Page 138 of Doctorshipped
And then I cry for the fourth time in my adult life.
41
JAYME
Ipull in the driveway and the first thing I notice is the porch light. Light shines out the side of the house through the living room windows. Great. Lexi and Trev have guests. Who would be here on a Monday night?
Looking across the dark of the driveway, I see two cars. Laura’s and Em’s. Oh, no. The guests aren’t here for Lexi and Trevor. Why would they be here for me? No one knows about what happened at Grant’s. Only he, Margot and I know.
I walk in the house and straight down the entry hall toward the living room. All four of my closest friends are on couches.
“What are you all doing here?”
“We heard.” Shannon says. “So, of course, we came right over.”
“What did you hear?” I ask.
“Some woman was at Grant’s today,” Laura says. “You showed up, and shortly after you got there, you ran out looking upset. A little later, she left.”
“Whaaaat?”
I can’t believe this town. Someone saw me … and Margot. Who? One of Grant’s neighbors, probably. And the news traveled far enough to reach my friends. My head throbs lightly.
“One version of the story involves her chasing you out of the house with her arms flailing overhead.” Em says.
“Another involves Grant chasing you out,” Laura says. “The next customer said Cooter was there with a gun. But I nipped all that nonsense. Cooter wasn’t there was he?”
“Oh my gosh, no! There wasn’t any chasing or guns. But, there was a woman.”
Lexi looks at me with compassion.
“Sorry,” I say to her. “I couldn’t tell you everything. I needed to go talk to Grant.”
“It’s okay. Of course. Are you alright?”
“No. It’s a long story.”
“Sit. I’ll get ice cream,” Laura says. “You’ve got ice cream, right, Lex?”
“I’m pregnant aren’t I? You don’t think Trevor wants to sleep in the old Finch barn do you? He keeps me stocked with a minimum of three flavors.”
Laura shouts from the kitchen. “He’s a good man! I’m going to have him coach Rob if we ever get pregnant!”
Shannon comes over to the love seat and plops down next to me. I collapse into her, dropping my head, and letting out a shuddering breath. She wraps an arm around me and holds me close. Then my tears fall. I cry softly into her shoulder, and she rubs my back, making shushing and cooing sounds like you would to soothe a baby.
“Is now a good time for me to bring up how you really became a part of this friend group?” Lexi asks.
I’m sure seeing me like this reminds her of our early friendship when she walked me through my last breakup. I think of how both men let me down and my tears really start to fall.
I sob. “You … mean … during … (gasp) … my … (snort) … (bigger snort) … breakup … with (sniff) … (loud wail) … Shane?”
“Yeah. Probably not the best time to bring that up,” Shannon says to Lexi.
“Good call,” Laura says, coming back into the living room with three half-gallons of ice cream cradled in one arm, and the other arm holding a stack of bowls with a bunch of spoons perched in the top bowl. “We’ve got chocolate, caramel crunch, and vanilla.”
“I’ll take all of … all of … (sniff) … all … (wail) ….”
“She’ll take all of them,” Shannon translates.
