Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth (best ereader under 100 .TXT) 📗

“But it is okay. Here.”

“But it’s simply not ladylike and very unappealing. Who wants to eat out here with a strange woman’s girls bouncing all around?”

Tamyra looked again. “Well, they haven’t bounced yet.”

“What would these people do if I set mine free?” Winnie asked, reaching for the strap of her bathing suit. “I bet I’d clear this place out in ten minutes flat.”

Tamyra reached for her hand frantically. “Let’s not try it today.”

“What? You don’t think these people would want to see my girls? Just because I can tuck them into the top of my britches doesn’t mean they’re not worth seeing.”

Tamyra couldn’t stop the outburst. The laughter came from somewhere in the depth of her gut. She hadn’t heard it in so long it sounded almost foreign. And before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face. Winnie was laughing too. And when their drinks finally arrived, they were curled up in two heaps of hilarity. The server simply left their drinks on the small teak table between their lounge chairs.

It was fifteen minutes before they could regain their composure. And somewhere in those fifteen minutes, with her back pressed against the lounge chair, legs curled up toward her midsection, hands wrapped around her aching stomach, Tamyra’s eyes caught sight of the sky, the brilliantly blue-colored sky.

* * *

Laine and Riley walked past the Lilly Pulitzer store on their way toward the casino. Laine had zoned out somewhere in the last thirty minutes, and Riley sounded like nothing but white noise in her head. She felt the panic attack as it wrapped its tentacles around her chest and crept up the nape of her neck.

Riley stopped at the top of the staircase leading to the casino. “Laine, you okay?”

Laine tried to shake it, but it seemed to grab her tighter. “I honestly think I’ve gotten enough information for today. I want to relax before dinner.” She hoped she was convincing enough.

“Sure, yeah. Where would you like to go?”

She had to get out of there. “You just pick us something great and make reservations for six.” She turned and tried to refrain from breaking into an all-out sprint.

“I can’t tonight. I’ve got my little . . .”

Laine turned sharply. “I don’t care what you have. Cancel it.” She turned around just as quickly. She heard Riley’s words in the distance and raised her hand to acknowledge them but never looked back. By the time she reached her room, she had broken out in a sweat. She went to the bathroom and pulled the small bottle of antianxiety pills out of her makeup bag. She broke one in half and stuck it in her mouth, then leaned down to scoop water from the faucet.

When her world collapsed, these attacks had started. She didn’t know when they would show up, and lately they had been coming with more frequency, it seemed. She pulled her clothes off and dropped them right there in the middle of the bathroom floor. She stood staring at her exposed body in the mirror. She tugged at her skin, wishing she could shed that too. But it was there. It was a part of her, and no matter how many times she wished she could crawl out of it, there was no separating her from who she was.

The ringing of her phone startled her. She leaned down and tugged the phone from her pocket. There was a slight hope that tore through the vise grip around her chest. She turned the face of the phone toward her, and staring back at her was the number of her office. It was her assistant. Again. It wasn’t Mitchell. She felt the hope sink and the panic escalate. He was never calling her again. She had made sure of it. She dropped the phone back onto the pile of clothes, walked into the suite, and pulled a bottle of rum and a can of Coke from her refrigerator. She poured herself a drink and took a long swig, letting it burn its way down her chest. If she couldn’t will this thing out of her, she’d drown it out. Either way, it was going.

* * *

The umbrella had been covering them for a large portion of the afternoon. Winnie wasn’t sure when she had fallen asleep, but two hours of slumber had overtaken her. She looked up to find Tamyra gone. She scanned the pool but didn’t see her. Her snoring had probably sent the child running.

“Want a bottle of water?” Tamyra asked, extending one from her hand.

Winnie looked up, feeling a sense of relief at the young woman’s presence. She took the bottle from her. “Thank you. I figured I had snored you out of here.”

“You tried,” she said with a smile. “But I just nudged you a little.”

Winnie unscrewed the cap and took a long gulp. She shifted her body up on the cushion and looked across the pool. A young woman whose booty was toward the sun caught her attention. “I promise you that in this life there are two places I will never allow strings: in between my toes and up the crack of my behind.”

Tamyra covered her mouth as she snorted. “Where do you come up with this stuff?” she choked.

Winnie giggled. “Baby girl, there’s a lot more where that came from.” She looked around to the other side of the pool and almost dropped her water. “Oh, my side. Oh, my side. I’m going to kill them. I promise if the good Lord brings the sun up tomorrow, I’m going to beat the living tar out of them.”

Tamyra looked up. “What is it?”

Winnie stood, frantically grabbing for her towel and stuffing her things into her bag. “I knew it wasn’t about getting me away. I knew it. They can’t leave well enough alone, can they? They’ve got to get their little mangy hands in everything I do. Well, I’m not going to have it, I tell you. I’m not going to have it.”

Tamyra stood and reached for her. “Winnie, what