The New Ever After (The New Ever After Series) (9 page)

On Wednesday morning, Peter was up and ready early for their sailing adventure
. Heather could see how excited he was to get out on the water, and she was anxious to put her feet up and enjoy the sun. She got up and threw on a bathing suit. Fortunately, the ointment seemed to be working miracles and the rash was finally improving.

"You ready to hit the sea?" she asked Peter as she walked up behind him on the lanai
.

"I'm ready to be out there enjoying the boat with you."

"Me too."

They packed a few things for their sail and walked hand in hand down to the harbor in silence
. The guy in charge of taking them out to the boat was waiting for them when they arrived. Heather had only been on a sailboat once when she had been about Henry's age. Her uncle had kept a boat in Annapolis, and they had gotten to hang out on the boat for a little while...while it was tied to the dock. He must have been scared to take them out on the water. But that was her only experience with sailboats. She was guessing it would be a lot of work, and she wasn't sure how she, klutz-of-the-year, could possibly help Peter.

"Hey, man," said Peter to the boat hand.

"Ready to sail?" he asked Peter.

"I think so," said Peter letting go of Heather's hand as he jumped off the dock.

They took a dinghy out to the boat and got ready to set sail. The guy from the harbor prepped their boat and agreed to be back at 3 o'clock with the dinghy. Peter readied the sails. He had his shirt off, and Heather could see where he had gotten some of his well-toned muscles. She knew she could sit all day and watch him sail a boat in this Caribbean paradise. She sat back and enjoyed the peace and quiet and the wind on her face. Being stuck in this tropical reality without a phone or any responsibilities let Heather truly relax. She couldn't remember a time that she had ever felt this stress free. On previous vacations with Hank, there had always been worries about money. Money was never a concern with Peter. They were free to do whatever they wanted on this vacation and that alone was a liberating feeling. Her mind wandered though, and she couldn't help but think about Jenny and what she planned to say to her. She was going to head to her house on Saturday when they got back and tell her. She couldn't stand the thought of holding it in and being in the same town and not letting Jenny know what she had seen. It was going to devastate Jenny. The fact that he was with Victoria was all the worse. It would probably be an extra slap in the face. Heather tried to think of ways she could help. She and Peter had talked about having Jenny and the kids stay with them for a bit so they could have some space. She was prepared to do anything to help her friend. She just had to get home and tell her.

Peter caught her staring off into space. "Enjoying yourself or fretting about something?"

"A little of both. You're doing pretty well there, Sport," said Heather.

"Sport?"

"It seemed appropriate. This is perfect. How do you feel?"

"Feels good
. It feels good to be out on the water again. I haven't sailed since I met you."

Peter threw down the anchor and they stopped and snorkeled along a little atoll and ate their picnic lunch. Life felt pretty perfect to Heather. Swimming in the Carib
bean with fish of all colors stripped all of Heather’s worries away. It was impossible to think about the 2-3-1-1-3 when such peaceful beauty surrounded you.

“I could get used to this,” said Heather.

“The sailing or the island?”

“Both. It’s so calm out here.
No one can find you. It’s like we’re the only two people in the world.” It felt amazing to Heather to be truly alone with Peter. No kids to interrupt them, no work or cellphones and no admiring fans.

“It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with sailing. The solitude and the ability to concentrate and think was something I craved in my life.”

Peter sat next to her on the boat. He leaned over, pushed her long wet hair out of her face and kissed her.

“Thank you for coming away with me. Never did I think my life would be what it is right now. I didn’t realize what I was missing until you gave me everything,” he said before kissing her again.

“I love you. I promise I’ll work harder on not being crazy.”

“Your crazy’s not all that bad as long as I can have you like this some of the time too.”

“You can…you absolutely can.”

Heather made her self comfortable and Peter sailed the boat back.
Heather immersed herself in this island of no worries. They walked back to their room hand in hand.

"What would you like to do this afternoon, Mrs. Adamson?"

"What about an afternoon nap?"

"Perfect."

They showered off and got in bed naked, a nice treat when there was no chance of any of the five children walking in.

After their nap, Peter thought swimming was in order, swimming without suits again. He was enjoying watching Heather acting uninhibited. He went to the bathroom and Heather got up and walked out onto the lanai. She stopped in her tracks as she found the pool man staring at her very naked body. Peter was two steps behind her.

"Excuse me, ma'am
. I'll go now," said a very embarrassed pool man. Peter laughed.

"No worries, man
. We'll wait in here. You can finish your work," said Peter as he led Heather inside.

"Oh my gosh! He saw me naked
. All of me and my leftover rash. He must think I am a freak or some kind of sex fiend."

"You gave him something to talk about and to remember for a long time."

"Well, that's it for naked swimming for me. That cured me of any desire."

Peter laughed as he watched her
grab a bathing suit and close the bathroom door. He put a swimsuit on too, grabbed his phone and sat down on a lounge chair by the pool while the pool man finished his work. Even though he had forced Heather to stay off of her phone for the week he still needed to check a few things. And he had noticed earlier there was a text that he needed to deal with.

“Dude! I can’t use my phone but you can be on yours?” she asked, grabbing it from his hand before he was able to take care of the text he was reading.

“I was just answering a text.”
And a text you probably don’t want to see,
he thought.

“WHAT?
A text from Aiden?” she said and read the text out loud.

Peter, I’d love for you to look at my new manuscript. It’s a love story about a college student and her mentor.

“
Seriously? Are you freaking kidding me?”

Aiden was Peter’s old assistant
. She was a beautiful blonde in her early twenties. She wanted to be a writer and wanted Peter for herself. He had fired her after she had announced Heather’s pregnancy on twitter. Heather’s arrival in his life had made Aiden act a little crazy and a lot jealous.

“I know
. I’m not going to read it. That’s what I was about to write back.”

“I want to read it! I want to see if she’s really writing about you!”

“A little jealous, Mrs. Adamson?”

“Definitely. I want her to know she can’t have you even in her writing.”

“Well, she can’t and you know that.”

“Does she text you a lot?”

“No. This is the first one in a while. I want to appease her and make sure she doesn’t make anymore trouble for us though.”

“I want to tell her to fuck off and to leave my husband alone.”

“How about we just delete it and I don’t answer it at all?”

“What will you tell her if she texts again?”

“I’ll handle it then. Maybe I’ll pawn her off on Richard.”

Which was exactly what he intended to do to keep Aidan happy and quiet
. Richard, his agent, could do whatever he wanted with her manuscript. Peter wasn’t even sure she had one to begin with. He thought she might just be trying to get a rise out of Heather…and that worked.

“Let’s forget about Aiden and her book.” Peter smacked his lips on Heather’s dis
tracting her the only way he knew how.

After a perfect week filled with sun and easy living, they headed back to reality. Peter returned Heather’s phone back to its normal state as the car pulled away from the hotel for the airport
.

"Holy shit, I have 17 texts!" yelled Heather.

"What on earth did you miss?" asked Peter.

Heather opened them up
.

Monday

8:35 Matt: I really need to talk to u.

10:00 Matt: Are you ignoring me?

11:03 Matt: k Jenny just told me u r away. When u get this pls call me

2:05 Victoria: Give me a shout when you have a minute sweetie.

Tuesday

11:15 Victoria: Too busy for me?

3:37 Matt: I'm sending u an email. Maybe u will get that.

Wednesday

5:30 Matt: Heather, I can't stand it anymore I have to tell Jenny.

5:31 Victoria: I don't know what you think you saw but you didn't see anything
. But it's made poor Matt feel so guilty he's about to turn our lives upside down for nothing.

5:31 Matt: I'm taking Jenny out tonight and confessing the whole thing
. Victoria is acting crazy and I can't deal with her anymore. The only way to end it is to tell Jenny.

9:00 Jenny: How could you fucking know about Matt and Victoria and not tell me? Were you ever going to tell me?

9:02 Jenny: My life is over. My marriage is over and you knew and you're on fucking vacation.

9:05 Matt: I'm sorry but I had to tell her you saw us
. I knew it would get out. She's really mad.

9:06 Jenny: How could you leave when you knew what was happening?
You talked to me when you knew. You didn't even mention it. You were supposed to be my best friend.

9:07 Jenny: I stood with you through everything
. And you're not here for me.

10:00 Victoria: If this gets out I am holding you responsible. You will ruin
Ken's career. You will ruin everything I have.

Thursday

12:03 Jenny: Our friendship will not recover from this betrayal. Don't call me or try to contact me
.

12:04 Jenny: And I quit.

8:00 Janie: Don't worry. I'm helping your mom. I spoke to Jenny. It will be ok.

Peter saw the tears and knew what had happened. He just wrapped his arms around her.

"Let me see, baby." Heather handed him her phone.

"First of all, Victoria is a fucking bitch. She did this to herself, so ignore all that crap. I'm glad Matt told Jenny. She’ll come around. You two are so close. She just needs some time."

"I don't know if she'll recover
. I don't know if I would forgive me if I were her."

"There's nothing you can do at this moment. We have three flights to get through before we get home."

"I wish you hadn't made me turn off my texts."

"That wouldn't have changed anything
. Jenny still would have been pissed. Matt still would have told her, and Victoria still would be acting crazy." He did feel guilty, but their week had been so amazing that he wasn't about to let this wreck it.

"I know, but I could have dealt with it then."

"And tainted our week."

Heather turned and looked out the window watching the palm trees go by
.

How could I let this happen? Why didn't I tell her right away? I've lost my best friend. My right hand
, she thought.

Heather and Jenny had never had a fight before
. The kids teased them about fighting all the time. Gracie used to think they were fighting when they were trying to decide who would do something or who would pay for whatever they were getting. But they weren't fighting and this fight was breaking Heather's heart. She’d already lost one husband; she couldn’t lose her best friend too. Jenny wasn't one of those friends who could just disappear without a trace either. They had been through too much together. This couldn't end...it couldn't dissolve.

Peter broke the silence. "How could he hook up with Victoria? I just don't understand why he'd do that."

"I don't either. I'm texting Jenny now. I don't care if she ignores it. I have to do it before I get on all these freaking airplanes. I don't want anything to happen to me without her knowing that I was going to tell her and that I’m sorry."

Peter knew there was no way to change Heather's mind
, and he wanted it all to be her decision anyway.

8:36 Heather: Jenny, I wanted to tell you but I didn't want to tell you and leave you alone for a week. I was planning to tell you this evening as soon as I got home. I guess I never thought you'd find out this week. I didn’t see your texts until just now. My heart is breaking for all you are going through. I am here for you and I'm not going to let you give up on our friendship. I will help you get through this. I love you. I’m so sorry. Xo

She wasn't sure Jenny would even see it. And she was positive she wouldn't respond. But she had to do it for herself. Peter grabbed her hand and held it. Heather looked down at her phone and a little tag popped up under the text:

Read at 8:38 a.m.

At least she knew Jenny did see it. She sighed and set the phone down in her lap.

"Quick drink when we get to the airport?"

"No, I don't even care right now."

Peter wished thei
r vacation wasn't ending on such a sour note. He couldn't remember a more intimate and amazing time he had ever had with anyone. Heather made him feel things he didn't know existed. And he worried about her. He knew this whole thing with Jenny would devastate her.