Page 67 of Almost Perfect
“No. Her daughter is in sixth grade, so she’ll have to grab her. Anyway, you ladies enjoy your lunch, and Calla, just text me when you’re ready. I’ll be right around here.” He held up two fingers in a silent farewell, then sauntered out.
And left me sitting with two women I didn’t know.
For some reason, I’d expected Warrick to join us. But in retrospect, he’d always talked about it like it was something I’d attend, not that we’d do together. He’d said it was a project he was working on, and I had the sinking sensation the project might be something likeget Calla friendsor something else.
“Well, okay then,” Dahlia said, shaking her head of dark curls.
“So, how are you liking it up at All Saints?” Sarah asked.
“It’s nice. The place Warrick set up is really great. I think they’ll have a lot of luck renting it when I’m gone.” That thought threatened to drag me down and make me all kinds of sad, so I pressed on. “It’swayup there, though.”
They both chuckled in agreement.
“It is. I remember going to see Wilder and feeling like I’d never get there.” Her smile was small, but fond. Not bitter.
What had happened between them? The Wilder mystery was definitely something I’d wondered about more than once since hearing that whatever had happened between him and Sarah had been the impetus for him to enlist and stay away.
“I’ve never been to the ranch itself, but I’ve driven by on the way up to the spa.” Dahlia flipped her menu closed just as Quinn shuffled in and slumped into the booth.
“Sorry I’m late.” She dropped her purse between us, shrugged out of her jacket, and exhaled before turning to me. “You should just know now, I’m a walking disaster. I’m not ashamed of it, but sometimes, it takes people off guard since I’m in my thirties with an almost teenaged child and should really have my crap together by now.”
A little unevenly shaped piece clicked into place with her words. Somewhere in my chest, a small hole had been filled by Quinn’s disarming words, just like that. Someone else admitting without shame their life was a mess? The closest thing to a magic pill to create friendship with me, evidently.
Plus, I already liked this woman. We hadn’t talked anything but music, so in a way, this was our first real interaction.
“Nice to officially meet you. And if you have read a tabloid ever, you know my life’s a dumpster fire, so—hi.” I held out my hand.
Her broad smile made my heart leap. She took my hand and we shook, then turned back to the table.
The conversation hummed around me as I searched the menu, but I could hardly read the words. I didn’t know these women, but for the first time in so long I couldn’t remember, I felt like I might just be about to have some real friends.
I already liked Quinn, and Dahlia and Sarah had both been kind last night and again today. But more than anything, as they each shared a recent foible so Quinn and I knew we weren’t alone in having lives unravelling on all sides, I felt connection. And it wasn’t only with Calla, here in front of them. They knew who I was and what my life looked like, or at least that it was a true mess, and they weren’t scared by it.
My life had been very different than most people’s. But sitting around the table swapping hilarious stories of failures—mostly small, silly things, but sometimes real, consequential ones—made me realize I had far more in common with these women than I’d ever imagined. It stitched up another tear in me and repaired another fraying edge.
It made me feel like sitting here in this candy apple red booth eating chips and guacamole with these women was exactly where I belonged.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Wyatt
Tucking my napkin in my lap, I scooted my chair forward and ignored the insane urge to reach under the table and feel how far her knee was from mine. When Warrick and I sat across from each other, our knees knocked. Calla wasn’t quite as tall, but it couldn’t be far off.
And I desperately wanted to touch her. Especially after being away from her all day, as though that wasn’t how every other day had gone. But I also wanted to hear about her lunch, because some part of me knew that if she made good friends here, connections beyond me and Warrick, it might make her more likely to stay.
Setting yourself up for failure there, man. I couldn’t deny it, though. Every second that had ticked by since our kiss had inched me closer to wanting everything from her. The fact that she didn’t have anything to give—not time, or interest, at least—hadn’t stopped that gut-deep longing.
“So, tell me about the lunch? Did you click with anyone?”
Her bright smile took over her whole face, and my heart pulsed in response. She finished chewing the first bite of dinner—a winter root hash and pork tenderloin medallions with a salad—and jumped into her review of the day.
“Definitely clicked with Quinn. We have a lot in common, which is the weirdest thing because I’ve been walking around thinking I was this really unique person.”
I laughed. “You are pretty unique.”
She waved that away. “I mean, sure. The events of my life are unique, and maybe my fame is kind of, but as aperson, I’m not such a special snowflake.”
I frowned at that, defensiveness for her rising quickly. “That’s not true. You’re amazing. You’re—”
