Page 45 of Soaring Free
Savannah’s jaw drops at that statement. “I haven’t done … nothing’s happened … I didn’t—”
My sister holds up her hand to stop her. “I know you didn’t, but it couldn’t hurt anything to explore a friendship, right? You and my brother are both good people, and we all need good people in our corner. But regardless of anything that does or does nothappen, don’t think I won’t find a way to invite myself to join that book club of yours!”
Is my sister playing my wingman right now?
“Listen, it’s been a big day. Why don’t you head home, do something to relax and unwind, and maybe in a few days, you’d let me take you out to coffee—just as friends.”
Please say yes.
Savannah glances to Pippa, who just grins back at her. “You know what, I’ll think about it.”
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m a great friend.” She laughs at my comment and I wink at her, internally high fiving myself at this development. It might be small, some may even say inconsequential, but it’s progress, and when it comes to Savannah, I will take whatever inch she is willing to give me.
Chapter twenty-five
Theo
Hey, would you like to have coffee with me (your good friend Theo) on Friday morning?
Am I more surprised by his text message—or by the way my heart rate sped up in response to being asked to coffee by a man like Theo Smith-Harrington? Before I can think too much about either part of the equation, my friend snaps me back to the present.
“So, in an ideal world, what do you want to happen next?” Stacy asks. I had just finished filling my next-door neighbor in on the recent court developments when a text from Theo momentarily stole my attention. I read it out loud without thinking, but I know Stacy will give me advice without sugarcoating things.
What do I want to happen next?
Is it that easy? Do I get to just write my own story and what comes next? If I do have a relationship in the future, it would have to be very different from my relationship with Shane. Honestly, at thirty-nine years old, I never thought I would be wanting—or available—to pursue a new relationship. “I’m not totally sure. I mean, it’s obvious what a catch Theo is, but am I ready for that? Am I enough for that?”
“Shut the front door.” Stacy sets down her wine glass and whips her pointer finger at me, ready to read me the riot act. “You are enough just in being who you are, Savannah. You know this, honey. He may be a catch—and a handsome,stupid rich one too—but hello? Have you seen yourself in the mirror? If I weren’t friends with you, I might have to hate you just because of how pretty you are, and that’s before you add in your ride or die loyalty? Forget about it. You are not an appetizer or a drive-through meal, you are a six-course entrée experience at a Michelin three-star restaurant, honey. You are not lacking. You, my dear, are everything.”
Stacy is the friend I never knew I needed when she and her husband moved here a few years ago. Shortly after the moved in, we became fast friends when she came over to borrow a cup of sugar but then admitted over a glass of wine that she just wanted an excuse to introduce herself. Stacy had the gate installed in our fence line within six weeks of living next door because she was sick of walking all the way around our houses to get to my backyard, which was fine with me.
When their youngest son graduated high school and left for college on the West Coast, they decided to move out of Nashville for the quieter pace of life in Forrest Falls. Her husband Derek travels a lot for his work, but Stacy has become one of my best friends, other than my sister. No one will ever take that title from Viv.
“You’re right, thank you. I needed that reminder. I’m glad you’re my friend—and that you don’t hate me for being pretty.” I laugh as I toast her in mock cheers. My doorbell rings and I check the security camera to see it’s a delivery man. “I’ll be right back, hopefully that package is the shoes I ordered last week!”
The packaged is not in fact my shoes, but it’s even better, and my jaw is on the floor as I sit on the patio and open the beautiful special-edition box featuring one of my favorite authors. Did I win a giveaway or something? This specific special edition with a foiled cover and sprayed edges was an extremely limited run, and I know I didn’t order one in time, despite trying to get my hands on one of these boxes. I’m not sure how I got so lucky!
The packing slip doesn’t have a purchaser’s name, but it shows that the gift option was selected, with a message included:To believing in happily ever after.
Huh. I wonder if Vivian ordered it as a surprise early divorce gift for me; she mentioned doing something special to celebrate the milestone. As though she can hear me thinking of her, my eyes catch movement up the path that wraps around the pool as Vivian walks up from the guesthouse to join us with a large glass of sweet tea.
“Hey. Are you the best sister ever and ordered this for me?” I call out to her.
“Yes, I am the best sister ever, but it’s not from me. However, I’ll happily steal it from you if you don’t want it. How in the world did you manage to snag one of those? There were less than one hundred printed!” Vivian says as she paws my gift box. I move it out of her reach and shoo away her grabby hands.
“I didn’t. I assumed it was from you as an early divorce gift,” I tell her as she shrugs. Maybe someone else in our book club sent it to me. I’ll have to ask the group text—someone knew what they were doing when they sent me this incredible gift.
“Did you get the final details for Saturday figured out?” I ask as she nods in response. She has that dreamy look that tells me she just got off the phone with Walker. They’ve been navigating the long distance thing for months, but they will soon officially be living under the same roof, and if I were a betting woman, I would suspect that when Walker officially moves to Forrest Falls in a few days, it won’t be long until he upgrades her status from his girlfriend to his fiancée. It wouldn’t be a fair bet as I helped him with ring styles last month, but a lady never reveals her secrets. “I can’t wait to have him officially move here. And you’re still okay with him staying at the guesthouse until we finalize where we want to build, right?”
I wave her concern away with my hand. “Are you kidding me? I was fine with it before everything hit the fan months ago when we first talked about it and now it’s even better. Plus, he is so good with Eloise and with my girls. They could use a good guy around the house, or the guesthouse I suppose.” It’s not going to be long, but it didn’t make sense for them to move somewhere else only to move again as soon as they build their home together.
“Good! Now what did I miss?”
“I was just telling your sister that she’s a six-course entrée meal and isn’t allowed to think she isn’t enough for a man like Theo,” Stacy declares.
“I don’t understand the contextual reference, but I agree. You’re more than enough for any guy that would be so lucky to have you in his life, not that you need that validation to make you enough for any measure. You’re enough simply by being the fabulous you that you are, Sav. And in a few weeks, or however long it takes to get the final paperwork, you will still be enough as a woman that happens to be divorced because your worth was never defined by your partner. Just like Trent never defined my worth, Shane never defined yours. And to be honest, Walker doesn’t define my worth now either. He enriches my life and enhances the love and joy I have in it, but we are both enough on our own and even better when we come together.”
Stacy points at Vivian. “Yeah, what she said. I compared you to food, and she went philosophical and on about intrinsic value, but basically the same message.”
