Free Taking Chances by Cosette Hale Page B

last night. Apparently, a guy drunker than Harvey got into an argument with him over a barstool. Men can be dumb. And sexy , I thought, as he kept talking. “So he reels back, lands on his ass, and looks up at me with this stupid face as if he didn’t know how he got there, and then he laid back and passed out. I’m telling you, he was wasted. I got out of there because his friends were coming at me, and I outran them.”
    I shook my head and mentally slapped myself. Snap out of it, Audrey. Harvey is totally off-limits. Besides, I’m still married, and just because Greg broke his vows that doesn’t mean I get to… right? I recently had a miscarriage too. I’ve had a double blow with this affair rearing its ugly head, and I’m extremely confused, hurt, and vengeful. The hormones are throwing me off. Right?
    “Good thing you didn’t get hurt,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
    “My hand’s sore, especially from driving today,” he said, opening and closing his hand. I noticed he was still wearing his ring. I looked at my hand and at my own wedding band and engagement ring. How happy I had been to get that ring!
    Harvey must have noticed my line of sight because he said, “So are we having our divorce party tonight?” As soon as he said it, I tried to stifle a yawn, but it came out anyway.
    “Sorry,” I said.
    “Oh, thank God, I’m exhausted,” he said. I laughed.
    “Good. Another night?”
    “Yeah, let’s get out of here.” We paid and left. As we got back to the room, there was a tingling sensation again as I thought of us sleeping in the same room. I tried to think of something else. My mom... Yes, my mom might want to hear from me. I would go on Facebook and send her a message. I did just that, sending her a few pictures, hoping she didn’t notice Greg wasn’t in any of them. She wasn’t online, so I put the phone away and fell right to sleep.

    W e slept so long that we woke up to a startled housekeeper apologizing profusely.
    “It’s okay!” Harvey and I both called out as the lady ran out of the room. I laughed throwing myself back on my pillow. That was an abrupt awakening. The clock said 10:39, and I grumbled.
    “We’re going zip-lining today,” Harvey announced.
    My head shot up. “What?!” I exclaimed.
    “Oh, yeah,” is all he said.
    “No way. I don’t like heights or roller coasters,” I confessed, though it wasn’t much of a confession that I was pretty much a chicken about a lot of things.
    “That’s fine, this isn’t a roller coaster. And you can close your eyes so you don’t see how high we are.”
    “That makes no sense,” I said, sitting up. He was still laying down, staring at the ceiling.
    “I’m going zip-lining, and you have to come along.”
    “You can’t make me.”
    “You’ll come,” he said.
    “I won’t,” I said firmly.
    Two hours later, I was on a bus full of zip lining enthusiasts, each more excited than the next, and I was ready to piss in my pants.
    “I can’t,” I said for the 100 th time.
    “If you can’t then you can’t, but I want you to at least see what you’ll be missing.”
    I saw it, alright. They strapped us with helmets and pads, and we signed our lives away with the waivers. I could see people disappearing one by one from the edge of the platform. Some, mostly the women, screamed. I wasn’t sure why I’d even agreed to come this far. My money was wasted on something I would not do. I went up to the platform, watching Harvey’s eyes glaze over in excitement. Soon it was our turn, and Harvey looked at me. I shook my head, my eyes almost tearing up.
    “I’d hold your hand through it if I could,” he said, reaching for it now. His touch singed me. It was pure fire, and those feelings I’d tried to push away the night before came back to me.
    “OK,” I said, riding the high.
    “OK?” he asked, as if to make sure. His face broke out into a smile, and I melted. Honestly, I melted.
    “Let’s do this!” I said,