believe.” She smiled over at the two men in the doorway. “Maybe we’ll find you a couple of your own.”
“Oh, no.” Tara shook her head. “I wasn’t good enough for one. I’d go insane trying to make more than one happy. My life is me and my little man. I want to do what’s best for him.”
“That sounds pretty lonely.”
Tara shrugged and pushed those exact feelings down deep inside of her. “Nah, I’m happy with the two of us.”
* * * *
The Bennetts had a beautiful home in the middle of the forest. Tara hadn’t been certain where they’d been headed when they pulled down a long driveway, framed by trees on either side. The inside of the house was completely open concept and there was a large deck off the back of the house. All the ecologically friendly equipment incorporated into the home design fascinated Tara. Jessica told her that her brother-in-law Vencel Solfalvi had developed it and that had been the practice house for his ideas. Jessica and her husbands had bought it off him when they’d come back to Ecstasy Lake to stay. Her sister-in-law, Mai, lived a couple minutes up the road with her two husbands and their children. Once Tara got over the surprise of Jessica’s multiple husbands, she learned they weren’t the only ones. Even Carol, who worked at the clinic, had three.
Zack was running around the backyard kicking a soccer ball around with Marcario and Jelani. The brothers were obviously playing terribly and making it all the more dramatic for her son. Marcario dove for a slow-moving ball and missed it completely, rolling over and lying flat on the ground as the ball finally moved through the goal posts they’d set up. Zack hollered and cheered and jumped around after scoring on them again. “I’m doing good, Mom!” He gave her two thumbs up and then ran over and held out his hand to help Marcario up off the ground.
“He’s such a sweet boy, Tara.” Jessica passed her a glass of sangria. “You’re so lucky. I can’t wait to start a family, too.”
“It’s the hardest job there is, but I wouldn’t change my decisions for anything in the world.” Tara looked out over the quilt of colours painting the trees around them.
“His father?” Jessica asked softly.
“Uninterested in either of us five minutes after the deed was done.” Tara sipped at her wine and tried not to think of the soul-crushing moment when she realized she’d been so very wrong about someone. At the time she had been sure fate had brought them together. She’d managed to get out of the house and go to a beach party with some friends. He’d appeared out of nowhere and asked her to dance. She’d thought he was the most fascinating man she’d ever met. They had ended up in a corner away from everyone and had talked about anything and everything. He’d made her feel like the most desirable woman in the world, so when he started kissing her she’d figured this was meant to be. Her romantic heart had latched on to the idea of him being her soul mate and they were destined to be together. The sex was phenomenal. Even if she hadn’t had anything to compare it to, she knew it couldn’t get better. He obviously didn’t think so, because after she fell asleep in his arms he left. She woke up alone on a beach in the middle of the night, alone and devastated.
Her father had backhanded her the moment she walked in the door, accusing her of doing all sorts of terrible things. She denied it all of course, but three months later she realized one night really had changed the direction of her life.
“I’m sorry.” Jessica’s soft voice pulled her back to the present.
“Not your fault. I was the naive one, but I have my Zach so it was a fair trade. I can’t believe all the colours in the trees around here. You must be into photography or painting with all this inspiration available.” The setting sun created a wash of golden light in the sky, creating a beautiful backdrop for the explosion of