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Samantha scowled. “I wasn’t scared of him.” Dammit, why wasn’t Jess letting that drop?
Jess was way off base with this, but it was hard to explain because she had been scared, scared of Jamie. Jess had picked up on all the right vibes but had attached them to the wrong guy.
“You totally were. You were so nervous whenever I saw you together.”
“I think you saw me with them once.”
And that had been by accident. Jessica had run into them after a date at a very swanky restaurant Josh had insisted on taking her and Jamie to to celebrate their third-year anniversary.
Some women might have thought it was odd for a guy’s best friend to tag along on an anniversary date—Samantha had just been happy to share Jamie’s attention and not be the full recipient of it.
Ironically enough, that had been the only decent anniversary meal she’d ever had with her husband.
Go figure.
“Once, and that was mostly because, you know…” Samantha winced.
“Jamie wouldn’t have approved of me.”
“Well, you know what he was like.”
Jessica snorted. “Racist?”
“Well, yeah. That. But also, you know… He didn’t approve of feminists.”
“Women with a voice. Look, I know he was your husband, and I’m sorry you lost him, but ugh. The guy could be so small-minded sometimes.”
Hah! Like Jessica needed to tell her that!
“He was very close-minded, that’s for sure. And I wasn’t ashamed of you. Genuinely, I wasn’t,” Samantha insisted, when Jess shot her a wry look. “Just, Jamie could be very draining. In a fight, he used to get louder and louder, and shout more and more until I just had to kowtow or fear for my damn eardrums.” That was about as PC as she could make it. “Dealing with that wasn’t worth the hassle. I wasn’t going to stop being friends with you, so if I had to keep you a secret…” She shrugged. “I saw no reason to clue him in.”
“See no evil, hear no evil, eh?” Jessica teased, and Samantha was relieved her friend wasn’t offended.
“Yeah.”
Jessica had no idea how bang on the money she was!
“Josh isn’t like that though, is he?”
Samantha shrugged. “Don’t know. Wouldn’t matter if he was. Like I said. This is all show.”
“I don’t believe it,” Jessica grumbled. “Why would he get involved? Surely he’d be on Frank and Janice’s side?”
“I don’t know why he’s agreed to help me. Just that he has. And I’m very grateful.”
“He might be playing games with you, Sam. Be careful, that’s all I’m saying.”
Because the words definitely came from the heart, she shot her friend a warm smile. “I kn
ow. And I appreciate the fact you give a damn.”
“Of course, I do,” Jessica countered. “You’re my friend.”
Samantha bit her lip, because she knew Jess was unaware of how much that mattered to her. “Still, thanks,” she whispered croakily, and reached for her coffee to hide the tremor in her mouth.
“All I’m saying is that if the dude does have a Red Room, then I want pictures.”
Almost spraying out the sickly coffee onto Jessica’s pretty cream dress, Sam whacked her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she garbled, then pealed off into laughter.
