Page 32 of Keel

She stared into his eyes, not wanting to disappoint him. “Okay, I’ll go.”

“I promise you they will be nice to you.”

She blew out a breath, hoping Keel was right. The walk over to Ansley’s house only took a short minute, and then she was standing next to Keel as Ansley opened the door.

“Hey, come in. It’s so good to see you.” Ansley took her hand and pulled her in. “I want you to meet Garnet.”

A woman with very red hair and pale skin stood in the kitchen wearing an orange dress that made her hair look like fire. She was able to pull it off so well that it was amazing. Frankie doubted she would ever look good next to the woman.

Garnet came out from the kitchen and moved to her, her arms open wide. “Hello. It’s nice to meet you. We live two houses down from you. Like Ansley said, I’m Garnet, and I’m so glad to meet you.”

Frankie chuckled nervously. “Oh, thank you. I’m—” She glanced back at Keel, and he winked. She turned back to Garnet and tried for a smile. “Sorry, I’m nervous.”

“I totally understand. Joining a friend group can be intimidating. But I swear we aren’t like that.”

She worried that she’d offended them, but neither of the women seemed bothered by her being reserved. They were very warm, even after the guys took off. When she said she no longer drank alcohol, they offered her something else to drink without any fuss.

“I’ve been working on making mocktails,” Garnett said. “I do drink, but when guests come over, I want to be able to make interesting drinks that have no alcohol.”

“What is your best one?” Ansley asked.

“There is the traditional Shirley Temple, but I do make a nice strawberry basil lemonade.”

“That sounds delicious,” Ansley said.

Garnet flashed a big smile. “I brought over the ingredients.”

For a moment, Frankie thought maybe Keel had said something about her not drinking. She didn’t want special treatment. Standing out hadn’t been a good thing when she’d been with Forest.

“The drink is good without the alcohol, but you can add alcohol if you need to.”

Ansley chuckled. “I don’t need it. I drank a lot in the Marines. But everyone did. It was part of the culture. But I don’t need alcohol to be happy.”

“Well, I’m a geek. Since I graduated from university before I was twenty, I didn’t start drinking until much later in life.”

Frankie stared at her open-mouthed, shock pulsing through her. “You graduated from college before you turned twenty?”

Garnet’s cheeks turned pink. “I had my bachelor’s by fifteen, then I got my first post-graduate degree. Like I said, I’m a geek.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. I thought just graduating was impressive.”

“It is,” Garnet said. “I love my life, but there are times I look at what I did and what other people experience, and I can see the difference. I don’t regret it, but it would have been nice to have some normal life experiences.”

Frankie drew in a deep breath. How much did these women know about her? She had screwed up so much. Would they think she was an awful person?

“So how did you meet Keel?” Garnet asked.

“My grandmother’s condo is next to Link’s place. I was there while I hid from my ex.”

“Oh, that’s a nice place,” Garnet said.

Ansley nodded. “I love it.”

“So did you run into each other at the pool?” Garnet giggled.

She shook her head. “No, my jerk of an ex showed up then pulled a gun on Keel.”

Garnet gasped and made a face. “Oh God, that was stupid. And your ex is still alive?”