Page 11 of The Wedding Ranch
Lorri and Craig had lived in their last house for over five years, but she’d be hard-pressed to name more than two or three neighbors who lived on their street. One of them was Charlie Girbons. She only knew his name because he was the head of the HOA. Charlie was always citing someone for a violation. When people mentioned him, it was accented with a groan, sometimes even an eye roll.
There was no HOA in Mill Creek Highlands, and she’d taken full advantage of that by planting a double order of portulaca around her mailbox just like the ones Charlie had made her dig up back in Raleigh. It was a nice housewarming gift toherself. Since she moved in she’d met every person on her block and could name them on sight.
Mister had plenty of room to wander within the fence line of her property, but she liked walking him and stopping to chat with the neighbors, and he was quite the social butterfly. He became so excited when she got the leash out. His short tail wiggled and wagged as he leapt from paw to paw in anticipation. He was such a chill dog, although Miss Kenner’s tiny Jack Russell intimidated him. He’d sit and turn away from that yapping dog as it snarled at him, threatening to chew the ears right off of Mister’s head. It was comical actually, because Mister could fit the little terrier in his mouth if he wanted to.
Lorri turned her Mercedes G-Wagon onto the main road. She needed a car that was big enough to haul Mister around, and it didn’t hurt that it was one teensy step up on Craig since he’d always wanted one.
She’d heard through the grapevine that he and the new girlfriend were on a bit of a budget. She snickered at the notion of Craig watching his pennies. He’d never been good with money.Good luck with that.
As she drove, she thought of her new life. Her only regret was not balancing her life and work as well as she’d planned now that she was working from home. If anything, she was working more than ever, but she planned to tackle that.
Step one was transforming the loft into a studio. It had taken a few months, but it was everything she’d dreamed of. The light in that room was perfect for painting, even though she hadn’t found the time to make a single brushstroke yet.
Why was it that the promises she made to herself were the easiest to break?I’m going to sit down and paint something new this week.She kind of wished she’d used this day off to stay home and paint instead, but it was too late to change plans now.
As she approached the four-way flashing red light, she pressed her foot on the brake and glanced both ways before proceeding, more out of habit than really looking, because no one was ever coming.
A horn wailed out one long blast from her right.
She slammed on her brakes, stopping inches from a pickup truck.
Her fist to her heart, she sucked in several quick breaths before waving an apologetic hand. It was her fault, and she knew it. “I’m so sorry,” she said, but there was no way the person driving their truck could hear her. The windows were too dark to make out if the driver was waving back or cursing her. Probably the latter, because the loud diesel swung wide, then sent a puff of black smoke into the air as it sped down the road.
I can’t believe that just happened.Her heart pounded. She brushed her sweaty palms against her dress and took a moment before finally crossing the intersection. One mistake. One split second could’ve changed everything.
Chapter Three
Lorri couldn’t remember downtown Raleigh ever being this busy. She hadn’t been away that long, but things had changed. She took a ticket at the parking garage gate and began searching for a spot. It made her nervous driving her big SUV, afraid the roof would scrape the top of the garage any minute.
Finally, on the seventh deck, she spotted an open space and was able to eek her vehicle between the lines.One of these days I’ll get used to parking this thing.
Before she walked into The Blue Hippo she was as nervous as if she were meeting a blind date. There was no cause for all the butterflies; these were her friends. They’d done lunch and listened to each other’s problems for years.
Lorri’s divorce had just been finalized, which was why Pam had insisted they all get together to celebrate. She stepped inside the restaurant.
“Reservation?” The dapper host of The Blue Hippo flashed her that “answer me” glance.
“Yes. I’m meeting some girlfriends. My last name—”
The maître d’ spun and pointed his shiny silver pen toward a booth in the corner. “Must be the group of four in the back.”
Four?She leaned forward, her breath escaping like a balloon with a pinhole. Pam, Carmen, Kelsey, as expected, but the fourth was Stacy. Lorri wasn’t up for Stacy today. For a brief second she contemplated backing out and sending her regrets, but Carmen was already on her feet waving her napkin.
“Thank you.” Lorri muttered the nicety and made her way toward the table. This had been a bad idea. She didn’t really understand the whole need to celebrate a divorce anyway. It hadn’t been ugly between her and Craig. Just over. She could have done without everyone knowing he’d been cheating on her with Tiffany the dog trainer with the teacup Yorkie, but the end results were the same no matter what.
Tiffany hadn’t ruined her marriage. Sure, being replaced by a beautiful young blonde had been a tough pill to swallow. What was it Craig had said when he gave her Mister on Valentine’s Day?I know you don’t like those froufrou purse-sized dogs.Clearly, he was the expert on those.
Lorri wished she’d thought to print up a bumper sticker that readMY DOG COULD EAT YOUR PURSE-SIZED DOG IN ONE BITEand slap it on the back window of the G-Wagon before coming back to Raleigh. It would have been priceless to cruise past Craig and Tiffany’s house just to see the look on his face.
She pasted a smile on as proof that her life was perfect in every way.
“Carmen, Kelsey.” She hugged them both.
Pam jumped to her feet. “You look beautiful.” Pam hugged her then whispered, “Sorry about Stacy. It wasn’t my idea.”
Lorri shrugged, hoping she pulled off the “it’s fine” expression she was faking at the moment. Since Carmen was married to Stacy’s brother, Stacy caught wind of their get-togethers more often than they’d like. She was hard to take in large doses, but lack of tact aside, Stacy was one of them. All girls who’d graduated from NC State and stuck around.
Stacy didn’t bother getting up, simply waving from her seat. “How’s that country living treating you?”
