Free Taking Chances by Cosette Hale

longer exists as the sweet, thoughtful, and loving man I believed he was.”
    “That’s harsh. But I get it,” Harvey said, letting out a sigh. “So let’s have a funeral for our marriages. Or like one of those divorce parties. I get them all the time at the restaurant. First time I heard about it I thought those middle-aged women were crazy, but now I kinda get it.”
    “So we’re gonna go out, get drunk, and bash on men?”
    “I was going to suggest we go to a strip club and get lap dances or something,” he said. I snapped my head to the side and narrowed my eyes.
    “Are you serious?” I asked, not sure.
    “Boy you’re an easy mark,” he said. “But I’d take you up on the offer if you were to give it.”
    “How about we have a drunk night of dancing at a non-strip club? No men-bashing. Sounds like a compromise?”
    “Kinda, but you’re taking the fun out of it when everyone has all their clothes on.”
    I laughed. Then I noticed a voluptuous, curvy woman walking down the beach holding hands with her tattooed boyfriend. Her large behind was uncovered, thanks to the thong string bikini she was wearing. “Is that enough skin for you?” I asked, motioning with my head at the woman.
    “Good God,” he said. “That will do.”
    We laid on the beach awhile, me under a palm tree shade, Harvey trying to get a Caribbean tan, until we got hungry and went back to the jeep. I navigated us to the next beach, another mirage-like place, but this one had a restaurant right next to the parking lot.
    “I’ll have a beer,” Harvey ordered, and then looked at me. While I wanted to try every frozen cocktail on the menu, I settled for a virgin piña colada. We ordered a couple of things and shared, trying to get a taste of the real island food and thoroughly enjoying it.
    “That was amazing,” I said as we settled down by the water. I applied my SPF everywhere skin showed and put on my large straw-looking hat.
    “It was good. But next time we eat somewhere we should order more food.”
    “What are you talking about? I’m stuffed!” I said incredulously. I know guys eat a lot, but we had tons of food.
    “Yeah, you must be. You ate most of it,” he said, pointing to my belly.
    I gasped. “You’re kidding me, right?”
    “No, you eat a lot for a girl.”
    “You mean I eat more than Natalie. That’s not difficult. She doesn’t eat. Period.” Almost true. I remember trying to have several talks with her throughout the years on what I thought was her eating disorder, but she always shut me down. She looked healthier recently, however. Probably got hungry from all that sex with my husband.
    “It’s nice to see a woman enjoying her food,” he said.
    “Oh, that I do,” I said. After taking another dip in the clear water we jumped back in the Jeep. This time I didn’t even bother to put on my cover-up. I was just going to take it off at the next beach, anyway.
    The Jeep had been a marvelous idea. With the top off there was a nice wind blowing at us, and I’m sure my hair looked a frightful mess what with the salt water and the wind. I looked over at Harvey at one point and saw he was enjoying himself, jamming to the music on the radio. He also left his shirt off and sat there with one arm on the steering wheel, as if he’d been driving on the wrong side of the road his entire life. I couldn’t see his eyes with the sunglasses, but his face was relaxed into a kind of half-smile.
    I tried to enjoy the ride as well and not think of the shattered marriage I was trying to escape from, but it crept up on me often. I wondered what Greg was up to that day... if he and Natalie had kissed and made up. I wondered what the divorce process would be like, how long and how much money. Supposedly, it was a nightmare, but a necessary one. I could never forgive Greg and be happy with him again. I would definitely never trust him again.
    As we hopped from beach to beach and drove over hills and around cliffs, I fell in love