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I hate when she’s right.
Well, in truth, I don’t hate when she’s right.
I just hate that she’s noticed.
I haven’t exactly been miserable. But I haven’t been happy. Scared... yes. Sad that I lost a friend... yes. Okay, maybe I was miserable. Shit. I guess I let my emotions show more than I realized. Time to fix that. “I don’t have a cat. But that sounds like a perfect Christmas present for my favorite little girls. Thanks for the idea.” I wink at the twins whose cherubic faces are already covered in pink frosting, their white-blonde pigtails sticking to their cheeks.
Definitely enthusiastic about their cupcakes.
“No pets, Amelia. We’ve already got Goober. One dog and three, almost four, kids counting Tommy. Tommy, who by the way, is officially a teenager, with all sorts of new things to work through. Nope. That’s already more than enough for us. Now, sit down and talk to me. I feel like we’ve barely seen each other this entire month.” She blows on her steaming coffee before lifting the mug to her lips. “Spill it, sister.”
Giving in, I hunker down across from her in my favorite emerald-green, crushed-velvet armchair and get comfy. When I decorated the shop, I went with a Central Perk vibe. The furniture is an eclectic mismatched assortment carefully created after weeks of sorting through secondhand shops scattered throughout the Delaware Valley. I love it. “Fine. What do you want to know?”
“What’s going on with you lately? You refused my last three dinner invites. You’ve skipped the last two Kroydon University home games and the last Kings home game. That’s not like you. You love football. I, on the other hand, just love the football player. I’m worried about you.” Belles drags her finger through the cream cheese icing on her red velvet cupcake and then points it at me. “And don’t bother trying to deny it. Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, Amelia. This screams guy problems. And unless you’re hiding another guy in your life, I think this is all Sam Beneventi’s doing. He may be Kroydon Hills’s resident badass, but I’m not afraid to go toe to toe with him if he hurt you.”
I’m not sure when it happened, but this woman snuck past all my armor.
Damnit. First Sam, and now Belles.
I wasn’t supposed to be letting people in.
I wasn’t supposed to get attached.
Just then a smiling Evie claps her frosting-covered hands together, sending pink sugar all over the table. Belles attempts to clean her daughter up, but then she turns back around, a look of horror on her face. “Oh my God, Amelia. Are you crying?”
“No,” I sniff, then wipe my eyes. Damn it. “I’m not crying. I just got some frosting in my eyes.”
“Amelia...” Belle’s tone softens.
“I swear to God, Belle. I’m not ready to talk about this yet. But when I am, you’ll be the first person I call. Maybe even before Sam.”
“Swear?” She lifts her pinky in the air and leaves it hanging there.
I look at her, half expecting to be taken back in time to see someone else sitting in front of me. I haven’t pinky-swore to anything since I was a preteen back in Washington. Instead of linking pinkies, I cover her hand with mine. “Yes, Belle. I promise. I’ve got to figure a few things out on my own. Once I do, I’ll fill you in on everything.”
Evie claps her now clean hands together, and Gracie smacks her frosting covered hands down over ours.
I think two of my three best friends are toddlers.
What does that say about me?
It says I need to figure my shit out. Because they can’t help me, and their mother only wants everyone to find the kind of love she did.
She has no idea just how dangerous that can be.
