look wonderful. Maybe you could eat a little more, but you are still so beautiful.”
That made me shed a tear as I stepped forward and gave Alena my own hug. I’d forgotten how sweet this woman from Guatemala could be. I also knew that not having her phenomenal pastries around was probably one of the reasons I had lost weight quickly after I moved out.
I said, “How are you, Alena?”
She shrugged, and I knew what she meant. She worked for a jerk, but what are you going to do?
I introduced Marty quickly, brushing over our exact relationship.
Alena gave me a sly smile and said, “Very handsome, Miss Christy.”
“He’s an architect, so I wanted to show him the place. Do you know when Brennan will be back?”
“Not for a long time. He had to go with his father to Miami on business. I was just using the day to run errands.”
Now it could get tricky. I hesitated, then finally said, “Alena, do you think you could keep my little visit a secret?”
“I would do anything you asked after the way Mr. Brennan treated you. Besides, now that you’re not around, he doesn’t even pretend to treat me with any respect. If I didn’t need the job so badly, I would walk away and never come back.”
I gave Alena another hug before she headed out on her next errand. Now Marty and I had some time to look around.
Chapter 21
I decided to give Marty a grand tour of my former castle. It was a lot like the tours I had given friends and neighbors after we’d had work done around the house. As I was showing him some of the guest bedrooms upstairs and recognizing all the improvements I had made in my years as the mistress of the house, I started to realize that maybe I had been covering up flaws in our marriage by throwing myself so completely into home renovations. It wasn’t an uncommon practice among the bored housewives of Palm Beach, but I’d had no idea I was doing it at the time.
I had purposely saved the master bedroom suite for last. It sat on the east side of the second story, and the main windows looked out over the ocean. The view was remarkable. There was a separate walk-in closet on each side of a hallway that led to a bathroom, which included a small steam room, a Roman tub with Jacuzzi jets, Italian marble counters and sinks, and even a massage table that pulled out from one of the marble counters. That saved Brennan’s personal masseuse the trouble of carrying a table with her when she stopped by to give him one of his three weekly massages.
I enjoyed the look on Marty’s face as he inspected every inch of the house. He said, “This is just unbelievable. Even a spread in Architectural Digest wouldn’t do this place justice. And most of these renovations were your idea?”
I nodded while trying to hide my superior smile. “That’s right, I made this place what it is today. When I got here, Brennan had literally thrown some rugs across the floors and hadn’t updated the house in any other way since the 1960s. When I found mold—and I’m talking some serious mold, like up the walls and everything—in two of the guest bedrooms, Brennan’s response was ‘No one stays there long enough to get sick, so why worry about it?’”
“Peach of a guy. I’m glad I’ve never had to meet him face-to-face.”
“You’re in another class. There’s no reason for you to ever have to deal with that jackass. He’ll be out of our life soon enough.”
Marty smiled and said, “Now, that’s an attitude I can get behind. As long as you don’t need all this again, I can’t see why I won’t make you happy.”
Instead of answering him, I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck, then planted a long, lingering kiss on his lips. It felt nice to have this kind of passion in this particular bedroom. The room certainly hadn’t seen this kind of action from me in a long time. I had no idea what Brennan was up to on the dating front, and I didn’t care. If I really had to admit it, this house had always meant a lot
That made me shed a tear as I stepped forward and gave Alena my own hug. I’d forgotten how sweet this woman from Guatemala could be. I also knew that not having her phenomenal pastries around was probably one of the reasons I had lost weight quickly after I moved out.
I said, “How are you, Alena?”
She shrugged, and I knew what she meant. She worked for a jerk, but what are you going to do?
I introduced Marty quickly, brushing over our exact relationship.
Alena gave me a sly smile and said, “Very handsome, Miss Christy.”
“He’s an architect, so I wanted to show him the place. Do you know when Brennan will be back?”
“Not for a long time. He had to go with his father to Miami on business. I was just using the day to run errands.”
Now it could get tricky. I hesitated, then finally said, “Alena, do you think you could keep my little visit a secret?”
“I would do anything you asked after the way Mr. Brennan treated you. Besides, now that you’re not around, he doesn’t even pretend to treat me with any respect. If I didn’t need the job so badly, I would walk away and never come back.”
I gave Alena another hug before she headed out on her next errand. Now Marty and I had some time to look around.
Chapter 21
I decided to give Marty a grand tour of my former castle. It was a lot like the tours I had given friends and neighbors after we’d had work done around the house. As I was showing him some of the guest bedrooms upstairs and recognizing all the improvements I had made in my years as the mistress of the house, I started to realize that maybe I had been covering up flaws in our marriage by throwing myself so completely into home renovations. It wasn’t an uncommon practice among the bored housewives of Palm Beach, but I’d had no idea I was doing it at the time.
I had purposely saved the master bedroom suite for last. It sat on the east side of the second story, and the main windows looked out over the ocean. The view was remarkable. There was a separate walk-in closet on each side of a hallway that led to a bathroom, which included a small steam room, a Roman tub with Jacuzzi jets, Italian marble counters and sinks, and even a massage table that pulled out from one of the marble counters. That saved Brennan’s personal masseuse the trouble of carrying a table with her when she stopped by to give him one of his three weekly massages.
I enjoyed the look on Marty’s face as he inspected every inch of the house. He said, “This is just unbelievable. Even a spread in Architectural Digest wouldn’t do this place justice. And most of these renovations were your idea?”
I nodded while trying to hide my superior smile. “That’s right, I made this place what it is today. When I got here, Brennan had literally thrown some rugs across the floors and hadn’t updated the house in any other way since the 1960s. When I found mold—and I’m talking some serious mold, like up the walls and everything—in two of the guest bedrooms, Brennan’s response was ‘No one stays there long enough to get sick, so why worry about it?’”
“Peach of a guy. I’m glad I’ve never had to meet him face-to-face.”
“You’re in another class. There’s no reason for you to ever have to deal with that jackass. He’ll be out of our life soon enough.”
Marty smiled and said, “Now, that’s an attitude I can get behind. As long as you don’t need all this again, I can’t see why I won’t make you happy.”
Instead of answering him, I turned and wrapped my arms around his neck, then planted a long, lingering kiss on his lips. It felt nice to have this kind of passion in this particular bedroom. The room certainly hadn’t seen this kind of action from me in a long time. I had no idea what Brennan was up to on the dating front, and I didn’t care. If I really had to admit it, this house had always meant a lot
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