Page 45 of Trusting You
They were all insane. “What? You guys are exaggerating.”
“Did you seriously not notice how that man looks at you? It is incredible.” Emily giggled into her coffee.
Nora jumped in, “I would kill for someone to look at me that way.”
Maggie looked strangely sad. Since coming home, I had noticed that she seemed off. I had no idea what was going on, but I could see she was hurting, and I wanted to help her. I wanted her to confide in me, trust me to help and support her. But I also knew she would never say anything in front of Nora and Emily.
“Guys,” Nora said, “let’s focus. Skip the true love bullshit. Let’s talk about the fucking. How was his dick?”
“Nora!”
“What? I assume he’s packing. But I want all the deets.” She took a big swig of mimosa and gave me her best innocent face.
“I’m not sharing anything.”
“Come on. Use your hands and just show us.”
“No. This is embarrassing. Jackie and Joe can hear you!”
Of course Jackie chose that exact moment to walk up to take our order. Pen poised on her pad, she was completely nonplussed. “Nothing I haven’t heard before, sweetie. You get some. You deserve it after the way that bastard ex of yours treated you, what with the dick pics and all.”
“How does everyone know my business?”
“Because this is Havenport,” everyone chanted together.
We turned our attention to placing orders with Jackie. Maggie ordered a second mimosa, which was extremely strange. Maggie almost never drank, and she certainly never day drank. I needed to get her alone and find out what was going on with her.
Jackie took our menus. “Do you need a coffee warm-up? Of course you do. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
Silence descended over the table. I wasn’t going to speak first. I prayed Emily would bust out some charming anecdote about her wild kids.
But I should have known better. Nora was like a dog with a bone. “So how was the sex?”
“Don’t mind me, girls,” Jackie said, pouring coffee.
I sat and stewed in my humiliation for a moment. I loved everyone here, but I forgot how nothing was ever private in this damn town. For the first time in weeks, I missed my anonymous New York life.
“And,” Jackie said, still pouring, “it’s an important question, Cecelia. You are all young and beautiful. Don’t waste your lives with men who can’t deliver in the sack.” She had raised her voice and was on the verge of shouting. I looked around and didn’t recognize anyone here, thank God.
“I’ll drink to that!” Nora said, raising her glass. Emily toasted her and giggled.
“Trust me. Joe might be a moron, but he knows how to treat his lady right in the bedroom, which is why we’ve been married forty-nine years.” We all laughed uncomfortably, but it wasn’t surprising. Jackie and Joe screamed at each other for twenty-three hours a day, but everyone in town had a story about how much they secretly loved each other.
After she walked away with the coffee pot, Nora whispered, “My brother Dominic worked here in high school. Said he used to catch Jackie and Joe making out in the back office all the time. Said they would scream at each other and then go at it like teenagers.”
Maggie sighed audibly and looked like she was going to burst into tears. I needed to intercept her second mimosa. She was a lightweight and a very dramatic drunk, if memory served.
“Orgasm count?”
“Stop, you are embarrassing me.”
“Oh, so it was bad?” Nora took a sip of mimosa and gave me a pitying look. Emily held my hand, as if offering moral support.
“Oh my God, you guys it was amazing, okay? Incredible. He is a sex god and I might be obsessed with him. Are you happy now?”
Nora and Emily held up their hands for high-fives. I reluctantly returned them. Maggie just sat there looking miserable.
“So, like, two then?” Nora pushed.
