The house was beachfront, but we spent the day lounging by the pool, with occasional trips to the beach for Jacob to collect sand. It was a tough call as to who was ogling me more—Richard or Lauren—even though I kept my cover-up over my one-piece when I wasn’t in the pool cooling off. At four o’clock, Richard announced it was happy hour. He called on Lauren to mix up a batch of gin and tonics. Lauren asked if I could help, and I followed her to the kitchen.

She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, then poured almost half of it into a large pitcher. To that she added two handfuls of ice. From the shelf above she pulled out two bottles of tonic and poured them in. For a moment, she rummaged through the refrigerator before announcing, “Last, but certainly not least,” while waving a lime.

After slicing the lime into wedges, her concoction was complete. I assumed we would return to the outdoors, but instead Lauren peered out the window. From my vantage point, I could see Richard reading on his lounge chair. Stuart had joined Jacob in the pool.

“Come here. I want to show you something,” Lauren said, reaching for my hand.

I walked with her into the next room, a bright red dining room. A table that easily could seat twenty was in the center, a series of gold-framed mirrors on the wall. It was in the reflection of a mirror that I saw Lauren lean toward me.

Her kiss took me by surprise. “Not now,” I said, pulling away quickly. “Not here.”

“I just miss you. I thought having you here would make the weekend pass without the heartache I usually feel, but it’s worse having you so close but not being able to . . . well, you know.”

I nodded. I did know.

Richard drank nearly the entire pitcher of G&T on his own. I had just enough to make it look like I was participating, but I wanted to make sure above all else that I kept my wits about me. Stuart isn’t much of a drinker, so he had even less than I, and Lauren was too busy preparing dinner to have more than one glass.

Dinner was a feast. Grilled steak and tuna, roasted potatoes, a kale salad, and a burger made especially for Jacob, even though I told Lauren that he’d eat whatever the grown-ups were having. She opened a bottle of white wine and poured it equally among the four of us.

After cleanup, Lauren announced that she and I were going to take a late-night stroll. It was clear from her tone that the men were not invited. Not that Richard cared, as he had already excused himself to his study. Stuart kissed me on the top of the head and said he was going to put Jacob to sleep, then turn in himself.