AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lauren smelled the scent of leather and musk, fresh laundry and mint, and she knew instantly that Bea had just barely kicked out her boyfriend.She wasn’t sure why her chest tightened, only that she didn’t want to be a burden this weekend.
“Are you sure it’s okay I’m here?”she asked.
Bea turned to face her.“Of course.”
“It’s—you and Grant—”
“Lauren.”Bea put down the bag.“I want you here.Grant is Grant, and he’ll love you too.”She grinned at her.“Now come on, it’s not quite eleven yet, and that means we can have cookies without ruining our sleep.”
“Okay,” Lauren said, determined not to ask again.“But no coffee.”
“I didn’t make coffee,” she said, but Bea wore a devilish glint in her eyes.She left Lauren’s bag in the entryway and strode into the kitchen.She grabbed the can of pirouettes, then opened the freezer.
When she turned, she held the can of cookies in one hand and a container of ice cream in the other.
“Mocha chocolate chip,” she said.
Lauren laughed, and it did feel good to do that.Laughter could cleanse so much, and Lauren felt lighter.Bea wanted her here, and she’d gone to some trouble to welcome her.
“Thank you, Bea,” she said, moving to stand beside her friend as Bea stood at the back counter and scooped ice cream.She leaned her head against Bea’s shoulder, and Bea pressed her cheek to the top of Lauren’s head.
“Absolutely,” she said.“But don’t think just because it’s late means you get to escape to your bedroom without telling me how things are going in Sweet Water Falls.”
Lauren straightened.“There’s nothing going on in Sweet Water Falls.There never is.”She turned and took in the house.It was a normal house, with a kitchen that bled into a dining area, then a couch and love seat in the living room.Big windows took up that side of the house, and Lauren assumed she’d have an amazing view of the beach once the sun came up in the morning.
“That’s just not true,” Bea said.“We’ve managed to keep ourselves entertained all these years.”She handed Lauren a bowl with two scoops of ice cream and four pirouettes sticking out of them.She raised her eyebrows, and Lauren took the spoon before heading for the couch.She curled her legs under her as she sank into it, and her first bite of the treat was better than anything else she’d put in her mouth that week.
Bea gave her a few bites of sweetness in silence, and then she said, “There has to be something that’s happened this week.Something with Cass?Anything?”
Lauren took a delicate bite of her pirouette, the crispness of the rolled cookie melting in her mouth.She definitely brought news from Sweet Water Falls, and not all of it good.In fact, some of it would bother Bea greatly, and no one back home wanted to do that.
“I’m going to call Cass,” Bea said.
“Don’t do that,” Lauren said, swirling together her ice cream to get the melted edges into the more solid middle.“The woman goes to bed at eight o’clock.”Lauren grinned at Bea.“If you call, she’ll think Jane’s gotten pregnant.”
They both laughed, and Lauren did miss Bea powerfully.A hint of sadness turned down her mouth, but she hid it behind another bite of ice cream.Over the past five years, she’d gotten very good at hiding things—all except the tiny lines that had been creeping around her eyes and along her forehead.
They’d become part of her, and Lauren didn’t mind them so much anymore.She did travel a fair bit for her job, and she’d enjoyed the cities she’d visited.She’d never seriously considered leaving Sweet Water Falls, though she lived on the western edge of town so she could get to the airport in Corpus Christi faster.
“Lauren,” Bea said, a plea, a question, and a declaration of support all at the same time.
“There’s news,” Lauren said.“But it’s not mine to give.”She gave Bea a quick smile, disliking the horrified look on her friend’s face.Bea had never been very skilled at hiding her emotions.“Sorry, Bea.”
She blinked rapidly a couple of times, then smoothed over everything.She plucked a broken piece of cookie from her bowl, feelings storming from her end of the couch and slapping Lauren in the face.“What’s the news you can tell me?”Bea asked.
Lauren took a deep breath.“I haven’t told anyone this,” she said, blowing out all the oxygen in her lungs.She filled them again, trying to find the right way to tell Bea about her date earlier that day.
It wasn’t a date, she told herself.Guaranteed Nash wouldn’t think of grabbing lunch and chatting for less than thirty minutes a date.Even if he asked her to dinner and she dressed up in a cute little black dress, heels, and curled her hair, Nash probably still wouldn’t categorize getting together with her as a date.
If it wasn’t a date—and it wasn’t—Lauren probably shouldn’t tell Bea.But she couldn’t tell her about Joy, and the fact that Sage had used a hotter chili in her salsa and that she’d dang near burned off her husband’s tongue wasn’t news.Bea had likely already seen that on their group text, though Lauren didn’t remember seeing Bea respond very much this week.
“Did you get another cat?”Bea asked.
Lauren gave her adrop-deadlook, and Bea giggled.“If you must know—and this is not a big deal—I went to lunch with Nash Hale today.”
Bea sucked in a breath, which caused her to choke on her cookies and ice cream.She coughed, and Lauren sat there calmly, eating a couple bites of her coffee-flavored ice cream, with delicious chocolate chunks.
“Are you okay?”she asked as Bea reached for a glass of water.
