Page 64 of Dreaming at Seaside
Bella’s heart melted. He was so compassionate, but come morning, if Amy remembered that he’d taken care of her, she’d want to run away as far and as fast as she could.
“We’ll take it from here. Thanks, Tony. It was so nice of you to stay with her.” Bella climbed onto the bed. “And if by some miracle she doesn’t remember you taking care of her when she wakes up in the morning, you have to promise to take this to your grave.”
“I hear you cut off people’s balls. I’ll never tell a soul.” He kissed Amy’s forehead and held her up while Jenna climbed into his spot. With Bella on her other side, they wedged Amy between them. “I’ll get you guys her barf bowl just in case.”
Tony went into the other room, and over Amy’s head, Jenna mouthed,Barf bowl?Bella shrugged.
Tony came back with a big plastic bowl that Amy kept on top of her refrigerator and set it on the bed next to Bella. Bella turned it over in her hands. She’d never known Amy to throw up in this particular bowl, but Tony having tied back Amy’s hair and designating the bowl as a barf bowl were such compassionate gestures that she went along with it.
“Thanks, Tony.”
“If you need me, you know where I live. Take good care of her.” He looked thoughtfully at Amy before leaving through the sliding glass door.
“What wasthatall about?” Jenna whispered.
Bella shrugged and brushed Amy’s hair from her forehead. “Look at her. How can he not fall for her? It kind of pisses me off, actually. She’s everything a man could want. Why can’t he see that?”
“Because he’s all a woman could want. Why would he ever tie himself down toonewoman?” Jenna leaned back and kicked off her flip-flops. “Besides,” she whispered. “She can’t get hooked up with a man before me. I’ll be all alone, and I hate that.”
Bella sighed and reached for Jenna’s hand. “We’ll always have each other.” The comfort she took in knowing her friends would always be there was exactly the comfort she knew Evan drew from his father. She closed her eyes, and the disappointment she’d felt earlier in the night subsided.
“Jenna?”
“Yeah?”
“I feel a little guilty because when Evan needed Caden, I was bummed to lose out on spending time with him.”
Jenna squeezed her hand. “That’s okay, sweetie. That’s because you care. If you weren’t bummed, it would be a bad sign.”
“But it was a selfish thought. Of all people, I know how much teenagers need their parents, and I’d never want to come between them.”
“Bella, honey, you weren’t competing for Caden’s attention or trying to take him away from Evan. You have to honor your feelings of missing the man you’re involved with and separate that from the rest. There’s no guilt involved with missing someone. I would bet that Caden’s feeling the same way.”
She smiled to herself. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I wasn’t mad or anything, just a little sad to leave.”
“It’s okay, Bell. Close your eyes. Barfy here will be up every hour.”
Bella curled onto her side and draped an arm over Amy. “I hope she doesn’t remember how she got here.”
Jenna curled around Amy’s other side. “I hope you guys still make time for me when you’re both in serious relationships and I’m alone.”
They heard the sliding glass door open and then close. Leanna peeked into the bedroom. “Do you have room for one more?” she whispered. “I miss you guys.” She climbed onto the bed behind Bella.
“What about your man?” Jenna asked.
“My man knows how important you guys are to me. He loves me no matter where I sleep.” She draped her arm over Bella.
“We do, too,” Bella said. “You guys?”
“Hm,” they mumbled in unison.
“I think I love Caden.”
“We know,” they said at the same time.
“We do, too,” Jenna said. “He makes you too happy for us not to, even if I’m green with jealousy.”
Bella drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and happy and on the right track.
