Page 43 of The Handy Men
"She's got parents, Fred. She'll go to them, not us."
Fred? Jack nudged Dean with his elbow.
Dean cracked an eye open. Whoops, he'd been napping with his venti macchiato in his hand. Jack inclined his head over at the couple. Dean shrugged at him.
"It's not like her not to return my emails."
"Maybe she's sick of your shit."
"Barbie! I don't like that language."
Dean stiffened and sat up, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with Jack. Barbie and Fred? It couldn't be. Yet, it was too coincidental that this wasn't Paige's ex and his new fiancée.
"And I'm sick of hearing about your ex-wife," Barbie countered. "It's always Paige should do this, and Paige should do that. The only reason I agreed to come along with you is because I've always liked Hamlet Island. I think it will be a great place to hold my company's annual retreat, if you can shut up for ten minutes about Paige."
Jack and Dean leaned forward, trying not to appear like they were eavesdropping.
"I didn't tell you the worst of it."
"And for that, I thank you," she said with a sigh.
"She's dating a gay couple."
Jack choked on his iced tea.
"That would make them a bisexual couple," Barbie pointed out.
"It's disgusting."
"What's so disgusting about it? Two men at once. Bravo. Give her a medal. You're not jealous are you?” Barbie growled.
"What? No. Of course not. I made my choice, Barbie. I want you."
"Then who gives a flying fuck whose cock she's worshipping?"
Fred cringed and flinched, probably at her harsh language.
Dean was trying not to snort coffee out of his nose.
"My cock," Jack mouthed and then pointed to his crotch with two thumbs up.
Dean smacked him.
"And yours," Jack mouthed and pointed.
Dean whacked him again.
"It's not decent," Fred grumbled.
Dean flipped him off. Jack grabbed his hand and brought it to the table before the couple noticed.
Barbie shrugged. "Neither was screwing around on your wife, but you're not all on the moral high ground about that, are you?"
"I like her," Dean whispered. "I mean, I know I'm supposed to hate her for breaking up Paige's marriage, but I'm kind of glad she did."
Jack gave him a thumbs-up.
"That has nothing to do with this," Fred said. "Her father called me last night to come and talk some sense into her. If she doesn't dump the gay guys, he's going to call in her loan. She doesn't have sixty thousand dollars. She'll be forced into bankruptcy and she'll be homeless. And since her parents caused it, she's not going to go to them for help."
