LITMIR.BIZ

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at her side.

      She had a beer in her hand, and she was watching the group at the fire, as well.

      “She’s got a way with her, huh?” Sandy said a little glumly.

      “She’s very pretty,” Beth said judiciously.

      Sandy turned to her, a half smile in place, a wry expression in her eyes. “You’re much better looking. Actually, so am I. She just really knows how to turn it on and use everything she has.”

      “Two of those guys are her cousins,” Beth reminded her. Sandy seemed so normal at the moment, but Beth couldn’t forget what she had seen and heard in the clearing.

      “And two aren’t,” Sandy said flatly. She shrugged. “I guess some women are just like that. They can’t keep their hands off anything in pants.”

      “She comes from a...a world of privilege,” Beth murmured, wondering why she was even attempting to excuse Amanda Mason, who tended to make her skin crawl. Still, she’d made it a point to make sure she never talked badly about any member of the club. She offered Sandy the bag of Doritos.

      The other woman sniffed. “Think those boobs are real?”

      “Um... I’ve never asked.”

      “Enhanced,” Sandy assured her.

      “Well, lots of people...enhance.”

      Sandy sighed. “True. It’s just that... I mean, she uses the damn things like business cards. And men are so easy.”

      Beth laughed. “I guess sometimes they are.”

      “She can’t have many friends.”

      “I don’t really know,” Beth murmured. She felt like she was ragging on the most popular girl in high school, and it felt more and more uncomfortable. She decided to change the topic. “So how long have you and Brad been together?”

      “Three years,” Sandy said. “A long time, huh?” She paused. “I’m still madly in love with him. More or less.”

      Beth wasn’t certain how “madly in love” and “more or less” could actually coincide, and again she felt she’d gone back to high school.

      “Well, it’s great that you’re together, then,” she said.

      Sandy chomped a Dorito. Amanda had her hand on Brad’s arm. Sandy shook her head unhappily and looked at Beth. “You don’t think it’s too long?”

      “Too long for what?”

      “Shouldn’t we be getting married?”

      “Oh. Um. Well, I don’t know. I guess it’s good to really know a person first. I’d much rather be with a person and know that he’s the one I want to spend the rest of my life with than marry in a hurry and have it all fall apart. The divorce rate is so high today.”

      “Is your brother divorced?”

      “No. His wife passed away.”

      “That’s terrible.”

      “Yes.”

      “So...you don’t think it’s a bad thing that I stay with Brad even though it’s been this long and we’re not married yet?”

      Beth hesitated. She hadn’t begun to imagine that Sandy would come to her for advice on her relationship, certainly not after what she had seen and heard in the clearing earlier.

      “I’m not qualified to give advice,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with staying with someone, no matter how long, if that’s what you feel is right.”

      Sandy stared at the group by the fire, eyes level on Amanda. “Do you think he’d cheat on me?”

      Beth was beginning to feel acutely uncomfortable. “Sandy, I just met both of you. I have no idea.”

      Sandy didn’t seem to hear her. “She’s moving on. Who is she after, do you think? Your brother? Or Keith?”

      Amanda had moved on. Now she stood between Ben and Keith at the barbecue. She was still laughing, charming, flirtatious.

      And once again, she seemed to have enthralled her conquests.

      “My brother is in his midthirties,” Beth said. “He has to take care of himself, make his own decisions.”

      Sandy sighed. “Yeah, I guess Keith is all grown up, too. Hey, if Amanda is going to be all over Brad, maybe I should be making a few moves of my own.” She stared steadily at Beth again, then shook her head. “You’re so moral.”

      Beth laughed. “How do you know that? We’ve only just met.”

      Sandy shook her head. “There are things you just know. Things you see. No matter how long you’ve known someone.” She laughed softly. “Like chemistry. Don’t worry. If I make a play for someone, it won’t be Keith.”

      “What?”

      “There’s chemistry going between you two, and if you say it isn’t, well, then you’re a liar.”

      “I’m too moral to be a liar, aren’t I?” Beth queried lightly.

      Sandy still seemed caustically amused. “Well, he feels attracted to you. I see his eyes when you just walk by. And to be truthful, that’s why I’d never make a play for him. Why bother? He’s preoccupied. Actually, I don’t play games. And I don’t think Brad would, either. She just really pisses me off.”

      “It seems as if you and Brad do have something...special,” Beth said, feeling a little lame but also really uncomfortable. When she looked at the woman, she wanted to shout, What the hell were you looking for today? A skull?

      Both women turned to stare at Brad then. Apparently his coffee was perked, and he had gone to the trouble of making Irish coffee; he had a bottle of Jameson’s out, as well.

      “Hey, I’d actually like one of those,” Beth said, ready to get up and end what was becoming too intimate a conversation with someone she didn’t know—and didn’t trust. She rose. “Come on, we’ll both head over there, and it won’t look like you’re worried in the least.”

      Sandy flashed her a quick glance, and she realized that the woman had been worried. But Brad hadn’t done any instigating, and Amanda was being just as flirtatious with every available guy there.

      Beth headed over to the fire and told Brad, “That’s definitely a different drink for a night on an island. I’d love one.”

      “Sure. Sandy?”

      “Sounds good to me, too. I’d love one.”

      Brad mixed up two mugs. “Club Med has nothing on us, huh?” he teased, sliding an arm around Sandy’s shoulders.

      “No, we’re just a regular party,” Beth agreed.

      “Food’s ready!” Ben called out. “Someone grab some plates, please.”

      Roger was the first one to oblige, and he became the official hand-’em-outer. Everyone found seats, in the hammock, on blankets or towels on the sand, or in the few folding chairs they’d brought out. For the next several minutes, compliments to the chef rang out.

      “Hey, how about me?” Lee teased. “I led the fishing expedition.”

      “I know, and it was a hell of a good time,” Ben told him.

      “Maybe we should have gone along,” Sandy told Brad.

      “Yeah, maybe,” Brad said, grimacing.

      “There’s always tomorrow,” Matt offered.

      “Tomorrow. Sunday,” Sandy said, and shivered. “Just Monday and then back to the real world. Work on Monday.”

      “What do you do?” Beth asked her.

      “Do?”

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