“You’re serious? ‘We’?”
“And it’s just a few of us. Not all of us. Exes I mean.”
“You have a club.”
“A society,” she corrected with a sniff. “The Scorned Women’s Society. ‘No ex left behind.’ And usually we don’t talk about Jethro at all, we hang out or try something new like Wine and Paint or talk about a book we’ve read.”
“Seriously?”
“If you happen to be free you could join us. We meet different places each time. Sometimes up at Kim’s house pretending to be a bible study group.”
I raised an eyebrow in question and she waved me away.
“That’s a whole other story for another time. But we always have fun. You gotta meet Roxy and Blithe. They’re riots.”
I bit back a smile. She knew about me, who I was, and she still wanted to hang out.
“That sounds nice,” I said. Look at me, out here making friends and being open to change.
Chapter 16
Clifford
Isat on the couch and waited as the doorbell rang for the tenth time in half an hour. Each time it jarred my exposed nerves.
“Just leave it open already.” I snapped to Jack who was dressed as a pirate, complete with a hook, balancing a bowl of candy in his normal arm.
“Calm yourself. She’ll be down soon.”
“I don’t care.”
“Aye, liars walk the plank, matey.” He threatened me with the plastic hook. “And stop shaking your leg. It’s an old house. You’re giving me motion sickness.”
I glared but stilled my leg, which had been bouncing unbeknownst to me. As Jack handed out candy to mini monsters and ghouls, I paced in front of the sitting room windows. Costumed children carrying plastic pumpkin buckets ran screaming with delight down our street as leaves swirled at their feet.
My nerves were inexplicable. Suzie would be fine. I wasn’t worried about her. So what had me so worked up?
Suzie's door shut upstairs. I turned on a dime to find her at the top of the stairs. Time stopped.
Lined heavily with dark makeup, her eyes glinted like emeralds and immediately caught me in their gaze. Her hair was slicked back and spun into a loose twist exposing her shoulders and long, graceful neck. I tore my gaze away to study the midnight black gown that was a few shades darker than her hair. It cinched tight in the waist and then fell into massive skirts. The top was composed of thin straps trailing down to a heart-shaped bodice that emphasized her perfect cleavage. The vision of her robbed me of my words. I had expected her to be beautiful, but this was unfair. She descended carefully, the dress needing the entire width of the staircase.
“Breathe,” Jack leaned in next to me to whisper.
“Do you like it?” She looked squarely at me as she asked.
You’re beautiful. You take my breath away. I couldn’t find anything good enough to say. “Will you be able to fit in the car?”
She blinked and I swear the light diminished from her eyes. What the hell was wrong with me?
“I should be okay,” she said.
“You look amazing.” Jack took her hand and spun her in a circle.
“Yeah, what he said,” I mumbled.
“Well, I’m ready if you are. God, I hope I don’t have to take a piss. I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Suzie,” I chastised.
