Page 93 of The Other Guy

SIERRA

“I’m so glad we could get together. Man, this is so relaxing. It’s been forever since I’ve just sat with a friend and ate and chatted.”

“Me, too,” I tell Mallory as we clink our coffee cups together.

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Ugh, really? Why don’t you tell me about your husband and kid? A girl, right?”

She winks and clicks her tongue at me. “I know what you’re doing but I’ll let it slide because I don’t mind talking about them one bit.”

“Pictures?”

“Only like ten thousand.” She giggles.

When I arrived at the diner this morning, I sat down and resisted the urge to fidget and look around the room nervously. I haven’t had a friend only for myself, someone I wasn’t introduced to through a boyfriend, in so long. Too long.

Last night Jack texted me around eleven, apologizing for the late night text but he wanted to say hello. He’d just gotten home from hanging out with his cousin and brother-in-law and told me he was happy that I was getting together with Mallory. He’d never met her but he’d seen her grandmother’s store and thought that his mom may have gone in a few times when she was visiting.

I’m glad, Sierra. I know how important it is for women to have other women around. Enjoy it.

I stared at his text and blinked away tears. I wasn’t even sure why that simple statement had made me emotional. Just having someone support something as common as having a friend feels sadly foreign but incredibly welcome.

Mallory hands her phone to me with a picture pulled up. “This is Paisley. She’s three.”

Paisley could be in an ad for kids’ clothing. She’s adorable and her smile is captivating. With her light brown hair in ringlets that barely graze her shoulders and light green eyes.

“And Austin,” she says, reaching over to swipe a few times on her phone to a picture of her family of three. “We met in high school. Fell in love.”

“Happily ever after.” I grin, sipping my coffee.

“Kind of. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, obviously, but I always figured a good relationship wouldn’t be good if it didn’t have to weather a few storms. We broke up once after we graduated high school and left for different colleges. I didn’t last and moved back home. College life wasn’t for me, no matter how hard I tried to make it work. I took night classes and worked during the day but even that just fell flat. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do or get a degree in.” She shrugs and I stare at her, my mouth open.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I know. Kind of goes against everything our generation was taught, huh? I felt like such an outsider but could never justify spending that kind of money on college if I had no reason to be there.”

“I’m not asking if you’re serious because I’m judging you. I actually did the exact same thing. All my life I thought I had to have a college degree to be successful but nothing ever clicked with me.”

“No way.”

“Yup. I guess we have more in common than we thought.”

“Wow. So anyway, Austin came home for the summer the year after his freshman year in college and from then on, we stayed together. During the year apart, we discovered more about ourselves and the time helped.” She lifts her left hand and wiggles her fingers. Her ring setting isn’t flashy or large but it is beautiful. “Got married two summers after he graduated. We had to go through two rounds of IVF to get Paisley which sucked financially and emotionally, but obviously was worth it. We’re trying for another hoping it happens easier this time.”

“Oh, man. That’s rough.”

“It was. But we had a great support system and it made us stronger. Austin works for a really great company roofing houses and businesses. He’s also really involved in the worship team at our church. I work at the church in the children’s ministry, too. A lot of people were praying us through.”

“I love that. I really haven’t had a lot of experience in church but my uncle Kyle goes every Sunday and he asked if I’d go.”

She smiles and nods. “He goes to our church. He and Grandma sit together every week,” she adds and giggles.

“Oh my.”

“Oh, yeah. Right next to each other. Then they go out for lunch after. They act like they’re just friends. Everyone knows it’s a bunch of hooey, though.”

We share a smile as our waitress drops off our spinach and mushroom quiche, fresh fruit, and croissants. “That’s kind of adorable, you know?”

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