Chapter 15

I loved the late afternoon sun, because its harshness was no longer a potent force. The sun was a big burning orbl of orange sitting in the western sky, giving the horizon a splash of vibrant color. I felt recharged after witnessing the playful frolicking of nature. I decided to do something productive with the rest of my day, like wash my car.

The salt air is notorious for damaging a car's paint job. I had been living ocean side for a few weeks now. I'm sure that my car was calling me all kinds of obscene names. Statistics show that 80% of the American population talks to their cars. I wonder out of that percentage, just how many of the cars talk back.

As I was doing soaking up the car with a sponge, a pale cream BMW pulled into the driveway. A tall tanned blonde climbed out, wearing a white sleeveless linen dress. She looked around before focusing on me. As she studied me for an extra long moment, I fleetingly wondered if I had an extra eye in my forehead. She marched over to me, demanding, "Who are you?"

I paused my soapy sponge maneuvers, "Miss Rosewood, and who are you?"

She looked over her expensive sunglasses at me, "I am Mrs. O'Brien. Where is Mr. O'Brien?" She haughtily replied.

“Perry? He’s not here but I’m expecting him very soon. May I give him a message?” I asked sweetly.

“No, I know where he is,” she said sharply over her shoulder, as she marched to her car. With a squeal from her tires, she sped off.

I smiled and waved as she drove away, knowing she was watching me in her rearview mirror. “What a bitch!” I thought to myself. I have never cared for the type of woman she portrays; “The holier than thou type.” I couldn’t imagine what Perry saw in her, but then he’s a man and all men were unpredictable when it came to choosing a mate.

A flash of jealousy jolted me, as I realized that I disliked her because she was Perry’s ex-wife. The weeks alone with no other company save Wade and occasionally Perry were wearing on me. Not once has Perry shined any romantic light my way, other than a beam of friendship. I made a mental note to ask Wade if there were any local hangouts for single adult people to mingle after hours. I made myself concentrate on washing my car and not linger on the question that kept running through my mind—why was Perry’s ex-wife on the island?

I was on the final rinse when Perry returned. He parked his truck beside my clean vehicle. I imagine my car taunted his truck for being so dirty. Taking a deep breath I warned Perry about his visitor, “Perry, twenty minutes ago a Mrs. O’Brien was here looking for Mr. O’Brien. I told her you weren’t around and she left spinning tires.” I pointed to the tread marks left on the asphalt.

His dark unreadable blue eyes followed my finger. As if I hadn’t spoken, he said, “I thought it was too late for you to cook, so I grabbed some Chinese take-out. Let’s go eat on the deck and watch the pelicans fly by.”

He carried a white bag that had red Chinese letters running down the front with one hand and followed me upstairs. A soapy smell tickled my nose. I noticed that his hair was slightly damp from the shower he took at the gym.

I stammered, “But what about Mrs. O’Brien?”

“She doesn’t like Chinese take-out, woman.”