Her own aunt and uncle were known for much worse. “Don’t worry.”
Jojo sighed. “I don’t know why Mom invited them, but this is her big party and nobody wanted to censor her guest list.”
“Thirty-five years is quite something to celebrate.”
“Yes.” The cement pathway ended, dropping them into the soft sand of the wide Dragonfly Beach. With silent consensus, they continued on, Buster gamely leading the way, delighted in only the way of dogs about any adventure.
Jojo sent Lilly a sidelong glance. “You know about Simon.”
“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you.” Jojo halted and turned her face to the horizon. When the wind blew back her hair, Lilly could see the resemblance to her brother. “Mom struggled more than any of us, but she seems to be vastly improved. The new puppy proves it.”
“Oh?”
“Simon had a dog—”
“Not in the car?” Lilly clutched her throat.
“No, no. But he came to live with my parents after the…crash.” Jojo dashed a finger under one eye, as if she felt a tear. “He lived a long life and went to the great Dog Park in the Sky a couple of years ago. That seemed to set Mom back again…she retreated from everything and everyone.”
“Oh, wow,” Lilly murmured, unsure what to say.
“But she started to rouse from her funk last year. And when they brought Buster home…well, it was proof Mom was ready to take a chance and love again.”
“I’m so glad.” Lilly thought the dog even more adorable now. “I really like your mother.”
The other woman nodded. “I was worried my recent divorce might hinder the progress she’s made, but she’s doing okay.”
Lilly nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about the end of your marriage, too.”
Jojo shrugged a shoulder as if trying to dislodge an uncomfortable weight. “It was my own fault. Completely spontaneous decision on my part to marry the guy. He was upfront about being after a green card.”
“Oh.”
“I know. The stupidity leaves one speechless, yes?”
“When did you marry?”
“Four-and-a-half years ago.”
The timing wasn’t lost on Lilly. Six months after losing her brother, Jojo Thatcher had made an impulsive move.
“He’s French. A chef, actually,” Jojo added. “Does that make it any better?”
“I don’t know,” Lilly said. “Do you like escargot?”
Jojo released a bark of laughter. “Actually, no. But the omelets, the beef bourguignon, and this amazing leek soup he could whip up on an instant was to die for.”
On a nostalgic sigh, she continued on. “Maybe if he’d been better in bed I would have made a more determined go of it.”
“Oh,” Lilly said.
“Yeah.” Jojo shook her head. “Not only selfish, but he made love like he was starring in a porn movie. Always insisting on his good side…which was on his back so I did all the work.”
Lilly snickered, then quickly smothered the sound. “Sorry.”
“If you can’t laugh…” Jojo said with a small smile.
“I admire you,” Lilly said then, smiling at the other woman. Like all the Thatchers, she had a personal charm that was hard to resist. “Your attitude’s great.”
“God, no. Ever since I signed the papers, I wish I could stop listening to my conscience and take up smoking. My attitude goes with a pack-a-day habit.”
“Cynical?” Lilly said. “World-weary?”
“Exactly.” Then she took a long, assessing look at Lilly. “But let’s talk about you.”
“I don’t smoke. I never had a husband. I’ve been witness to a bad marriage and I never once found anything funny in it.” She paused. “Though maybe I should.”
“What’s going on between you and my brother?”
If she didn’t have to look at the other woman, she could get through this one without giving a thing away, she told herself. One foot in front of the other, she restarted their walk up the beach, her focus on the sand dunes in the distance. “We met because he was the best man and I was the maid of honor at a wedding. The wedding didn’t happen.”
“I heard about that.”
“My friend Audra, the bride, and I are staying at the resort to give her a chance to recover.”
“Oh, boy,” Jojo said. “Did she fall for that Heartbreak Hotel myth or something?”
Without admitting to anything—especially not that it had been her idea—Lilly just shrugged. “I don’t think she’s found any miracle cure yet.”
“Certainly not,” Jojo scoffed, then grimaced, sending Lilly a guilty look. “Please don’t let my dark outlook influence you. And I should say for the record, my brother is a really great guy.”
Uncomfortable, Lilly waved a hand, trying to communicate the recommendation was wholly unnecessary. “I—”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“No.” She thought of Frank, a petty bully at his best. “I was raised with a cousin, but…no.”
“Alec attended every one of Barbie’s funerals I ever organized, after Simon declared them lost causes post-surgery.”
It made Lilly smile again.
“Well, except for that time Simon pronounced Ken hadn’t survived an appendectomy. Alec said he refused to even pretend-mourn for a guy who came into the world without a dick.”
Lilly started to laugh.
“Simon said that’s why he hadn’t attempted any heroic measures to save the doll. Dick-less, he informed us, meant an automatic do not resuscitate.”
It took long moments for Lilly’s laughter to die back. “He sounds wonderful,” she finally managed to say. “They both do—Alec is. I like him.”
“That didn’t hurt so bad, did it?” Jojo said mildly. “I got the impression that Alec likes you too. Very much.”
“Oh, probably not that,” Lilly protested. They’d reached the dunes and when Buster attacked the nearest one, they trudged up in the wake of his leaps and bounds. “We’re just, um, acquaintances. Not even friends really.”
How many times had she trotted that out?
“After we leave the resort,” she continued, resolute to keep to her story. “We’ll never even see…” They’d reached the top of the dune and Lilly’s voiced trailed off as they came to a halt, both of them staring at the tableau below.
“It’s a bridal shoot,” Jojo said, explaining the obvious.
A couple
