Page 24 of Country Charm

“Anywhere but the city would be nice. We should take a girls’ trip soon.”

Mary and Lynn walk through the door together and from here I can see that Mary is already ranting. Georgie and I share a look and then chug our twelve-dollar glasses of wine.

“Girls!” Mary yells across the restaurant. She runs up and hugs me and then Georgie.

“Hey babe. How are you holding up?” I see Lynn’s eyes widen over Mary’s shoulder and she subtly shakes her head.Not so hot, I guess.

“You know, I’ve always liked the décor in my house but for some reason this morning I woke up and decided I hate it all and need to redecorate. Tonight, or early tomorrow. Do you think my drapes look a bit dreary? What about my couches, don’t you think they looked used, andnot the good vintage used? I mean used-used, like outdated and flat. What about my kitchen? I should have gone with an original wood color on the cabinets, but I got white, and now I’m worried they show too much dirt.” Mary just goes off the handle. She keeps going, I don’t even think she’s taking a breath in between each statement.

This is just another reason I’ll never get married. That in-law stress looks real.

We walk over to the host stand and I can hear Mary continue on about all the things she hates about her house, and how she doesn’t have enough time, because instead of going to Bed Bath & Beyond after work, she came to this dinner.

Once we’re all seated, we ask for a bottle of wine before the server can finish pouring our water.

“Mary, you’re an interior decorator. If you don’t shut up, I’ll commit your ass for going batshit crazy,” I say as the server returns with our wine.

“Listen to me, you have the nicest place out of all of us. It’s got class, charm, and personality. If you want to throw that all away to impress Mommy dearest for the extended weekend that she’s here, that’s on you. I would suggest you just drink this wine and relax while you can.” I take a healthy gulp.

“I know you’re right. It just really stresses me out. I just don’t know why she has to make me feel like I’m not good enough for Trent.” She drinks some of her own wine.

“Trent thinks you’re plenty good enough, so that’s all that matters,” Georgie chimes in.

The girls talk Mary out of her spiral into madness. She calms down and we sit and just talk. The regular girl talk that I can appreciate so much. We’re all workers, we’re alldriven, and we’re all proud. If there is something I love to hear, it’s that my girls are kicking ass out there in the world.

Georgie is a lawyer; her biggest client is the firm that I work for. I swear she’s got laws and regulations running through her circulatory system. She makes her job and the takedown of others look easy. I don’t know anything about corporate law, but I know when she is on the case the other lawyers are sweating. She is a ball buster, even to us most of the time, but we also get her sweet side.

Mary is our designer and not a little Podunk “I’ll help you pick our paint colors and couch cushions”. She is a high-end and extremely sought-after designer. That is actually how she met her fiancé; he needed a designer for his newest hotel development, and the next thing she knew, she had a ring on her finger.

Then there is my Lynn, my good girl. My good girl is a pediatrician. She used to aspire to be a pediatric surgeon to save lives, but once she had Rose, she decided the office route was good for her. She gets to watch her patients grow up and be a part of making their lives healthy.

I’m probably the group’s biggest disappointment. I just don’t push like the other girls do. I have a decent job and make decent pay, but I could make a hell of a lot more if I pushed for bigger accounts. I just prefer working just enough to pay for everything plus fun, but still have plenty of downtime.

When I was younger, I would dream of running my own department, of being this big badass boss woman. Somewhere along the way to thirty my fires just calmed, and I became happier doing something that was easy for me and never created enough stress to interfere with the rest of my life.

The girls are all-star players and they have it all. The jobs, the men, the stability, and the happiness.

“I just think it would be better if my M.O.H. came with. Please?” Mary bats her long eyelashes at me.

Somewhere the conversation has turned back to Trent’s mother coming into town tomorrow, and she wants me to tag along to go show her this dream wedding church. I can’t say I’m dying to go, but it also doesn’t bother me.

“It’s such a cute town, they have all the little mom-and-pop shops. Cute boutiques and that all-natural shit you like.” I bark out a laugh. By “all-natural” she means chemical-free, and that usually only applies to my beauty products and products around the house. I’ll eat almost anything, which is honestly terrible. I should care more about what I eat, but bad food tastes too good. All my beauty care is chemical-free, in biodegradable or reusable containers, and never tested on animals. I read a ton of books one year on the impact we have on the ecosystem, started making little changes, and never went back.

“I’ll go, what time do you want to leave?”

“I was thinking like seven-ish.” She ducks her head a little and lowers her voice when she says seven, like that’s going to make it any better.

I let out a heavy sigh because I do really enjoy sleeping on the weekends. For my girls though, I would do just about anything. “Seven-ish it is, but you’re picking me up.” I tip my glass for another healthy chug. With Mary’s victory, she can happily yammer about something else.

Chapter Fourteen

Hunter

Acouple of deep even breaths in and out. It’s not a big deal, I just almost died, again. Jake’s driving is not the best. I kind of feel bad because he has to learn in an oversized truck that has the entire back packed to the gills and a small trailer pulling behind it. He tends to forget about the trailer and then remember last minute.

I’m highly considering just setting aside time during the week for him to practice in the truck with nothing in it or behind it.

“Sorry, Mr. Hill,” Jake says as he climbs out of the driver’s seat.

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