Just Good Friends (23 page)

“
Seriously?” Tyler muttered
under his breath. “Kids do whatever he wants, too?”

Tiffany chuckled and nudged him in the
side. “Maybe he paid them.”

“
No way. Even he wouldn’t do
that.”

Nathan glanced at Tyler then turned his
attention to Tiffany and her parents. “Welcome to my home. Everyone
else is already here. You can change in any of the guest bedrooms
upstairs.” He gestured to the staircase. “Feel free to make
yourselves at home. I have some refreshments in the pool area, but
if you want something else to eat or drink, the kitchen is down
that hall.” He pointed to it. “And the pool is down that hall,” he
motioned to another hallway, “and to the first right. You can’t
miss it. That’s where all the music is coming from. Of course,
Tyler’s been here before, so if you get lost, ask him. I’ll see you
when you come back down.”

Tiffany thought he gave Tyler a look
that had a hidden meaning to it, but her mom was already on her way
to the stairs, phone still in hand, ready to take more
pictures.

Tiffany adjusted her beach bag on her
shoulder and followed the others up the stairs. She hadn’t thought
about where they’d be changing into their swimsuits and wondered if
she should have put her swimsuit under her clothes.

Would her parents expect her and Tyler
to change in the same bedroom? Fortunately, this became a moot
point since her parents entered a bedroom and shut the door without
bothering to see where she and Tyler went.

“
Do you want me to wait for
you?” Tyler asked.

She stuck her head in the bedroom
closest to them and noticed its immaculate condition. It looked
more like a hotel than a bedroom in someone’s home. Turning her
attention back to him, she shook her head. “No, there’s no need to
wait for me. I know I take longer than everyone else to get
dressed.”

“
I don’t mind.”

Recalling the times she’d made him wait
in the past, she said, “I’m not going to make you wait for me this
time. I’m sure I won’t have any problem finding the pool.” Even
now, she could hear the echoes of Beth’s kids laughing.

“
Okay. Then I’ll meet you
there.”

He went to the bedroom next to hers, so
she went to hers and shut the door. Releasing her breath, she
checked her watch and wondered how long it was going to take before
she could leave. It was a lot easier to watch what she was saying
and doing when it was just her, Tyler and her parents.

But maybe it was better if they were
all here. Maybe everyone would be so distracted talking to each
other, she could blend into the background. That would be nice.
Unlike her sister, she didn’t crave the spotlight.

She took her time changing because, as
long as she was in this bedroom, no one was going to bother her.
She put on her one-piece green swimsuit and pulled her hair back
into a ponytail. When she couldn’t delay the inevitable anymore,
she grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her waist. Then she put
her sandals on and opened the door, scanning the hallway. The
bedrooms her parents and Tyler had been in were vacant. So she was
the last one to join the party. Well, that suited her just
fine.

She took her time in going to the pool
so she could get a good view of everything. She hoped her mom was
taking pictures of all this. She had no idea Amy lived in such a
great place. No wonder Nathan was expanding his business and
setting up a branch in Florida. What else was he supposed to do
with all his money?

She made it to the indoor pool and took
a deep breath. As Nathan said, everyone was here. Tyler’s parents
were lounging with her parents and laughing as if they’d always
known each other. That was good, she supposed. She would want her
husband’s parents to get along with hers…except Tyler wasn’t really
her husband.

Her gaze went to Ryan and Beth who were
in the pool with their children. The girl giggled and splashed
water at her brother, which made him retaliate. Ryan groaned and
led the girl further down the pool so there could be some distance
between them.

Danielle’s two boys were playing in the
pool as well, but they were more cooperative than Beth’s children.
Meanwhile, Nathan and Danielle’s husband were grilling hamburgers
and steaks on the propane grill further away from everyone. Tiffany
shook her head in wonder. Only in a very large room was that even
possible.

“
It’s a lot to take in when
you first see it,” came Amy’s voice from behind her.

Tiffany jumped. “I didn’t hear you,”
she said as Amy, who was carrying her daughter, approached with
Danielle beside her.

“
I had to change her
diaper,” Amy explained. “Are you going in the pool? Nathan and
Randy won’t have the food ready for a half hour.”

“
Yes.” After a moment, she
said, “It’s weird to see your husband cooking, Amy.”

“
Once in a while he does
stuff on his own. My dad introduced him to grilling the last time
he came here, and Nathan’s brought it out every time we have a
party.”

Tiffany nodded. At least with him
cooking, he shouldn’t have a reason to talk to her and Tyler’s
parents. Speaking of Tyler, she scanned the room again and caught
sight of someone swimming a short distance from the kids. So that’s
where Tyler was. With all the commotion the kids were causing, no
wonder she missed him.

She turned back to them. “I’m sorry I
dragged you two into this mess. I never expected the lie to get
this out of control.” She gestured to all of the people in the
room.

“
It’s not that bad,” Amy
assured her. “At least not for us.”

“
Yeah, we get to enjoy a day
at the pool, and,” Danielle added, “better yet, I don’t have to
make lunch or dinner for my kids. I hate to cook.”

Amy grinned. “That’s true. She’ll do
whatever it takes to get out of it.”

Though their comments made her feel a
little better, Tiffany still didn’t feel right about it. “The only
reason Nathan’s having this party is because Tyler and I told my
parents we were married.”

“
I thought he was the only
one who told them that,” Danielle said.

“
He was,” Tiffany replied.
“But I went along with it. I could have stopped the whole thing as
soon as it happened, but I didn’t.”

“
Well, you could always
marry him. Then it wouldn’t be a lie anymore.”

“
Oh, be serious,” Amy said,
rubbing her daughter’s back. “She can’t marry him just because they
were trying to get her parents to back off. They need to get
married because they love each other.”

Danielle shot Amy a pointed look. “Some
marriages do very well when they’re arranged because of a
lie.”

“
This isn’t about Nathan and
me.” Amy shook her head then looked at Tiffany. “You need to do
what’s right for you and Tyler. Don’t listen to this person.” She
nodded toward Danielle.

“
Hey, there’s nothing wrong
with the advice I’m giving,” Danielle argued.

Amber squirmed in Amy’s arms. “I’m
going to go into the pool with her,” Amy said, smiling at her
daughter. “She loves the water.”

“
Go on and enjoy,” Danielle
told her. While Amy headed for the pool, Danielle turned her
attention back to Tiffany. “Another plus to being here today is
that my kids are burning off all their energy. Just look at how
hard they’re playing. And you know what it’ll be like when Randy
and I get home? They’ll actually sit down and be quiet. They’ll be
too tired to fight. You and Tyler telling that lie is working out
great for me.”

Tiffany scanned the room again and saw
that her parents and Tyler’s parents were laughing. Her parents
were so different from his. Hers were outgoing and loved social
activities. His parents were happier in a small group with trusted
friends, and they never once bothered Tyler about settling down and
getting married. It was amazing they got along so well.

“
Are you going to go
swimming?” Danielle asked. “The pool is heated. You don’t even have
to go through that horrible few minutes of ‘waiting until you’re
not too cold to enjoy the water’ period.”

“
Yeah, I’ll go in. Let me
put my towel down.” Tiffany picked a lounging chair that didn’t
have a towel already on it and draped hers on it.

“
Did you pick a green
swimsuit because it’s the Christmas season?”

“
No. I bought it last
summer.” She shrugged. “Green’s my favorite color.”

“
Well, it does a good job of
bringing out your best assets.” Danielle winked. “Tyler will like
what he sees.”

“
Please don’t wink. My dad
does that a lot.” And Tiffany had forgotten how annoying his habit
got during her long absence from seeing her parents.

“
Okay, fine. I won’t wink.
I’ll just nudge you like this.” Danielle tapped her arm. “Does that
work?”

“
It’s better.”

“
You want to get in the side
with the kids or further down in the deep area?”

Seeing as how Tyler was all by himself,
Tiffany said, “Let’s go over in the deep area. Tyler has no one to
talk to.”

“
It doesn’t seem like he
minds. You know, he’s a good swimmer.”

“
We met at the pool where I
was a lifeguard, and he ended up giving swimming lessons to some
kids.”

“
I didn’t know that’s how
you met. I thought you met in college.”

“
No. He met Nathan in
college, not me.”

“
Well, I’m glad he met both
of you.” As they approached the edge of the pool, Danielle asked,
“Do you think Tyler could talk Nathan into letting us have a spa in
the back room at work?”

Tiffany laughed and stepped down the
ladder. “There is no way that’s happening, and you know
it.”

“
I guess not. But you can’t
blame me for trying.”

Tiffany chuckled and dipped her head
under the water. She had to admit that the pool felt great. The
temperature was just right. When she brought her head back up to
the surface, she wiped her eyes and saw that Tyler was swimming
over to them.

“
I think I’ll leave you two
alone,” Danielle said.

Before Tiffany could say anything,
Danielle swam off to the other side of the pool.

When Tyler reached Tiffany, he glanced
over at Danielle. “She didn’t leave because I was coming over, did
she?”

“
You want the
truth?”

He hesitated then asked, “She doesn’t
like me?”

“
No. She wants me to talk
you into asking Nathan to put in a spa for her at work.”

“
Are you
serious?”

“
I don’t know if she’s
serious about it or not. She’d probably like one but realizes it’ll
never happen.”

“
I thought Nathan went
overboard with sending a frappuccino maker to their kitchen. Don’t
tell anyone this, but he didn’t give any other department something
like that.”

“
He did it because of
Amy?”

“
Yep.”

“
I guess it’s sweet that he
goes out of his way for those he cares about.” And apparently, he
thought a lot of Tyler since he set her parents up so well for this
trip. “Deep down, Nathan means well.”

“
He does what he thinks is
in a person’s best interest. Sometimes it’s not what the person
actually wants. But yeah, I guess that’s why I stick around. His
heart is in the right place.”

“
Does that mean you’re no
longer upset with him?”

He shrugged. “It’s not so bad. At
least, I don’t think so. Do you?”

She glanced over at their parents. “No.
I have to admit I’m surprised our parents get along so
well.”

“
Me too. Hey, you want to
swim a few laps?”

“
As in a race?” she asked,
intrigued.

“
We can if you want. If
memory serves, you beat me last time we did this.”

“
That was five years
ago.”

“
I know. I have a good
chance of winning this time since I’ve been working
out.”

She grinned. “Amy said Nathan gives you
a lot of grief about exercising when you should be
dating.”

“
You and Amy talk about
me?”

“
We only say good things,”
she replied.

“
Alright, I’ll take your
word for it. So, you ready to race? We have to go five
laps.”

“
Okay, you’re
on.”

On the count of three, they raced five
laps in the pool, and sure enough, Tyler won, though it was a close
win.

“
Your exercising paid off,”
Tiffany said after she reached him.

“
Nice moves,” Danielle
called out as she swam over to them. “When did you both learn to
swim?”

“
I was in high school,”
Tyler replied, “and I think Tiffany was in
kindergarten.”

“
Preschool. My mom had this
fear I’d fall into a lake and drown, so she was adamant I learn
early in life.”

“
Are there are lot of lakes
in Montana?”