Page 53 of The Wilder Widows

“I do have a trick hip.” Sylvie crossed her arms. “I really have no idea how I’m going to run.”

“And I really do have bunions, Marge.” Doris pointed at her foot. “But I’ll certainly try.”

“I may have issues with my foot, but like I said after Vegas, I can handle it. A dancer pushes through pain every day. I pushed through it just fine today, in fact. I’ll run with you.”

“I’m not exactly in running shape myself, to be honest. We’ll figure out a way to get us down those streets and keep ourselves alive in the process. Trust me, ladies. I think I have a plan.”

“Care to share?” Alice arched a brow.

“Nope.” I smiled and sat back, allowing the waiter to drop the plates on the table in front of us.

“Oh my! It smells heavenly.” Doris wafted a hand toward her nose and closed her eyes, inhaling the spicy smells.

“Enjoy, ladies. I’ll be back with the next course when this one is finished.” His thick Spanish accent caressed the words and made everything sound a bit dirty.

“Wait!” Alice lifted a hand and stopped his departure. “Can we get a bottle of champagne, please?”

“Of course.” He folded into a half-bow and disappeared around the corner.

“Already drying out?” I teased. “Gonna start shaking?”

“Shut it, Marge. I just wanted to celebrate.”

“What are we celebrating?” Sylvie asked.

“Us, of course.” Alice smiled. “And Marge. This is her wish, and we should stop to acknowledge it.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t write ‘kiss a woman’ on that piece of paper.” Sylvie waggled her brows at me. “Although, you did it anyway.”

“Honestly? I almost did. But then I thought about my promise all those years ago and knew if I had you ladies at my side, I would finally see it through.”

“That’s sweet, Marge. We’re glad to be here.”

“I only wish Roxy could join us. She would have loved this.” I smiled, thinking about my wild woman still working back in Vegas. From the stories she’d shared about her life in Vegas, she would have fit right in at this crazy festival.

“Did you talk to her today?” Alice asked.

“Yep. Every day. And when we aren’t talking, we’re texting. She taught me how that night before we left. Being a younger woman and all, she is more technologically savvy than me.” A proud grin stretched across my cheeks.

“Marge is a cougar.” Alice gave me an appreciative nod. “Wait? Is it still a cougar if you’re a lesbian, or is there a different term for it? Like a lion? Or maybe a panther?”

“Cougar works for me. And I’m a proud cougar with a hot little dish back in the States.”

As much as they teased me about Roxy, and as much as I joked back, having found her brought me a joy like I’d never known.

Sylvie finished chewing her bite of food. “And Percy really never knew?”

Shaking my head, I shrugged. “Hell, I didn’t even really know.”

“What do you think he would say if he was still alive?” Doris asked.

“I’ve actually thought about that a lot since I met Roxy. What do I think he would say? I think he would hug me and tell me how happy he was for me. He was my best friend, and I don’t think he would have been upset at all. In fact, I think he would have come right out and admitted he was gay, to both himself and me simultaneously, and then we would have gone out to find him his own Roxy.”

I took a bite of the tapas and moaned my pleasure. “Amazing.”

“It’s so good! Spicy.” Doris swigged down her water.

“You know,” I said, “I am sad that Percy didn’t get his own Roxy. He was the most wonderful man. Kind, sweet, funny. He would have made some man very happy, and I just wish we’d been born in a different time where we wouldn’t have felt the need to hide it. Nowadays, it’s as normal as putting cream in your coffee.”