Chapter 1
Georgia Nocturne did not have any reason to expect that Dane wouldn’t make it to his own party. Seeing as how it was their wedding anniversary/his birthday celebration, it made sense that her husband would carve out the time to attend.
However, Dane had a habitual problem attending his own parties. That was what gave Georgia pause.
There was that time his flight from Houston was delayed by three hours. He didn’t make it then, of course. Oh, Georgia had a grand time reliving old stories of her and Dane and smiling and nodding at those who gave her sad looks, the sort that made her cringe on the inside.
But she had kept her chin up. It was only a party, after all.
And then there was the time when Dane got stuck in a last-minute emergency meeting at the office. It, too, had managed to outlive the party she had so carefully planned and primped for.
Once again, she cut the cake with guests who shot her sorrowful expressions.
But the worst humiliation had been last year, when Dane had actually been on his way home at five o’clock. That year he would make it, Georgia was certain. She had made sure that Dane wasn’t supposed to be on any business trips. She had even prayed at every hour on the hour, doing a little begging with the big man in the sky, bargaining whatever she had so that for once, her husband would make the party that she had so carefully and painstakingly planned.
But Dane, true to form, had wound up getting into a slight fender bender on his way home and breaking his wrist.
How in the world could one man have such bad luck?
But really, wasn’t it the opposite? How could one wife have such bad luck with her husband?
So this year, when it came to planning the anniversary/birthday party to celebrate Dane as an individual and them as a couple, you would think that Georgia would have plum given up.
But no, not so the case with our Georgia peach. If there is one thing that Georgia was, it was resilient.
“I’m picking up Judy from school at three p.m. and then heading to your house,” Georgia’s sister, Claudia, said over the Bluetooth speaker.
“No,” Georgia corrected, “not three, two forty-five. That’s what time kindergarten gets out.”
Claudia scoffed. “It used to be three back when we were little.”
“Now they let them out earlier.” She took a right and swung into the elementary school’s parking lot. “It’s a quarter to three. Don’t be too late. Judy’ll think I’ve abandoned her.”
“You should have abandoned the idea of this party, is what you should have done. The man never makes it, Georgia. Do I have to remind you of that?”
“In fact, no, you don’t. But this year is going to be different.” If there was ever a mantra that Georgia lived by, it was think positive and positive stuff will happen to you.
She supposed it was as good as any way of thinking. Besides, focusing on depressed thoughts made her feel depressed, and Georgia didn’t like to be depressed. In her youth she’d taken medication for it but had weaned herself off. It had been a son of a gun to do that. So now she simply liked to keep a smile on her face and a happy attitude.
“You really think old Dane’s going to make it?” Claudia said. “You sure about that?”
Georgia swung into a parking spot and killed the minivan. “Yes, I’m sure about that. He knows to be on time. There is nothing, and I mean nothing that should stop him from making it. Not even an act of God because I’ve been talking to him all day, offering up my next child to him if I have to.”
Claudia laughed. “Your ovaries are so shriveled there’s no way you’re having another kid.”
Georgia barked a laugh. “I resent that.”
“Kid sister, you had your first one at forty. You’re forty-five now. You have another kid and you’ll be on the cover of Time as the old lady who had a kid a decade after menopause started.”
“I hate you so much,” she said with a laugh.
“Don’t hate me. Hate the sciatica that’s coming for you.”
Before Georgia could respond, the car’s display screen chimed that another call was coming in. “It’s Dane. Let me make sure he hasn’t gotten on a plane.”
“See you tonight. I’ll bring Judy and the vodka.”
“I have enough alcohol,” Georgia said.
“Not for when Dane stands you up. Again.” Claudia did not hide her dislike of Dane’s no-show policy. “Bye, kiddo.”
“Bye. See you tonight.”
Georgia switched to her husband’s call and couldn’t tamp down the flutter of worry in her throat. “You’re okay, aren’t you? Please don’t tell me that you’ve had an accident.”
Dane laughed. The sound was like buttery whiskey slipping down a throat. “Darling, I’m fine. Just fine. No accidents. I plan on making it to the party. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“That’s what you said last year.”
“You could cancel.”
“No,” she said emphatically. “There is no way we’re canceling. I’ve rented the space. The guests are invited. There’s a band, Dane. We’re not canceling, and if I have to drag you there myself, you’re going.”
His joke about not attending was not in the least bit funny. Georgia would not be made a fool of again. There would be no sorrowful looks this time. She and Dane would walk hand in hand to this party as if their lives depended on it.
But to be honest, she couldn’t help the feeling that deep down, Dane didn’t care—not about the party or any of it. He seemed to be phoning in on their relationship. They barely spoke at dinner, barely spoke when they got ready for their days. Half the time Georgia went to bed alone, leaving him watching television in the living room.
“What’s that?” Dane said.
“I didn’t say anything,” she answered.
“Not you. I was talking to Rose. What’s that, Rose?”
Georgia’s brow hiked. “Rose?”
“She’s the new secretary.”
That was the first Georgia had heard of this Rose.
“I invited her to the party,” Dane said. “That okay? To help her get to know others in the office.”
Jealousy fired in Georgia, but she threw it away. “Sure. One more person isn’t a big deal. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Because that’s what you say when your husband’s new secretary is coming to your anniversary party, isn’t it?
“Listen, I’ve got to go. The PTA is meeting, and I need to get in there,” she said.
“Have fun. See you tonight.”
Georgia hung up, wondering if this Rose looked as beautiful as her name. That was when Georgia caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror.
Once, one of her science teachers told her that for women, after you had a baby, your body didn’t care about you anymore.
Truer words had never been spoken.
The dark circles under her eyes were a testament to that. The half-moons appeared after Judy’s birth. Georgia figured they would vanish once she got a few good months of rest and added a super vitamin C concentrated eye cream to her morning and evening beauty regimens.
But the circles did not vanish. Instead they seemed to get worse.
And her upper arms! Little pockmarks of fatty tissue deposits had started to take residence in them. She added extra pushups into her exercise regimen of walking, but they still insisted on staying.
And her sister hadn’t been joking about sciatica. A week ago Georgia had sat too long on one of Judy’s wooden play chairs while they put together a tortuous Lego Friends play set. Now shooting pain raced down the back of her leg when she bent over.
She’d need to see her doctor about it if it didn’t go away.
As Georgia peered into the mirror, she noticed the skunk-like stripe of silver that was already beginning to show on top of her head. It seemed that more and more gray appeared every day on her, while Dane didn’t have any—just enough to make him look more handsome.
An age spot had also taken up residence on her right cheek. She noticed it every time she glanced in the mirror. It made her look older than forty-five.
But still her green eyes were clear and her complexion nice if you overlooked that brown monstrosity and her huge pores.
God, she was getting old.
What made it worse was that she was about to walk into a PTA meeting with a group of thirtysomethings.
Harvey Elementary School was located in a hamlet in northern Alabama. Harvey was a midsize town that had gone wet two years before. Because alcohol could now flow like a river, lots of new businesses had recently popped into existence, including a few bars. Georgia had lived in Harvey for as long as she’d been married, and she enjoyed the quiet life that it offered. Dane worked in Huntsville, which wasn’t a bad commute from home.
As she gazed at the trees that were beginning to shred the shroud of winter and take on green buds, Georgia decided that there was no time like the present when it came to getting up and going to the meeting.
She grabbed her purse, exited her minivan and headed inside the elementary school.
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