Tennie shrugged. “I was pretty sure after we went dancing, but I enjoyed our coffee dates so much.”
“We’re not going to stop those.”
“I wondered if Randi working so closely with Cari might make you…uncomfortable,” Tennie said.
“There have been times when I did feel…” Eden’s voice trailed off and she smirked. “But Randi usually included me when they met.”
“Imagine that.” Tennie chuckled.
“You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
Tennie smiled and tilted her head. “I like you and Randi, you’ve become my friends. I want you to be happy and hiding your feelings doesn’t seem like the best idea. Let me know how I can help.”
“Help? You want to help me tell Randi I’m in love with her and she’s in love with me, so hey, what do you say, let’s go out?” Eden laughed sarcastically.
“You’ll figure it out, Eden.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m the practical one. The thinker.”
Tennie got up to leave. “Think about the perfect woman for Randi,” she said. “Then think about the perfect woman for you. That should clear everything up.”
Eden reached out and grabbed Tennie’s hand. “Thank you, I think.”
Tennie laughed. “You stay here. I’ll let myself out. This is a beautiful spot to do a little thinking.”
Eden smiled as Tennie went back into the house. She couldn’t believe what just happened. Instead of looking back over the past few weeks Eden’s thought was on that New Year’s kiss. She reached up and touched her lips.
How could she even bring all of this up to Randi? Then she remembered the look they’d shared last night while waiting for Tennie. It was a lot like the look they’d shared at brunch not too long ago. Randi had whispered something, but Eden didn’t hear.
She sighed and shook her head. When she had a dilemma or a problem she couldn’t figure out she always went to Randi. Talking it through with her usually led to a solution.
“Oh my God,” Eden whispered. “How do we do this?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Eden had spent a fitful night trying to sleep as thoughts and memories of Randi kept running through her head. Talk about a roller coaster. The rides at Six Flags had nothing on the way her mind kept zooming from memory to memory. One minute she would remember looks, touches, and smiles they’d shared over the past few weeks then the next she would be wondering why neither of them had said anything.
Was Eden such a rule follower that she couldn’t let herself feel the love in her heart for Randi? Had her heart and mind been battling all this time and finally her heart won? Or was her mind protecting her heart from getting broken?
Randi couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. Eden knew this about her best friend, so if Tennie’s observations were true and Randi had feelings beyond friendship for Eden then why hadn’t she said something?
Eden sighed as she walked into her office and plopped down in her chair. She hadn’t seen Randi’s car in the parking lot so she had a few minutes before the awkwardness set in. Eden knew she’d feel it the minute her eyes met Randi’s. She picked up herstress ball and threw it from hand to hand. Had they been hiding a secret from each other, but now Eden knew?
Part of Eden, the most reckless part that she never let out, wanted to walk up to Randi and kiss her on the lips. That would get everything out in the open, wouldn’t it? She could imagine the shock on Randi’s face, but she could also imagine Randi backing away and things never being the same.
Still…that kiss. She dropped the ball and bent down to pick it up.
“Hey, you never called me yesterday,” Randi said, bouncing into Eden’s office. “What did Tennie want to talk to you about?”
Eden’s eyes went wide as she tried to recover from the shock of Randi’s entrance. “Good morning to you, too,” she said, taking a deep breath and slowly looking up into Randi’s eyes. All she saw was curiosity and impatience. “Uh, she wanted to talk about sparks.”
“Oh,” Randi said quietly, sitting down in the chair opposite Eden’s desk.
“It wasn’t so bad,” Eden said. “She knew I wasn’t feeling it, but hoped we could be friends.”
Randi nodded and narrowed her eyes. “Did you have to let her down gently? I mean, she obviously has the hots for you, who wouldn’t?”
If only Randi knew! Eden took a breath and swallowed, trying to calm her racing heart. She tossed the ball to Randi. “Uh, no. I don’t think she had sparks either. It was mutual.” She shrugged because she could not find the words to explain this. There was no way she was telling Randi the rest of the conversation right now.
