Page 30 of The Chaperones
As I watch Brady lumber away, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I know I’m being watched again. Instinctively I gaze at the hill, expecting to see those binoculars from before, but there’s not even a stir. Still, I feel my alertness rise to the point where I’m almost dizzy. I scan the campsite until I spot Cassie, not even pretending to be subtle as she stares at me, amused. I cast her the same expression, not caring who might notice us.
If we’re moving to New York, why bother to end things with Cassie?
Almost imperceptibly, I gesture with my head toward the bathrooms across the campsite. Equally subtle, she nods back, squeezes her husband’s shoulder, then walks toward the stalls, where she gets in line behind the strangers waiting to use the facilities, hikers who have wandered down from Potato Harbor.
I stand in line behind her.
“Hey,” I say, feeling ridiculous.
“Hey yourself,” she muses.
“Can we find some time later?”
Cassie takes in the hills that enclose the flat campground.
“Where?”
A panic grips me. Is she cooling on this? Does she sense my neediness and find it unattractive? The woman in line in front of us skips into the stall, leaving us alone.
“I want to,” she whispers, and I can feel the hand she doesn’t reach out, touching mine. “This afternoon. Dave’s taking Lily kayaking.”
“We’re going too.”
“Let’s meet at the Visitor Center after? I’m sure Dave will be ready for a beer by then, and once he’s started, he won’t be keeping tabs on me.” Her tone can’t hide her irritation. Cass and I, we don’t talk about our husbands. Still, everyone has seen how Dave drinks. Once he starts drinking, he doesn’t keep tabs on anything except the next bottle.
The bathroom door opens, and Cassie lets her index finger graze the line of my wrist to my pinkie nail before she disappears into that rank latrine. Somehow, it’s the sexiest thing in the world.
