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FIONA
Four Cups is buzzingby the time the very early swarm has given way to the post-school-drop-off horde. I watch over our most recent trainee, Alicia, who’s a whiz on the computer system, then move to bus a few tables when I’m satisfied she can handle the rush.
As I wipe down the table nearest the door, Mia walks in. Her cheeks are flushed, her hair is pulled back in a messy bun, and she looks like she just ran a marathon.
“Morning. Everything okay?” I ask, straightening.
“No.” She crashes to a halt beside me and slices her hands through the air. “Everything is a disaster.”
“How come?”
“My ex-husband contacted me, wanting to meet my daughter, I have a date next Friday for the first time in months, my apartment is in shambles, and my landlord is now my neighbor, and this morning, Bailey thought it was appropriate to knock on his door first thing in the morning and ask him for a cup of milk. Which he then brought over before I’d had time to put on a bra. And you know what I did when I noticed my nipples were poking out? I cupped my breasts, Fiona. I stood there with ahand braon, then I accidentally hit my toe on the coffee table so I was hopping around holding my boobs until he left.”
I cackle. “Lucky Des.”
“Don’t start.” She slaps her hand over her forehead and lets out a long sigh. “I need coffee.”
“You need coffee and a debrief,” I amend, following her to the register. To Alicia, I say, “Mia’s coffee’s on the house. I’ll be upstairs for a while if you need me.”
“No problem,” the teenager says with a smile. She turns to Mia. “What can I get for you?”
While Mia orders, I gather the troops. And by troops I mean girlfriends. There’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, and it’s the power of a good gab. Ducking my head into the kitchen, I see Jen busy frosting a cake.
“You have time to come upstairs?” I ask.
She frowns, eyes still on the cake. “Just need to get the crumb coat on and I’m putting this cake in the fridge. Fallon, will you be okay in the kitchen alone for a bit?”
Fallon smiles at Jen in that special, soft way, then nods. “I’ll be fine, Jen.”
Simone is already upstairs working on her laptop, so I give Trina, Candice, Lily, Nora, and Georgia a call one by one. When I hang up with Georgia, who comes striding out of her art gallery, I link arms with Mia and guide her out of Four Cups.
We walk the few steps to the shiny red door to the side of the café’s plate glass windows. The door leads to the space above the café: our private sanctuary, library, romance novel haven, and emergency conference center.
As I hold the door open for Mia, a honk draws my attention to a passing truck. I wave at my husband, who winks at me and gives me a little two-finger wave over his steering wheel. Smiling, I turn back to the door and see Mia watching me with a pensive expression on her face.
“How did you meet Grant?”
“Um.” I laugh. “Well, funny story…”
When I get to the part when Grant dropped his robe and I saw…everything…Mia is in stitches, sitting in one of our comfy armchairs, the tension draining away from her shoulders.
Simone accepts one of the coffees I brought up for her with a grateful smile. “Grant just wouldnotkeep his clothes on in those first couple of years. It was awful.” She winks.
“What Simone isn’t telling you is that the first few times she met Wes, he wasn’t wearing much either.” I grin at my best friend, then touch the rim of my coffee to hers.
Over the next twenty minutes, all of our friends enter the library with various drinks and snacks, and we all sit down to catch up. These eight women came into my life at a time when I’d given up on life—and they showed me that I was far from done. In fact, I can honestly say my forties have been the best years of my life. I’m more myself than ever, I care less about what other people think, and I’m not afraid to go after what I want. I can’t quite help the warm buzz in my chest as I look over my friends, knowing they made this town mean so much more to me than it could have otherwise.
“Well?” Lily says, looking happier and healthier every day. “Why the call? What’s the big news? Is someone pregnant?”
“God, no,” Simone exclaims. “That was all you, girl.”
Lily laughs.
“Mia?” I glance at our newest member.
She puts her coffee cup down and rubs her hands on her thighs. “I’m struggling, ladies. I’m completely overwhelmed, and I don’t know what to do.”
She proceeds to tell us about her week—the flooded kitchen, the move, the ramped-up flirting with her mystery man, the upcoming date, the contact from her ex, the look in Des’s eyes when he saw her fondling herself—to the absolute delight of every other woman in the room.
