"Are you doing okay?" He asked once he'd stepped out onto the balcony. He'd set her up in the guest bedroom that had views of the water.
Elizabeth nodded. "It's nice here."
He moved toward the rail, so he could stand beside her. "It can feel a bit like island life at times." He watched her hair move with the breeze before his eyes turned out to the ocean.
"Did you sell your mom on me visiting?"
He palmed the rail and leaned his weight into his hands. "Yep," he said, popping the p.
"How did you manage that?"
"The same way I did Henry." He paused. "I told her the truth." Well… certainly not all of it.
"Let me take her with me," he'd said into his phone. "She needs a proper break away from everything." Elizabeth had sat quietly on the end of his bed as he'd thrown sweaters, shorts, and swim trunks into a suitcase. "Henry, you know I'll take care of her." And often that care consisted of nights spent naked together in his bed.
"I know you will."
Maureen had fallen ill, and Henry had gone to Pittsburgh to help out after she'd returned from the hospital. They could have certainly taken advantage of her husband's absence at home, but, given his planned trip up the coast and Elizabeth's moods lately, he thought the change of scenery could do them good.
How Henry didn't know was beyond him, but, as Nadine had told him in the past, "keep it under their noses and they'll never know." The affair was right in front of his face.
He stared down at the patio for a moment, watching as workers power washed the stone surrounding the pool. Jenna stood out in the grass with the golden retrievers. When one of the men looked up, he tugged at Elizabeth's hand. He pulled her inside, away from prying eyes, so he could touch her.
"You'll be okay in this room?"
She smiled. "That depends. Where's your bedroom?"
He grabbed her by the hips. "Just down the hall," he said.
"Too far," she mumbled as she pressed up on her toes to kiss him.
Blake cupped the back of her neck. "My mom's preoccupied and my sister's in the city for the day."
"And your father?" She asked as she unbuttoned his shirt.
"He's in Boston for business until Friday."
Elizabeth laughed. "So, we can finally get away with sex at noon on a Wednesday?"
It seemed that her mood was already turning around.
