Shadows in the Dark

Chapter 10

Melissa saw the whole Hughes clan arrive on the beach. Mason was behind the others lugging two beach chairs. She felt her belly flip, as she looked at his tousled golden brown hair and tanned skin. The man was gorgeous in a natural, jump out of the shower, towel dry way.

Melissa was high maintenance, but Ruby was higher, at least she had become that way. Melissa remembered Ruby before the surgeries and her cable TV fame. She was sweet, with her syrupy southern accent. She left the end of one summer as pretty as Mary Ann and returned the next June a glam like Ginger.

Melissa shook her head, as she watched Ruby walk across the sand in high heels and a bikini her teenage daughter could be wearing, not a thirty-something mother of four.

"Hi, Y'all. It's hot today."

Mason said, "Not as hot as Atlanta."

"Don't remind me." She possessively put her hand on Mason's chest.

Mason ignored her and set up their chairs in the sand. Ruby settled into the one next to Melissa and said to Mason, "You get to hog her all week. I'll chit chat with my friend."

Mason winked at Melissa over Ruby's head. Was he flirting with her? She felt something when Ruby touched him. Why would she be jealous? Ruby was his wife and Melissa was only the woman he kissed twice.

"So Ruby, when do you leave?" Melissa asked.

"In a couple of hours. Lucy will watch the others while Mace drives me." She resting her hand on his thigh.

Melissa was certain they had sex, perhaps not the night before because of her sleeping pills.  Morning sex, she decided as a pang was mixed with a stirring between her legs. In her fantasies, Mason was an unselfish lover.

Ruby annoyed Mason after she had harped on him all morning, she was acting like he was her possession in front of Melissa. He really couldn't wait for her to leave.

"I'm sorry Jeremy didn't come this weekend," Ruby said to Melissa.

Mason wasn't sorry, because he wouldn't have knocked on her back door. He couldn't stop thinking about how she had allowed him to kiss her again. He had half expected her to not let him in and was prepared to beg, although he would have left after a firm no. He was enthralled by her but wasn't going to force anything. It needed to be mutual and given their marital status his expectations weren't high.

He watched out of the corner of his eye, as Melissa glanced away, before she replied, "It's often a seven day a week job."

He tuned out Ruby, as she went into what she thought of as her grueling work schedule and instead he considered Melissa's acknowledgment that she knew Jeremy was unfaithful. In truth Mason was only surprised she knew but not that it occurred.

He scanned that beach and saw familiar groups scattered across the hot sand. Typically, an onshore breeze left the beach feeling cooler, but the warm inland air was bringing the heat to the water's edge. He, of course, was used to a hot and humid climate but came to Maine to avoid the heat.

He waved and smiled at Rose who was sitting with the other dames. She was a sweet woman whose company he enjoyed. His own daughter was in the pack of teenagers and he watched carefully as she smiled up at the younger Harris boy. Vowing to keep an eye on her. No matter what Ruby said, he didn't want his daughter to need the pill. When she gave the same smile to the Alfano boy, he worried she was a bit too much like her mother trying to garner attention from as many admirers as she could. He promised himself to have a talk with her soon.

Ruby drew his attention back to her. "You better not make a fool of me by chasing that woman."

"What woman?" He had not been listening to his wife.

"That one living about Evan's. She'll have everyone's husband before the summer is over. Although..." She whispered alluringly. "She was smart to start with Will Drake. The man is hugely attractive and he is in dire need of a real woman."

Melissa said, "It was already proven not to be Will."

Mason felt bad for the poor woman but was secretly glad all the nosy women were too focused on her to notice he was walking around late at night. The men were too busy trying not to get accused of looking sideways they hadn't noticed either.

"Nothing was proven, it may mean she moved on from ..." Ruby argued, but she stopped as something caught her eye.

Heidi ran past them and sure enough, the Drake family appeared with their daughter. Heidi chattering up a storm to Lana. His little Maribelle was always a bit left out, when those two girls were together. Still, he stood and greeted the couple, as they arrived. He observed Will was very attentive to his wife.

It was clear to anyone on the beach and everyone was watching with a critical eye there was no rift between the Drakes. Will having carried the two chairs set them up and touched his wife's arm, as if to say it's ready for you. Eyes were popping out of their sockets, as Nora carefully applied sunscreen to her husband's back. She took her time rubbing it in and leaned over, so her breasts brushed his arm. He smiled at her and she smiled back in a moment of intimacy, typically kept private in their marriage.

Mason took in the moment with a bit of jealousy, since his marriage was missing any connection. He cleared his throat. "So Will did you play today?"

"Only nine.  It was too damn hot. I was with Ed and Todd, today. You never play?"

"Nah, it's not my game."

Not long after the Drake's settled in, Ruby stood. "Time to get ready for my flight. Come along Mason, Mari..."

Melissa interrupted. "Let Maribelle stay with us on the beach and the boys, too."

Jed was off with friends, but at eleven Davis still needed an eye on him. Ruby nodded and called, "Come say goodbye to momma."

Maribelle looked up from her sandcastle and waved. "Bye momma."

If anyone thought Ruby would walk over and kiss her child who was too preoccupied for a proper goodbye, they would be wrong. Mason hadn't expected her to as he walked over. "Be good for Miss. Melissa, my little Maribelle, and Davis, you too. Mind your Ps and Qs."

His eyes lingered on Melissa's for just a second before he followed his wife up the sand like a pack mule.

On the drive to Portland, Ruby rambled on about being convinced Will Drake was guilty and what they witnessed was all for show. Mason tried to tune her out, but couldn't.

"Do you know so much, because that's your pattern?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You press your body I paid for against any man you deem rich enough and then you put on the happy couple show in public. You definitely don't play happy couple in private. You haven't come to me willingly in. Let's just say months."

"You're living something like ten states away from me, of course, we aren't fucking every night."

Mason laughed. "We're together every weekend and you are either too drunk or too tired. Let's not pretend, you even want me anymore."

"Do you want me?"

"This isn't about what I want."

"I want to know, because plenty of men think I'm desirable. Heads turned when I walked on that beach the same way they do for the divorced one."

Mason was about to dispute her, but after she badgered him about not wanting her, he blurted, "I want the old Ruby, the one I married, not the bitch who forgets she has children and acts as if she's better than everyone. The one who used to laugh with me and talk and... Anyways, that's what I want."

She scoffed at him. "You're just jealous, because I'm more successful than you were."

Mason shook his head there was no reason to reply. He was certain he would need to get his affairs in order. Luckily, his family money was tied up in a trust and protected. He received a monthly allowance just like his father, sister, and cousins. His grandfather had been a very smart man.