Chasing Abby(59)

“Well, I guess that means we have the house all to ourselves today,” I say, looking over my shoulder at him.
“Don’t get any ideas, Abby. I plan on holding onto my purity until my wedding night.”
“What about that girl you had sex with before we started going out? The one who tried to break us up. What was her name again? Bitch whore slut?”
“Abby!” He clutches his chest, pretending to be appalled. “That is one dirty mouth you’ve got there. Are you sure you’re a virgin?”
“As sure as I am that you’re going to try to feel me up today.”
He nods. “You’re pretty sure.”
“Should we go down there and have breakfast with them? Or should we just wait until they’re gone?”
Caleb swings his legs over the side of the bed and I feel a twinge of guilt to see him still in his T-shirt and jeans. “I wonder why they haven’t come in to check on us.”
“Maybe they don’t want to wake us? Maybe they figured you slept in here so you wouldn’t wake Ryder last night when we got back from the pharmacy? Maybe they’re actually cooler than we thought?”
As soon as I say this, we hear footsteps coming up the stairs. The footsteps pass right by Jimi’s closed bedroom door and continue down the hallway toward Ryder’s room. Junior yells at Ryder to get up and get his swimsuit on. They’re leaving early so they can find a place to set up their stuff on the beach.
“Let’s just wait until they’re gone,” Caleb whispers. “Then we can go to CVS and come back.”
I nod and sit perfectly still for fifteen minutes until they’ve all left the house. I shower in Jimi’s bathroom while Caleb uses the shower downstairs. Then we set off to the pharmacy. Once I have my prescription in hand, I dial my cardiologist’s emergency phone number and leave a message asking if it’s okay for me to take the pill on a Sunday.
“So what do you want to do today? Want to go swimming?” Caleb yells at me to be heard over the roaring rush of wind in our ears as we fly down Highway 74.
I tuck my skirt under my legs, then I close my eyes and the wind washes over my face, coaxing the moisture out the corners of my eyes and making my skin feel stale and tight.
“I want to stay in,” I shout back at him.
When we get home, I see I have a voicemail message from my cardiologist, Dr. Rosenthal. I get out of the car and listen to the message as Caleb puts up the ragtop.
“Good morning, Abby. This is Dr. Rosenthal. I received your message and I’d rather have you skip the dose than take it a day late. Just try not to engage in any strenuous activity this week and call 911 immediately if you have any symptoms of a blockage, such as numbness, speech problems, severe headache, or loss of balance. Hope you’re enjoying your summer at the beach. It’s important for a young girl such as yourself to have some fun. See you next month, Abby.”
“What did he say?” Caleb asks as we climb the steps to the back door.
“He said not to worry about taking it today.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and he said it’s important for a young girl such as myself to have some fun.”
Caleb laughs as we enter the cool air-conditioned living room. “I guess we know what that means.”
“What does that mean?”
Caleb closes the back door then looks at me as if I should know the answer to this question. “Hel-lo? Monopoly!” He grabs my waist and pulls me close. “I’ll be the race car. You can be the thimble.”
I lay my hands on his chest and my stomach flips as he gazes down at me with a hungry look in his eyes. “So, because I’m a woman I have to be the thimble? How sexist. Now I want to be the boot so I can kick your race car in the—”