Free The Summer House by Susan Mallery Page A

picked out new flooring and fixtures for the guest bath in his house, and had generally hung out. By mutual agreement, they’d avoided any difficult topics, instead using the time to get to know each other.
    With Rick, the more she learned, the more she liked. They got along well, agreed on many subjects, disagreed on enough to keep things interesting. There was also the added spice of the chemistry between them.
    It lurked in the background, never obvious, but never absent. It was as if everything inside her vibrated slightly when he was near. The sensation was acutely pleasant.
    She closed her eyes and did her best to get lost in the moment. Whatever she might feel about Rick was interesting, but not significant. They weren’t ever going to be more than what they were. Now if he’d been like this eight years ago, things might have been different.
    Her eyes popped open and she sighed. Honesty insisted that she acknowledge that unless she got the chance to go back and make her former self more mature, the marriage was still doomed to failure. She’d had unrealistic expectations about the relationship from the start.
    She heard Rick slam down the phone and mutter something. He stalked out to the deck and floppeddown in the chair next to hers. She adjusted her sun hat so she could see him and lowered her sunglasses on her nose.
    “What’s wrong?”
    He shrugged and reached for his lemonade. “I’m arguing with the board about a project. It’s a pet project of John’s—he’s on the board. He wants me to approve it, but it doesn’t work. We’ve recreated the experiment three times and the results don’t match what the inventor told us they would be. I don’t know where he got his data, but it wasn’t using this particular experiment. I recommended that we pass on the project.”
    Mandy shoved her glasses back in place. “Let me guess. John’s having a cow about the whole thing.”
    Some of Rick’s tension eased as he grinned. “I wouldn’t have phrased it that way, but, yes.”
    She grinned. “There’s nothing like hanging out with a bunch of kids to keep one’s descriptions creative.”
    “I guess.”
    They were both casually dressed in shorts and shirts. She wasn’t sure what he thought of her attire, but she was darned appreciative of his long, powerful legs and the way his shoulders filled out his T-shirt. She took a sip of lemonade to cool herself down and returned her attention to the conversation at hand.
    “So what happens now?” she asked.
    “We argue.” He shrugged. “It’s pretty common at the foundation. Everyone is brilliant and everyone has an opinion. Very few projects get through easily. But that’s what makes things work. John knew I’d tell him the truth when he asked me to review the material. Idon’t think he knew the information was bogus. Now he’s mad, but he’ll get over it.”
    “So you won’t get in trouble for disagreeing with the boss?”
    “Not even close.” He set his glass back on the table. “The frustrating part is we’ve run the experiment three times. John knows that in science, like in life, if you put the same elements together in the same way, you get the same result.”
    She straightened in her chair. “That doesn’t happen in life.”
    “Sure it does.”
    “Not if there are people involved. No two situations are ever exactly the same outside of a controlled environment. Life is many things, but it’s not controlled.”
    He didn’t look convinced.
    “What about us?” she continued. “We’re not the same people we were eight years ago. We’re completely different, so this situation is completely different.”
    “If that’s true, then the elements aren’t the same.”
    “My point is people aren’t elements.”
    “They can be.”
    She rolled her eyes. “You’re being deliberately difficult.”
    A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Maybe.”
    “Figures.” She decided a change of subject would be best for both of them.