Free Between Husbands and Friends by Nancy Thayer Page B

Cunningham at a cocktail party, I ditched the idea fast. If Kate looked like a model, her husband looked like an effing god. Tall, blond, slim, and handsome, he had the floppy blond hair and narrow patrician face of old Boston money. Just looking at him made me feel short, impoverished, and tongue-tied. He was three years older than I was, too,
over thirty
, which at the time made him seem much more sophisticated and mature.
    It didn’t help that he was so reserved. Kate had told me that this characteristic of his drove her crazy; it was the major source of all their arguments.
    “I’m so glad to meet you at last. Kate talks about you all the time. Well, she would, wouldn’t she, she’s your wife,” I babbled when we shook hands.
    “I’m glad to meet you,” he replied calmly.
    “Margaret loves playing with Matthew.”
    “Yes, Matthew’s quite smitten with your daughter.”
    Max was at the drinks table, getting a vodka tonic for me; I wished I could take a hugeinhibition-loosening gulp of it right now. Kate was talking with Andrea Cobb.
    “Kate tells me you’re a lawyer.”
    He nodded. His gaze was kind but intense.
    “Do you get to do exciting things? Will I see you on television?”
    “I’m not that kind of a lawyer.”
    I waited for him to expand on this information. He didn’t. He was so unbelievably handsome. As if in defense, my mind sent every lawyer/shark joke I knew spinning through my head.
    Desperately I said, “I’ve seen your farm. It’s really beautiful.”
    “Yes, we were fortunate to get it.”
    He didn’t look bored or contemptuous; in fact, he seemed quite kind. He just was so
quiet.
    “Kate tells me you’ll be buying some horses.”
    “Probably.”
    Max arrived then, and I nearly flung myself upon him in relief. “Max, this is Chip Cunningham, Kate’s husband.”
    They shook hands and muttered a few polite things about Matthew and Margaret.
    “Your property abuts the Jenkinses’, doesn’t it?” Max asked.
    Chip nodded. “Right.”
    I watched carefully as I slugged back my drink. I truly hoped these two wouldn’t hate each other. Max was as handsome as Chip, but he was
shorter
, and at the moment it seemed like a liability.
    Max said, “I heard that old man Jenkins is getting ready to sell.”
    “Really. Do you know how much land he’s got?”
    Max wrinkled his brow, considering. “I’m pretty sure it’s over a hundred acres.”
    Chip squinted, as if he could see the land lying out before him. “I wonder how it lies. How much of it fronts the road. And you know, I think the stream that runs through our property begins on his land.”
    “Have you met the Jenkinses?”
    “Just the wife. She brought us a homemade pie when we moved in. Seems very nice. I’ve been so busy at the office that I haven’t had time to be neighborly.”
    Max nodded sympathetically. “Abner Jenkins told me I could take a walk through his land sometime. Want to go with me?”
    “God, that would be great. I really don’t want to buy any more land, but I would like to see what it’s like, and of course I’m concerned about who buys it. I’d like to see the countryside remain country up there. It would be a crying shame if someone tried to develop it.”
    The two men launched into a conversation about development around Sussex. I stood dumbfounded, and utterly infatuated with my husband. He was wonderful. He was irresistible. He could make anyone talk.
    I glanced over at Kate, who was listening to Olivia Carlton gab about the church fair. Kate nodded toward our two husbands and gave me a thumbs-up sign. Another miracle had occurred.

    That summer was Max’s first year at the paper, and he didn’t want to spend much time away from it, no matter how often I reminded him that he needed a vacation. This was complicated by the fact that Max had an irrational, deep-rooted, powerful fear of flying. He’d been on planes only twice in his life, and each time was such an excruciating experience that