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“Sweetie?” Mom asked. I realized I’d been lost in thought.
“Hi, sorry. Just drifted off for a second. What were you saying?”
She launched back into a story about this woman in town who had done an ancestry DNA test for fun and had found out that her biological father was actually the guy she’d known as her uncle. Drama.
“You just never know sometimes,” Mom said.
“That’s true,” I said, poking at the piece of key lime pie on my plate. It wasn’t my favorite.
“What’s up with that family that Natalie is working for?” The change in topic was so abrupt, I had whiplash.
“I don’t really know? They’re rich. The mom does some sort of consulting work.” I knew more than that, but I didn’t want to be the source of the gossip that my mom would inevitably spread to her friends.
“Interesting. Wonder what made them end up here,” she said. I set my fork down.
“Well, I think I’m going to get going.” I’d reached my limit again. If I didn’t go now, my bitch switch was going to flip and I might say something mean that I’d then have to apologize for.
I hugged my parents goodbye and breathed a sigh of relief when I got in my car. Freedom. Now I just had to get through the party next week. I was so glad Esme would be there with drinks and support, as well as Natalie.
I couldn’t wait for this party to be over.
* * *
“You should just do it. Your true love could be waiting,” Paige said, the next Thursday night when we were all hanging out at her place with Esme, Linley, and Natalie. Gray was out with some new work friends, so it was a girl’s night.
“I don’t know about that,” I said. We were still talking about my online dating profile.
“Just do it,” Esme said. “You can always delete it.”
“Fine,” I said, if only to get them to stop bugging me about it. I made my profile live.
“There, are you happy?” I asked.
“And now we wait,” Paige said, raising her eyebrows up and down.
I made sure to turn off notifications for the site.
“Okay, you’re inspiring me. I’m doing it too,” Natalie said and made her page live.
“Good for both of you,” Linley said. “It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there.” She’d been the one to approach Gray and look how that had worked out.
I hoped for the same luck.
“So, how outrageous is this thing going to be this weekend?” Paige asked about the gender reveal party.
“You wanna see the cake?” Linley said. “Mom and I just finished it today.”
She showed us the picture of a cake that had the words “bows or bow ties?” on it in blue and pink icing, along with a bow and a bow tie that had been molded on the top, and fondant bows and bow ties all down the lower tiers.
“I hated making it, but I really didn’t have a choice,” Linley said, making a face.
“Well, it looks beautiful,” I said. All her cakes did.
“I have considered crashing, but I think that would be a bad idea,” Paige said. “I’m a bitch and I’m bitter about how she treated me in high school and the fact that she’s engaged to my ex, but I also don’t want to get in a fight with a pregnant woman. So. I will keep my ass at home.”
“Thank you, baby,” Esme said, kissing her on the cheek. “I appreciate that.”
Natalie’s phone dinged with a notification.
