“I’m Desiree Moss. Welcome.” She held out her hand, and a dozen bracelets jingled on her wrist. She wore rings on five fingers. Her hand was moist and warm when I took it.

“I’m Heather.”

“You just arrived in town and came to the pool? That’s kinda fucked up.” Her rude words didn’t match her warm smile.

“My husband let us off the hook with unpacking the car.” Quieter, I added, “My daughter broke a vase within minutes of us being inside the house.”

“Ha! It’s hard for some of us to sit still. I get it, believe me.” She spoke like an off-year Camaro. Crude, dated, yet flashy and packed with horsepower. “So, where you from and why the hell move to this dark armpit?”

“Chicago. My husband is taking care of his mother. She’s got cancer in a bunch of places. She’s got a few months left. So, it’s temporary.” Look at that. Now I was using the word temporary. Trevor would be so proud.

“I got ya. Hopefully she kicks the bucket soon, and you’re home by Christmas.”

I laughed because it was so inappropriate and it had been exactly what I was thinking. “This pool is really nice. It, well…” I hesitated.

“Does not fit with the rest of the town? I know. It’s the newest building we got. One of our wealthy families built it. This couple, they have eighteen grandkids. Instead of building each of their five kids a pool, they built this.” She pulled one bare leg up out from the water and wrapped her arms around it. As she moved, her breasts jiggled under thin nylon.

I relished the idea of having breasts like hers. Mine had always been small—perky was the kind, yet patronizing adjective—but since breastfeeding Emily, they’d lost the meager volume they’d had. Now they were tuberous, barely filled water balloons hanging onto my ribcage. Emily had drained my sexual appeal, literally sucked it right out through the nipple.

“The saltwater aquarium by the changing cabanas is the only aquarium in town,” Desiree said. “This is literally the fanciest joint in Hunther. Maybe that’s why I work here. I can fantasize that I’ve escaped.”

“You can’t?”

She shrugged. “My dad lives here. My boyfriend. This is what I know. These are my people. They may be scum of the earth, but they’re mine.” She smiled.

She had to know she could run a good hustle in the city. That she could have her pick of men and jobs. I bet she liked being the queen of this town—big fish in a small pond. Or maybe she truly couldn’t see beyond the horizon.

Emily’s fingers squeezed my big toe, then her face broke the water like a baby seal, her smile so wide, her eyes so bright. “I got your toe!” She laughed hard, and coughed a little.