Chapter 13

Jennie

"Now remember, you guys, you have to be quiet in here. Whispering only, okay?"

Ruby and Jane bounced along excitedly next to me as we made our way into the library. It was Princess Day at preschool storytime, and while the girls sang about tiaras, I was going to find a quiet corner to do some studying. Even though it was summer, I wanted to try and get a jump on next fall's classes, but I hadn't picked my textbooks up in over a week. Microbiology was going to eat me alive if I didn't get my head out of the clouds.

I left the girls in the multi-purpose room with a woman who was way too old to be dressing up like Cinderella and found a secluded table along the window, overlooking the lake. I got all set up and cracked open my laptop. Up in the corner of my screen, the search bar still had my last search saved.

Lisa Manoban

My heart sank a little at the sight of her name. My eyes drifted out over the lake, getting lost in the ripples, thinking about our texts earlier that morning. She seemed disappointed, and frankly, so was I. If it were just me I wouldn't have to be so cautious, but every decision I made directly affected Ruby and Jane. That thought weighed on me constantly. I had made enough mistakes in my life. I couldn't afford any more. Dating an athlete who traveled all the time and led a hectic, non-structured lifestyle was not a luxury I could afford.

"Jennie?"

"Oh my God. Rosé!" I jumped up and threw my arms around my old friend. I pulled back but didn't let go of her hands. "You look fabulous! What are you doing in town? You normally call first—is everything okay?"

Rosé was a walking, talking Barbie doll, but not the plastic kind. She was an all-natural beauty. I was convinced that her gene pool was made up of magical sparkling stream water from the tippy top of the Alps. She was taller than me, though that wasn't saying much because most people were. She had long, wavy blonde hair and legs that were two miles long. Her toes were always perfectly polished and no hair was ever out of place. From her looks she should be a total stuck-up snob, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. She was in our same social circle in high school, but we got really close after I had the girls. When I got pregnant, most of my friends took off and distanced themselves, but Jisoo and Rosé were my rocks. Kai was always somewhere else, but those two were constantly by my side massaging my sore back and painting my toenails.

"Tommy and I are both back, actually, just visiting our parents. I brought my niece to that storybook lady and saw Ruby and Jane, so I had to find you. Boy, Cinderella probably shouldn't be wearing that outfit, huh?"

"Definitely not, but the kids go crazy for her. That's all that matters, I guess. Wanna sit?" I motioned toward the table.

"Sure! I'm actually really glad I ran into you … I was going to stop by your house later." Rosé chewed on the corner of her lip, her eyebrows creased nervously as she sat across from me.

"Okay, something's up." It was right then that I looked down at her hands and saw the huge rock on her left ring finger. "Oh my God! You're engaged?" I squealed.

The Mr. Rogers lookalike at the next table glared from under his unkempt, bushy gray eyebrows and shushed me.

"Sorry," I whispered loudly before I turned my attention back to Rosé. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday. He took me to the park where we had our first date. At first I was annoyed because we were supposed to have dinner with my parents and we were running late. Once I realized what he was doing, I melted. I love him so much, Jennie."

I scooted around to Rosé's side of the table and sat down, pulling her into another hug. "I'm so happy for you guys." That wasn't a lie, I was happy for her, but I couldn't ignore the twinge of envy inside me.

"Thanks. That's actually why I was going to stop by later. I know it's sudden and I'm not being very original about it, but I wanted to ask if you'd be a bridesmaid for me?" She had tears in her eyes, tears of pure happiness. Seeing her overflow of emotion was contagious as my own eyes started welling up for my dear friend.

"I would be honored to be in your wedding, Rosé. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

She let out a sigh of relief and smiled at me nervously. "I'm glad you feel that way, because we gotta get moving. The wedding is in two and a half months."

My jaw almost hit the table. "Are you pregnant?"

Rosé laughed and shook her head back and forth. "No, but Tommy got accepted into the Master's Photography Program at the Liberal Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. We leave at the end of August and we won't be back until late next spring. We didn't want to wait that long to get married, and of course, we want our family and friends there, so … we're bumping it up. Big time."

"You're moving to Italy? That's amazing!" My twinge doubled in size, just the way the Grinch's heart grew. I was ecstatic for Rosé, but she was living the life I wanted. Being a single parent of twins and still living with my mom at twenty-four wasn't exactly what I had planned. My petty jealousy disappeared and guilt took over when I saw the joy dancing across Rosé's face. She was glowing and I owed it to her to ditch my pity party and be the best bridesmaid ever.

"I know, I'm beyond excited. I'm gonna grab some wedding magazines and we can browse. Be right back."

Pulling into our driveway, I had forgotten it was Friday and was momentarily taken aback by the slew of new cars in the driveway. "Wow girls, lots of new people today," I said to them, and to myself.

"Mom, Jane got in trouble at storytime," Ruby blurted out.

I spun around to face them in the backseat.

"I didn't get in trouble," Jane argued. "Cinderella told me to keep my voice down."

"Why? Were you yelling?"

"No. A second grader thinks she knows everything. She said her mommy was running a marathon tomorrow and I told her she was wrong. People can't run marathons. Marathons are when the same show is on TV all day long." Jane smirked and looked out her window, mighty proud of herself.

There goes my chance of winning Mother of the Year.

"Come on, weirdos. Let's go tell Gigi your story, she'll love that one."

We climbed out of the car and made our way to the front door. I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart leaping into my throat when I saw a familiar black pickup truck parked further up the driveway. The girls didn't skip a beat, one passing on each side of me on their way to the front porch.

Okay, Jennie, stop being a freak. You saw her truck once and it was during a torrential downpour, no way is that the same truck.

I filled my lungs with crisp Minnesota air and exhaled slowly, urging my heartbeat to return to a normal pace.

The girls made their way through the front door, with me a few hesitant steps behind. I was putting our shoes in the closet when I heard the girls squeal from the back of house. "Lisa!"

My body froze.

Holy shit.

She was here. Why? To torture me? I closed the closet door and turned to make my way toward the kitchen, pausing in front of the mirror, making sure I looked presentable.

My mom was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the island with her arms folded across her chest, while Lisa sat on a stool across from her. She had a baseball cap on, pulled down low. Her eyes were shadowed so that I could hardly see them, but I knew she was staring at me. Ruby and Jane were kneeling on the ground petting Kuma, who was licking the leftover cookie crumbs from Cinderella off their faces.

"Hi, honey. How was storytime?" My mom beamed at me like it was no big deal that the sexiest woman I had ever laid my eyes on was sitting three feet to her left.

"Um, it was good. They had fun. What's going on?" I looked back and forth from my mom to Lisa.

A small, cocky smile crossed her lips, but she didn't say a word. Her stare was too intense. I looked back to my mom.

"Nothin', just hanging out. Lisa called this morning to see if we had any vacancies and we did, so she's staying for the weekend. Fred's a little giddy. He's out back re-stringing his fishing poles." Mom chuckled. "Come on, girls, let's take Kuma outside and give him some fresh water on the deck."

The girls hopped up and followed Mom to the back door with Kuma on their heels.

"Gigi, Jane got in trouble at storytime." Ruby babbled to Mom on their way out the back door.

"So, what? You just needed a weekend getaway?" I said dryly to Lisa once the back door closed.

"No, I missed Fred." She shot back with a wicked grin.

I rolled my eyes and turned to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and a bowl of grapes. Without turning around I asked, "Can I get you anything, since you're a paying guest and all?"

She let out a short chuckle. "No thanks, but don't eat too much. We're leaving for dinner in a couple hours."

I spun around and locked eyes with her. "Dinner?"

"Yeah … dinner," she replied confidently.

"But this morning we agreed-"

"We agreed to be friends. Friends have dinner together. I already asked your mom to babysit."

"You … when…" I sputtered words but no sentences.

"So, like I said … don't eat too much." She got up and pushed the stool in, locking eyes with me one more time. "I'd like you to be … hungry … when we go out later." She winked at me as she turned to head out the back door.