“Well, it’s great that you’re together, then,” she said.
Sandy chomped a Dorito. Amanda had her hand on Brad’s arm. Sandy shook her head unhappily and looked at Beth. “You don’t think it’s too long?”
“Too long for what?”
“Shouldn’t we be getting married?”
“Oh. Um. Well, I don’t know. I guess it’s good to really know a person first. I’d much rather be with a person and know that he’s the one I want to spend the rest of my life with than marry in a hurry and have it all fall apart. The divorce rate is so high today.”
“Is your brother divorced?”
“No. His wife passed away.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yes.”
“So…you don’t think it’s a bad thing that I stay with Brad even though it’s been this long and we’re not married yet?”
Beth hesitated. She hadn’t begun to imagine that Sandy would come to her for advice on her relationship, certainly not after what she had seen and heard in the clearing earlier.
“I’m not qualified to give advice,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with staying with someone, no matter how long, if that’s what you feel is right.”
Sandy stared at the group by the fire, eyes level on Amanda. “Do you think he’d cheat on me?”
Beth was beginning to feel acutely uncomfortable. “Sandy, I just met both of you. I have no idea.”
Sandy didn’t seem to hear her. “She’s moving on. Who is she after, do you think? Your brother? Or Keith?”
Amanda had moved on. Now she stood between Ben and Keith at the barbecue. She was still laughing, charming, flirtatious.
And once again, she seemed to have enthralled her conquests.
“My brother is in his midthirties,” Beth said. “He has to take care of himself, make his own decisions.”
Sandy sighed. “Yeah, I guess Keith is all grown up, too. Hey, if Amanda is going to be all over Brad, maybe I should be making a few moves of my own.” She stared steadily at Beth again, then shook her head. “You’re so moral.”
Beth laughed. “How do you know that? We’ve only just met.”
Sandy shook her head. “There are things you just know. Things you see. No matter how long you’ve known someone.” She laughed softly. “Like chemistry. Don’t worry. If I make a play for someone, it won’t be Keith.”
“What?”
“There’s chemistry going between you two, and if you say it isn’t, well, then you’re a liar.”
“I’m too moral to be a liar, aren’t I?” Beth queried lightly.
Sandy still seemed caustically amused. “Well, he feels attracted to you. I see his eyes when you just walk by. And to be truthful, that’s why I’d never make a play for him. Why bother? He’s preoccupied. Actually, I don’t play games. And I don’t think Brad would, either. She just really pisses me off.”
“It seems as if you and Brad do have something…special,” Beth said, feeling a little lame but also really uncomfortable. When she looked at the woman, she wanted to shout, What the hell were you looking for today? A skull?
Both women turned to stare at Brad then. Apparently his coffee was perked, and he had gone to the trouble of making Irish coffee; he had a bottle of Jameson’s out, as well.
“Hey, I’d actually like one of those,” Beth said, ready to get up and end what was becoming too intimate a conversation with someone she didn’t know—and didn’t trust. She rose. “Come on, we’ll both head over there, and it won’t look like you’re worried in the least.”
Sandy flashed her a quick glance, and she realized that the woman had been worried. But Brad hadn’t done any instigating, and Amanda was being just as flirtatious with every available guy there.
Beth headed over to the fire and told Brad, “That’s definitely a different drink for a night on an island. I’d love one.”
“Sure. Sandy?”
“Sounds good to me, too. I’d love one.”
Brad mixed up two mugs. “Club Med has nothing on us, huh?” he teased, sliding an arm around Sandy’s shoulders.
“No, we’re just a regular party,” Beth agreed.
“Food’s ready!” Ben called out. “Someone grab some plates, please.”
Roger was the first one to oblige, and he became the official hand-’em-outer. Everyone found seats, in the hammock, on blankets or towels on the sand, or in the few folding chairs they’d brought out. For the next several minutes, compliments to the chef rang out.
“Hey, how about me?” Lee teased. “I led the fishing expedition.”
“I know, and it was a hell of a good time,” Ben told him.
“Maybe we should have gone along,” Sandy told Brad.
“Yeah, maybe,” Brad said, grimacing.
“There’s always tomorrow,” Matt offered.
“Tomorrow. Sunday,” Sandy said, and shivered. “Just Monday and then back to the real world. Work on Monday.”
“What do you do?” Beth asked her.
“Do?”
“For a living,” Beth said.
“Oh, I’m a consultant.”
Maybe it was the fact that Sandy had brought up going back to work on Monday when Beth knew she didn’t plan on doing any such thing, but Beth didn’t believe her for a minute.
“Back to work for you, too, Beth, right?” Amanda asked sweetly.
“Thankfully, I love my job,” Beth replied pleasantly.
“I’m not always so fond of mine,” Ben admitted.
“Ben’s a lawyer,” Roger explained.
“What kind?” Keith asked.
Ben laughed, a slightly dry sound. “Criminal. I used to work for the D.A.’s office, but now I get the scumbags off. It’s a good living, but…well, I don’t know how long I want to do it.” He hesitated, glancing over at his daughter. “I’d like to get away from some of the ugliness. I’m thinking about making a real switch into entertainment law or something like that.”
Beth turned to Keith and asked pointedly, “What do you do for a living?”
She thought he hesitated for just a second before he said, “I’m a diver.”
“And you make a decent enough living?” Hank asked.
“Decent enough for what?” Amber piped in.
Hank laughed easily. “Well, enough to have friends like Lee with a boat like that.”
“Hey, the boat is his,” Keith said.
“Well, what do you do?” Amanda asked Lee.
“Nothing remarkable,” Lee said. “Family money.”
“I like that,” Amanda said, and everyone laughed. The sound, however, had an edge to it, Beth thought.
Apparently Amanda had decided that Lee offered the best opportunity to go on living in the style to which she’d become accustomed. During cleanup, she hung around him, flirting, giggling.
Later Ben sternly vetoed the idea of ghost stories,