She's Not There by Joy Fielding Read Free Book Online

paradise.
    Except the sitter was late.
    “Are the others there yet?” Hunter asked, coming up behind her, his arms snaking around her waist.
    “I don’t see them. Oh, wait. There’s Rain.”
    “What on earth is she wearing?”
    “You mean, what
isn’t
she wearing?” Caroline corrected. “I think she forgot her top. Did you know her husband is quite the stud?”
    “Really? She told you that?”
    “I believe
insatiable
was the word she used.”
    Hunter made a face. “Hard to picture.”
    “Let’s not,” Caroline said, as Jerrod suddenly appeared beside his wife, the two of them looking up and waving. Caroline waved back, felt Hunter do the same. “Maybe we should call the front desk, find out what’s up.” She stayed on the balcony, watching Steve and Becky join Jerrod and Rain as Hunter went back to the living room to phone. “Well?” she asked upon his return.
    “She’s not coming.”
    “What do you mean, she’s not coming?”
    “Apparently we canceled.”
    “What? What are you talking about? We did no such thing.”
    “I told them that. But that’s what their records indicate. They’re trying to find us someone else.”
    “How long will that take?”
    “They said it should only be a few minutes.”
    Caroline shook her head in dismay, noting that Peggy and Fletcher had just arrived. As if on cue, everyone at the table turned toward them.
    “We’ll be down soon,” Hunter called out, although Caroline doubted anyone could hear him over the music and chatter. The phone rang. “There you go. Problem solved.”
    Except it wasn’t solved. The sitters registered on the hotel’s roster were all booked and the concierge was unable to find anyone else on such short notice, unless they were willing to wait until ten o’clock.
    “So much for that.” Caroline slumped to the sofa, kicking off the recently purchased high heels that Peggy had christened Caroline’s “fuck me” shoes.
    “No. We’re not going to let this ruin our anniversary dinner.”
    “We can’t wait till ten o’clock.”
    “We don’t have to,” Hunter said. “We’ll go, have dinner, come right back.”
    “What are you talking about? We can’t leave the kids alone.”
    “We’re not leaving them alone. We’ll be right downstairs. It’s just like at home, when the kids are in bed and we’re sitting in the backyard.”
    “It’s not the same.”
    “How is it different?”
    “For one thing, this
isn’t
our backyard. If the kids were to wake up, if they started crying, we wouldn’t be able to hear them.”
    “How many times did they wake up all week when the sitter was here?”
    “That’s beside the point.”
    “The sitter said they never woke up once.”
    “This is the same sitter who claims we canceled?”
    “Nothing’s going to happen,” Hunter insisted.
    “You go,” Caroline said.
    “Without you?”
    “Yes. You go. Bring me back something to eat.”
    “This is our anniversary dinner, Caroline. I’m not going without you.”
    “All right. How’s this? We call the restaurant and explain what happened, and tell everyone they can either join us up here for room service or come up later for dessert. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
    “
I
don’t understand. We’re not talking about leaving the grounds. We’re talking about going downstairs. For a couple of hours. You don’t think you’re being a little overprotective?”
    “Overprotective?” Caroline pictured her mother lurking close by, waiting to pounce.
    Hunter shrugged. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s disappointment talking, that’s all. It’s just that…well…I had something kind of special planned.”
    “It can still be special,” Caroline protested weakly.
    Hunter sank to the sofa beside her, took her hand in his. They were silent for several seconds. “Okay, listen. I have an idea.” He paused, gathering his thoughts. “We go downstairs…”
    “Hunter…”
    “We go downstairs,” he repeated, a little