You could pass her in a Wall-mart, and you'd never turn around to watch her go by. Yet, she was cute and had and outgoing personally that seemed to dr...w you to her.Over the course of several months she would stop and make small talk with me when I would be outside working on the landscape. I would go out of my way to catch her attention. I got to know her more as she opened up with her life. I knew she was forty-eight, divorced with no children. She lived alone and did not have a steady boy. “Looks like you two are enjoying yourself.” Steve said as he lit the tiki torches around the deck. The ladies giggled as they held each other close. Steve opened and handed out the beers and the men relaxed in the deck chairs as they watched their wives dance. “Steve, I have to ask. How did you end up with such a lovely woman as Beth?” “Well, I have a few side businesses. One of them is publishing. I publish men’s magazines. We don’t do anything tasteless or raunchy, but mostly nudie cutie type. She'd claimed fatigue when it was time to go get Julie's possessions. She'd actually begged off so she could have some time alone to think.She'd been mentally reviewing her conversations with Bobby at the hospital, and during the time at Dave's and Collette's house since. She had a suspicion that Bobby had been avoiding being alone with her. It seemed whenever they were the only two people in a room, he'd found some excuse to leave on an important errand.She'd been waiting for an opportunity to. ******* Pearl knew she’d already had too much to drink. She didn’t care. Life was cruel. Too cruel. Here she was, at Brent’s party, her boyfriend for the past fifteen years, watching him kiss and laugh with…the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen. She’d rescued him during the Big Kahuna surfing contest and he’d been smitten with her ever since. Pearl no longer existed for him. Her mother, the scheming woman that she was, insisted they assist the party. After all, mother and Brent’s father were.