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Trotter:Don’t roll your eyes, just promise. Or I’ll call you and I know how much you hate to talk on the phone but feel too guilty to actually ignore the call. And if that doesn’t work, Logan’s ready to call you, too.
Me:You two are obnoxious.
Trotter:We are. That’s why you love us.
Me:Fine. I’ll find my happiness. Just don’t be disappointed if it’s not with Cash.
Trotter:We already know he’s good in the sack so there’s definitely happiness to be found with him.
Me:TROTTER!
Trotter:**cackles**
Trotter:Back to being a serious adult, I talked to Brooklyn last night and it sounds like she’s a wee bit stressed about starting in a new school. You getting any of that from her?
Me:A little but she promises it’s not anything she can’t handle. I think it’s not so much stress as much as nerves. She doesn’t know what to expect from a small public high school.
Trotter:Can’t be worse than the snobs she used to go to school with. Or we did.
Me:Preaching to the choir.
Me:She’ll be great. She’s already met some people because of the diner and when she worked at the pizza place last spring while I was homeschooling her. As long as people aren’t total dicks to her, I think it’ll go well.
Trotter:I still think Red Oak is better for her than here but if she changes her mind, I’m a phone call away, obviously.
Me:We both know that. You’re coming here in two weekends, right?
Trotter:Absolutely. I miss my girls horribly. Logan thinks we need to relocate because I’ve been a whiny bitch, according to him.
Laughing, I can just imagine how Trotter’s acting and Logan’s response. Logan is a tell it like it is, no-nonsense kind of guy and Trotter’s the opposite. He wouldn’t jump into a confrontation if his life depended on it.
Me:We would love that, though I think Red Oak might be a little small for you.
Trotter:Ha hahahahaha, you’re so cute that you think I’d be able to thrive like I’m meant to there. We’d move close but not to Red Oak. Nashville maybe.
Me:That’d fit you much better. I can picture you walking down Broadway in a pair of cowboy boots.
Trotter:I think I’d like watching other guys walking down Broadway more. **smirk emoji**
Me:Watch it, I’ll tell Logan on you.
Trotter:As if he doesn’t know already.
Trotter:Miss you, sugar bug. (Did that sound southern enough for you? Would I fit in?)
Me:**laughing emoji** Absolutely.
I drop my phone back down to the mattress with a smile on my face. When I walked down the aisle to marry Trotter, I was at my lowest. I couldn’t have imagined how much our friendship would continue to grow over the years. I was so bitter and angry at him, when in reality it’s not as if I was handcuffed and held at gunpoint to marry him. I made my choice and when I finally recognized that, I allowed myself to be happy in the situation we were in.
It wasn’t until he started seeing Logan and decided it was time for him to come out that I started seeing a different sort of future for myself. Like I told Trotter, I don’t regret marrying him or the life we lived. Having Brooklyn is never something I could regret. But, I sometimes wish I’d made a different choice. Put myself first for once. Stood up to my parents and had the courage to see that a life without money is just as full as a life with an excess of money.
Getting out of bed, I go to the bathroom to wash my face and get ready for bed. Once my skin is clean of all the makeup, I apply my serums and creams and moisturizers, brush my teeth, and apply some lip balm. When I was in Chicago, everything I used on my face was top of the line, so expensive it was practically sinful. Three- and four-hundred-dollar eye creams, serums that promised to make me look like a teenager at the low cost of six hundred dollars, makeup that made my skin look flawless but cost as much as a trip to the grocery store for a family of four.
When I moved to Red Oak, I left all that behind. The expensiveeverything. Clothes, makeup, shoes, handbags. My keys and wallet fit just as nicely in my Target handbag than it did in my luxury bag. My makeup still looks great at just a fraction of the price from a big box makeup store. And shockingly enough, I don’t miss the clothes or shoes one bit.
I found myself here.
I canbemyself here.
