlot.

Gingerly Nora opened the kit. She picked up a bottle. “It’s oyster juice.”

“Oh, Lord, an aphrodisiac.” This from Taylor.

“Poor, Dan. She’ll keep him up all night.” Jade didn’t blink at the pun.

Nora examined the rest of the stuff. “Edible body gel. In several flavors. Massage oil. Oh, look!” she said excitedly. “Body paint for the shower—” She stopped when she realized the girls were laughing at her enthusiasm. Blushing again, she buried her face in her hands.

After a moment Darcy encouraged her to open the next present. “Oh, Darcy, this is beautiful.” She eyed the rest of the girls. “And much more demure than all of yours.”

“Don’t count on it,” Jade said.

“What?”

“Nora, look at the lace,” Charly instructed.

“It’s lovely, dear.”

“Ah, look at how strategically it’s placed.”

Nora examined the garment. “Oh, my.”

Darcy giggled. “I tried, Nora, really I did. To buy something sane and sensible. But I couldn’t...”

“The old Darcy strikes again,” Jade quipped.

There was one present left. Nora eyed it like a snake that might bite. “Anabelle, surely you didn’t participate in this shopping trip.”

“As usual, they dragged me along. You know how they always made me do things I never would have done alone.” Anabelle sighed dramatically.

Nora opened the box. “Oh, God, girls, please. Dan will—”

“Dan will love them,” Jade asserted. “And they’re so symbolic. Anabelle’s a cop. He’s a cop. What better gift?”

She held up the velvet handcuffs. “I’m fifty years old! He’s fifty-five!”

“Got a lot of good years left in him, Nora baby,” Jade said.

“I’m embarrassed to even tell him—”

“What was that?” Darcy’s head snapped around to the screen doors.

“What?” Anabelle asked.

“I heard a noise outside.”

Taylor rolled her eyes. “You guys, stop.”

Paige remembered how they used to try to scare each other, especially Taylor. Until Nora had explained that wasn’t good for Taylor, who spooked easily because of the amnesia.

“No, seriously,” Darcy said. “I heard something.”

Jade touched her arm. “Honest?”

“Honest.”

Anabelle stood. “Everybody, stay right where you are.”

Mesmerized, Paige watched Anabelle disappear into the room off to the right, where she was staying. When she returned, she raised one hand to her lips to signal for them to be quiet. In her other hand she held a small revolver.

“Oh, my God, she’s packing,” Jade whispered.

Paige watched openmouthed as Anabelle switched off the lights and crept to the sliding doors. It was dark; they’d left the deck lights off. They heard a grunt outside. Another noise. Another grunt from the other side of the deck. Paige frowned. More than one person was out there. Her heart started to beat in her chest.

In the next second, lights flooded the deck and the sound of the screen whipping back rent the stillness. In a voice worthy of the FBI head, Anabelle said, “All right, freeze!”

o0o

IAN GLANCED over at Nick Morelli, who shrugged sheepishly from the other side of the deck, where he was rubbing his shin. They’d met in the front of the yard and circled around here together. “Sorry we scared you,” Ian said.

“You didn’t scare us.” Jade raised her chin.

Winking at Paige, Ian said, “Why did this one come out armed and dangerous like some police officer if you weren’t scared?”

“I am a police officer,” Anabelle said haughtily. “You’re lucky you’re still in one piece.”

Nick chuckled and Taylor crossed to him. “You’re a sap, Morelli.”

“I know.” He cuddled her close. “I’m sorry but I couldn’t stand it any longer.”

“Me, neither.” Ian stalked over to Paige. “Come on, lady.”

Shrugging, Paige grasped his hand. “See you later, guys,” she called out, and crossed the deck with him.

He pulled her down the steps.

“Ian, slow down. I can’t keep up with you.”

At the bottom he turned and watched her descend. Barefoot, dressed in simple denim shorts and a striped sleeveless top, her hair back in a ponytail, she looked young and heartbreakingly innocent. When she was on the third-to-the-last step, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. “Ian!”

“I can’t wait for you, Paige.” He glanced at the boathouse. “There? Or the tree house out back.”

“The tree. I scouted it out today.”

He slapped her bottom. “Hoping I’d come?”

“Oh, yes.” She bit his back playfully. “I missed you.”

Ian strode to the tree. “You okay? With all the Serenity House group?”

“Of course. Did you bring condoms?”

“A six-pack.” He waited a moment. “Any nightmares?”

“Just dreams. About you. Ripping off my clothes and having your way with me.”

They reached the tree. “Let’s go up first. Then I’ll rip your clothes off and have my way with you. Hurry.”

Paige clambered up the tree ladder with speed and agility. Ian followed almost as fast. The tree house was about twelve-by-twelve and moderately enclosed. Paige could stand up in it, but Ian bumped his head. She kissed it as he knelt down and undid her shorts. He got them off and nuzzled her. “Oh, God. Lie down, honey.”

She did.

On his knees, he took her with his mouth. She climaxed almost instantly. Ian whispered, “Ah, I like that. Shows you missed me.” He went back for more. Twice.

“Let me return the favor,” she said breathlessly when he was done.

“All right. But later.” He pulled out a condom and shucked off his shorts. He was inside her in seconds. “I knew I wouldn’t last,” he said, just before he exploded.

She was laughing when he collapsed on top of her. “Well, that was a record.”

“I’m embarrassed.”

“I love it.”

He braced himself on his arms and gazed down at her. Moonlight streaming through the opening in the hut caressed her face. “You’ve gotten prettier.”

“I’ve only been gone for two days.”

“Two days too long.” He kissed her forehead. “How could I miss you this much?”

“I missed you this much, too.”

“I love you, Paige.”

“Ian, I—”

He stopped her words with fingers at her lips. “No, don’t. I just wanted to say it again.” He grinned. “Scalpel misses you, too. He sent along a note. It’s in my pocket, though his writing is worse than a doctor’s.”

She smiled. “You’re crazy.”

“About you. You sure you’re okay?”

“Are you kidding? I came three times.”

“No, I mean about the Serenity House reunion. Being here with them.”

“Actually it’s been fun. Awkward at first, but a little of the old girl in each of us is peeking out.”

He kissed her nose. “Really? What’s come out in you?”

“Well, this for one. I used to sneak out to meet...” She trailed off.

He watched her.
Tell me, please
.

“To meet Ronny, my boyfriend. The father.”

Thank you, God
. “What else?”

“We used to tease Taylor and Anabelle about being shy.”

“Are they still?”

“Anabelle’s the cop,” Paige said dryly.

“Oh, I guess she’s not.”

“No, she is, despite playing Wonder Woman with a gun.” Paige’s forehead wrinkled the way it did when she was thinking. “And Taylor still sleeps as poorly as she did back then. I’ve heard her up a lot in the middle of the night.” Paige frowned. “She came to Serenity House with amnesia, Ian. She’s never gotten back her memory.”

“How sad.”

“There are worse things than not remembering.”

“Like remembering too much?”

Paige nodded. She waited several moments before she said, “But I’m okay. Honest.” She nibbled on his neck. “Except I’m getting hungry again.” She pressed her hips into his. “Time for dessert, Ian.”

Telling himself to be satisfied with what she’d given him, he said, “My pleasure. Let’s get naked this time.”

o0o

ON THEIR LAST NIGHT together, the Serenity House women sat on the deck around an oval umbrella table, sipping the champagne Nick Morelli had brought on his visit to his wife. The stars glittered above them, and the moon, their only light, cast them in a mellow glow. Nora thought they looked even younger tonight, dressed for bed.

“Let’s play FLIP,” Darcy suggested. It was a sharing activity where each participant discussed her
F
eelings,
L
ife priorities,
I
nsecurities and
P
ast regrets.

“Why?” Jade asked. “I remember not liking the game too much back then.”

“No, but it always helped us bond.”

Nora sipped her champagne. She wondered if the old opening-up activity was the right thing to do now. Would it unearth too much for them? Maybe not. She was a firm believer in unearthing suppressed feelings.

“I’m game,” Charly said. She wore a demure nightgown and slippers. “Then again, my life’s an open book.”

Taylor shrugged. “What the hell, it isn’t like we don’t all know each other’s secrets.”

Jade and Paige exchanged looks. They were dressed alike in summer satin pj’s Jade had bought for them. “Same rules apply.” This from Paige, who liked rules. “No lying. And we can never share what the others say with anyone else.”

“Even Dan, Nora,” Charly warned. “Or Nick, Taylor.”

“Or Ian,” Jade added.

They all nodded their agreement.

Darcy said, “I’ll start since it’s my idea.
F
—what I’m feeling now. I’m sad that this time together is nearly over.”

They all knew the drill. They went in a circle, then reversed it.

Anabelle was next. “I’m relieved. I was scared about coming.”

“I’m happy,” Taylor put in. “It makes me feel close to you all again. You’re the only memory I have of my adolescence, you know.”

Charly reached over and squeezed her hand, then said, “I’m content. I’ve liked these three days.”

Paige confessed that she was surprised it had all gone so well, Jade told them she was shocked a bit by how everybody had turned out. Nora got teary-eyed and said she was ecstatic that everybody had come home just for her.

Nora had to start with
L
, the life priorities.

“That’s easy.” She wiped her eyes. “The most important thing in my life now is Dan.”

For Darcy and Jade it was their kids, who were staying with Darcy’s mother. Taylor couldn’t decide between Nick or her kids, and Charly said, Tim, her stepson.

Everybody turned to Paige. Nora expected her to say her practice. Instead, she shook her head. “I can’t believe this. It’s Ian.”

The women cheered, but Nora saw surprise on each of their faces that a man was so important to strong, independent Paige.

Paige began the letter
I
. Insecurities. “I hate opening up to people, though this is easier than I thought.”

“You still hate opening up to Ian.”

“Oh, all right, I’m insecure about trusting him. But I’m trying.”

“We all have trouble with trust.” This, surprisingly, from Anabelle.

“What’s yours?”

“The same. I don’t trust men. Except Dan,” she said, smiling at Nora.

“I trust Nick. But I’m insecure about him sometimes. When I met him, he was so self-confident. It seems over the years he’s become less so. I can’t figure it out.”

“Do you think it has something to do with you becoming more self-assured?”

Taylor shrugged. “Who knows? He won’t talk about it.”

“Darcy?” Nora watched her. “You okay?”

Darcy had quieted and sipped her champagne with a faraway look in her eyes. “I don’t trust that I’ve really changed. I’m afraid I’ll fall back into my old ways.”