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Randy smiled as he gazed softly into Tex’s eyes, then said. “Now pay attention.”

“Uh-huh,” he said, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the way this scene was playing out.

“Do you feel it, Tex?”

“Feel what?”

“The connection. Do you feel the connection?”

“Um…”

Randy dropped Tex’s hands and sighed in an exaggerated fashion. “Oh, Tex. No wonder Marge is thinking about leaving you! You gotta make an effort, Doc. You gotta make an effort to make this marriage of yours work—to recapture that spark!”

“But…” He was so shocked to hear that Marge was thinking about leaving him that his knees suddenly went a little weak, and a shiver ran down his spine. “Are you serious, Randy?”

“Just call me Ran-Ran. Yeah, I’m serious. She practically threw herself into my arms last night, Doc. Lucky for you I don’t swing that way, but imagine if I did.”

Tex imagined, and shivered some more. In fact he was quaking so much now he felt like a blancmange.“You’re kidding, right? Pulling my leg?” he asked hopefully.

“I’m dead serious here, Tex. So my advice to you is to find that spark before you find your bed not slept in, and your wife’s suitcase packed in the corridor. It’s not too late, you know. She still loves you. Now please let go before you reduce my fingers to a pulp.”

Tex, who’d been squeezing the fitness guru’s fingers tightly, let go, swaying a little in the breeze.

“Come here, Doc,” said Randy, and took the doctor in a close embrace, rubbing his back as he did. “That’s it. Just let it all out.”

“I didn’t know,” he said shakily.

“I know. Men never do.”

“Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

“Oh, heck.”

“I know.” There was more rubbing, and it felt kinda soothing. And so the two men stood there for a while, until Randy said, “Chase Kingsley and your daughter. Are they the real deal, you think? Or do I have a shot?”

Immediately Tex let go and eyed the man with a look of censure.“What?”

“Nothing,” said Randy with a shrug, then climbed onto the exam table again. “Keep going, Doc. You’ve got great hands. I’ve almost forgotten I’m about to die in three days.”

Immediately Tex felt bad about his attitude toward this poor guy.“I’m sorry,” he said ruefully. “It’s just that…”

“I know, I know. Say, do you give back rubs, Doc? With hands like yours I’ll bet you give a great massage.” And with these words, he abruptly stripped and plunked himself down on the exam table. “Start from the bottom,” he instructed. “And you can be as rough as you like. I get ticklishwhen massage therapists are too gentle.”

And so for the first time in his life Tex found himself being reduced to masseur, wondering how in heaven’s name he was going to get the ‘spark’ back into his marriage.

Chapter 26

Vesta Muffin was enjoying a hot cocoa with lots of cream and chocolate sprinkles on top. She and Scarlett were in the outside dining area of the Hampton Cove Star hotel.

“I don’t know, Scarlett,” she said as she took a sip from her delicious drink, “but I think from now on it’s just you and me.”

“Are you sure?” said her friend, who was sipping from her own drink, a flat white, then taking a bite of the mini pastries the waiter had been so kind to provide.

As usual Scarlett was dressed to impress in a tight dress, her assets squeezed so tightly together it gave Vesta a headache to look at them. Men passing by cricked their necks turning to stare at her, and the local chiropractor would soon have a field day.

“Yeah, Wilbur was a washout, and I don’t want him in the watch anymore. And Father Reilly is pretty useless as a watch member too, you gotta admit.”

“Yeah, I guess he is,” said Scarlett. She sighed. “So it’s just you and me, huh?”

“Yep. That’s the way it looks.”

“Too bad things didn’t work out with Wilbur,” said Scarlett. “Maybe you caught him on a bad night?”

“More like a bad decade. He’s always been an idiot, but never more so than last night. Do you know he kept ogling other women while he was supposed to be out on a date with me? I hate when men do that.”

“Yeah, Wilbur fashions himself something of a ladies’ man, but there’s not many ladies who want a man like that.”

“So why did you set me up on a date with the guy, may I ask?”

“Well, frankly there’s not many men who want to go out on a date with you either, Vesta! You are a little… rough around the edges, you know.”

Vesta knew perfectly well that she wasn’t everyone’s taste, but to hear it from the lips of her best friend… “So maybe you should stop trying to set me up, all right?”

“I was only trying to do you a favor!”

“Well, don’t! I don’t need any favors. Least of all from you!”

“What’s that supposed to mean!”

“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You look like a painted hussy!”

“At least this painted hussy gets plenty of action thank you very much!”

Both women were silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry I called you a painted hussy,” said Vesta, offering an apologetic smile.

“And I’m sorry I called you a dried-up old prune,” said Scarlett.

Vesta’s smile vanished. “A dried-up old prune?”