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When my girls started to arrive, my spirits only rose with each hug and high five. I was still loved, not by as many as I thought or hoped, but it was enough.
I was enough.Chapter TwentyBetween Betty, the Spice Girls, and my real best friends, I survived the weekend. Actually, I thrived. My girls won their game, which meant we were headed for the playoffs. So, they might have been a little—or a lot—disappointed that the S-word hadn’t shown up. And that he would be breaking his promise to them that if they won the league championship, he would personally pay for the entire team to go to the amusement park in Edenvale.
But it was the first time I’d ever heard any sense come out of Gwendolyn, who, by the way, wore a bikini top to the game on Saturday, but I digress. When the girls were mourning what was probably for some of them their first crush, Gwendolyn blew on her freshly painted nails she’d done while I was doing warm-ups with the girls and said, “My little darlings, there are two things you can count on in life, shoe sales, and that men will disappoint you.”
Amen. Gwendolyn and I had different shoe tastes, but when my favorite brand of running shoes went on sale, I was a happy girl.
I wasn’t happy, though, that as of Monday evening when I got home from work, a certain duffle bag was still on my front porch and my housekey hadn’t been returned. I hoped he had to return to his bee and ant infested place to get some other clothes. While he was there, I hoped he got stung a few more times. The least he could do for me was to remove any reminders of him from my life. That stupid duffle bag was a symbol of the pain I was doing my best to hide from. But his handsome face kept popping up in my head and heart.
I had to tell Dustin today when he called to talk that I was consciously uncoupling with someone who I didn’t know I was subconsciously coupled with. He didn’t know what that meant, but he hoped I got it straightened out soon because he was hoping I was still considering applying for that position out there because he wanted to take me out, if and when I flew out for an interview. He wasn’t even afraid that I was cursed. He obviously didn’t know better.
I was torn about applying for that position in Alabama. Between tornadoes and humidity, I wasn’t sure Alabama was the place for me. I mentioned to Dustin that I was thinking about moving to Fiji. After he got done laughing, he promised me that Alabama had some of the most beautiful beaches I would ever visit. He offered to be my tour guide. The poor man was a glutton for punishment. He had no idea we would only become friends or worse. Look at Sawy . . . I meant S-word and me now. And my friends were begging me not to go, especially Jenna, who wanted me here to share in the joy of her baby. I wanted that too. And I guess now I didn’t have to worry about awkward family gatherings because I no longer had a family, real, step, or otherwise. I rubbed my heart.
How had it come to this? My poor mother was probably in heaven blaming herself. Who we really needed to blame was Dr. Alvarez, my mom’s optometrist who had retired. Had my mom not needed a new eye doctor, none of this would have ever happened. I wouldn’t have just had the best and worst year of my life. It still would have been the worst, because Mom still would have climbed that ladder, but Josephine wouldn’t have come to the funeral if the best part hadn’t shown up. I’d still have my family, and I would have had one less person to mourn.
Perhaps I was to blame. I should have given more credence to the curse. I should have known better than to have tried.
I scowled at the duffle bag one more time before I entered my garage. If it wasn’t gone in a few days, I was tossing it in the garbage.
It was a good thing I was already meeting Bridget for ice cream; I needed some, stat. Though I had to admit I was a tad hesitant to go now. It’s not that I didn’t like her—I really did—but I wondered if I should cut all ties with anyone associated with you know who. And I wasn’t too sure how Warren would feel about me accusing his son of stealing and cheating. Deep in the pit of my stomach I knew it was him. I was sick thinking Ashton might do it to more guests, or worse, my sisters. I figured it didn’t hurt to have more friends, so I agreed to meet her at a cute shop named Ice Cream Social and decided I wouldn’t talk about either son or what had happened last Friday. I mean, it’s not like you know who was talking to them, and I had a feeling Ashton wouldn’t want to say a word about it either.
