Page 77 of Second Time Around

Twenty-One

Jenna was still in bed the next morning when the doorbell rang.

“Go away,” she said without opening her eyes.

A minute later, it rang again, and she growled. She pulled back the covers, sat up, and glanced at the clock on her nightstand.

“Ten o’clock! I never sleep this late!”

The doorbell chimed a third time, and she yelled, “Hold on! I’m coming!”

She never received visitors this early on a Sunday morning, but she had a feeling it was Beck coming over to chastise her for sneaking out last night.

“Don’t get your undies in a bunch!” she said. She whipped open the front door, and to her surprise, Stacy was standing there.

“You were still sleeping?” Stacy said, sounding incredulous and a bit accusatory.

“I was out late last night,” Jenna huffed. “And I wasn’t expecting company.”

She stomped into the kitchen, knowing Stacy would follow her. “What are you doing here so early?” she asked as she started making coffee.

“I didn’t realize ten o’clock was early.”

“It is when you stay up until three.”

“You were with a guy last night, weren’t you?”

Jenna kept her back to Stacy as she took out two coffee mugs and some creamer. “Why do you say that? I could have been reading or watching TV.”

“Just the other day, you were complaining about how hard it is to stay up late now.”

Jenna turned to face her. “Enough of the third degree. You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

“I would have stopped by last night, but since you never answered my calls—”

“Get to the point.”

“I have some news, and I wanted to tell you in person.” Stacy raised her left hand in the air, and Jenna was hit with a thousand beams of light.

“Ohmigod! You’re engaged!” Jenna shouted. She grabbed Stacy’s hand and brought it up to her face to inspect the ring.

“See. I had a good reason for interrupting your beauty sleep.”

“The best reason. Congratulations, sis.”

“Thanks. I couldn’t wait to tell you, which was why I blew up your phone last night.”

Jenna felt somewhat guilty for not being available to take Stacy’s call, but she had been rather…busy. She’d snuck out of Beck’s house at three a.m. and gone home and straight to bed without checking her phone. If she were honest, the real reason she hadn’t looked at it was that she hadn’t wanted him to call and tempt her into coming back.

“Am I the last one to find out?”

Stacy nodded. “We told almost everyone last night. Kelsey screamed so loud in the phone that my ear is still ringing!”

Jenna laughed, but she also felt a twinge of jealousy that Kelsey had found out before her.

“Now that it’s official, will you be my bridesmaid?”

“Of course. I’ll be happy to.”