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I got the job,and with how padded that resume was, it would have been a crying shame if I hadn’t. I was set to start immediately, which was perfect since I had started pondering how bad it would be to pick up a teeny tiny life of crime—just enough to get us through the next few months. I pictured getting picked for a team where all I had to do was watch some random video feed of a robbery or something. Low impact, low risk…high payout. Thankfully I had my kids to bring perspective and the propensity to always go incognito when I browsed Google for such things.
Graphic design was where my heart beat the hardest. I had started on earning my degree back when I was in Washington but dropped out my junior year for personal reasons. I finally finished obtaining my bachelor’s degree a few years later. I was working through online courses while nursing my babies, running back and forth between making dinners and working shitty part-time jobs, but I did it. Design was handy because it allowed me to work from home as often as I wanted, but it helped to have clients, and since Logan had left…well, things hadn’t exactly been easy.
Finding a flow or any kind of rhythm was nearly impossible with two kids who needed my attention and extra love after their father left. They were so young; I hated that they were going through something as painful as a parental separation. Sometimes I’d forget that I was still going through it too…Logan and I had fought so much after Bella was born, but we suffered through our relationship for three more years before we decided to finally pull the plug.
He showed up on a random Tuesday afternoon with boxes and Dana, his pregnant girlfriend. He moved to Portland, transferred his job, his life…and that was that. We established a custody agreement, one he barely stuck to, but at least he hadn’t abandoned them entirely.
I was finishing up the final touches on a design project I was creating for a local company when a knock sounded on the front door. I had one hour before my shift started at the resort, which meant the person banging on my door was probably my best friend.
Dipping my eyebrows in confusion, I swung the door open, and sure enough, there in all her glossy-lipped glory was my best friend.
“Why did you knock?”
Shay popped her gum, pushing past me. “I didn’t want to assume you were decent.”
I closed the door behind her, moving through my small entryway. “Why on earth wouldn’t I be? It’s three in the afternoon.”
She tossed her massive purse on the coffee table and sank into my couch. “Remember that date I set you up on? The one with Rob?” She sat forward, waiting for me to respond.
Rob…why wasn’t that ringing a bell? Rob…as in Robert? Robby…Robinson? I sorted through all the Robs I knew and thought back to the last time Shay had set me up, not remembering anything until it hit me.
“Dammit! That Rob…skinny guy with the skinny tie Rob!” I groaned, throwing myself on the sofa. I remembered that setup and knew why I’d likely subconsciously forgotten it.
“Not again, Bex!”
“It’s not like I purposely stand these guys up—I just forget!” I replied defensively, slashing my hand toward the ceiling.
Lie.
I hadn’t even entered it into my phone.
“I am going to get a reputation. You know how I feel about reputations,” she argued, getting to her feet. Her green eyes were lined with black liner, her lips a deep purple and her cheeks perfectly contoured. She was a pediatric nurse at the hospital one town over, but when she wasn’t on shift, she was the star in every backwoods country song that’d ever existed.
Cowboy boots, denim shorts cut so short you could see her ass cheeks, white tank top over a red bra—that was just Shay: eccentric, funny, obnoxious, and loyal to a fault. I’d have dressed that way if I could pull it off. I was one online supplement trial package from getting my body back in that kind of shape—at least that’s what all the reviews said. Had to be true.
“You only want them if it includes you getting naked somewhere public, or with someone famous.” I repeated her life mantra back to her while pulling myself up off the couch.
“I can’t go around having people saying I have a friend who never shows up to dates—that will ruin it for all my other friends too.” She placed her hands on her chest.
I moved around her toward the kitchen. “What other friends?”
“Wowwwwww, so we’re going there?” She cocked her hip like she was thirteen instead of thirty.
I snorted while scrubbing a dish. “Everyone hates you and you know it,andyou know why.” I lifted a sudsy finger at her to emphasize my point.
“Not my fault.” She inspected her nails.
“Definitely your fault.” I rinsed the pan, moving on to the few other bigger dishes that wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher.
“Look, all I do is simply test to see if the husbands are going to be faithful. The second they flirt back, I bust them. Really, these women should be thanking me.” She began arranging the Legos and glue sticks on my counter. “Bella tried gluing Cole’s Legos together again?”
I eyed the Lego house and let out a sigh. “I wonder if he’s even noticed yet.”
She laughed, pulling the blocks apart. The bargain brand glue sticks thankfully could not keep up with Bella’s quirks.
“So, you ready for this new job?”
