Page 53 of Nothing Less than Magic
“Give it a rest, Ginger.” This from Amanda, who looks from Ginger to Sadie. “You two make it sound like we’re living in a hellhole, which we’re not. Not once have I ever been afraid to walk around here at night, except for maybe the bears. Or a wolf. They’re back, you know? There’s a whole pack roaming the Sierra. Anyway, I wouldn’t trade this place for anywhere in the world, not even a beach in Mexico, which would be my dream vacation if I ever got one.”
Sadie is no longer paying attention; something across the bar has her distracted. We follow her line of sight and see it.Her. Sienna. She’s sitting up on a stool, talking across the bar with Katie.
“I heard she moved to Truckee,” Ginger says. “And yet, she’s always here. I think that stool has a permanent imprint of her ass.”
“I wouldn’t mind having her ass.” Amanda tilts her head to the side, literally eyeing Sienna’s ass, or at least what she can see of it. “I mean . . . since we’re talking about asses.”
“It doesn’t say a lot for her marriage that she’s always here.” Sadie takes a big gulp of her Ghost Ghoul and shudders. “Katie doesn’t go light on the alcohol, does she?”
“That’s why I keep coming back.” Amanda holds up her drink and smiles. “What do you think is going on with her?” She points her chin in Sienna’s direction.
“What I think is she backed the wrong horse. If she’d chosen Knox, she wouldn’t be spending so much time in bars. Alone.”
“Sadie’s right,” Ginger says. “Anyone who knows Brody could’ve seen this a mile coming. The man just isn’t husband material. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had himself a little side dish.”
“Who has a side dish when they can have Sienna Bates?” Amanda goes in for a smoked wing. “If I had her body, I’d never worry about my husband looking at other women.”
“Have you seen Christie Brinkley?” Ginger looks at Amanda pointedly. “All her husbands cheated. Every single one.”
“Men don’t cheat because their wives aren’t beautiful enough,” I say, and find three pairs of eyes focused on me. “Just saying.”
“Why do they cheat, then?” Amanda is working her way to the stuffed mushrooms.
“There’s a multitude of reasons. Insecurity, boredom, sex, love, selfishness, just to name a few. Rarely is itflaming locks of auburn hairandeyes of emerald green.” The “Jolene” reference is not lost on this crowd.
“Is that what your patients say?” Sadie is keenly interested, and there’s a sadness in her expression that wasn’t there before.
“Some. Look, every case is different. But what I’ve found is that it’s usually more about the cheater than the cheated. A seismic shift in his or her world, something that makes them want to compensate for whatever they’ve lost. A job, youth, their hair”—I try for a weak smile—”you get the idea.”
Sadie nods, but it’s still there, that sadness. She’d already alluded that her marriage was bad, but now I know why.
We circle back around to Sienna, and when the opportunity presents itself, I whisper in Sadie’s ear, “We can talk about it later if you want, in private.”
She pretends she doesn’t hear me, but I know she does.
“All I’m saying is that if she’d stuck with Knox, she wouldn’t be here tonight, looking lonelier than anyone should.”
“Why did she choose Brody?” Until now, I’ve stayed out of it, but in this moment feel emboldened. Or nosy, depending on how you look at it.
“Well . . . he’s Brody.” Amanda laughs, and the other two join in.
I am, of course, lost, having never met Brody.
Amanda reaches for her purse and fishes out her phone, scrolling until there’s a picture of a man filling her screen. He is, by all universal standards, a knockout. Dazzling in all his manly glory. And judging by the gear he’s got on in the photo, a firefighter.
I’m still slightly starstruck when I ask the obvious question: “Why do you have a picture of him in your phone?”
“He’s my first cousin.”
“I can certainly see his appeal.” It’s an understatement. “But you know what they say, beauty is only skin deep.”
“Clearly not to Sienna,” Ginger says. “They’re like freaking Ken and Barbie.”
“It’s not as if Knox isn’t equally appealing.” He may not be as beautiful as Brody, but in my opinion, he’s a head-turner. “But that’s beside the point. It all comes back to the fact that physical attributes actually have very little to do with chemistry.”
“I beg to differ.” Amanda’s lips slide up. “I sure as hell wouldn’t kick Bradley Cooper out of my bed, regardless of chemistry.”
Our glasses are empty, and Katie is the only one working tonight, which is crazy with this crowd. I volunteer to get us a second round at the bar and manage to wedge myself between a plaid shirt—the half-price drinks and five-dollar bites bring in the locals—and Sienna, before getting Katie’s attention. I hold up four fingers.
