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Most of all, I was grateful to Taylor for helping me get out of my place. I needed to heal, and I couldn't do it in the condo I’d shared with Wally. I heard my phone vibrate. It was in my purse, in the living room. I glanced at the three cats as they smelled their bowls with suspicion.
"I'll be back in an hour.”
I had to take Becky out for her walk.
I sprinted to the living room, almost losing my balance on the hardwood floors. They were perfectly polished and slippery too. Taylor had moved here six months ago, but the place was in pristine condition. She had excellent taste in furniture and had chosen every single piece by herself. I sat on the comfy couch, shimmying my hips as I groped around in my bag. Ha! There it was.
Taylor: How are the fur babies? How do you like the master bedroom?
Penny: Your fur babies are a bit reticent, but we'll be good friends soon. And I already told you I’m not sleeping in the master bedroom. The guest bedroom is big enough anyway.
Taylor: Your choice, but you’d love it.
Penny: Well, of course I’d love it. It looks like it belongs in Versailles or something.Not that I had ever been.
Taylor: The fridge is full of wine and champagne. Go wild.
I laughed.
Penny: Dangerous words, my friend. I might throw a book club party before you know it.
Taylor: That's my girl. Just spoil yourself a bit. Okay? I've got a lot of bath bombs and salts and everything you need for a lazy bath. If a hot guy joins you, I promise I won't mind.
My stomach lurched. Taylor meant well, but the thought of being with a man was incomprehensible to me right now. Wally was the only man I'd ever been with. We'd been together since college. I’d lost my virginity to him. We got married after graduation, and honestly, I had no idea how things got so bad between us. We hadn't been intimate for more than a year leading up to the divorce. At thirty, my body was numb. I wasn't even sure I could get the hots for anyone, no matter how good-looking he was.
Taylor called me as I was about to take Becky for her walk.
"I have an idea," she said by way of greeting.
"Do tell."
"Why don't you join me on the hotel tour?"
"Doing what?"
"You could snap videos of me. You’re good with a camera."
"No, I'm not. Remember the time I took pictures of you, and we needed twenty-five takes? I kept cutting off your feet."
"We have plenty of time. You can do your job from anywhere, and I think the change of scenery will do you good."
"Your mansion is the best change of scenery ever. I've never been in Beacon Hill except when I was visiting you, so this is practically a vacation for me."
"I don't like the thought of you being alone while you're going through this."
"I've been goingthroughit for a year. Now that I'm divorced, well, it feels good." I'd stopped mourning my marriage about six months ago when Wally put the final nail in the coffin. I'd been looking forward to the divorce, but now that it was over, I felt empty—not that I’d tell Taylor. It didn’t help that I was working from home all the time. My employer used to have offices on Boylston Street but closed them six months ago, insisting we do our job remotely.
"Go out with your girlfriends from time to time, okay? Or invite them in."
"Taylor, I won't ask anyone to your house while you're gone, but trust me that I’m going to enjoy every square inch of it.”
I didn’t have any girlfriends left besides Taylor. They all went radio silent after the divorce. I guess they’d beenhisfriends.
"And just so you're not totally blindsided, I spoke to Stefan."
"Oh god." She’d told me about Stefan. He was some big hotshot influencer. I had no clue what he did. "I don't want to go out on a date. I can't."
"You’re young and beautiful and deserve someone to, you know, give you some action."
