The Scarlet Letter Scandal Read Free Page A

included a refrigerator, sink, and small counter with cabinet above. Drinks, fruit, and other food items were provided, and a glass bowl on the counter collected soda and snack money.
    Kellie had named her secret sex club “Rocks,” chosen for its multiple meanings. Swingers in the neighborhood who participated in this open lifestyle placed large landscaping rocks at the end of their driveways. The slogan “get your rocks off” had been thrown around somewhat jokingly, and a small neon sign hanging from the ceiling near the bar read “On the Rocks.”
    Holding their drinks, Kellie and Brandon starting dancing when Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody” began to play.
    “Hello, everyone,” said Felicia after she’d entered the combination password and she and her Jamaican friend Mycah walked in. “What’s the good word, friends?” Mycah added with her warm accent and matching smile.
    Kellie had met the twenty-something bi-curious women at her gym and become fast friends with them. A conversation in the locker room one day had led Kellie to invite them over for a party, and they’d been regular club members ever since. Still wearing her workout wear, CrossFit instructor Felicia, her honey-toned skin still glistening from the gym, headed to the bathroom with Mycah to shower and change.
    The shower room was built of glass block and lit from the inside. Club members could see individuals or couples or threesomes who were inside the area, but only in silhouette.
    The song ended and Kellie walked around the perimeter of the room, opening the doors to three smaller rooms. “So what’s everyone in the mood for today, in addition to watching these gorgeous ladies’ silhouetted curves?”
    She smiled, thinking of the horrifying scene this morning at Jeannie’s house. If only the PTA president knew how often her husband had been in these very rooms.
     

     
    Safely harbored at her Matthew’s Island cottage and with a bottle of wine tucked under one arm, Eva used her elbow to open the rickety wooden screen door, which thwapped shut behind her. Three worn, painted wooden Adirondack chairs faced the protected cove just inside the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. She placed a tray of cheeses and crackers, grapes and nuts on a small wooden side table. Maggie and Lisa looked up from their peaceful perches, thanking her. Eva opened the wine and poured, and the three friends raised their glasses in a silent toast, drinking together.
    “Welcome to the island, friends,” said Eva, looking more casual in a cotton Gap tank dress and flip-flops than she normally did in her crisp business attire. Her dark, neat bob, typically coiffed in a courtroom, was pulled back in a striped headband.
    “It is so unfuckingbelievably nice to be here,” said Maggie with her ever-present Boston accent. She gestured toward the pinks and purples and reds in the sky; the waterfront sunset view was mesmerizing. “If you had told us you had this kind of view, we’d a’ brought bigger suitcases.”
    Lisa added, “Agreed. We didn’t get to see the sunset last time we were here. Thanks so much for having us down to visit. The drive from Keytown wasn’t anywhere near as bad as we thought it might be for a Friday.”
    “Good idea leaving early; that damn Bay Bridge. Honestly, I just can’t believe we haven’t all had a weekend together here until now,” said Eva. “We’ve talked about it forever but it’s so hard to get our schedules coordinated.”
    “I’m glad to finally be getting the floors in my shop refinished,” said Maggie. “Whoever pulled up the carpet originally did a crappy job and I was sick of trying to hide the mess with hooked rugs. Dragging the racks of vintage clothes to the empty store next to me was a pain in the ass. I’m just happy I had an excuse to close the shop and get outta town for the weekend.”
    “Me too,” said Lisa, who looked exhausted, pale; dark circles under her eyes, a wrinkled T-shirt. “Zarina offered