Don't Let Go by Nona Raines

Author:Nona Raines [Raines, Nona]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Contemporary
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press Inc.
Published: 2014-04-05T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

When the dance ended, Thom led Dee off the floor, gently taking her by the arm. She was rolling her eyes by the time they reached the table.

“I can make it across the room on my own, you know. I’m not an invalid.” Just the same, she couldn’t hide the tiny smile that told how special her husband made her feel.

Annalee exchanged a glance with Eric, silently acknowledging how lucky Dee and Thom were to have found each other. Dee couldn’t have picked a finer husband, and Thom picked pretty well himself.

Dee gulped down the remainder of her ginger ale and eyed Annalee. “I need to go to the ladies’ room. Come with me?”

Annalee hid her smile. It was a ploy to get away from the guys so Dee could give her the third degree. Dee thought she was slick.

In the ladies’ lounge, Dee zeroed in on the plush velour chaise longue the way a castaway would set sights on a desert island. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” She lowered herself onto it with an “oomph,” then kicked off her shoes. “God, those things are killing me. I’ve gotten so big during this pregnancy, even my feet are fat. Ugh. Who knew you could gain weight in your feet?”

“You’re not fat at all,” Annalee said. “You look beautiful.”

“I know. I glow. Isn’t that what all pregnant women do? Glow?” She swung her legs up, lay down, and wiggled her toes.

“Make yourself at home,” Annalee joked as her friend reclined.

“Thanks, I will. Now all I need are a couple of hunks. One to fan me with a palm frond and one to feed me grapes.”

Annalee took a lipstick from her purse and turned to the mirror to freshen her face. Another woman entered the lounge, and Dee gave her a little wave. The woman smiled and disappeared into a stall.

Dee gave Annalee an innocent look that was anything but. “So. Are you enjoying yourself tonight?”

“I am.” Annalee carefully smoothed the peachy color across her bottom lip.

“I’ve hardly had a chance to talk to you all evening.” Dee gave a mock pout. “Eric’s been hogging you.”

“Hogging me?”

“Dancing almost every dance with you. Sneaking you off into private corners…” She raised her eyebrows, inviting Annalee to share about those private corners.

She’d wait a long time. Avoiding Dee’s curious gaze, Annalee slipped her lipstick into her purse as she remembered the intimate moment in the garden.

“It’s good to see you smile,” Dee said softly.

What an odd thing to say. “What do you mean? I don’t smile enough?”

“Tonight you’re smiling like you really mean it. Not like someone who has to prove how well she’s doing.”

The statement startled her, like a splash of cold water to the face. A toilet flushed behind the closed stall door, and the woman who stepped in a few minutes ago emerged, washed her hands at the sink, and left.

When they were alone, Dee spoke. “I just meant—”

“No. It’s all right.” Annalee’s brain clouded with confusion. She thought she’d moved on, that the divorce no longer affected her.

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