Page 39 of Starting Our Chance

22 Loretta

Scrambling about myroom, I heard a knock on the door a few minutes later. Felicity, who must have been close behind me, waddled in, and began to fold the clothes I had thrown on the bed next to my duffle bag.

“Don’t forget a bathing suit,” was all she said, but I could see the smile on her face. “You have it bad for him, I knew it!”

I giggled like an idiot. “Yeah, we finally quit farting around and gave into our feelings. Yes, there was a lot of lust and that couch incident I told you about, but underneath all that—we are on the same page about being seriously involved. Things have been heating up since, and if y’all hadn’t have pulled up . . ..” I crouched down and grabbed for a bathing suit in the back of the dresser. It was brand new, still with the tags still on. I had bought it at the beginning of summer when I was fabulously single, and I’d thought I would spend some time up in the Hamptons with some women from my office. No one had seen the skimpy, black-white checkered ensemble. As I contemplated it, I couldn’t help pulling out my phone and taking a second to send a text to my boy next door.

Me: Lucky you. I have a brand new swimsuit that I would love to model for you this weekend.

At the wordless sound of annoyance from Felicity, I continued to pack. Dipping into the bathroom to grab toiletries, I called over my shoulder, “Have you been able to get ahold of Nikki? I tried, but I couldn’t reach her. She needs to know about the fire.”

“No one has heard from her. Doubt we’ll get through to her until she’s ready.”

“But why doesn’t she want to talk to people?”

“She was really looking forward to this beach trip but is now MIA.” Felicity heaved herself off the bed. “Face it, she’s gone for now. Let her be, and don’t ask about her absence when she gets back. She’ll be really upset and need a friend.”

“What?” I poked my head out of the bathroom and gave Felicity a quizzical look. “I don’t understand how she could drop everything, let her business burn, and still stay secreted away with some guy.”

“First, this isn’t just some guy. His name is Tyler Monroe.” My squeak of recognition didn’t stop Felicity’s explanation. “Second, from what the men folk are saying, Ty’s life depends on us keeping this all hush-hush. So, if they need time to stay away and enjoy a moment of bliss, then we give it to them and pick up the pieces later.”

I blinked in the mirror. The implications of Felicity’s words rolled over me. Then a wordless cry erupted from my gut, and I whispered a heartfelt prayer for my new friend, “Oh, Nikki!”

Here I was, packing and planning to take a big step forward in a relationship with the guy I had been crazy about since I was a kid, while Nikki was living on borrowed time with her ticking time bomb of a relationship. It almost felt wrong to be happy when someone else was surely in agony.

I heard a second voice in my bedroom. Blinking back the unshed tears, I brought my make-up bag and other necessities to the duffle bag. “Hi, Sammy, welcome back to my room,” I said, going for cheerful. “Mama never painted over the swear word you wrote in the closet corner.”

It wasn’t enough to wipe the scowl off her ivory face. “What’s taking so long?” Samantha barked. Clearly, she wasn’t in the mood for memory lane.

“I was just telling Sammy that you were almost ready,” Felicity said as she laid a hand on her similarly pregnant sister-in-law.

“Yep, just need my flip-flops on the back porch, and I’m all set.” I zipped up my bag and gestured that we could leave. Glancing down at my phone, I saw I had a message.

Duke: Damn. You’re killing me, Gorgeous.

That reaction. It sucker punched me, and I felt giddy all over. This was it. I was rebuilding my life, and I had a great guy stepping up to take center stage with me even if the broken ties from my past were still infecting my present. As we shuffled for the door, I spoke up, aware that it was now or never. “Just one second. Sammy?”

Pausing in the doorway, those vibrant emerald eyes flashed back to me.

“I’m looking forward to this time with y’all, but especially with Duke. He and I are getting . . . well, serious is the right word for it. And I know I wasn’t originally part of the plan for this weekend getaway but if we could be civil, I would really appreciate that.”

“And you think you deserve that?” my platinum blonde friend bit back at me.

“I know I left y’all. I put on airs and ran off. And from what I can gather, you could have used a friend when I was away. I will never forgive myself for not being that friend to you, but I’m here now, and I’m ready to clean up the mess I left behind.” I shrugged, a shy smile playing on my lips.

Sammy’s response was clipped. “Get your shit, and let’s get going. The men are waiting.” She turned on her heel and left.

I waved Felicity onward after she gave me a defeated shrug, and I turned back to my phone.

Me: No matter what else happens, I can’t wait for this weekend with you. I mean that.

By the time I made it downstairs, I had a reply.

Duke: You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.

Before rushing out the door, I wrote my mom a note and grabbed some of my cash out of the decorative cookie jar. Counting the scant amount, I cursed under my breath. “So little,” I whispered to myself. I hoped that we would do most of our partying at the beach house and not go out. When I turned around, I realized that Sammy had seen the whole thing. I felt the blush infuse my face, and suddenly, I was very warm. She had known how poor I was as a kid. I wanted her to know that things had changed—but I knew that showing off or pretending to be something I wasn’t was why we were in this mess in the first place. Now, she knew where things stood for me. Her face, however, remained carefully neutral.

The spell broke a moment later when there came a holler from one of the men folk. We left my house to find them all waiting in the driveway. I stopped when I saw two trucks. Because I was going with Duke and I wouldn’t have to ride separate, suddenly the drama with my old friend was pushed aside. I couldn’t help grinning like a school girl as I climbed into his big old truck. He returned my smile with a shy one of his own. Slipping my hand into his, I considered something really dirty on the drive. Maybe I could find a way to give him his birthday present before we even got to the beach house?

“The cake is in the back seat,” Duke said as he threw the truck into drive. “It will go great with the grilled steaks tonight.”

I hummed with approval and wet my lips with anticipation—and it wasn’t the cake that I was salivating for.

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