Wait For It

1 Cat Thomas pulled up in front of her best friend, Lizzy Greenwood’s house. Ordinarily she would be excited to be there, but she wasn’t looking forward to the party. She knew the other parents would ask when she was going to settle down and have her own family. Cat felt like people who procreate are only ever interested in when everyone else is going to. She wondered if it was because their s*x lives sucked and they wanted to live through someone else, or if it was that kids are incredibly tough and they want others to buy into the dream so they don’t feel so stupid. Whatever the reason, Cat wasn’t giving them any help. Cat was about as far from procreating as one could get. Aside from the appropriate plumbing, Cat was no closer to having kids than Lizzy’s seven year old daughter, a sad but true thought. She climbed from her Subaru Forester and grabbed the large gift in the backseat. Buying a present for a seven year old when you haven’t been one in almost twenty years can be a daunting task. Then again Cat spent almost as much time at Lizzy’s house as she did at her own so she was pretty confident she knew what Sam would like. Cat walked up the driveway toward the backyard. She knew everyone would be out back and all the kids would be in Lizzy’s pool. When Lizzy and her husband, Aaron, were looking for houses they fell in love with this one mostly because of the pool. It’s proven to be a valuable investment over the last three years, even in River Pointe, New York. As Cat pushed through the gate she saw an endless stream of girls screeching and playing in the pool. There were three in the shallow end practicing their handstands, two on the diving board, and five more holding hands on the side of the pool ready to jump in. Cat had to smile at the girls. What she would give to be so young and carefree again. Lizzy spotted Cat right away and headed over to her. She wrapped her in a hug and said, “Thanks so much for coming. Sam is going to be thrilled you’re here. That is if we can pull her from the pool!” “You know I wouldn’t miss this. As for the pool, she can be excited when the party is over. Right now she should be having fun.” “You’re right, you only live once,” Lizzy answered. It had become her mantra in high school when she went through a wild phase. Cat always wondered if her wild phase ever stopped, but she figured Lizzy’d just transferred it to Sam instead. “Come on, are you hungry?” Cat followed Lizzy to the food inside. The kitchen, complete with a stainless steel package better than at the restaurant Cat owned with her parents, was spotless. Lizzy was the only person Cat knew who could throw a party and still have everything look perfect. Cat was jealous. Cat ran her hand over the perfect granite countertops and stopped at the large island in the center of the spacious room. It was covered in just about every finger food a kid would want, and Cat still ate like a kid so she was thrilled. With her plate piled high with pigs in blankets, chicken fingers, raw veggies and ranch dressing, Cat headed back outside. Lizzy skittered around the yard, checking on the her parents and whispering in Sam’s ear. Cat watched her work and wondered how she did it. Sam had been a stay at home mom since Sam was born, but Cat still didn’t know how she handled it all, especially now that she was six months pregnant with their second child. Going into the hottest part of summer wasn’t going to be any fun for Lizzy, but if anyone could handle it, she could. Cat found a table to sit at and waited for the attack to begin. She didn’t have to wait long before she was joined by Valerie Wolfe. Valerie was two years ahead of Cat and Lizzy in high school. They were all on the varsity soccer team, something Valerie was never happy about because Cat took her starting position. Cat watched Valerie approach and wondered why the woman wore a silk blouse and linen pants to a kid’s birthday party. Her hair was in an elaborate up-do like she was headed to the prom and she was dripping with jewels. She screamed rich like Elizabeth Taylor did, but Valerie was out of place at a pool party. She would have looked better at a gala. “Hi, Cat,” Valerie said sweetly. “How are you? What have you been up to? I’m sure you’re living it up without any kids holding you back.” “Hi Valerie. How are you?” “Oh, I’m great, Cat. Life is wonderful. You know Jim and I just came back from a trip to Tahiti. It was amazing. He bought me over $15,000 worth of black pearls.” “That’s nice, Valerie. Where was Georgia while you two were on the other side of the world?” “She stayed with Jim’s parents. She loves going over there. I don’t get it, but she spends most of her free time with them. But it works for me because I am just so busy.” “Are you working again Valerie?” Cat asked, not really interested, but it was better than fielding questions about her own life. “God, no. Jim takes care of me so I don’t have to, but I keep busy. I have a spa day every Monday, I have lunch with my friends on Tuesdays, oh, you remember Melanie and Courtney. Wednesday I take off and spend the day working on me. Then Thursday and Friday are my gym days. Over the weekend Jim takes Georgia to his parents so I can recover from the week. We made the exception today though because Georgia loves Sam.” “Of course, Sam is great.” “Yeah,” Valerie continued, “Georgia comes over here all the time. She invites Sam over to our house too, but Sam never comes. I don’t get it, I mean our pool is twice the size of this one and we have a much bigger house.” “Maybe it’s the company,” Cat muttered. “What?” Valerie asked loudly. “I said, uh, maybe it’s more comfy. Have you ever sat on Lizzy’s couch? It’s to die for.” Valerie said, “Oh. Excuse me, will you?” Cat stifled a laugh as she watched Valerie make a beeline for Lizzy. Lizzy glanced her way suspiciously and Cat turned away before she broke out laughing. It was only then that she noticed him. He was sitting on the other side of the pool but looked like he was watching Cat. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she took in his wide shoulders and narrow waist. He had his hands rested on his abdomen and his t-shirt stretched tight across his bulky arms. His hair was as dark as night and looked silky and soft. Cat found herself dying to run her hands through his hair and press her lips to his soft pink ones. She even liked the five o’clock shadow he had going on. It gave him a rugged, sexy look. Lizzy dropped down next to Cat and asked, “Why was Tiffany going on about my couch?” Regretfully Cat tore her gaze from the hot guy and faced Lizzy. “She was complaining about how horrible her life is and how busy she is doing absolutely nothing and I was annoyed. She told me she couldn’t understand why Georgia always wanted to come here instead of Sam going there when she has a bigger house and pool. I covered up that I said it was the company by telling her maybe it was because your couch is so comfy.” Lizzy laughed so hard she nearly snorted. She tried to compose herself but she just kept picturing Valerie going to pick out the exact same couch in hopes of getting the girls to stay at her house. Cat laughed alongside her knowing it wasn’t very nice of her to trick Valerie, but she felt justified after the woman was so conceited. “She’ll never figure out that money isn’t going to bring happiness. I almost feel bad for her. But then she opens her mouth and I remember she’s horrible.” Lizzy started laughing all over again, doubling over and clenching her stomach. Aaron walked over and sat down next to Lizzy. “Are you okay, hun?” he asked. She nodded but kept laughing. “Don’t make her sick, Cat. We need that baby to cook for a few more months.” “I’ll be good, Aaron. I promise,” Cat answered. Aaron stood up and headed back inside. Cat watched him go, thinking how lucky Lizzy was. “Why didn’t I just hook up with someone in high school? I could have this life. I could be living next door to you with my husband and 1.5 kids. Instead I’m out here all alone and imaging my life with a bunch of cats one day.” “Well at least you have the right name for being the Cat Lady!” Cat shot Lizzy a dirty look, but Lizzy just laughed again. “So, who’s the new guy?” Cat asked with a nod toward the hot guy on the other side of the pool. She didn’t turn around to look at him, but she could feel his gaze on her back. Lizzy turned and waved. “That’s Ryder Hawkins. He’s Kylie’s dad. You know, Kylie that Sam’s been hanging around with lately. They just moved here from Florida and the girls hit it off. They’re practically inseparable. I’ve met Ryder a few times. He seems like a good guy and Kylie is as sweet as they come.” “Where is Mrs. Hawkins?” “Ooh, I see. You think he’s hot.” “Have you seen the man? How could I not?” “Oh, yeah, but I’m not allowed to look. And there is no Mrs. Hawkins. He’s single. Would you like me to introduce you?” Cat smiled at Lizzy but shook her head. “You and I both know there’s no point.” “Why the heck not?” Lizzy asked incredulously. “Oh, please Lizzy, look at the guy. Not only is he gorgeous, but he’s obviously experienced. I mean it’s impossible to find someone without more experience than me, but he has a kid. He’s probably been married which means he’ll expect s*x all the time. And he has that look about him. He’s confident and sexy, but he’ll be just like all the others, probably even worse since he hasn’t known me forever.” Lizzy shook her head and said, “Cat, you need some confidence. You are an amazing person. Any man would be lucky to have you.” “That may be true Lizzy, but as soon as they learn my secret they run. Far and fast. And Ryder won’t be any different. It’s not worth getting involved with someone so close to Sam to have the same inevitable end result. I can’t do that to her.” “Sam, are you kidding me? You’re going to use my kid as your excuse to not date?” “It’s not an excuse, Lizzy. If I date Ryder and get close to Kylie then she will tell Sam. Sam will see us together and start to think of us as a couple. When it ends, like it always does, it could get weird around Sam and Kylie, especially if Kylie comes over here when I’m around. She might stop hanging around with Sam if she wants to avoid me and it’ll ruin their friendship. It’s not fair to Sam.” “Wow, you’re even more messed up than I thought you were,” Lizzy said. “Cat, not every guy is a jerk. You need to give someone a chance. You’re not happy.” “Yeah, Lizzy, I know. But I don’t need a man to be happy.” “No, you don’t. But you want one in your life. You want someone to share your life with, to have a family, and there’s nothing wrong with that.” “Yeah, well, I need to push that dream aside. It’s not going to happen.” “You never know, Cat. Crap, Aaron is bringing out the cake. I need to get the girls out of the pool so they can sing and eat cake. Then people will start to leave I’m sure. Are you going to hang around after to go through all Sam’s loot?” “Yeah, I’m hanging around. I don’t have anything to do tonight, of course, so I’ll be here. Maybe I can drink your wine and sleep on your super comfortable couch.” Lizzy stood up laughing and headed over to where Aaron was setting the cake. Cat watched as they talked for a minute then Aaron went back inside and Lizzy called the girls to get out of the pool. Groans erupted from the ten girls in the pool. Lizzy promised they could get back in the pool after they ate cake and the girls started climbing out. Aaron returned a moment later with a lighter and quickly illuminated the seven candles on Sam’s purple princess cake. Everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’ and Lizzy cut the cake with the efficiency of an experienced slicer. All those years volunteering with the PTO bake sales had paid off. Cat accepted her purple cake and ate in silence, avoiding the moms by ducking into the house to hit the bathroom. She was just not in the mood for anymore of their crap. Valerie was enough. Cat walked back into the yard with her eyes on her phone. She was waiting for a message from her weekend manager about how the lunch shift had gone. The restaurant should have been in a lull waiting for dinner so she was wondering why Kathy hadn’t called. Cat ran straight into something solid. She felt strong hands steady her before she toppled over in her heels. She knew without looking that she ran straight into the hot guy.