Stuck With You: A Sweet Romantic Comedy

Part 8

Bianca

When I asked my sister if she'd kissed Jax Fitzroy, there was a long pause before Abby said, "I might have bitten my boss."

"Huh?"

"On the neck. Like a vampire."

I somehow managed not to laugh, at least not out loud. I tried to think of something reassuring to say to my mortified sister.

"It could have been worse," I said.

"How?"

"How hard did you bite him?"

"Not hard."

"Well, then it probably doesn't count as felonious assault."

"What a comfort you are!" said Abby and hung up on me.

When I came back inside, the kids were making a mess of slopping the masa and the filling onto the corn husks. Timo was coming along behind, trying to repair the damage and roll the little bundles into something that might possibly have a chance of staying together in the steamer.

"You want to go for a swim later after the kids are in bed?" Timo asked me while Franny and the twins were distracted.

Rob and Camille have a pool, but it's not nearly as impressive as it sounds. A few years back, Rob got ambitious and bought one of those freestanding pools that has a pump to create a current that makes you stay in the exact same spot no matter how hard you swim. I think he's used it twice. Mostly, the kids use it on hot days to cool off.

"You can leave the kids alone in the house?" I asked.

I immediately regretted it because it sounded like I was questioning his competence, but he didn't bristle.

"Baby monitor," he said. "I can hear everything that goes on from anywhere in the yard."

"Oh, well, sure then."

I tried to remember if I'd brought a suit.

After supper, I pawed through my luggage to see if I'd thrown one in during my haste to leave my flooded-out apartment. I hadn't.

I decided Camille wouldn't mind if I borrowed one of hers, but when I finally located where she kept her swimwear, I was not pleased with the selection.

Camille and I were about the same size, but our idea of appropriate beachwear clearly diverged. Either that, or she'd taken any suit remotely offering my idea of comfortable coverage off to Spain with her.

I laid out my options on the bed. I had lingerie that covered more. In fact, all my lingerie covered more.

I finally picked out a red bikini, one of the few options that wasn't a thong. I'd wear a t-shirt over it, I decided. When Camille wore that bikini, she probably radiated tranquil and dignified self-confidence. I knew I couldn't pull that off. It's hard to radiate serene self-confidence when you're constantly tugging at two scraps of Lycra to keep your bits and pieces covered.

The t-shirt thing was a terrific idea, and it would have worked beautifully if my brother wasn't such a lazy slob who never got anything fixed. He and Camille had an arrangement. She was in charge of making sure the inside of the house remained in good repair. Rob was responsible for the exterior.

The last time I'd been in that pool, the ladder had been loose, and now it was even worse.

"Careful getting in," said Timo from the semi-darkness. My eyes hadn't adjusted yet, but I could see the outline of his head and shoulders eight feet away on the opposite side of the pool.

"This ladder—"

I was about to complain about Rob's lack of resource and initiative when the middle rung gave way, and I found my feet back on the ground.

"Are you OK?" Timo asked, climbing over the side of the pool and flipping on a switch that I hadn't even known existed. The entire backyard was suddenly flooded with light.

"I'm fine."

I was fine, but my t-shirt wasn't. As I'd gone down, the front of my t-shirt must have caught on a loose screw or something because there was now a strategically placed rip right across my chest.

"It's not supposed to be like that," I said helplessly, motioning at where the front of my t-shirt was supposed to be but wasn't.

"What's not supposed to be like that?" Timo said.

He was transparently staring now. I'd have been a lot less ostentatious without the t-shirt.

"My shirt ripped," I said. "It must have caught on the ladder."

It was about then that Timo must have realized he was staring because he looked up at the sky and said, "Well, in that case, I'll just star gaze while you get in."

He left the light on while I navigated the broken ladder, but as soon as I lowered myself into the water, he flipped the switch, and we descended into darkness.

When he got back in, he was silent for a few seconds before he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"Without my glasses, I can't see all that well," Timo said.

"Is that supposed to be comforting?"

"I don't know. Is it?"

"Not really," I said.

Timo was quiet for another few minutes. I tipped my head back to look at the stars. In the distance, there was the hum of traffic from the freeway, and much closer, the chirping of a single cricket in the hedge. I could hear one of the kids snoring over the baby monitor.

Timo

I couldn't quite believe I had Bianca all to myself, but now that I did, I couldn't think of anything to say to her.

"You're not anything at all like I thought you were when we first met," I finally said to break the silence.

It was what I'd been thinking, but hearing the words out loud, I wished I'd kept my thoughts to myself. I hoped Bianca didn't think I was referring to her embarrassment at wearing a ripped t-shirt over one of Camille's skimpy bikinis. Bianca was not exactly the attention-seeking party girl I had taken her for when we first met. In fact, based on her reaction to showing a little skin, she was so far on the other end of the spectrum, she was probably constantly being prodded to loosen up a little.

"I really was telling the truth when I told you my friend Kat was putting me up to getting your number," Bianca said. "Kat's pretty aggressive when she's drunk, and I try not to let her make a fool of herself or scare the poor unfortunate objects of her attention."

"I know that now."

I was silent for another few seconds before I said, "You know, I noticed you right away."

"Oh?"