Page 62 of Class Act

“Why do you know this?” Aryn asked.

Lizzie shrugged. “You know it too, now.”

I glanced back to Ford, who suddenly started laughing. We did, indeed, have that knowledge now thanks to Lizzie. It wasn’t one I’d most likely be sharing, but it could come in handy if a social gathering got too boring someday.

“I’m always looking for things to discuss at business dinners,” he chuckled, “so thanks for that.” All of their faces melted under his power. “It was nice to meet you ladies,” he said. “I’d better get back to my guests. Have a good night.”

He gave me a nod, and we all said goodbye before watching as he made his way back to where the other two men had started throwing axes without him.

“Well, I was right in my first assessment,” Meredith said. “The man is as smooth and delectable as strawberry ice cream.”

“Strawberry ice cream is your smoothness measurement?” Ruby gaped at her.

“Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”

“Strawberry ice cream has chunks of strawberry in it. Chunks are the opposite of smooth,” Ruby joked.

Meredith rolled her eyes. “Whatever, the point is that he’s everything I suspected. And he definitely has eyes for our Hailey.”

I dug deep to come off cool and calm. “We’ve gotten friendlier lately.”

“If by friendly you mean hot enough to make the devil sweat, then yes, you’ve gotten friendlier lately,” Aryn piped in.

“Something I think we’re all anxious to hear more about,” Meredith stated.

She took the ax from Lizzie, marched to the throw line, and without pausing tossed the ax forward. It hit a dead bullseye. She turned, nodded once, and gestured for the door. I guess ax throwing was over then. We followed Meredith outside, and as I was passing the lane where Ford was throwing his ax, I glanced his way. He was holding the ax, but he passed it off to one of the other men and walked toward me. It was an unexpected move, and I tugged at the hem of my shirt. My friends all paused, but I was able to deliver a look that told them to keep moving, and I watched with relief as they exited the building.

Ford stopped a foot from me and, flustered, I blurted out, “I’m so sorry about my friends.”

He shook his head, his mouth loosening into a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I know they’re important to you. It was nice to put faces to names. I’m assuming Ruby had the ponytail, Meredith was the other one with black hair, Aryn was the tall redhead, and Lizzie was the short blonde?”

I was delighted that he’d guessed correctly. “You’re good.”

“Just good at listening.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Meredith’s car pull up in front of the big front doors of the building. “I should go. My friends are waiting.”

“Of course. Until next time?”

I dimpled and nodded, offering a half wave as I turned and left the building. Meredith pulled quickly away from the curb, and we headed to Lizzie’s house for dinner. She’d offered to cook her famous enchiladas, and we’d all happily agreed.

Entering Lizzie’s house in October was like entering a Halloween shop that had exploded inside. Everywhere I looked were witches, goblins, spiderwebs, and an assortment of skeletons. Cauldrons topped every table with a variety of things crawling out of them. It was creepy, but in such a Lizzie-way that I was able to not get too hung up on all the morbid expressions of her favorite holiday.

We gathered in her kitchen and went about our assignments. Lizzie popped her already made enchiladas in the oven to warm them. Meredith directed table set up and arranged each dish as it made its way to the dining area. Aryn stood at the stove getting rice cooked. Ruby was chopping lettuce and veggies for the salad, and I was stirring together a fancy drink. It was easy, being together like this, and I never took it for granted. The warm kitchen, the happy banter as we easily chatted about our lives and experiences. Sometimes I thought it was sad that I’d been twenty-six years old when I had come to work at Washington Elementary and met this group of women. Twenty-six years before I’d made my first real friends and become part of my first sisterhood. I’d been the last one to join up. The others had been friends for years. But they’d welcomed me and overlooked my initial hesitance and tendency to be guarded, and they’d made me feel like we’d always known each other. Thanks to them I’d gained courage and confidence to more fully be myself.

I sometimes wondered how different my life would have been if I’d experienced this in high school or college. I’d always had associates and friendly acquaintances who I could spend time with here and there but never a bond like I had now . . .never a place where I would be missed or where I was truly needed to complete the whole. They were family to me, every bit as much as my parents were.

“Welp.” Meredith clapped her hands together, making a few of us jump. “I believe we’ve been patient enough. Time for the tea.”

I smiled as the others nodded and agreed. I looked down at the drink ingredients I was working with and wondered where to start. They were about to get a pretty big surprise.

“You guys know that Ford helped me after my ice skating accident,” I said. They all nodded. “Um, and you know I fell asleep on his couch the next day.”

“Yeah. We talked about it, in depth,” Lizzie stated, a signal to get to the good stuff.

“Okay, well I ran into him after the parent teacher conference thing, and I ended up going to Leonard and Connie’s to swim with Ford and his kids.” I paused and ducked my head, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. “He kissed me.”

I may as well have struck a match and dropped it into a barrel of gasoline. All thoughts of food and dinner prep were forgotten as they launched into volleys of shock and cheering and so much laughter and high fiving that I started to feel like I’d taken the state championship trophy in ‘nailing it.’

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