After Johnny left to go after Val and Lauren, Rachel, Al, Sunny and Tej were left with the object of Val's fury.
"What's her problem?" Joanie asked, still a little shell-shocked.
"I think we just experienced a perfect example of transference," Sunny said. "She was already angry at Johnny; everyone could tell that just from how she acted toward him during the funeral, and she just confirmed it. But because she saw you as the instigator of a series of events that led to her situation, she took that anger at Johnny, which wasn't making much of a difference, and directed it at you. It's not rational, but it might make her feel better."
"She wouldn't have felt better with my fist in her face," Joanie grumbled. "I didn't make Johnny do anything."
Sunny nodded. "Again, I didn't say it was rational. The poor woman's marriage is crumbling, and she's lashing out."
"Maybe you should give her your card, Sunny," Tej said.
"Or," Al said, "they could try counselling like Joe and Lauren did."
"I feel like I can't even leave this room," Joanie said. "At least not until Joe and Lauren come back."
"We'll keep you company," Rachel said. "I don't really feel like mingling with the other guests either. My mother's out there, for one thing. That's the second time I've seen her wear that stupid veil at a funeral."
"I noticed it too," Sunny said. "It's like she's acting the part of a mourner."
"I know! You all know she and Mr. DiTomaso didn't get along, right? When we were living in Queensborough, she called Revenue Canada on him for not claiming the income from his family's sale of beans every summer. But, what do you know, I happen to mention while on the phone with her that he passed away, and she wants to know when the funeral is."
"You know, my mom was the same way with Mrs. Anderson," Al said. "They were polite to each other but not that close, and yet as soon as she heard about the memorial she wanted to go. It's like they need to go to these things and say to themselves, 'Hooray, I'm still standing.'"
They all chuckled awkwardly at this, because it seemed callous but was also very apt.
"You were brave for coming today," Sunny said to Joanie.
Joanie shrugged. "I wanted to support Joe and Lauren."
"Lauren too?" Tej said. "Forgive me, but maybe I'm not in tune with the nuances of your arrangement."
"Lauren and I like each other a lot," Joanie said heatedly. "I encouraged Joe to reconcile with her as soon as he could, to move back home as soon as I was able to move around without help. Lauren was generous enough to share him with me, and we've been through a lot together. The last thing I want to do is split them up."
Tej seemed taken aback by the forcefulness of Joanie's reply. "Fair enough."
"So, have you started doing detective work?" Sunny asked to change the subject and save his wife.
Joanie nodded. "Working out of the Surrey detachment is different from working in Langley. It's much bigger, for one thing. Being a trainee, I float from case to case doing whatever the detectives in charge ask me to do, mainly interviewing witnesses, door to door canvassing, that type of thing. I rarely get the chance to examine the scene, but the more experience I get, the closer I'll get to that day."
"Are you still a media relations officer?" Al asked.
She shook her head. "No, thank goodness. Detectives don't usually talk to the media unless they put out specific requests for witnesses, and that usually falls on the detective in charge of the investigation."
"You did a fantastic job when you were in it," Rachel said.
Joanie blinked in surprise. "Thanks, but you remember the attention I got from the creeps while I was doing it. That bloody hashtag hotcoplangley. It's still around, you know."
"That sucks," Tej said.
Joanie nodded in acknowledgement. "Now that I'm not in front of a camera anymore, I'm nice and anonymous again."
They stood in silence for a while. "What do you think our kids are doing?" Tej asked.
"I think they're watching TV in the basement, where they won't be seen disrespecting the dead," Rachel said. "Funerals aren't for kids."
Sunny cleared his throat and said, "Logan's down there, I take it?"
"Yes. But so are all the others. I doubt Logan and your daughter will have enough privacy to do anything not age appropriate."
"There are two rooms down there, with doors," Al said.
They all looked at Al, who squirmed and said, "Still, they're all down there, Naomi included. I doubt she'll let them have that privacy."
Sunny sighed in frustration. "What do you think of all this? Should we be worried?"
"I don't know," Rachel said. "The last thing I want is for Logan to hurt either of them."
"Maybe they just need to be encouraged to participate in wholesome activities together," Al said, "so they're not left alone to do the opposite."
"Did you just use the word wholesome?" Joanie asked. "Even I want to barf."
"Still, the idea has merit," Sunny said. "They can't go off somewhere if there's always one or two other kids around. Especially Emma."
"Do you think Emma will ever start having crushes?" Tej asked.
Al looked suitably horrified. Now he must be feeling what Sunny felt. "I don't know, honestly. I really hope she's open with us if she ever does. If you think your daughter could get hurt, imagine mine."
"Maybe we should try your little experiment in wholesomeness," Rachel said with a smirk. "Sunny and Tej, do you have any plans for the rest of the evening?"
The two looked at each other and shrugged. "I took off today to come to the funeral," Sunny said, "and I don't have any Council meetings tonight."
"I'm good too," Tej said.
"Maybe one of us can take them all out for something fun, like a movie," Rachel said.
"If it's a movie, the adult needs to sit very close to the three of them." Sunny pulled out his phone, probably to text one of his kids.
Rachel clapped Al on the shoulder and said, "Why don't you see if you can book a Modo van; that way you can take them all together."
"Me?" Al asked in surprise. Rachel just stared at him. He nodded and pulled out his phone. "Sure thing."
"Do you want company, Al?" Tej asked to be nice, but from the look on her face Rachel could tell she'd rather not go with him.
"Al can go on his own," Rachel said. "It's probably better for the three of them if their parents aren't examining their every move."
"I'm one of the parents," Al protested.
"Yeah, but in Logan's eyes you don't really count."
Al flinched as if slapped. Rachel immediately felt bad. She placed a hand on his face and leaned in to kiss him on the mouth, then whispered in his ear, "Can I have this evening for myself?"
He looked her in the eye for a moment, then looked at Sunny and Tej, then back at her with raised eyebrows. She nodded. He nodded. He booked the van on his phone and said, "I'll just need to walk over and get this, and I'll be back."
Once he was gone, Rachel turned to Sunny and Tej. "While they're out, would you two like to come to my place? Al could bring your kids back there when they're done."
Sunny and Tej looked at each other, and from the look they shared, she could tell they were thinking what she was thinking. "Sounds fun," Tej said.
"Oh, it will be. I promise."
If anyone had asked Rachel this morning if she would be having a threesome the evening after she attended a funeral, she would have laughed and said, "Are you crazy?"
She'd seen the opportunity as soon as Al had suggested taking the kids out of the picture. Sure, she'd kind of volunteered him for the job, but her husband had been too fortunate lately in securing other partners outside the marital bed, and now it was time for Mama to get laid. Not that she wouldn't have welcomed his participation if he could have pawned the kids off on someone else, but Joe and Lauren were going to be busy cleaning up, and the grandparents, she'd discovered, had decided to hit the town themselves, taking Joe's mom with them, to her surprise; she'd thought that woman had no spark of fun at all, but maybe all this time it had been her husband holding her back, or at least the responsibilities that came with being married to a man whose circuits weren't firing perfectly anymore.
They began stripping each other as soon as they walked in the door. Tej, to her surprise, was the one kissing her with the most enthusiasm. Sunny still seemed preoccupied with what trouble his daughter could be getting into.
Round one. On the bed, Sunny laid out below her, his hair loose and arrayed on the pillow like the rays of the sun. "I heard from Lauren that you've tried out creative new positions on her," Rachel said.
"Are you disappointed I haven't tried them with you?" he asked. "I find I like to make love to you the way I do with my wife, since you have similar body types."
"Such a gentleman," Tej said as she sat herself down over his mouth.
"I have a position I'd like to try," Rachel said. "It's called the Amazon. Here, Tej, take his legs."
Rachel rolled a condom on, lifted Sunny's legs off the mattress, rolled them back so that Tej, curious, could take them, then lifted herself and slid him inside her. Why hadn't she tried this before with Al? Maybe because it was Lauren who'd first done this with Al, and Rachel hadn't been interested in reminding herself of it. With Sunny, though, she rather liked the feeling of pounding him as if she were the man. She thought she heard Sunny groan, "Holy shit!" while muffled under Tej's crotch, which made Tej moan in response, and Rachel's clit was singing from the contact with Sunny's pubic bone, so it wasn't long before she came.
Round two. Rachel lay on the bed. "I want to taste you now, Tej," she said, lifting her legs onto Sunny's shoulders. Tej moaned over her while Sunny did the pounding, Rachel rubbing herself off in time with his thrusts, and it was glorious. Sunny came, and now Rachel felt it was time to let Tej have him.
It would take a while until Sunny was ready again, and Rachel thought the shower was as good a place as any to make it happen.
Round three. She and Tej washed his hair together while he washed theirs, one head in each hand. They lathered each other up, and then she and Tej worked on him together with their mouths. Then Rachel got to watch Sunny take Tej from behind, Tej's ample breasts squashed against the glass shower wall, and rubbed herself to climax in time to both of them.
As they dried themselves off, Rachel said, "Sunny, you can hide your hair, but Tej, you'd better dry yours before your kids come back, or they might wonder why it's suddenly wet."
"Do you have a hair dryer?" Tej asked.
Rachel found it for her, and hung out wearing only a towel as Sunny brushed Tej's hair while Tej blew it. Sunny said, loudly over the sound of the hair dryer, "Thanks for suggesting this, Rachel, it was very nice."
"Just nice?" Rachel asked wryly.
"It was fabulous," Tej said. "I've been wondering when I'd be able to do it with you or Lauren again."
"You didn't take an opportunity with Lauren when you were with her and Joe last?" Rachel asked.
"My wife never seems to want anyone but Joe whenever we get together," Sunny lamented.
"Uh-oh," Rachel cooed. "I think someone's jealous."
"You seemed quite happy with Lauren and your new positions," Tej said, equally aggrieved.
Rachel put a hand on both their shoulders. "If this is going to work," she said, "We have to try not to fixate on what our spouse is doing with another partner. I could drive myself crazy wondering what Al's doing with Lauren, or with Agnes."
"I still can't believe you let him see his ex-girlfriend," Tej said.
"As long as she stays his ex," Rachel said. "I couldn't exactly deny him, once I had you, Sunny. Three men for me, three women for him. I actually make out better, because I get two women in addition."
"I'm happy about that," Tej said.
"Speaking of exes," Sunny said. "How about that Omar of yours?"
"He isn't mine anymore," Rachel said. "What was it he said to you when he met you?"
Sunny looked blank for a second, then he brightened and said, "Oh! You mean, Sat sri akaal ji. It's a Punjabi greeting. Usually it's what non-Sikhs say to Sikhs, or it's what Sikhs who aren't baptized say to other Sikhs who aren't baptized. I was so floored by what he said that I thought I should respond with the Muslim greeting."
"That I got, if only because I heard it on TV," Rachel said.
"So, he was your first guy?" Tej asked, knowing Lauren was her first ever.
"Yeah."
"He's pretty cute."
"I don't have lingering feelings for him, if that's what you're asking."
Tej blinked in surprise. "I wasn't, but that's good to know, I guess."
"In fact, I told him as much when he called me at work yesterday."
"He called you?" Tej exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, he was actually calling the firm, because he needed to hire an investigator, but he asked to be transferred to me first."
"Should you have told us that?" Sunny asked. "Confidentiality?"
"Don't tell anyone and you'll be okay."
"It sounds like he has lingering feelings for you," Tej said.
"Well, he shouldn't. He's engaged to Fatima, and I don't want another cop mad at me."
"Another cop?" Tej asked, brow furrowed. Then she put two and two together. "Ah. Joanie. She doesn't know about me, does she?"
"I doubt it, or you might have gotten what she was about to give Val."
"So, if you're breaking confidentiality about Omar," Sunny said, "do you know why he needs an investigator?"
"Lauren gave me a brief overview. She's meeting him tomorrow to discuss it further, but basically he's suspicious of a colleague at the hospital; he thinks he might be providing services off the books for non-monetary benefits, if you know what I mean."
"Ew," Tej said. "Shakes your faith in our lauded health care system."
Sunny decided he should dry his own hair a little before wrapping it back in his turban, just so the moisture didn't poke through. By the time Al returned with their kids, they were all fully dressed and groomed.
"How was the movie?" Tej asked.
"Fine," Harpreet said sullenly. Al had probably prevented any fumbles in the dark by sitting beside Logan.
"Did you go bowling, too?"
"Yeah, actually. We did two teams of three. Me, Tosh and Ajit on one team, Naomi, Emma and Logan on another. My team won."
"Of course it did, you're a star bowler," Tej said. "What did Uncle Al do while you played?"
"He watched us and brought us drinks." She turned to Al and said, "Thanks, Uncle Al."
"You're very welcome," he said.
"So, what do you all have planned for the weekend?" Sunny asked.
"Al and I are taking Emma to Bard on the Beach on Saturday," Rachel said. "This year's main production is A Midsummer Night's Dream."
"It's about fairies!" Emma interjected.
"Emma's on a fairy kick right now," Logan explained.
"And they'll be starting Shakespeare in the next grade," Rachel added, "and it's so much easier to understand when it's performed on stage than when it's read from a book. It should be right up Emma's alley, and if they do this play in school she'll have an advantage having seen it."
"That sounds fun," Tej said.
"It's a package deal," Al said. "We get the play, as well as a salmon dinner during intermission, and at the end of the night we'll be able to see the fireworks in English Bay with the Celebration of Light."
"Now I wish I could go," Sunny said. "But I have a committee meeting that day."
"I have an Open House," Tej said, "but it sounds like a lot of fun."
"We'll tell you all about it," Rachel said.
They said their goodbyes on the doorstep. Once they were gone, and Emma had gone to her room to change for bed, Rachel turned to Logan and said, "Did you behave yourself today?"
"Me?" Logan asked in indignation. "I was doing everything I could to be good after that talk you gave me. Ask Naomi and Harpreet if they behaved."
"What does that mean?" Al asked.
Logan shook his head and sighed. "They each kissed me on the lips once."
"Both of them?" Rachel exclaimed.
"What could I do?" Logan pleaded. "It happened so fast, like they were both doing it on a dare."
Al groaned. "Should we be telling their parents about this?"
"I think we have to," Rachel said. "Full disclosure is all that's keeping everyone safe. Logan, while we're out on Saturday, do us a favour and hang out with your guy friends, far away from those two."
Logan nodded. "I haven't done anything with the guys in a while, anyway."
After Logan went upstairs, Rachel drew Al in for an embrace and said, "Thanks for taking them out tonight."
"It was fun," he said. "I still have to return the van. Did you do enough 'catching up' with Sunny and Tej?"
"About that. I should change the sheets while you return the van."
"Um, yeah."
"Then maybe I can show you a couple of the things I did with them?" she suggested as she kissed his neck.
She felt his pulse race under her lips as he said, "That sounds like a fantastic idea."
Thanks for reading this far! You might have seen the first mention of the play in this chapter. The part names in this book are all quotes from the play, and that's no accident. If you liked what you read so far, hit "Vote" to send this title up the ranks. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!
To see what happens when Lauren, Joe and Joanie find themselves alone in the house, click on "Continue reading."