Nothing But Trouble (25 page)

She checked the mail, discarded a handful of
junk and set aside some bills. The flowers needed watering so she
took care of that as well. It took twenty minutes to scroll through
e-mail, half of which was spam. One was from her sister, checking
on the progress of the car. Rebecca shot her a quick response, and
tried not to let the mention of the car force her to think of
R.J.

A girls' night out could not have come at a
better time.

With thirty minutes to go, she decided now
was a good time to head to Court's. The sooner she got there, the
sooner she could start drowning her problems away. She gathered the
bottles of liquor in a paper sack, and loaded everything, including
her overnight bag, into the car.

Courtney's farmhouse rental, which Rebecca
used to share, wasn't in town. The place was one of those turn of
the century Victorian farmhouses that hadn't seen an update in two
decades. Every corner of the place creaked and groaned and the
single pane windows were a nightmare in the middle of a harsh
Wyoming winter. The forty acres the house sat on still belonged to
the family members of the original owners of the home. They raised
beef cattle, but had built a newer home and decided to keep the
original structure as a rental.

Rebecca took the back roads through various
neighborhoods. She told herself the wayward route had nothing to do
with avoiding R.J.'s shop, and more to do with killing time.

Yeah, that was it.

She arrived at her friend's house fifteen
minutes early, only to see Avery was already there. R.J.'s
sister-in-law never did anything late. She was always on time or
early. Rebecca had no clue how she managed to do that while raising
two kids and devoting so much time to the youth center.

The sun was inching its way toward the
foothills as Rebecca climbed out of her car. She gathered her
belongings from the back seat, walked to the six-foot wide
wrap-around porch and knocked on the stained-glass door.

Rebecca had always loved it out here. The
hundred-year-old home was surrounded by nothingness and lent a
peaceful solitude not found in town. At first she hadn't understood
why Courtney had decided to remain in the home after Rebecca had
moved out. But being out here reminded her of why her friend
stayed.

No one answered her knock, so she rang the
bell.

A second later, her childhood friend opened
the door. For as long as she'd known her, Courtney had always taken
liberties with her appearance. Especially her hair. Courtney had
always gone for bold colors. A strip of hot pink here and there.
Short spiky and red. Several years ago, she'd pierced her nose with
a tiny silver stud.

That all changed three years ago when
Courtney had been in a horrible car accident. Ever since then she'd
been understated and natural. Not at all like the Courtney that
Rebecca had grown up with.

"Oh, good, you brought lots of drinks,"
Courtney said with a sigh of relief. "It completely slipped my mind
so I don't have anything here. But," she continued as she stepped
back to let Rebecca enter. "I do have a blender."

It wasn't uncommon for Courtney to forget
something. Or a few things. Like a conversation she'd had the day
before.

Courtney closed the door behind them, and
they made their way through the small foyer and down the narrow
hallway. The original wide-planked wooden floors creaked beneath
their footsteps, just as they had done when she still lived
there.

"Luckily for us, Avery was smart enough to
bring lots of ice and margarita mix. I like to feel like I'm
contributing by providing the blender."

"And a place for us to all crash," Rebecca
added.

Courtney let out an airy laugh. "That too.
Lacy called; she's going to be late as usual. She said Chase was
freaking out at the idea of being with all four kids alone. So she
had to make out a list of their routines and get them set up with
dinner before she could make her escape."

Lacy had married Courtney's and R.J.'s
step-brother five years ago, and was a tremendously talented
artist. Somewhere in the middle of raising four kids under the age
of five, she managed to sell her drawings that earned her a nice
living.

Rebecca had one hanging in her bedroom.

Courtney pushed through the kitchen door so
Rebecca could set her bag of drinks down. Avery, who looked sleek
and stunning as always, was rinsing something in the sink. The way
the woman put herself together so flawlessly always made Rebecca
feel like she needed to smooth down her own hair.

Because Avery was so genuinely nice, Rebecca
forgave the woman her perfection.

"I don't know how Lacy does it," Avery said,
who must have heard them talking in the hallway. Sounds tended to
carry in the old house. "As much as I always wanted a big family,
I'm kind of glad we only have the two girls."

"Who are the sweetest things ever," Courtney
added.

Avery grinned and turned the tap off. "Tell
me about it. I don't know how Noah and I got so lucky."

Rebecca didn't know many of the details, but
Avery and Noah had suffered from infertility for many years. They
had Lily, who was now five and a half, and a one year old adopted
daughter named Amanda.

Courtney had told her that about two years
after having Lily, Avery found out she had endometriosis. The
condition was fairly common and could make conceiving a child very
difficult or even impossible. Over the span of three years, Avery
had suffered from three miscarriages. Rebecca couldn't imagine
enduring so many losses, especially for such wonderful people like
Avery and Noah.

After all that, Noah hadn't wanted his wife
to go through the agony of losing another child, so they'd adopted.
Rebecca had never seen Amanda, only a few pictures of her around
Courtney's home. The child had dark hair, dark eyes and had
captured everyone's hearts from the moment they met her.

"Well, now that half of us are here, I say we
go ahead and get smashed," Courtney announced.

Rebecca removed wine bottles one by one from
the sack.

Avery had the blender set up with a bag of
ice next to it. She had fresh limes and watermelon, which she'd
already started slicing.

"What's with the watermelon?" Courtney
asked.

Avery tossed Courtney a surprised look. "For
the watermelon margaritas. Remember?"

Rebecca started uncorking the wine bottles as
Courtney rolled her eyes. "Duh," she said. "And you're surprised I
forgot that?"

Avery chuckled and squeezed lime juice into
the blender. "Actually, no."

"I feel like my Chardonnay is a little too
fancy," Rebecca stated. "Did I overdo it with my five bottles?"

"Trust me, they'll get used," Courtney said
as she pulled glasses out of cupboards.

Avery poured ice in the blender, then lifted
a bottle off the counter. "What are we using the Grenadine
for?"

"Shirley Temples for Elisa since she can't
drink," Courtney answered.

"I hope she doesn't throw them up," Avery
muttered.

"Brody says she's been doing better."

Avery grinned, then hit the power button on
the blender. "Maybe she can be our designated driver."

"Uh-uh," Courtney jabbed a finger at both
Rebecca and Avery. "A girls' night means all night. You're staying
here whether you like it or not."

Avery winked at Rebecca. "Good thing I packed
clean underwear."

"
So instead of taking
Kevin to the potty where he's supposed to go, Chase takes the kid
outside and tells him to pee in a bush," Lacy said as she waved a
hand in the air, gently sloshing her margarita over the side of the
delicate glass. Courtney's sister-in-law was toeing the line of
smashed.

"That's what little boys are supposed to do,"
Courtney announced as she poured another glass of wine.

Rebecca was still nursing her second
margarita two hours after everyone had arrived. She was
considerably behind pace with everyone else, with the exception of
Elisa, who'd consumed three Shirley Temples.

"Not when you're trying to potty train them,"
Lacy shot back. She slid from the couch to the floor, next to
Megan, and crossed her legs.

"Think of it this way," Lacy's sister said.
"That's less pee to clean up off the floor."

For some reason Courtney found Megan's
statement hilarious. Her burst of laughter caused her to spit some
wine on the area rug, but she didn't seem to care. She took another
sip and set the glass on an end table.

"I think Court's had enough to drink," Avery
stated.

"You've had more than I have," she argued.
Then she giggled. "You just hold it better than I do."

"Actually, I think you have us all beat,"
Rebecca said.

Courtney pulled her hair-tie out and shook
the strands free. "Hey, don't judge me. We were supposed to do this
a long time ago, but someone could never commit," she said with a
pointed look at Lacy.

"That's because your brother kept knocking me
up," she argued without any heat in her voice.

"Maybe you should have tried birth control,"
Court said.

Lacy chucked a pillow at her friend. "Bitch.
Only one of my children was a surprise."

Elisa giggled.

"Actually all four of your kids were
surprises," Megan chimed in.

Yes," Lacy agreed while holding up her index
finger. "But I was on birth control with the last three, which was
the whole point of our discussion." Her brows lowered over her eyes
and she shot questioning glances at everyone. "Wasn't it?"

Courtney laughed so hard that she actually
squirted some of her drink out. "I don't know," she managed in
between chuckles.

"I don't think any of us has a clue what's
going on," Rebecca added as she drained the last of her
margarita.

"Except for Elisa," Avery added. "She's the
only one here smart enough to stay sober."

"Only because I'm pregnant," Brody's wife
complained from her spot in front of the fireplace. "Otherwise I'd
be right there with you."

"I'm sorry, but I do not envy you," Lacy said
with more laughter.

By Rebecca's estimation, Lacy and Courtney
had been laughing for fifteen straight minutes. She figured they'd
finally entered the drunk realm where everything was funny. Avery
was close behind them, because she was starting to sway in her
chair.

Rebecca figured the women were just so
excited to be kid-free for one night, they planned on taking
advantage of the situation.

"I'm taking this away from you," Megan said,
then she plucked the watermelon margarita out of Lacy's hand and
placed it on the coffee table.

"Hey," Lacy complained.

"Don't let her have any more," Elisa
said.

Courtney waved her glass in the air. "You're
too uptight, Megan. We need to get you laid."

"I have plenty of sex, thank you very
much."

Her words had Avery guffawing, and even
Rebecca giggled.

"In a non-whorish kind of way," Megan added,
then sniggered at her own words. "Shut up," she said to the room in
general.

"We're all grown-ups here, it's okay to talk
about sex," Avery countered.

Courtney gasped and set her drink down.
"That's what we should do. We should take turns telling each other
about our first times. And who we did it with. Or," she continued.
"You could opt for the craziest place you've ever done it. You go
first," Courtney said with a nod to Lacy.

"Why do I have to go first?" Lacy
complained.

"I'll go first," Avery offered. "The craziest
place I've ever done it is in one of Noah's construction trailers
on a job site."

Silence followed her statement, and someone
coughed. They all stared at Avery, as though expecting her to
elaborate with something naughtier.

Finally Lacy said, "That's really lame."

Avery threw a discarded cherry at Lacy's
head. "Then you come up with something better, Miss
I-didn't-want-to-go-first."

"All right, fine." Lacy flipped a chunk of
hair over her shoulder and set her glass down. "I'd say it's a
toss-up between a fitting room and a restaurant bathroom."

"Ew," Avery said.

"Do you have any idea how many germs are in a
public bathroom?" Elisa asked.

"A bathroom, Lace?" Courtney asked with
raised brows. "Even I have my limits."

"You're the one who wanted to play this
game," she shot back. "I can't help it if my husband finds me
irresistible. And I think the twins were conceived in the fitting
room," she muttered to herself.

Rebecca just about choked on her drink. "How
do you know?"

"I think Courtney should go next," Megan
blurted out. "Since this was her idea."

"Okay." Court downed the last of her drink
and set it on the carpet where it tilted over on its side. "Despite
what everyone here thinks, I haven't had a lot of crazy sex before.
But I did do it on the hood of a car once."

"Was that with Grant?" Avery asked with a sly
grin.

Courtney's eyes hardened. "Please do not say
that name in my presence."

"Who's Grant?" Megan asked.

"Sorry," the other woman answered with an eye
roll. "I meant the lying, cheating rat bastard."

"What am I missing here? Who's Grant?" Megan
demanded again.

Lacy stretched her legs in front of her.
"Grant was Courtney's fiancé that none of us knew about."

Courtney shook her head. "We were never
engaged."

Rebecca shot her friend a droll look. "Court,
you had a ring."

"Lying, cheating bastards don't have the
right to call themselves 'fiancé'." Courtney tossed her hands in
the air in an exasperated gesture. "How did we even get on this
subject anyway?"

"Well, you said you'd done it on the hood of
a car, then Avery asked if that was with Grant," Rebecca said,
knowing it would get even more of a rise out of her friend.