Page 17 of Flare Up
“No buts. You’ve been gone for months and now we’ve got you back and we’re going to celebrate.”
Wren chuckled, but it was a little more wry than amused. She needed a lot of things. Clothes. Food. A roof of her own. The last thing she should be doing was spending her money on a single meal and drinks, or whatever it was Cait had in mind.
“Don’t do it,” Cait said.
“Do what?”
“Your face is doing that closing off thing you do so well, and you’re going to tell me no. Don’t do it.”
Wren didn’t want to do the “closing off thing” anymore. And she didn’t need to. There were no more secrets.
“I could use a night out,” she confessed. “And something fun to look forward to.”
“I’m going to text everybody.” Cait had her phone in her hand before Wren could even speak. “And it’ll only be women you know. No strangers, I promise. It’s going to be so fun.”
As she watched her friend sending text messages, Wren thought about the fact she’d lost practically everything in a fire, almost died and didn’t have a home of her own, and yet her life was still better now than it had been three days before.
She wasn’t alone. She had friends and her jobs and Patty. And there was Grant. She wasn’t sure what they had, but she didn’t not have him, and that was enough for now.
* * *
Friday was a slow day. Clear skies and cold enough to keep people from running around too much, but not so cold as to present more problems. Grant didn’t mind, since it meant they could work around the station and stay out of the cold, but it also left a lot of time for him to think.
And, sprawled in a recliner in the common room, the only thing on his mind was Wren.
That wasn’t new. Wren had spent a lot of time in his thoughts since the day he’d met her. And he’d spent the last five months wondering where she was and if she was okay and wishing he could at least ask her why.
Now he knew where she was and knew she was okay and she’d finally told him why. Who she’d been running from, anyway. He wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to wrap his head around why she hadn’t come to him with it.
She said she hadn’t thought, but had just reacted. But if she really loved him, wouldn’t her instinct be to turn to him?
Something hit him in the chest, and once he was done flinching and identifying the something as a candy bar, he looked up to see it was Scott who’d thrown it. “What’s this for?”
“You look like you need a pick-me-up.”
“So you chuck a Snickers at me?”
“I was aiming for your head.”
“Sucks getting old, don’t it?”
The old Scotty would have lost his shit and, while he probably wouldn’t have swung, he’d have blistered Grant’s ears. This new, improved and in love version just grinned. “I’m getting better with age. I’m like wine.”
Aidan had just walked into the common room. “You mean full-bodied?”
Scott flipped him off, but then he put his hand over his stomach, frowning. He’d only put on a few pounds over the last year, but he was sensitive about it and anybody but his best friend couldn’t have gotten away with that crack. And Grant managed not to laugh. Barely, but he managed.
“Hopefully the women won’t get up to no good tomorrow night,” Aidan said as he dropped onto the couch.
That got Grant’s full attention. “What do you mean? Which women?”
“Last I heard, the group was Cait, Wren, Lydia, Ashley and Jamie. Lydia and Ashley got Karen Shea to cover for them at Kincaid’s. Olivia and Jess have some thing they’re doing for the Village Hearts charity, so just the five of them that I know of.”
“That’s not a good idea.” Grant didn’t even think about the words. He just said them out loud.
And Aidan laughed at him. “No, telling those women they can’t have a girls’ night is what’s not a good idea.”
“Where are they going?”
