Page 97 of Ten Beach Road

Then, although she hadn’t realized it was possible to kiss all the way into oblivion, she must have figured out how to do it. Because all of a sudden, everything went dark.

“Avery?” There was that rumble under her ear again. “Ave?”

She tried to burrow into the sound. “Hmmmm?”

“Avery, you’ve been sleeping on my arm so long it’s gone numb. Put your arms up around my neck. I’m going to carry you into the pool house and put you to bed.” Her arms slid up as directed. There was movement. “That’s it. Hold on.”

Her arms clung to his neck as he rose, taking her with him. Her mind was a lovely blank except for the strong arms and solid wall of chest. The world had stopped spinning, but she held on anyway. The word “bed” made her feel all warm and tingly. Her nipples strained against the thin fabric of her T-shirt and there was a deep tug between her legs. If this was a dream, she wasn’t anywhere near ready to wake up.

Then there was another voice. One that she knew. But it wasn’t at all warm or rumbly.

In fact, it was the tone of shock in it that roused her.

“Avery?” the voice said. “Avery, what’s wrong?” And then, “What in the hell are you doing to her, Hardin?”

Avery’s eyes flew open. It took them a moment to adjust to the sunlight and bring the person standing in front of them into focus. Recognition hit her like a pail of ice water. The voice belonged to Trent. Trent Lawson, her ex-husband.

“Where’s Trent?” Deirdre asked that evening over sunset drinks. “Is he going to join us for dinner?” She looked closely at Avery as if she knew her well enough to glean the answer just from studying her face.

The rain was finally gone, and while Avery wouldn’t have called the air refreshing, it had cooled things off a bit. Except for the flush of heat she felt each time she remembered her behavior that day.

“I can’t believe we missed all the excitement,” Madeline said. “Did you really get high from the polyurethane?”

Avery winced. The details were mercifully sketchy, except for the fact that she’d been clinging to Chase like a second skin when Trent showed up out of nowhere.

“We could have saved a ton on alcohol this summer if we’d known,” Nicole added, handing her version of mango daiquiris around. “I’m pretty sure a gallon of poly is less expensive than a gallon of good rum.”

“And apparently faster acting,” Avery said as she declined the drink to stare out over the Gulf. It was difficult to decide which part of today she didn’t want to think about most.

“It’s a lucky thing Chase was here. If you’d been exposed to the fumes any longer, there could have been serious consequences,” Deirdre said.

As opposed to abject humiliation. “Yes,” Avery said. “I certainly feel lucky.”

“So where is Trent?” Deirdre asked again. “And what did he want?”

Avery continued to stare out over the water. The sky had lightened to a pale gray shot through with even paler pink streaks. As hazy as her memory of all that had come before still was, the conversation with Trent was excruciatingly sharp.

“He asked me to come back toHammer and Nail.”

There was a brief silence as they all processed this bit of information.

“Well, I hope he apologized first for letting them treat you the way they did on that show.” The comment was from Deirdre again. Her tone was fierce.

Avery looked at her in surprise. “I thought you were such a big fan of Trent’s. As I recall you sent me a letter of congratulations after we announced our engagement, telling me how lucky I was to ‘land him.’ ” She’d torn the letter up, furious that Deirdre had presumed to comment, but had secretly agreed.

“We all make mistakes,” Deirdre said. “On paper, he seemed perfect for you. But he didn’t love you anywhere near as much as he seemed to love himself. I’ve been in Hollywood long enough to know that what you see is often not what you get. And I got Trent all wrong.”

“It happens,” Nicole said quietly. “Even the people you think you know the best can shit all over you. If you ever find anyone who puts you first, you need to hold on to them.”

“Your father put me first, but I was too young to understand how rare that was. Or that it might never happen again.” Deirdre was looking at the sunset now, too.

Avery considered the women around her. All of them looked solemn. Maddie’s eyes glistened with tears. Kyra just looked wistful, but she didn’t chime in with her usual comment about Daniel and their love for each other. Maybe she’d run out of excuses for why he hadn’t shown up yet. Not that having your past materialize unexpectedly before your eyes felt like such a good thing at the moment.

“So?” Nicole asked. “Are you going to do it? What did you tell him?”

All of their gazes fixed on her, but she knew it was out of concern and not just idle curiosity. It was odd how important they’d become to her, how reassuring it was to know she wasn’t slogging through everything alone. Well, everyone but Deirdre anyway.

She hesitated for a few moments, remembering how reluctant Chase had been to put her down and leave her with Trent. He’d bristled like a guard dog, practically growling at Trent, until she’d convinced him she was capable of talking for herself.

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