Free Secret Lives Of Husbands And Wives by Josie Brown Page B

not until Margot comes out of hiding. “You haven’t seen Margot, have you?” they ask in unison.
    Harry’s only chance to divert them is to open Tammy’s bag and pull out one of the boxes. With as much enthusiasm as he can muster, he murmurs, “Wow, look at what we have here!”
    Tammy swells up with pride. “Oh, just a little something I thought you’d like.” Of course Colleen is intrigued—and jealous.
    The look on Harry’s face as he pulls a pair of lime green Mansilk trunks from its box is priceless.
    Colleen’s
ooh
s and
aah
s drip with acid. If Harry is to fit into them, he’ll have to skip her casserole. Yep, Tammy has won this hand.
    He shoots me a look of desperation, but I ignore it. When I arranged his meet-and-greet, I had assumed he was looking for friends, not lovers. Harry Wilder has made his bed—apparently both figuratively and literally—so now he can lie in it.
    Alone, or with Margot. Or Colleen, or Tammy.
    Or all three, for that matter.
    I also slip out the door—but not fast enough to miss hearing Tammy ask: “Hey, Harry, how about modeling them for us?”
    2:33 p.m.
    I am just entering my house when I realize I’m being followed. I turnaround to find Lucky staring up at me. “Had to get out of there too, eh, fella?”
    I scoop him up and get a tongue bath by way of thanks. The boys both have after-school practice, but it’s my day to pick up Temple along with Olivia. Lucky will ride along and keep me company until I drop him and Temple back at Harry’s. By then my lovesick friends will have come to their senses and rescued their offspring before they are shuttled off to mandatory after-school daycare.
    3:41 p.m.
    I am right. Harry comes out alone, obviously relieved that Lucky hasn’t been dognapped by one of his new fangirls. I try to keep Olivia from bounding into the house along with Lucky and his little mistress, but she’s too fast for me.
    “Don’t worry. She’s welcome to stay.” Despite the invitation, Harry’s smile is forced.
    “Oh, um . . . well, I’d hate to put you out. I mean, if you are expecting more company. Or something.” I couldn’t help it. When I said “or something,” I almost spit out the words.
    “‘Or something’? Just what exactly does that mean?”
    “Nothing. Nothing at all. It was a joke.” I get back into the car. But before I can start the engine, he has poked his head through my window.
    “Yeah. A joke.
I’m
the joke, right? Of the whole neighborhood?”
    If I start the car now, I’ll take his head with me. As tempting as that is, I take a deep breath instead. “Well, Harry, if that’s the case, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.”
    “
What?
Jesus, Lyssa, I can’t believe you have the nerve to say that to me—”
    “Nerve?
Me?
I can’t believe
you
have the nerve to—
to use me the way you did
!”
    Angrily he slams his fist on my hood and heads for the house.Then he stops halfway and turns around. He is not through giving me a piece of his mind.
    Too bad. I’ve had enough. But before I can pull away, he opens the passenger door and climbs in. “You had no right to say that to me. Not you, of all people.” His words are deliberate, his tone ominous. “And, lady, you’ve got some nerve, sitting and pretending to be so innocent when you pretty much pimped me out to that horny pack of she-wolves you call friends.”
    “I did—
what
? Let me get this straight: now you’re accusing me of—” I can’t believe my ears. “Get real, Harry. You are the one who tells them that they’re pretty, and that their kids are adorable. Heck, you even listen to them bitch about their husbands! What women
wouldn’t
fall in love with you? So don’t blame me when they do.” I can’t help it. I tear up. “Oh, and by the way, when I suggested you could be friendlier,
that wasn’t an invitation to sleep with them
.”
    “Are you crazy?” He looks me straight in the eye. “Who said that about me? Oh, let me guess: