The Do-Over(73)

“I will,” she promised. “Stacy would have been so pleased to see this.”

Her comment hit my heart harder than I could have imagined. Was it because it was my deepest wish for Stacy to love what I was doing in her honor or was it because my emotions were heightened because I was seeing her brother tonight? Or was it a combination of the two? Regardless, I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded my head.



“I’m really not worried about Wes,” I told Laynie. “He will be professional and not do anything to make me feel uncomfortable. It’s Julien I’m worried about. The man is a wildcard and has no respect for boundaries and for some reason he hates me.”

“Of course he hates you, Tara.” She stated as if the answer was clear as day. “You caught onto his game and cut him off really quickly. He’s not used to that. Because of his looks, he expects women to keep coming back for his sick form of abuse. And it is abuse. You never even tried to contact him. Plus, you get in the way of his bromance. You know what a fraud he is, so he wants to keep you as far away from Wes as possible.”

Pouring my rum whatever from the blender into an insulated travel jug, I’d already lived up to one commitment for the evening. “So, what are you and Scarlett up to tonight?” I asked.

“Oh, we’re going to go into the city, have dinner at Le Cirque and then go downtown to a sex club.”

Laughing, “You two have all the fun. Not fair.”

“Actually we’re doing pizza and a movie. And I promised Scarlett she could wear her tiara.”

“Like literally wear it, bro?” I did an impression of my daughter and we both laughed. “She is so in love with Wes.” I shook my head, smiling.

“Like mother, like daughter.” My friend Laynie pulled no punches. “Now stop hanging out with me and go get dressed or you will be late for this shindig.”

“It’s going to be freaking freezing on that boat,” I muttered as I left the kitchen.

Laynie and Scarlett were on the couch watching Say Yes to the Dress when I emerged.

“Not sexy, but very cute,” was Laynie’s assessment of my outfit, an oversized dark cranberry, funnel neck cashmere sweater, worn jeans and UGG boots.

“I was going for warmth.”

“Let Wes keep you warm.” Laynie had an answer for everything.

“Let me remind you, this is a business function. And I will attempt to conduct myself with the utmost decorum.”

Laynie turned to Scarlett, shaking her head. “Your mother is no fun anymore. I think we need to ditch her.”

And the little traitor laughed.

“Don’t forget to say hi to Wes from me, Mom.” She touched the tiara on top of her head and smiled.

“Wish me luck.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe she chose that dress. That is like literally the ugliest thing on the planet. I would like literally not be caught dead in that really,” Scarlett said to Laynie.

And I quietly slipped out with my jug of rum whatevers while the two of them freaked out over some bride’s bad dress choice.



My anxiety rose the closer I got to the harbor. I was so conflicted about seeing Wes. Part of me was dying to be in his presence and the other part of me wanted to run – fast and far. He said he wanted a do-over. And that is what my heart wanted. I loved him. There was no doubt in my mind about that. But I just kept thinking, Screw me over once, shame on you. Screw me over twice, shame on me. What if this was his M.O. when shit got tough? And that really scared me, both for me and for Scarlett. She had already been through a divorce and a father who put his child bride before his daughter. She’d hit it off with Wes the same way I had. We meshed. We got each other. But I feared for her. If this actually was not an anomaly for him brought on by way too much hitting at once, then it wasn’t just my heart that would be broken, my daughter’s would as well. I didn’t know if I could let that happen.

The fall sky had already darkened as I walked with trepidation along the dock toward where the Second Wind was berthed. I just wanted the evening to pass without incident, to successfully avoid confrontation with Julien and to peacefully co-exist with Wes and not incur any further fissures in my already fracking heart.

Wes was on deck stringing lights as I approached. He was a man who could pull off a cream cable-knit sweater and make it look sexy. There were not many who could do that, but he was pulling it off. I took a moment, before he realized I was there, to enjoy his fine ass in faded out jeans. God, I missed him.

“Tara,” he greeted me with a smile.

“Am I early?” I appeared to be the first to arrive.

Wes came and took the heavy bag with the rum jug from me and extended a hand to help me down onto the boat.

“Hey, would you give me a hand with these lights?”

“Sure.” I grabbed the strand and held them as high as I could while he attached small clear suction cups with hooks and placed the strand of lights into the hooks. His body grazing against mine was just destroying me and even though he seemed to be engrossed in the task at hand, I thought this has got to be messing with him, too.

“So, is everyone else late?” I asked, my throat suddenly dry.

His face was just inches from mine as he turned to me and shook his head no, his lips twitching as he failed to hide a smile.