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They all look at each other.
“Weekend for what?” I ask.
“We agreed to meet for one weekend a month while we are all living in Europe, and we decide where we will go for the next month while we are all together,” Sara explains.
“First, it was Paris.” Jade counts on her finger. “Then we went to Rome to see Emma off for the start of school. And now we’re here.”
“So, it’s either Portugal to visit Tessa or Madrid to visit Jade,” Emma says.
“Well, you were in Madrid not that long ago with Jade, so maybe we should go to Portugal,” Sara suggests.
“Well, actually . . .” Tessa says, and all attention turns toward her.
“I’m moving to Paris,” she says.
Surprise wells in the entire group, and I’m an interloper. The room falls silent.
“With Luc?” Sara finally asks.
“Yeah.” Tessa’s cheeks are pink, and her eyes dart around the group of women.
“I thought your lease in Portugal was for a year?” Emma says.
“And what about the Schengen issues?” Sara asks.
“My apartment manager put up a flier that if anyone wanted to break their lease, they could. With the ex-pat community growing, they are looking to bump up the rent. On my visa, I can stay a little less than two months in Paris, and then Luc and I can figure out what to do next.”
The ladies all blink, and then suddenly, the spell snaps, and there’s excitement in the air.
“Yay! You’re moving in with Luc. That’s amazing,” Jade says, wrapping Tessa up in a hug.
They all take turns hugging her, and when Tessa finally pulls back, her eyes are wet.
“Well, let’s raise a glass,” Jade says, sweeping her champagne flute up.
“Yes,” Sara says, raising her glass too. “To Tessa and Luc.”
“Cheers,” everyone echoes, and they drink to her relationship.
A half an hour later,the kitchen’s still a mess, but Sara’s assured her friends that she’ll clean up when we get home. They pile into my car, with the three of them in the backseat and Sara up front with me.
When we arrive at the station, I lift their bags out of the back. Tessa and Emma grab their bags from me and walk with Sara to the entrance, leaving me and Jade to walk in together. Just as the three women disappear into the station, Jade puts a hand out to stop me.
“All right, Sara might be the mama bear of our group, but someone has to mama bear her,” she says. “If you hurt her, I’ll kick your ass.”
Jade is petite and about ten centimeters shorter than me, so I swallow my smile and try to be serious. “Understood.”
“And,” this time she jabs a finger into my chest. “Don’t you dare think that you can slack off just because Sara’s around all the time. She deserves some proper dating, not some farting on the couch bullshit. Wine and dine her, too, before you try to get her to bed. She never had a grand romance in her life, and while not everyone wants a big spectacle and declarations of love, I know she does.”
The thought of declarations of love makes me uncomfortable. Isn’t that a little soon? We haven’t even had sex yet.
Jade squints like she can read my mind. “Don’t commit yourself to more than you are willing to give. Be upfront with her about what this is. Again, I’ll kick your ass.”
She points two fingers at her eyes, then points them at me, and then back to her eyes, and at me, and so on for an uncomfortably long time.
Fortunately, Sara pops out of the automatic doors to the station. “Jade? Chris? Are you coming?”
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