“Then, why doI?” India asked, appearing to genuinely want Maisie to answer that question for her. “One of the reasons I lost my previous relationship and probably others is because of this.”
“Maybe you just hadn’t met the right person,” Maisie suggested. “Someone to push you out of that comfort zone, little by little.”
“Until I’m sitting at a softball game in sneakers and a borrowed crew neck sweater, taking pictures of the sexy stop short?”
Maisie laughed and replied, “Oh, babe… It’s shortstop. Shortstop.”
“But why?” India asked again.
Maisie shook her head and said, “Let’s go to Candace’s. I’ll explain it all to you there.”
CHAPTER 26
“Oh, come on. You’re really leaving? You’ve spent this whole time planning her move to New Orleans.”
“Hi, Logan,” India said. “And hi, Sophie,” she added to Sophie, who was sitting alone at the bar, talking to Logan, who was standing behind it.
“Hey. Drink?” Logan asked.
“I’m actually going to sit at a booth with my… friends,” India said, loving how good it felt to say that she had friends.
“Cool. I’ll be right over.”
“Hey, India,” Sophie said.
“Hi. How are you?”
“I’m good.”
“She’s leaving,” Logan said.
“Leaving?”
“Bryce and I are moving to Los Angeles. We just got approved for an apartment lease. We’re moving after Christmas, which is crazy, but we’ll be back for the weddings.”
“You’re moving to LA?” India asked.
“Bryce got this great job out there, and she’s been going back and forth from there to here and still technically lives in Tennessee. It’s been a bit of a nightmare, but now, yes, we’re moving. I can work from anywhere, and she loves it there. I went this past week, and I hate to admit it, but I really liked it, too. We found this apartment that’s only fifteen minutes away from the office she’ll be working out of, and it’s in a cute neighborhood. We might end up buying a house there, assuming we’d ever be able to afford one, but I wasn’t ready to commit to that just yet.”
“Wow! That’s great. Congratulations!”
“Thanks. I feel like I have so much to do, but I can’t do any of it yet because I still have to live in my apartment and work, and Bryce is in Tennessee right now, packing up thelast of her stuff. It’s getting sent straight to LA. Then, she’s coming here to help me. It’s a lot, but I saw how happy she was when we were there, and my situation here has changed, so I can move now. It just felt right.”
“Hey,” Maisie said, approaching India with Lainey and Paige since they’d driven separately.
“Hi.” India smiled at her. “Uh… Maisie, this is Sophie. And you probably remember Logan from the other night.”
“Yeah. Hi,” Maisie said. “And nice to meet you,” she added to Sophie.
“You too,” Sophie replied. “And I should be going. I have to make list after list of things to do before the move.” She stood up from the bar. “I’ll see you later?”
“I guess,” Logan said. “But you’re moving, so don’t be a stranger before you go. Let me know if you need help.”
“Thanks. I will,” Sophie replied. “Good night, India. I’ll see you later, too?”
“Sure,” India said, but she hardly knew Sophie, so she didn’t know how likely that would be unless there was some going-away party and she happened to snag an invite.
“And nice to meet you, Maisie,” Sophie added with a smile.
