AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I just realized who called to tell me about Matt,” Chloe said, seeing Heather’s smug face through the lingering haze of the marijuana they’d just smoked.
“What’s wrong?” Paige asked, reentering the living room. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“It was Heather who called Chloe to tell her about Matt,” Joan said.
Paige sank to the floor. “Why am I not surprised?” She shook her head. “What can I say? She’s a cunt.”
Chloe gasped, glancing warily toward Paige’s mother.
“It’s okay, dear,” Joan told her. “Paige is right. Heatherisa cunt. Or should I say, aregina?”
Once again, the room filled with laughter. “So what did the dentist have to say for himself?” Chloe asked.
“He asked if I wanted to go to a movie Saturday night.”
“And do you?”
“Apparently.”
“Good for you,” Chloe told her. “Maybe something good will actually result from one of these dating sites.”
“Did Paige tell you I’m on one, too?” Joan asked.
“What?” Chloe asked.
“Meet Sunflower,” Paige said.
“Apparently, nobody uses their real name,” Joan explained. “And since Paige goes by Wildflower, I thought I’d stick with the floral theme. Paige enrolled me this afternoon. Show her,” Joan said as her daughter clicked onto Autumn Romance. “It’s a dating site for seniors. There’s my picture. What do you think?”
“I think you look lovely.”
“No. I have no chin anymore. It’s just kind of disappeared into the wrinkles on my neck.” Joan brought her hand to her jawline, pushing at her flesh.
“Your chin is fine,” Paige told her.
“Age seventy, widowed, loves reading and good wine,”Chloe read. “No mention here about good weed.”
“Itwasgood, wasn’t it? Have I had any…what do you call them…likes?”
“No responses so far,” Paige said, and Chloe could hear the relief in her friend’s voice even though she tried to hide it. Paige clicked off the site and returned the phone to her purse.
“Mommy,” a voice called from the hallway. In the next second, Sasha materialized, rubbing her eyes with one hand, clutching a small pink blanket in the other. Chloe ran to the child, scooping her into her arms.
“Baby, what are you doing up?”
“I had a bad dream.”
“Oh, sweetie. I’m sorry.”
“I dreamed you died.”
“Well, it was just a dream, sweet pea,” Chloe told her, kissing her cheek. “As you can see, Mommy’s very much alive.”
“I don’t want you to die.”
“I’m not going to for a long, long time.”
“Most people don’t die until they’re very old,” Joan added for good measure.
