The Summer of Us by Holly Chamberlin

Author:Holly Chamberlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2011-03-27T16:00:00+00:00

Clare

Sex, Lies, and Observations

Gincy called at about eight forty-five and asked if I could meet her for a drink.

Win wasn’t home yet—he’d called to say he was staying late to deal with some work that had piled up while he was on his fishing trip—and I didn’t have anything in particular to do, so I said yes.

Besides, since the night with Finn, I’d felt oddly uncomfortable in my own home. Almost as if I had no right to be there.

And maybe I didn’t.

I got to Flash’s a half hour later and met Danielle in the vestibule, also just arriving.

“Did she tell you why she wants to see us?” she asked, a woman on a mission.

I shrugged. “No idea.”

Together we went inside and found Gincy slumped in one of the comfy chairs by the window facing onto Stuart Street.

“Hey,” she said, almost sheepishly. “Thanks for coming.”

“It’s no problem,” I said, thinking of how I’d dragged her to that perfectly lovely, perfectly awful baby shower.

If Gincy needed help, I owed her.

We sat and gave our drink orders to the waiter. When he’d gone, Danielle folded her hands in her lap, all business.

“Spill,” she commanded.

So Gincy told us about Rob, her blind date, the Cher impersonator.

“I can’t believe you went on a blind date!” Danielle hissed. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell us what you were up to! Do you know how dangerous that could have been? What if the guy was a rapist or something!”

“I can’t believe I told you even after the fact,” Gincy muttered. “What’s happening to me?”

“What’s happening,” Danielle went on, “is that you’re learning—slowly—to trust us. We’re all becoming friends. Isn’t it great?”

Gincy groaned but Danielle was undeterred.

“Well, I think it’s great. And don’t you feel better for confessing?”

“It wasn’t a confession!” Gincy protested. “I didn’t do anything wrong! If I’d committed a crime do you think I would have told you?”

Danielle shook her head. “I think maybe you would have. Say, if you cheated on a guy you were committed to. I think it would feel good to get such an awful burden off your chest. Get some perspective. You know.”

“Uh,” Gincy said, looking absolutely miserable, “speaking of awful burdens, there’s something else. I didn’t exactly tell the truth about what happened with that guy Jason.”

Danielle gasped and quickly filled me in.

“So, what did happen that night?” Danielle then demanded.

“Nothing. I couldn’t have sex with him. It felt too weird. I kept thinking about Rick and I felt all guilty. So I just left. You know, in the middle of things. I’m not such a horrible person after all, right? At least, in terms of Rick. I’m pretty sure Jason thinks I’m scum.”

Danielle beamed. “I am so proud of you! Aren’t you proud of Gincy, Clare? You kept your promise to Rick.”

“We don’t have a promise,” Gincy protested, but weakly.

Danielle continued to chatter on about Gincy’s moral courage. I feigned great interest in my colorful drink, hoping to hide the guilt I knew was all over my face.

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