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“Absolutely,” I exclaim. “We’ll have a blast.”
Sophie kisses Juniper’s cheek and rushes out the door.
Jenna is the last to leave and she gives Juniper a long hug. “Interested in maybe going out to lunch sometime soon?”
I stand on the porch with my hands in my pockets, smiling as Juniper easily returns the hug, a big smile on her face. “I would really love that.”
“Bye, Callum,” Jenna says with a light punch to my shoulder.
“Later, Jenna.” I’m sure she can tell by the soft look on my face that I’m eternally grateful for her leading the charge today.
Juniper and I watch her trot down my porch steps and out to the street to the waiting Uber.
“That was nice,” Juni murmurs, watching as the car pulls away. “Thank you for arranging that.”
“I’m glad you had a good time.” I turn to the door, waiting for Juniper to precede me inside. She sways only slightly but catches herself before I can reach out to steady her. A small giggle escapes as she steps into the living room.
I grin as I follow her in, locking the door behind me and setting the alarm.
Juniper walks to the kitchen and I meander after her, watching as she tidies up by tossing empty pizza boxes and sliding leftovers into Ziploc bags. I pick up a rag, wet it and work on wiping the counters. Surprisingly, I don’t get chastised for daring to help, which would diminish the role she’s claimed for herself as domestic goddess to show her appreciation for what I’ve done.
“Joshua systematically cut me off from all my friends after we got married.”
The admission jars me and my head whips her way. “What?”
“You remember my girls, right?” I nod, because Juniper had an amazing group of friends from high school that remained tight even though they went to other colleges. “Eliza, Carrie, Heather, Tina… one by one, I lost them all.”
“How?” That doesn’t make sense or seem possible.
Juniper shrugs as she leans against the counter. “I’d like to blame it fully on Joshua, but I guess it’s my fault too.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “It started benignly enough. Every time they wanted to go do something, he’d want me to decline because he’d want to take me somewhere special instead. Then he’d complain if I did hang out with them. I’d have to defend my friends and it led to big arguments, so it became easier to just not hang out with them as much. Next thing I know, I’m not seeing them at all. They just sort of faded away and I can’t blame them. I didn’t give them anything of myself so why would they want to stay friends.”
My anger flares hot. “Or they could have wondered why you were pulling away and tried to check on you.”
“I think they tried,” she assures me. “But I wasn’t about to admit that I’d made a horrible mistake marrying Joshua. That he hit me. I was so embarrassed, and… just admitting that to you is horrifying.”
It’s a struggle not to move to her, take her in my arms… reassure her she’s got nothing to be ashamed of. But with her arms crossed, I can tell it would not be well received. She’s closed off tight.
I rely on words. “You need to let that go, Juniper. You did the best you could with the shitty situation you were in. Joshua manipulated your entire life and—”
“I let him do it,” she quips.
“He had you between a rock and a hard place with your dad. The way I look at it, you suffered and sacrificed so your dad could have the best care. Maybe reframe how this all went down and stop seeing yourself as a victim. You’re a survivor.”
My tone is soft but I know my words are a little harsh. Yet I also know Juniper very well and she doesn’t like things to be sugarcoated—she doesn’t like being pandered to and she appreciates honest talk.
It must work because her arms fall away and her demeanor softens. She offers me a dim smile. “You’re right. I know that.”
My smile back to her is a bit brighter and I add a wink. “And now… you’ve got four new girlfriends and to be honest, I know they’ll pull in the rest of the Titan Queens at some point.”
“Titan Queens?” she asks.
“They even have T-shirts. You’ll love them.”
Juniper frowns in confusion. “A T-shirt?”
“Yup,” I reply, throwing my thumb toward the formal front room I turned into my home office. “I’m going to get a little more work done.”
Juniper yawns, stretching her arms over her head. “I think I’m going to grab a shower and hope it sobers me the rest of the way up. It’s way too early to go to sleep.”
