One
of the Guys

Jessica
Strassner

*

“So,
how is it that you’re not married?”

Kate gritted her teeth, her hands
poised over her keyboard. If she had a dollar for every time a client asked
this question, she wouldn’t even have to work. She flexed her fingers,
continued typing in her notes, saved the file, printed two copies of the
document, and closed it. “I’m so busy here at work that I don’t get to date
much,” she said. “I guess you could say I’m married to my job.”  She pasted a smile on her face and leaned
over to grab the papers out of the printer. She slipped one into the client’s
folder and put it in her basket. She stapled the other copy and handed it to
the beaming bride, who now seemed at a loss for words.

“If you have any questions about your
proposal, just let me know,” she said. “When you decide which colors you’d like
to go with for your bridesmaids’ dresses, we’ll talk a little bit more about
things like your bridal party flowers and decorations for the ceremony and
reception. And remember, this is just an estimate.”  The bride nodded and Kate continued. “I’ll
get in touch with some caterers to arrange for some tastings. All you have to
do right now is just find those bridesmaids’ dresses!”

“Thank you, Miss Thompson!” the
bride said, getting to her feet and smoothing down her sundress. She reached
across the desk to shake Kate’s hand. Kate smiled at her, shook her hand
politely, and walked her out of her tiny office, into the small waiting room,
and to the door.

“Please. Call me Kate. I’ll be in
touch,” Kate said, opening the door. The young bride rushed out onto the
sidewalk, hugging her proposal to her chest. Kate couldn’t help but smile at
the sight of the young girl, so happy, so excited… so ready to spend her
parents’ money.

Kate locked the door, crossed the
waiting room, and stuck her head into her boss, Julia’s, slightly larger office.
“I got asked again.”

Julia was shutting down her computer
and shouldering her purse. “About why you’re not married?” she chuckled.

“It’s so annoying,” Kate complained.
“It’s not like I’m a crusty old lady.”

Julia grinned at her and started
rummaging around in her purse for her keys. “At least she didn’t offer to set
you up with anybody.”

Kate folded her arms across her
chest and leaned against the door frame. “That’s not such a bad idea…”

“Sorry,” Julia said, locating her
keys and swinging the ring around and around on her finger. “Like I’ve told you
before, I don’t know anybody. And all Alex knows are boring
teacher-types.”

Kate heaved an artificial sigh.

“Besides, don’t you go out with guys
all the time?  What about that one
photographer we always use?” Julia flicked her light off and slipped past Kate
into the waiting room.

“I don’t go out with any of them,” she said, screwing up her face. “We hang
out, I guess. We play poker on Saturday nights.”

“But aren’t you sort of… seeing one
of them?”

“Kind of, sort of,” Kate said,
waving off the idea. “But that was dumb. Bad idea. Nothing
will ever happen there. It’s not serious.”

“Someone will come along,” Julia
said. “When you least expect it.”

*

Kate got out of bed and grabbed the
satin bathrobe hanging on the closet door knob. She shimmied into it and tied
the belt quickly around her waist. “Lucy will probably be home soon,” she said,
glancing at the clock as she undid her ponytail and shook her hair out.

Still sprawled in the bed, tangled
in her sheets, Max smiled lazily up at her. “How come you never want to
cuddle?” he asked, sitting up and leaning on his elbows.

“If I wanted to cuddle, I’d get a
dog,” she replied.

“I thought we were supposed to be
friends with benefits,” Max said. “Come cuddle,” he lunged forward and grabbed
the hem of her bathrobe, pulling her back down onto the bed with him.

“We are,” she said, playfully slapping
at his pawing hands. “And the benefit is that we get to have sex with each
other, no strings attached.”

“So we can’t even snuggle?”

Kate shook her head and tried to
wriggle away, but Max held on tight. He managed to swing his leg over the top
of hers and pin her down. Kate, unable to resist, allowed him to kiss her.

“We can’t even snuggle a little?”

Groaning, Kate sat up and shoved
with all of her might. Max flopped back onto the bed, laughing. “What is it
with you?  The whole point
of this was so that we could call each other up and have sex whenever we
wanted, not get all kissy and cuddly.”
She tightened the knot on her bathrobe and raked her fingers through her
hair. “Why do you have to keep making it so complicated?”

“Why do you have to keep fighting
this?” Max asked.

“Fighting what?”

“This. Us. I
don’t know why you’re so against giving us a shot. A real shot,” he added,
before she could protest. “We get along great. We have lots of fun. The sex is
great. Why not just see what it’s like as a couple?”

“Because, Max. We were friends first.
And if the whole couple thing doesn’t work out, how do we go back to being
friends?”

Max sat up and scooted to the edge
of the bed. He reached for her again, but this time he held his hand out
instead of grabbing at her. Kate placed her hand in his and allowed him to
gently tug her closer. “I think what you’re really afraid of is that it just
might work out, and we’ll be an awesome couple.”

Kate looked down at him and ran her
fingers through his thick, dark, choppy hair. She wished she believed that what
Max was saying was true… “I don’t know, Max…”

Max put his hands in the air. “I
don’t want to rush you, Kate. I just want you to think about it.”

Kate nodded and took a step back
from Max again so that he could get to his feet. It seemed like every other
time they got together like this, they ended up having
this same conversation. She watched as he went around the room, gathering
articles of clothing and pulling them on.

He
was adorable, he had a good job, and they really did get along well. But they
had been friends first, and that’s what scared Kate the most. She was worried
enough about the whole “friends with benefits” thing going awry; she didn’t
want to get wrapped up in a relationship with Max, only to have it flop and
destroy their friendship.

Because
that would ultimately destroy her friendships with Chris, Kevin, and Jackson as
well. Well, maybe not Jackson; she’d known him for too
long. But if it came to taking sides after a bad breakup between mutual
friends, Chris and Kevin would most definitely side with Max. And she didn’t
want to lose them. Aside from Lucy and Jackson, the guys were her only friends.

*

Kate
stared down at the cards in her hand, hoping that she didn’t show any signs of
excitement at what she’d been dealt. A pair of aces, a
diamond and a heart. Max dealt the flop. King of
hearts. Two of hearts. Three
of hearts. She looked around the table. It was just her against Chris,
the last two players of the evening. Chris had managed to take out Jackson,
Kevin and Max, and now for the past hour, he had been doing battle with Kate,
who’d managed to whittle his pile of chips down so that they were pretty equal.
Max was dealing; Jackson and Kevin were both leaning forward, elbows on the
table, watching the game. Kate assumed they were somehow figuring out what cards
she and Chris had in their hands. She wished she was better at the game or that
she could pay better attention to what cards had been played, but somehow she
managed just fine. Chris checked.

She
checked. Max dealt the next card. Nine of clubs.

She
studied the cards on the table. If Chris had kings, he could possibly have
three of a kind. Or maybe he was working on a straight with the two and three. And
the nine… Ugh. She never understood how the guys could figure out what their
opponent held in their hands. He checked, then looked at her and raised his
eyebrows, daring her to take her turn.

She
checked again. Max dealt the river. Queen of hearts. Another heart. With her pocket cards, she had an ace high
flush. She looked at the cards on the table to make sure that she was really
counting five hearts.  I’ve got this! Kate thought. Chris
studied his hand and then checked again.

Kate
paused and considered her stack of chips thoughtfully. “I’m all in,” she said,
taking a deep breath. Max let out a whistle and Kevin winked at her. Chris’s
head jerked up and he looked at her in surprise. His mouth twitched and Kate
prayed that he would think that she was bluffing. However, he took his time,
comparing his stack with Kate’s.

I’ve got more chips than him, so if
he calls, I’ll take him out and the game will be over!  Kate slid her stack of
chips into the middle of the table.

After
a few moments’ deliberation, Chris finally nodded, flipping his cards over. “I’ll
call,” he said.

Kate
leaned over the table and looked at the pair of kings that Chris had chucked
onto the felt. Combined with the king on the community cards, his hand was a three of a kind. Kate beamed.

“Flush,”
she grinned. “Ace high. Good night, boys!”

Chris
groaned.

Max
shook his head. “Dude!” he exclaimed.

“Loser
cleans up the chips,” she said, winking at Chris and draining her bottle of
beer. She stood and grabbed the five twenty-dollar bills from the middle of the
table. She made her way around the table and said goodbye to each of the boys:
she bent and kissed Jackson on the cheek, threw her arms around Kevin’s neck,
fist-bumped Max, and tousled Chris’s hair.  She gathered her purse, tucked her money into
her wallet, and grinned as all the guys gave Chris a good ribbing about losing
to a girl.

“Sure
you don’t want to head out with us?  We
might go to the Sand Bar. Or the Porthole,” Jackson said.

“I
think I’ll just head home,” she replied.

“I’ll
walk you out,” Kevin said.

She
said good night and slipped out with Kevin before the guys could press her to
join them out on the town. Usually after their Saturday night poker game, the
guys ended up at the Sand Bar or some similar dive bar, drinking their winnings
away. Kate, on the other hand, preferred just getting out of her dress, kicking
off her heels, and crawling into bed.

Saturdays
were long, busy days for Kate. As a wedding planner, she met with brides all
week long, and then months of planning culminated in often multiple wedding
celebrations on Saturday. Kate had just wrapped up the wedding of two high
school sweethearts, both recently graduated from college. The couple was so
young Kate swore the groom hadn’t even begun shaving yet. It was a beautiful
wedding, but of course, it always was, when Kate helped organize it.

“You
should come out with us more often,” Kevin said, as they strolled across the
parking lot.

“I
will, one of these nights,” Kate said, unlocking her car door. “Promise.”  She
flashed him a smile and got into her car.

On
the way home, she rolled the windows down and turned the radio up loud. She drummed
on the steering wheel and hummed as she drove, looking forward to getting home
and getting into her pajamas.

Kate
let herself into her house quietly and tossed her briefcase and purse on the
couch. All the lights were off, so she knew her roommate, Lucy, was asleep.

Lucy
was dating Jackson, whom Kate had just won twenty dollars from at poker. Even
though they’d known each other since high school, they were still supposedly in
the “taking it slow” stages of their relationship, with Lucy having broken off
her engagement and Jackson in the midst of a divorce. Kate was glad that her
two friends were taking things slow. She had all the confidence in the world
that Lucy and Jackson were meant to be together, but Kate had to admit, it was
nice having someone to share the house with. And if things with Lucy and
Jackson ever got serious, she’d be all on her own again.

In
her room, Kate quickly shed the cocktail dress she’d worn to the wedding that
evening and replaced it in the closet. She kicked her shoes into the closet and
stood at the bathroom sink in her underwear, scrubbing the makeup off of her
face. She grabbed her nightshirt off the bathroom doorknob and pulled it over
her head. She had just squirted a line of toothpaste on her toothbrush when she
thought she heard a car pull up into the driveway.

Sticking
her toothbrush in her mouth, she crossed her bedroom and peered through the
blinds and out the window overlooking the front yard. Sure enough, there was a
car parked right behind hers. And she knew just who it belonged to.

Kate
hurried into the living room and to the front door before he could ring the
bell. She flung the door open.

“You
left in a mighty big hurry,” Max said, his hand poised to ring the doorbell.

“Not
tonight, Max,” she said, her toothbrush poking out of her mouth.

“What?  Do you have a headache?” Max whispered,
letting himself in.

Knowing
that it was pointless to try to stop him, Kate let him follow her into her room.
Max closed the door softly behind him and immediately started getting
undressed.

“Max!”
Kate said his name like a warning.

Max
plopped down on the edge of the bed, kicking his flip-flops and jeans out of
the way. “What?” he asked.

“You
know what,” Kate replied, bending over the sink and brushing her teeth. She
pulled her hair back out of her face and could feel her cheeks growing hot. She
knew that Max was sitting there on the corner of the bed, just watching her. She
finished brushing, swished and spit, and then, drying her mouth on the hand
towel, looked up at Max.

“I
once read somewhere that if you have a headache, that sometimes an orgasm can
release that tension, causing your headache to go…”

Kate
closed the door on him and leaned back against it. She wasn’t sure what the
problem was. Max was definitely a good looking guy. The sex was always good. She
just wanted more than that. And even though he was constantly pressing her to
give their relationship some more serious thought, she
just wasn’t sure if it would work with him.

“Okay,
fine,” Max said from the other side of the door. “I’ll be good, if we can just
spoon. Please?”

Shaking
her head, Kate opened the door. “Just spoon?  Seriously?”

Max
nodded.

Kate
studied his face. He looked serious enough. “Okay, come on,” Kate said. “But
don’t try anything. I have to get up early in the morning. And you better be
out before I leave.”  She crawled across
the bed and curled up on her side, with Max close behind her. He scooted up
behind her so that he cupped her close with his body; his chest against her
back, his knees against the backs of her knees, their feet intertwined.

*

Kate awoke at seven when her alarm
went off. She could hear Lucy puttering around in the kitchen, so she didn’t
bother to hit snooze. She got out of bed and stretched, noticing that all of
Max’s clothes were gone. He must have left bright and early, like he usually
did when they’d had one of their encounters. Kate went to the bathroom and
headed out into the living room, expecting to see Lucy sitting at the kitchen
counter.

Instead, it was Max. Eating a doughnut.

“What are you doing?” Kate hissed.

The refrigerator door closed and
Lucy leaned against the counter, pouring orange juice into a glass in front of
Max.

“I… was just… leaving?” Max began,
licking the powdered sugar off of his lips.

Lucy grinned. “I scared the crap out
of him coming out of your room this morning, so I invited him to have breakfast
with me. I went out and bought doughnuts and he came out just as I got back.”

Kate shook her head. “Great.”  She hopped up onto the stool next to Max as
Lucy poured her a glass of juice as well. “Nothing happened,” she said.

Lucy opened the box, selected a sticky
glazed doughnut, and took a bite. “You don’t have to explain to me.”

Max finished his doughnut. “Honestly,
I just came over and spent the night. Nothing happened.”

Lucy held her hands up in the air. “Whatever
you guys do is fine with me,” she said.

“We, um, just don’t want anybody to
know,” Kate said. “Like Jackson,” she added.

Max nodded in
agreement.

“Don’t worry. This is all your
business. I won’t say anything,” Lucy said.

“I better go,” Max said, sliding off
his stool. He looked at Kate for a minute and then held out a fist. She fist-bumped him.

“I’ll call you,” she said.

Max gave Lucy a quick hug and then
let himself out. Shaking her head, Lucy hopped up next to Kate and shook her
head. “Girl… What are you doing?”

“Nothing happened.”

“I come home from the store to find
him sneaking out of your room, scare the living daylights out of him, and
nothing happened?”

“I swear. Cross my heart. We just
spooned!” Kate exclaimed.

“Spooned?”  Lucy giggled. “You expect me to believe that
a guy like Max came over and you just… cuddled?
Riiiight.”

“I swear!  It’s not like that with Max!”

“It’s not like what with Max?”

Kate took a sip of orange juice. “I
don’t have feelings like that for Max. He’s not the kind of guy you end up
having a relationship with.”

“But he’s the guy who comes by at
night so you can spoon?”

Kate groaned. “I mean, he’s the kind
of guy you hook up with every now and then, but you don’t date him.”

“So you have hooked up with him?”
Lucy grinned.

Kate smacked Lucy playfully on the
arm. “Just don’t say anything to Jackson, please?”

*

Kate pulled her stack of papers off
the printer and sat down at her desk to file her notes on the weddings she
supervised the day before. Julia stuck her head in the door. “I’m out of here,”
she said, slipping her sunglasses on. “Allie isn’t feeling well.”

“Oh, I hope she’s all right,” Kate
said, spreading her clients’ folders out on her desk.

“Just a little cold, I’m sure. Don’t
stay too long. Get out and enjoy what’s left of your weekend!” Julia smiled and
breezed out of the office.

Kate scratched her head and
contemplated the mess of paperwork on her desk. How did people like Julia do
it?  Married with a kid.
Full time job. Good at what she does. But she never
seemed stressed. She was one of those chicks who always seemed so… together.

“I want to be like Julia when I grow
up,” she muttered.

“Excuse me?”

Kate looked up and grinned. Chris
stood in the doorway with a manila envelope under one arm and a cup of Starbucks
in his other hand. “Hey!”

“Hey, yourself, champ. Is Julia here?”
Chris asked, handing her the coffee.

“You just missed her.”  Kate took the top off of her cup to blow on
it a little. “Thank you!”

“No problem. I was going to give her
the prints from that little vow renewal we did last week. She was really
excited to see them.”

“The couple that’d
been married sixty years?  Let me
see,” Kate said. Chris handed her the envelope and she slid the photos out. She
flipped through them, smiling at the elderly couple’s photos. “These are
great,” she said. “What a cute couple. Sixty years. Wow.”

“They didn’t act like they were in
their eighties. It was the cutest thing.”

Kate sighed and returned the photos
to the envelope. “Ugh. Even if I met someone and got married, like, today, I’d
be ninety-one when we celebrate our sixtieth anniversary.”  She took a sip of coffee. “If
I even make it to ninety-one.”

“I didn’t know you were looking to
get married,” Chris said.

Kate sat back in her chair and
folded her hands behind her head. “Someday, maybe. I’m
not in a rush. Everyone’s always asking when I’ll get married. Especially here. I don’t know. But it’s not like I’m getting
any younger.”

Chris chuckled. “Oh, you’ll get
married someday.”

“I’m the bachelorette wedding
planner. I am going to be an old maid.”

“Oh, stop.”

“I am irony personified.”

“Knock it off,” Chris said, reaching
across the desk and chucking her under the chin. “If you’re not married by the
time you’re… thirty-five, I’ll marry you.”

“What?” Kate spluttered. She checked
to make sure she hadn’t spilled coffee down the front of her blouse.

“Take it easy. I was just kidding,”
Chris grinned. “I’m going to leave these pictures here with you, if that’s
okay.”

“It’s
fine,” Kate replied. “What are you up to today?”

He looked down at his watch. “I have
a lunch date, actually. I need to get going.”

Kate took another sip of her coffee.
“Oh. All right. Have fun.”

“See ya,”
Chris said.

“Thanks again for the coffee,” Kate
called after him.

Kate stared down at her desktop and
grinned, thinking about what Chris had said. “If you’re not married by the time you turn thirty-five…”

Hmm. That
was only four years away.

She’d had maybe two serious
relationships in the past four years.

Shoot, maybe the past… six… no,
eight years.

Sure, she had dated around here and
there. And she had Max, so it’s not like she was suffering. She just had yet to
meet a guy that was really marriage material. Or actual boyfriend
material, for that matter.

Chris, on the other hand… She
straightened up her papers, thinking about it and ticking off his positive
qualities in her mind.

Looks
like Bradley Cooper. Naughty smile, nice body. Thoughtful. He brought me coffee, didn’t he?  He has a good job. Owns his own business!
Loves what he does. He’s talented. We spend a lot of time together already. Hmm…

*

Kate
slid onto the bar stool and watched with amusement as Lucy and Jackson
navigated around each other in the kitchen. They were so cute together. Jackson
was stirring pasta sauce that was bubbling away on the stove while Lucy chopped
vegetables for salad. Kate leaned over the counter and picked up a red pepper
slice out of the salad bowl.

“Jackson,
do you know who Chris went on a date with on Sunday?” Kate asked, crunching on
the pepper.

Jackson
lifted the wooden spoon to his lips to taste the sauce. “I can’t remember. It
might have been the beer girl from the Rocky Pass Pub. Unless
she was Friday. Why?”

“Does
he date a lot?” Kate asked.

Jackson
held the spoon out for Kate to try a taste. “Define ‘a lot.’”

Kate
slurped the sauce off the spoon. “Good,” she said, wiping her lips. “I don’t
know. I mean, is he serious about anybody or just dating around?”

Jackson
chuckled. “Chris?  Serious?  No way.
He just dates around.”

Lucy
stopped chopping a cucumber and shot Jackson a look. “That’s putting it
mildly.”

Kate
looked back and forth between Lucy and Jackson. “What does that mean?”

Lucy
pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows at Jackson. Jackson lowered the heat on
the sauce and gave the spaghetti noodles a stir. “Chris is kind of a man-whore.”

Kate’s
eyes widened. “What?”

“Kind
of?  You mean
he’s a total man-whore,” Lucy echoed, scooping up the cucumber slices and
dumping them into the salad bowl.

“Really?”
Kate asked.

“I
know he’s your friend and all, but he’s such a player,” Lucy said.

“Worse
than Max?” Jackson asked.

“Max
is harmless,” Lucy said, grabbing the salad tongs and tossing everything around.
“He flirts with everybody and half the time he’s not even serious. You said Chris
just goes after anything with a pair of boobs!”

Jackson
attempted to come to Chris’s defense. “He’s a guy!”

“I
know, but he’s just kind of… sleazy,” Lucy shuddered. “I don’t know what it is.
I mean, he’s kind of cute, I guess, but he kind of grosses me out. I don’t know.
Sleazy. That’s the only way I can describe him.”

Kate
sat back in surprise. “Really?” she echoed.

Jackson
looked at her. “Like you’ve never seen Chris in action?”

Kate
thought about it. Had she ever seen
Chris in action?  Had she ever bothered
to pay attention? A lot of times, when they went out for beers after work, it
was just her and the guys. Or else they were at Kevin’s house, playing poker on
Saturday nights. “Not really.”

Lucy
carried the salad bowl to the table. “Jackson once said he was ruthless.”

“I
think I used the word ‘relentless,’ babe,” he said, opening a cabinet and
handing Lucy a stack of plates and bowls.

“Same
thing!” Lucy said. “What Jackson means is that if Chris
sees a chick that he wants to take home, he won’t give up. He usually ends up
taking her home.”

Kate
rested her chin in her hand and looked back and forth from Lucy to Jackson. “But
they don’t mean anything?” she asked. “He’s not dating anybody seriously or
anything?”

Lucy
snorted as she set the table. “I don’t think he takes anything seriously. Well,
except maybe himself.”

“No,”
Jackson said, playfully swatting Lucy on the behind. “He’s not dating anyone
seriously. Says he hasn’t met the right girl yet.”

“But
I bet he sure is having a good time looking,” Lucy grinned.

Kate
considered things as Jackson drained the spaghetti and Lucy pulled the garlic
bread out of the oven and sliced it. Chris hadn’t met the right girl yet. She
hadn’t met the right guy. Maybe they were right for each other?  She’d have to think about it, and figure
something out.

Kate,
Lucy, and Jackson sat down at the table and ate dinner together. Lucy
entertained them with stories about her fourth grade students and Kate talked a
little bit about the painfully long meeting she’d had with a bride and her
overbearing mother that afternoon. When dinner was over, she offered to clean
up and declined Lucy and Jackson’s invitation to go out for and get ice cream
for dessert.

Left
alone in the kitchen, it dawned on Kate how quiet the house was with Lucy and
Jackson gone. She loved Lucy and Jackson, and was glad they had found each other
again, but sometimes she got tired of feeling like the third wheel, as she so
often did. It kind of reminded her of high school; she’d always suspected
something was going on with Lucy and Jackson, and as a result, she always felt
like she was a little bit of an outsider. She went into the living room and
turned on the stereo, cranking up the volume. She returned to the kitchen to
scrape the plates and rinse the dishes before she put them in the dishwasher. As
she wiped the counters clean, she couldn’t get Chris out of her mind.

She
had to admit that she had always been attracted to him, ever since her boss had
introduced them at the office a few years ago. It was hard not to find him
attractive; he was very charming and good-looking. They saw each other often
through weddings and work, so they spent a lot of time together and eventually
learned that Jackson was a mutual friend.

Jackson,
Chris, and their friends ended up hanging out a lot as a group, and none of
them seemed to care that Kate was the token girl. Because of her busy work
schedule and single-girl status, she was always up for grabbing a beer after
work, getting wings at Hooters, or going somewhere to watch football on Sundays.
She was just like one of the guys.

“That’s
it,” Kate said to herself. They didn’t think of her as a girl. Chris probably
just considered her a buddy; just one of the guys. She’d have to do something
to change his mind about that.

*

The following Saturday, Kate was
overseeing a wedding at the Davenport Hotel and Chris happened to be the
photographer. She could see him approaching out of the corner of her eye as she
stood in the doorway of the ballroom talking to the bride’s father.

“I just want to say thank you for
the job you’ve done, Miss Thompson. It wasn’t easy, not having Michelle’s
mother here to help her plan, but I know she’s looking down on this evening and
is pleased with the celebration you gave our daughter,” he said.

Kate placed her hand on the man’s
shoulder. “I’m so glad that you and your daughter are happy,” she said.

“Happy?  She’s ecstatic. I can’t thank you enough,” he
said, beaming.

“Well, it was a pleasure working
with you, Mr. Banks,” she said, holding out her hand.

The father of the bride ignored the
offer of a handshake and instead wrapped Kate in a big bear hug. Kate giggled
and smoothed out her dress as Mr. Banks excused himself to say goodnight to
some guests who were leaving. She turned to look at Chris, who was loosening
his tie.

“Ready to get your ass kicked at
poker?” he asked.

Kate shook her head. “Not tonight.”

“Not giving up without a fight,
huh?”

“Nope. Just not playing. I have a date.”

Kate flashed him a smile and slipped
out of the ballroom behind a few elderly wedding guests.

Once in the car, Kate gave herself a
pat on the back for keeping her exchange with Chris short and simple. She
wanted to seem aloof and mysterious while showing Chris that she had plenty of
guys interested in her.

In fact, she had a rendezvous with
two gentlemen planned that evening.

Ben and Jerry.

Kate knew that Lucy had planned on
going out with her sister while Jackson played poker, which meant that Kate
would have the house to herself for most of the evening. She didn’t really have
a date planned, but nobody needed to know that. What she did have was a pint of
Cherry Garcia in the freezer and a ton of movies on Netflix just waiting for
her at home.

At home, she hopped right into the
shower and scrubbed her makeup off. She pulled on her favorite nightshirt and
scraped her wet hair up into a ponytail. She rubbed some peppermint-scented moisturizer
onto her heels, pulled on a pair of fuzzy socks, and grabbed her ice cream and
a spoon. Curled up on the couch, she scrolled through her Netflix instant watch
queue, deciding on a girly 80’s movie she hadn’t seen in a long time.

She ate half a pint of ice cream and
ignored her cell phone as it beeped in her purse. Someone was texting her and
she was determined to ignore it, because technically, she was supposed to be on
a date.

Truthfully, she just hadn’t feel like dating. She hadn’t met anybody she thought she
could have a serious relationship with in ages. And that was what she really
wanted – a serious relationship. Love. Like Lucy and
Jackson, for example. Their love for each other was so strong that Lucy ditched
her fiancé and moved back from Miami and Jackson had moved home from New York
and was waiting for his divorce to be finalized. Although other people might
not have agreed with their actions, neither of them regretted what they had
done, because they both knew that they were meant to be together.

Thankfully,
though, they weren’t the annoying kind of couple that grossed people out by
constantly professing their love for each other and showering each other with
lovey-dovey behavior and public displays of affection. Instead, they were…
easy-going. Comfortable. Like they
just belonged together. They were friends and they loved each other and
they didn’t need to say anything or do anything to prove it. That was what Kate
wanted out of a relationship.

*

The next afternoon, Kate was leaving
the office when her cell phone rang. “Hi, Mom,” she said.

“I haven’t talked to you in
ages!  What have you been up to lately?”

“Not much. Work
and all the same old stuff. Going to meet Lucy for
lunch.”

“Have you gone out at all lately?”

“Do you mean have I gone on a date
lately?” Kate asked.

Her mother stifled a gasp. “Yes!  Have you?”

“No, I haven’t. All I do is work and
hang out with Lucy and the boys.”

“Don’t you think that might be part
of the problem?”

“It’s not really a problem, Mom,”
Kate huffed.

“You’re my only daughter. I want you
to be happy and get married and have a beautiful family.”

Kate sighed. Here we go again. “Maybe I don’t want to get married.”

This time, her mother really did let
out a gasp. Then she was silent for a moment. “You don’t want to get married?  Ever?”

Kate sighed. “I didn’t mean that. It’s
just… It’s not easy. I haven’t found the right guy yet, that’s all.”

“Well, keep looking,” she said. “He’s
probably right under your nose and you don’t even know it.”

“Riiight,”
Kate groaned, looking down at her watch. “Look, Mom, I’ve got to go. Lucy’s
probably waiting for me.”

“Okay. Talk to you soon. You should
think about coming for a visit. Your father and I miss you.”

“I miss you guys, too. I love you,”
Kate said.

Tossing her phone in her bag, Kate
hurried down the street to the restaurant Lucy had suggested that morning. The
breakfast and brunch crowd had mostly cleared out, and Kate spotted Lucy
sitting at a table in a window.

“Hi,” Kate said, dropping into the
chair across from Lucy. “How are you?”

“How are you?” Lucy asked, peering
at Kate. “Where were you last night?”

“Me?
What do you mean?”

“Jackson called me to tell me that he
won poker last night. He also said that you weren’t there. He said that Chris
said that you had a date. So where were you?
Who did you go out with?  And how
did I not know about it?”  Her eyes
narrowed.

“I didn’t go out with anybody,” Kate
sighed. “I just said that to Chris. I stayed home and watched a movie.”

“What?” Lucy cried. “You mean you
didn’t hang out with the boys for once and you just stayed at home by yourself?  You should have come out with me and my
sister!”

Kate folded her hands on top of the
menu. “If I tell you something, you have to promise not to think that I’m
crazy.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “What?”

“I told Chris that I had a date so
I’d seem more… desirable.”

“Desirable?” Lucy repeated.

“Desirable.”

“What?  Why?” Then it dawned on Lucy. “Oh, Kate, shut
up.”

“What?”

“Please tell me you’re not thinking
of going after Chris.”

“Why not?”

“What do you mean, why not?  I told you the other day, he grosses me out.”

“He’s all right. He’s a good guy.”

“He’s full of himself.”

“He’s a good-looking guy!”

“He’s a man-whore. Even Jackson said
so. One of his best friends!”

“Hear me out. Yes, he’s kind of a…
player. He dates around a lot. But he’s even said it’s just because he just hasn’t
met the right girl yet.”

“Oh, my gravy,” Lucy said, covering
her mouth. “So, I take it that you think that you’re the right girl?”

“I haven’t met the right guy. He
hasn’t met the right girl. We get along really well. We have tons in common. We’re
good friends.”  Lucy was shaking her head.
“We could be like you and Jackson!” Kate insisted. Lucy giggled. “I’m serious. I
think we’d be a good couple.”

Lucy took a deep breath. “I don’t
know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” Kate warned. “I
just want to see how this goes. And don’t say anything to Jackson, either, because
I don’t want all of the boys to know.”

“Don’t say anything to anybody about
Max. Don’t say anything to anybody about Chris. What are you doing?  Why are you so worried about dating someone
all of a sudden?”

“Because sometimes I feel like I’m
all alone,” Kate admitted. “I deal with these happy people getting married and
planning weddings all day long, and I’m single. I’m getting kind of tired of
being single. My mom calls and the first thing she wants to know if I’ve been
on any dates lately. You’ve got Jackson. I’ve got… nobody.”

“This has never bothered you
before,” Lucy said.

Kate shrugged. “I know. That’s why I
just want to see what happens with Chris. Who knows?  It could be a good thing. Or… nothing could
happen. I don’t know.”

Lucy sat back in her chair and
folded her arms across her chest. She smiled at Kate. “You’re crazy.”

Kate giggled. “I know.”

The waitress came and they ordered
lunch. “Okay. I know you. You probably have this all figured out already. So, what’s
your plan?” Lucy asked.

“It dawned on me that Chris and the
guys just think of me as another one of the guys. So first, I’ve got to be…
more girly,” Kate said.

“So that’s why you went on a pretend
date last night. Gotcha. What else?”

“Then I’ve got to flirt with Chris,
I guess,” Kate said. “And get him to see that I’m not just one of the boys. And maybe get him alone. Go on a date or
something.”

Lucy nodded. “And then?”

Kate threw her hands up in the air. “I
don’t know!  See where it goes, I guess!”

“Okay,” Lucy said. “See where it
goes.”

*

Kate sat staring down at the crappy
cards in her hand. A six and a three, off-suited. The
flop was two kings and an ace.  Her pile
of chips was pretty small and she knew that the game was probably going to come
down to Jackson or Kevin, who had the big stacks at the table. Chris was in the
same boat she was; he wouldn’t be in the game much longer himself.

Jackson checked. Chris checked. Max
checked. Kevin bet. Kate folded her hand. She didn’t feel like bluffing. She
watched the rest of the hand, quietly sipping her beer. Jackson called. Chris
called. Max folded.

She liked playing, but poker was
kind of boring when you were just sitting there watching everyone else.

The next card
was a ten. Jackson bet. Chris called, putting him all in. Kevin called. They
flipped their cards over. Jackson had three kings. Chris had two pair. Kevin
had a full house, aces over kings. Chris was out of the game; Kevin gathered up
all the chips and slid them towards his pile.

Chris left the table, went to the
kitchen, and got a beer. He flopped down on the couch and put his feet up on
the table. He found the TV remote and started flipping through the channels.

“Hey, first one out is supposed to
deal, you know!” Jackson called.

Chris extended his middle finger in
response and everyone at the table chuckled.

Kate turned her attention back to
the game. She had lousy cards again. A four and a seven.
The flop was a nine, ten, and a jack. Jackson folded right away. Max and Kevin
both bet, and this time she called them, hoping that she’d have an excuse to go
sit with Chris. She was all in, with little chance of winning, unless she
pulled a straight.

The next two cards were a seven and
a queen. She ended up with a pair. Kevin beat everyone again with three tens. Kate pushed her chips over to Kevin and joined Chris
on the couch.

“You’re out already, too?” he asked.

“Tried for a
straight. Kevin won with three of a kind.”

“He’s been on a roll tonight,” Chris
said, sipping his beer. He stopped flipping through the channels for a few
minutes to watch Saturday Night Live. “No date tonight?”

“Not tonight,” she said.

“Gonna see
him again?”

She paused for a minute. “I don’t
think so. Not my type,” she added.

“What is your type?” Chris asked.

“Hmmm.”  Kate pretended to think about this. “Somebody with a good job. Nice looking. Fun
to hang out with. Likes to goof around. Gets along with my friends. Know anybody like that?”

Chris chuckled. “Yeah.”

“Who?”

He took a sip of beer. “Me.”

“You?”

Chris looked at her. “Yeah. Me.”

Kate smirked. “You think I’d go out
with you?” she asked, crossing her fingers that her plan didn’t backfire.

“You mean you wouldn’t?” Chris
asked.

Kate took a shaky breath. “I don’t
know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

She took a sip of her beer and
smiled at him. “I don’t know. You haven’t asked.”

Chris smiled back. “Would you?”

“Would I
what?” she asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. This is fun!  She wasn’t used to being so flirty. She
didn’t have the chance very often.

“Would you go
out with me?” Chris asked softly, so that the guys at the poker table wouldn’t
overhear.

“Mmmaybe,”
she said. Don’t want to seem too eager. But
holy crap – this is working!

“Friday night. Dinner.
And then maybe we can see if there’s music at the Sand Bar.”

Kate chewed on the inside of her
cheek, pretending to mentally check her calendar. “I have a big rehearsal
dinner that should be done around eight.”

“Eight-thirty it is. I’ll pick you
up.”  Chris gave her a heavy pat on the
knee and then stood up. “You want some pretzels?” he asked.

“I’m good,” she said. She leaned
back against the couch, trying to hide the grin that was threatening to break
out across her face. Holy
crap. It worked. A date with Chris. I can’t believe it!

Chris got up and hovered at the table,
eating pretzels out of the bag and watching the game, so Kate grabbed her purse
and pulled out her phone. She sent Lucy a quick text. “Date with Chris on
Friday!!!!!  Be home soon!”  She stuffed her phone back into her purse
just as Max flopped down on the couch next to her.

“Fucking Kevin,” he groaned. “He has
a horseshoe up his ass tonight or something.”

“You’re out?”

“Yeah. Are
you heading home soon?” Max asked.

“Well, yeah. Eventually.”

“Want some company?”

“No.” Kate took a long sip, finishing
her beer.

“Come on.”

“Not tonight,” she hissed. “Besides, Lucy’s home.”
And besides that, if I’m going to
be going out with Chris, you can’t keep coming over whenever you feel like it, she
thought. Max pouted and Kate gave him a playful nudge. “You can walk me to my
car, though.”  She got up and stretched. “Well,
boys, I think it’s time for me to go,” she announced. She went around the table
and said goodbye. “I’ll bring beer next time,” she said.

“You better,” Kevin grinned. “I
think it’s your turn, anyway.”

Kate ruffled his curly hair and gave
him a kiss on his temple. “Good night, everybody!” she said. She squeezed
Jackson’s shoulder and gave Chris a fist-bump. He winked at her.

Kate was out the door and almost to
the first landing when Max came out behind her. “So, when are we going to hang
out again?” he asked.

“We just hung out for three hours
playing cards,” she said. “You miss me already or something?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, following her
across the parking lot.

“You don’t mean that.”

“I kinda
do,” Max said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Kate opened her car door and tossed
her purse onto the passenger seat. She rested her arms across the top of the
door. “Really?” she asked.

The word was barely out of her mouth
before Max placed both hands on the sides of her face and pulled her close for
a kiss. Their lips met for a few brief seconds, and Kate almost found herself
giving in. Almost.

She backed away. “Down, boy,” she
said. “Not tonight, okay?”

Max sighed. “Sorry.”

“No you’re not,” Kate giggled,
getting in the car.

“You’re right. I’m not.”

“Good night, Max,” she said, closing
the door and sticking her key in the ignition. He waved and headed towards his
car.

As soon as she got home, Kate burst
through the door, tossed her purse on the couch, and ran to Lucy’s bedroom. She
knocked on the door. “Come on in!” Lucy called.

Kate opened the door and flopped
down on her stomach across Lucy’s bed. Lucy sat up in bed, closed the book that
she was reading, and placed it on her nightstand. “Chris asked me out!” Kate
squealed.

“I got your text,” Lucy said. “So
how did that happen?”

Kate recounted the conversation to
Lucy, who sat there shaking her head. “I’m impressed,” she said.

“I can’t believe it!” Kate sat up,
grinning. “It was so easy. It was perfect. So who knows?  Maybe this is it.”  She threw her arms around Lucy in a hug.

“Uh… Maybe,” Lucy chuckled.

Kate hopped up and went into her
room to get ready for bed. For the first time in awhile, she had a date!  One that she was really
excited about. One that could actually mean something.

Maybe.

*

Kate only had a few minutes to
freshen up before dinner with Chris. She was standing at her bathroom sink,
touching up her mascara, and hoping the butterflies in her stomach would go away.
This is ridiculous!  You hang out with him all the time. Why are
you nervous?  She took a deep breath
and tried to steady her hand so she wouldn’t poke herself in the eye with the
mascara wand.

Kate heard a car pull up in the
driveway. She tossed the tube of mascara back in the drawer, shut it, and
looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t look too bad. She hoped she didn’t
look as nervous as she felt. She grabbed her sweater off the end of her bed and
pulled it on as she made her way to the door. She opened it and stood, staring
up at Chris.

She couldn’t believe she was going
out with him.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” Chris replied. He smiled and
cracked his knuckles. “Ready to go?”

“Just let me grab my purse,” she
said. She hurried into the kitchen and grabbed her bag off the counter. “Let’s
go!”

She was surprised when Chris went
around to the passenger side first and opened the door for her. She couldn’t
help giggling as she slid into the seat and he shut the door behind her. When
he got in the car, he looked at her curiously. “What?”

“I just didn’t expect you to be all
chivalrous,” she smiled.

“I’m not a total caveman. Sheesh.”  He started the car and backed out of the
driveway.

“I know!” Kate cried. “I just didn’t
expect that, that’s all.”

“If you keep it up, I’m not going to
open any more doors for you,” he warned.

“Okay!” she laughed. “So where are
we going?”

“Have you been to Lombardi’s?” he
asked. She shook her head. “It’s nice. I thought we could go somewhere nice,”
he said.

“That’s nice,” Kate said. She held
her breath. They’d just used the word ‘nice’ three times in one conversational
exchange. They were both… nervous. She chuckled.

Chris grinned at her. “Are you
okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “You?”

“Truthfully, I’m kind of… Nervous. I don’t know why.”

Kate let out a deep breath of relief.
“Me, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Chris let a deep breath slip out,
too. “It’s kind of weird, right?”

“What?”

“The two of us out
on a date.”

Kate paused. Uh-oh. “Umm… I don’t know. It doesn’t have to be.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t. Let’s
have fun,” he said. He held out his fist.

They fist-bumped.

*

They had agreed to have fun, but
Kate wasn’t sure how much fun she was having. It turned out that Chris
apparently knew not only the hostess at the restaurant, but their waitress, as
well.

“This is awkward,” Chris said. “I forgot
Liz worked here. And Melanie.”

Kate took a bite of her eggplant
parmesan. The hostess, Liz, had looked like she was going to have a joy-induced
heart attack when she first saw Chris. Then she turned her gaze to Kate, and all
of a sudden, she turned into a royal bitch. Kate wondered what Chris must have
done to her to piss her off.

Then they were seated and the
waitress, Melanie, came to the table. It was the same thing all over again. At
first, Melanie seemed all excited to see Chris, and then when she laid eyes on
Kate, her whole demeanor changed. Kate had never had such an uncomfortable time
on a date. Aside from asking what they wanted to order, Melanie never spoke to
them. She just slammed their plates down and walked away.

Kate imagined that Chris must have
been dating Liz and then cheated on her with Melanie, or vice-versa. Something like that. When Chris said, “I can explain…” she held up her
hand and replied with, “I don’t even want to know.”

So, their first date was punctuated
by evil glares from Liz, uncomfortable silence from Melanie, and somewhat
uncomfortable breaks in the conversation. In short, so far, their first date
kind of sucked.

When Chris paid the bill, Kate got
quickly to her feet. She hurried out of the restaurant, not wanting to catch
Liz or Melanie’s attention as they made their exit. They drove in awkward
silence to the Sand Bar. When they got there, they were lucky to grab one of
the last small tables outside. Kate tossed her purse and sweater on her chair. “I’ll
be right back!” she said, hurrying to the bathroom. She took care of business,
washed her hands, and twisted the hair up off her neck into a floppy knot. Glancing
at her reflection in the mirror, she said a silent prayer that the date would
get better.

When
she joined Chris at the table, he was pouring her a glass of beer from a
pitcher that he had ordered. “You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah,”
she said, taking a long sip of beer. She licked the foam off of her lip. “I
just had to use the restroom. I didn’t want to go at the restaurant because I
was afraid that Liz or Melanie would corner me in the hallway and beat my ass
if I got up to go by myself.”  She was
only partially kidding.

Chris
burst out laughing. “I’m sorry about that. I had no idea.”

“The
eggplant parmesan was really good, but, man, the service was terrible.”

“Yeah,
the service sucked,” Chris agreed.

“No
former girlfriends work here, right?” Kate pretended to look around nervously.

“I
don’t think so. At least, not that I know of.”  Chris winked at her.

“Good.
Then I can relax.”  She leaned back in
her chair and listened as the band started to play. It was a beautiful night
with a nice breeze. This was more like it.

They
chatted more easily after they had a few beers and Kate finally felt more
relaxed. The pressure of being “on a date” with Chris had worn off and she was
just enjoying his company. It still felt like a date, but at the same time, it
didn’t. Chris was her buddy, her friend…

Kate
was so at ease that it took her a second to realize that Chris was standing
over her, holding out his hand. “Want to dance?” he asked.

Kate
got to her feet and joined him on the crowded dance floor. She was pretty sure
she hadn’t slow-danced with anybody since… her cousin’s wedding two years ago?
And then she’d probably only danced with her uncle or her dad. That didn’t
count. The last time she had slow danced with anybody not related to her had
been… her senior prom? In high school?  Nooooo. Really?
Yep.

She
shook her head at the thought of it and rested her cheek on Chris’s shoulder. She
couldn’t even remember who her date for the senior prom had been. She’d have to
ask Lucy; Lucy always remembered that kind of stuff. Whoever it was, there was
no way he was as cute as Chris. She smiled. The best-looking guy at the Sand
Bar was holding her in his arms. They’d survived their first date, and
hopefully more would follow.

On
the way back to her house, Kate and Chris sang along to the radio, laughing at
each other as they messed up the words and made up their own lyrics. When Chris
turned down her street, Kate felt the butterflies return. He pulled into the
driveway and turned the car off. “I’ll walk you to the door,” he said.

“Aww, like a real date,” she said, as Chris got out of the
car and walked around to open her door. They walked up to the doorstep and Kate
got out her keys.

“If
this is a real date, I guess I should kiss you goodnight,” Chris said.

“You
guess?”

“Do
you want me to?”

“Just
shut up and kiss me!” she said, sounding much braver than she felt.

Smiling,
he slid his hands around her waist and pulled her close. She had to stand on
her toes to reach him. When their lips brushed, she thought her knees would
buckle. The last time she’d had a first kiss like this was… Stop it, stop it!  Just enjoy it!

She
thought it was just going to be a quick good-night kiss, but it kept going… and
going. Wow! And ow… Eventually, her calves started to burn and
she lowered herself back down onto flat feet. Their lips finally parted and
Chris looked down at her with wide eyes. “See you tomorrow?”

Kate
blinked. “I can’t tomorrow,” she said. “I have a wedding.”

“Duh.
I know that. I’m photographing the wedding.”

Kate
laughed and bopped herself on the forehead. “Oh. Yeah. So, yes, I’ll see you
tomorrow. And I’ll kick your ass at poker afterwards.”

“Good
night,” Chris said, giving her a hug. “I hope you had fun.”

“I
did,” she smiled. “Thank you.”  They
fist-bumped and Kate let herself in the front door.

*

Kate sat frowning on Kevin’s couch. She’d
been the first one eliminated from the game. She hadn’t been concentrating. She
kept wondering what Chris was thinking. They hadn’t had a chance to talk at the
wedding, and they started playing cards as soon as they’d arrived. She kept
glancing at him to her left, and feeling his leg bump against hers underneath
the table. Every time he reached his arm out in front of her to scoop up his
chips, she’d jump as the hairs on his arm brushed against her bare skin.

For
some reason, Chris, Jackson, Max, and Kevin were taking tonight’s game very
seriously. It was hard to tell who was winning because it seemed like every
time someone won a big hand, they’d lose their chips to someone else in the
next hand. There wasn’t a lot of talking or joking around. Kate was glad she’d
gotten beat early because she didn’t have much fun when the guys played like that.
But she was getting bored.

“I think I’m going to go,” she said.

“I’ll walk you to the car!” Chris
and Max both said at the same time. Chris, having just folded his hand, got to
his feet first.

Kate waved goodnight to the boys. “May
the best man win!” she called.

Kate and Chris walked down the
stairs to the parking lot. When they got to the car, she was about to thank
him, when he grabbed her around the waist, pushed her up against the car, and
kissed her. She wasn’t expecting that at all.

She wrapped her arms around his neck
and pulled him closer, kissing him hungrily. They stopped for a second, to
catch their breath, and then leapt on each other again. “Do you know how hard
it was for me to sit next to you up there?”
Chris cupped her face in his hands and pulled away to smile at her. “I’ve
wanted to do that all night.”

Kate
stared up at him in surprise. She didn’t have a clue what to say to that.

“I
gotta get back up there,” he said.

She nodded. “Go get ‘em.”

Beaming at her, he kissed her
quickly on the lips and jogged back through the parking lot back to the stairs.
She watched him hustle up the stairs, still reeling from his kiss.

*

Kate was sitting at her desk doing
paperwork the next morning, when her cell phone rang.

“Do
you have any plans next weekend?” her mother asked.

“Um…” She flipped through the
calendar lying open on her desk. She had been hoping that her plans would
include another date with Chris. “I just have a wedding Saturday morning. That’s
it.”

“Oh, good. Then
would you mind doing your father and me a huge favor?”

“What’s that?”

“Would you chicken-sit?”

Kate laughed. “Would I what?”

“And watch the pigs?”

“Are you kidding?”

“No. Your father and I are going to West
Palm for the weekend for Chuck and Jeanine’s fiftieth anniversary party and we
need somebody to feed the chickens and gather eggs.”

“Wait a second. I’ve seen the pigs,
but when did you guys get chickens?”

“I would ask the neighbors, but
they’re going to visit family in Georgia that same weekend. Can you please do
it?”

“Sure, sure,” Kate sighed. “I can
probably get there sometime in the late afternoon. Is that okay?”

“That’s perfect. We’ll be back
sometime Sunday evening. I don’t suppose we’ll get to see you?”

“I don’t think so… I have an early
appointment on Monday.”

“Maybe one of these days your father
and I will just come visit you.”

“You guys can come visit anytime. It’s
still your house, you know,” Kate said. “Look, Mom, I’ve got a lot of paperwork
to do…”

“Okay. I’ll call you Friday night to
give you directions on the pigs and chickens. And you’ll have to be careful
with the new electric fence!  Don’t touch
it. Your dad and I have both gotten zapped,” she giggled. “And wait until you
see our garden!  We still have watermelon
on the vine and…”

“Okay, Mom, I’ll see it on Saturday.
I’ve got to go.”

Kate finally managed to get off the
phone with her mother and get back to her paperwork. After a few minutes, her
cell phone rang again. She glanced at it and saw Chris’s name on the screen. “Hello?”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Paperwork.
What are you doing?”

“Editing pictures.
Guess who won poker last night.”

“I’m guessing you did.”

“That’s right. We played until after
four in the morning.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Nope. I’m
freaking exhausted.”

“I bet,” Kate said. The line was
quiet for a moment, and Kate had an idea. “I don’t know if you’re interested,
but Jackson was going to bring some steaks over and we were going to cook out. Do
you want to join us?”

“That sounds like a plan. If I can
finish these pictures and take a nap first.”

“Great. I’ll call and tell Jackson
to pick up another steak. See you around seven?”

“See you then.”

Kate hung up with Chris, took a deep
breath, and then called Jackson. “Jack?
Hey, it’s Kate.”

“Hey, Kate, what’s up?  I’m at the butcher. Anything else you want me
to pick up for tonight?”

“Perfect! Get another steak.”

“Oh?
Who else is coming?”

Kate drummed her fingers on the
desktop. “Chris.”

“Oh.”  Jackson paused for a minute, and Kate could
tell that he was probably trying to process what, if anything, Chris’s
invitation to dinner meant. “Okay. Sure, no problem. Anything
else?  I got stuff for baked
potatoes. Good thing I got extra.”

“That’s great. Thanks,” she said. “Lucy
said she was going to get some wine and something for dessert.”

“All right.
I’ll see you later.”

“’Bye.”  Kate hung up the phone and sat looking at it.
Should I call Lucy?  Should I tell her?  What’s she going to say?

Kate’s thoughts were interrupted as
Julia poked her head in the door. “Hey!
I just wanted to tell you that Mr. Banks gave me a call yesterday. He
was completely raving about his daughter’s wedding. He said he was going to
tell everybody to use Bride Ideas for any of their events. Good job.”

“He was a sweet man,” Kate smiled.

“He was definitely impressed with
you,” Julia said. She came in and perched on the edge of Kate’s desk. “So how’s
it going?”

“Great!” Kate said brightly. “I’m
just finishing up paperwork from yesterday.”

“I mean, besides work. How’s
everything?  How’s life?  Are you seeing anybody?  When are we going to plan a big, elaborate
wedding for you?  How come you’re not
married?” Julia teased, asking Kate’s least favorite questions.

Kate giggled.  “Not anytime soon. I’m not even seriously
dating anybody right now.  I’ve just been
really busy.”

“Tell me about it,” Julia sighed.

“How is everything with you?” Kate
asked.

“Okay…” Julia said. Her voice
trailed off, and Kate wondered if Julia meant ‘okay’ as in everything was fine,
or if everything was ‘okay’ but not really. “I was wondering… And this might
sound weird… But we spend so much time in here working, and we never really get
to do anything outside this place. Do you think maybe some night we could get
together, just the two of us, and hang out or something?”

Kate smiled. “Sure. That would be
nice.”

Julia nodded. “It really would. I
feel like all I do is work, work, work. I go home to
Alex and Allie and that’s like a whole other job in itself. Cooking and
cleaning and entertaining. It would be nice just to get out for an evening and
relax. I never get to have girl time anymore.”

“Sure. Let’s plan on doing something
soon.”

“I’d really like that,” Julia said. “Thanks.”  She slid off the desk and went back into her
office, leaving Kate to finish her paperwork.

Kate turned back to the folder in
front of her. She liked the idea of spending some time with Julia. She was a
great person, but the truth was, they were always so busy in the office that
they rarely got to do anything together socially. She jotted a note on a Post-It
to remind herself to set up a date to go out with Julia.

Kate sorted through her invoices and
typed numbers into her spreadsheet. Then she printed off her reports, saved her
files, and shut her computer down. She sorted her reports into the clients’
folders and carried them to Julia’s office. Julia was on the phone and she
waved. Kate held up the folders to show Julia that she was finished before
placing them in the basket hanging on the wall by the door. She waved goodbye
to Julia and went back to her office to pick up her phone and her purse.

She flicked the lights off in her
office and closed the door, excited to go home and get ready for dinner with
Lucy, Jackson, and Chris. Smiling, she perched her sunglasses on her nose and
headed out into the sunlight.

*

“Chris is coming here for dinner?”
Lucy asked over the roar of the hair dryer.

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?” Kate
asked, curling the ends of her hair under with a fat, round brush.

“You could have told me.”

“It sounds like you already know.”

“I mean you could’ve told me
before.”

“Didn’t Jackson tell you?” Kate
asked.

“Well, yeah, but you could’ve told me.”

“What does it matter if you already
know?”

“I don’t know!”

“Then what’s the problem?” Kate
asked, finally switching the hair dryer off.

Lucy shrugged. “I don’t know. How’s
it going with you two?”

“Fine, I guess. We went on one date
that started out bad and got better. I already told you all about that. We
kissed a couple times and that’s it. I filled you in on all that. And… he’s
coming here for dinner tonight.”

“Oh my God, so you’re really dating
him.”

“Date. We
went on one date. That’s it.”

Lucy sat down on the edge of the tub.
“Maybe it could work.”

Kate laughed and opened her makeup
drawer. “We’ll see. Taking it slow. Just seeing where
it goes, remember?”

“You’re dating the man-whore.”

“Don’t call him a man-whore while
he’s here, please.”

“I won’t.”

“Be nice to him. He’s Jackson’s
friend, too, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah.”  Lucy said. “I’m going to go make the salad.”

Kate sharpened her eyeliner pencil,
letting the shavings fall into the garbage can. “I’ll be there to help you in a
couple minutes,” she called. She did her makeup quickly, then went into her
bedroom and shut the door. She flung her robe off onto the floor and stood in
her closet in her underwear, trying to decide what to wear. It’s not like they
were going out for dinner, but she still wanted to look nice. She flipped
through her clothes, pushing tops and skirts back and forth. She finally
decided on a long brown prairie skirt and a turquoise tank top. Comfortable,
but she still looked nice. The turquoise looked really nice against what was
left of her summer tan. She started digging through her jewelry box for a pair
of silver earrings, but heard a car in the driveway, so she decided to skip
them. She opened the door to her bedroom just as Lucy was heading to the front
door.

“You want to get that?” Lucy asked.

Kate opened the door. “Hey!” Jackson
said, standing there with two brown paper bags.

“Hi,” Kate said, opening the door
for him and taking a bag from him. They both went to the kitchen and Kate started
unloading the food. Jackson kissed Lucy before taking the steaks from Kate. He
laid them out on a platter and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. Kate got
out the plates, bowls, silverware, and napkins and went out by the pool to set
the patio table.

Kate arranged everything around the
table and then went behind the bar to find the matches. She walked around the
patio, lighting candles all over the place – the bar, the patio table, hanging
in stained-glass holders from the ceiling. When the sun went down all the way,
the patio would be twinkly and sparkly. Just as she blew out the last match,
she looked up and saw Chris coming out onto the patio. “Hey,” she said.

Though he had creases around his
eyes and still looked sleepy, he smiled a bright smile and held his arms open. Kate
went to him and gave him a big hug, thinking how good it felt to be held in
someone’s arms.

*

Much to Kate’s relief, dinner went
smoothly. Lucy behaved herself, and it seemed like she was actually enjoying
herself around Chris. After the boys cleared up the plates and retreated into
the kitchen to do dishes, Kate nudged Lucy’s leg with her toe. “He’s not that
bad, right?” she asked.

Lucy shrugged. “I guess not. I’ve
never really hung out with him before.”

Kate smiled with satisfaction. “See?  So who knows?
If this ends up really going somewhere…”

Lucy covered her eyes with her hand.
“Okay, Kate, can I be honest with you?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Please don’t, like, get your heart
set on marrying this guy.”

“What?  Why not?”

“Okay, first of all, you’ve only
barely started dating…”

“But we’ve known each other for a
few years!”

“…and I just don’t know how serious
this guy is. I don’t want you to get hurt. That’s all.”

Kate folded her arms across her
chest and pouted. “Okay. But that’s not going to stop me from having fun,” she
said.

“Fine. Have
fun.”

“I haven’t had fun in awhile.”

“Go for it.”

“And by that, I mean that I haven’t
had sex in awhile.”  She tried to
remember the last time Max had spent the night. It had been a couple weeks, at
least. Eventually, she was going to have to put an end to the whole “friends
with benefits” thing once and for all, if she and Chris got serious.

Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Do you
think… You and him?” she asked, nodding towards the
house.

Kate shrugged. “No idea. Maybe.”  She thought
about their first kiss. And the kiss in the parking lot after the poker game
the other night. Whoaaa. “I bet it’ll be
good.”

Lucy shuddered. “Too
much information.”

“Yeah,with the way he kisses… I bet it’ll be really good.”

Lucy stuck her fingers in her ears. “Laaaa! Lalalalala!
I’m not listening!”  She sang, getting up
and moving over to one of the lounge chairs.

Kate got up, too, grabbed both of
their wine glasses, and joined Lucy on a lounge chair. They both collapsed
laughing. “Seriously, though. I need to get laid.”  Kate handed Lucy her glass.

Lucy took a sip of wine and raised
her eyebrows in warning as Jackson and Chris rejoined them on the patio. Jackson
sat at the end of Lucy’s lounge chair and lifted her feet into his lap. Kate
curled her legs up to make room for Chris. It got quiet.

“So, what were you girls talking
about?” Jackson asked.

“We thought we heard… singing,”
Chris added.

Both girls giggled. Kate shot Lucy a
cautionary look. Lucy shrugged. “Just being silly.”

Jackson nodded. “Goofy girls,” he
said, leaning over and giving Lucy a sweet kiss on the lips. Kate sighed. She
couldn’t help being envious of Lucy and Jackson. They were made for each other.
When was she going to find someone like that?
She looked at Chris, who was peeling the label off of his beer bottle. He
yawned. Would it be like that with Chris?
It was too early to tell.

“What time is your meeting
tomorrow?” Lucy asked Jackson.

“Seven-thirty,” he replied. He
glanced down at his watch. “I should probably get going. I need to get some
stuff together tonight so that I’m ready in the morning.”

Lucy nodded. She moved her feet from
his lap and Jackson got to his feet. “Good night, Kate,” he said, bending down
and giving her a hug. “Chris,” he said. The two guys fist-bumped.

“I’ll walk you out,” Lucy said. Holding
hands, the two of them went into the house.

“They’re cute, huh?” Chris asked.

“Yeah,” Kate nodded. “Made for each other.”

“And what’s their story again?”

“They hooked up in high school. Jackson
was nuts about her back in the day and it kind of freaked her out. They broke
up and both of them were so stubborn they avoided each other for years. They
ran into each other last year at my birthday party and that was that. They
hooked up all over again.”

“But Jackson was married, right?”

“Yep. And
Lucy was engaged.”

Chris let out a whistle. “Crazy.”

“I guess love will make you do crazy
things.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Chris said. He
took a long sip of his beer.

Kate chewed on the inside of her
cheek. Whoa. What the heck did that
mean?  Chris liked to joke around a
lot, but just then, he sounded like he was pretty serious. “No?”

“Nope. Never been in love.”

“Really?” she asked in surprise.

“Nope. You?”

Kate paused, her mouth hanging open.
Why was she so surprised by that?  She’d
never been in love, either. “Me, either,” she said.

“I should probably get going, too,”
Chris said abruptly. He seemed weirded out by the
conversation.

“Oh. Um. Okay.”

“I’m just really tired, and I’ve got
some meetings lined up tomorrow. Lots more editing to do,
too.”

“Right.”

“So… I’ll see you sometime this
week, right?  What are you doing this
weekend?  You said Saturday was a slow
day for you, right?”

“Yeah,” Kate said. She didn’t want
Chris to leave just yet, but all of a sudden he seemed like he was in a hurry
to get out of there.

“So maybe we can do something on
Saturday night?”

“Sure,” Kate agreed, hugging her
knees to her chest. At least he still seemed interested in seeing her again. Then
it dawned on her. “Oh. Wait. Shoot. I’m going to my parents’ house Saturday.”

“Oh. Visiting the parents, huh?”

“Yes. Well, no. Visiting
their house. And… their chickens. They’re going
out of town and need me to take care of the animals.”

“Animals?”
Chris asked.

“They have pigs, too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. My
dad’s idea of retirement was moving to ten acres in the middle of nowhere to
farm and do all the stuff he did when he was a kid. My mom looooves it.”

“I bet.”

Kate giggled. “Not really.”

Chris got to his feet and stretched.
“So… We’ll get together again soon.”

“Sure,” Kate said. She got to her
feet. “Unless…”  Chris looked at her
expectantly. “Never mind.”

“What?”
he asked.

“I
don’t know what you’ve got going on, but maybe you could come up there with me
on Saturday. I’m only staying the night and hanging out a little bit on Sunday
to make sure everything’s okay.”

“Actually,” Chris said, reaching his
arms around her waist, “I’m open on Saturday. Just doing an engagement shoot out at the beach in the morning. No weddings on the
books for Saturday.”

“Really?”
Kate asked, sliding her arms around his neck. “So, would you want to go with me?”

Chris shrugged. “Sure, why
not?”

“I mean, it really is in the middle
of nowhere,” she warned.

“There’s got to be something to do
up there, though, right?”

“Oh, I’m sure we can think of
something,” she said, standing on her toes and kissing him.

He kissed her back and pulled away,
smiling at her. “We’ll talk during the week,” he said, kissing her again.

Kate led him through the house and
to the front door. “Good night,” she said.

“Thanks for inviting me. Tell Lucy I said good
night and thank you.” He bent and kissed her again.

“You got it,” Kate said. She watched
him walk down the path, and then she closed the door. She stood there for a
moment, doing a crazy little dance on the spot.

“What the hell are you doing?” Lucy
asked. She’d come out into the living room with her pajamas on and her
toothbrush in her mouth.

“My happy dance,” Kate replied,
brushing the hair out of her face.

“Happy dance for
what?” Lucy asked.

“Because Chris is
going to my parents’ house with me next weekend!”

*

“Okay, so turn right onto the next
road. Then go down to the first dirt road and go left.”

“You know you’re in the middle of
nowhere when the directions include the phrase ‘go down to the dirt road,’”
Chris teased. He reached over and rested his hand on Kate’s knee.

His car bumped down the dirt road
and Kate directed him around the familiar ruts in the road. “It’s the second
gate on the left,” she said. When Chris came to a stop in front of the gate,
Kate hopped out and opened it. She motioned for Chris to head down the long
driveway towards her parents’ house. Kate locked the gate behind her and
started up the driveway. She looked around. Her parents had done lots of
landscaping since the last time she’d come to visit. There were large gardenia
bushes surrounding the front porch and it looked like new red mulch had been
put down in all of the flower beds. Their little house was cute, and Kate
didn’t mind coming here every once in awhile to get away, but she wasn’t sure
how her parents could stand it. Nothing around for miles.
No neighbors nearby. It was so quiet.

Chris was out of the car and
shouldering his backpack. He had Kate’s duffel bag in his hand. “Put those on
the porch and I’ll show you their property,” Kate said. Chris dropped their
bags on the steps and joined Kate. “Let’s go around back,” she said, taking his
hand. They walked around to the back of the house and Kate immediately spotted
her parents’ three pigs rooting through the trees. “Here they come,” she said.

Kate and Chris walked across the
yard to the fence and stood looking down at the three enormous dirty pigs
trundling their way through the bushes. “Wow. They’re huge!” Chris exclaimed.

“Watch out for Dinner. He’s the big
one. I’ve heard that he can bite.”  Kate
reached through the fence and stuck out her hand. One of the smaller pigs
shoved her snout into Kate’s outstretched hand and snuffled around. “Sorry, I don’t
have anything for you yet,” Kate said.

“Did you call that pig ‘Dinner’?”
Chris asked suddenly.

Kate rolled her eyes. “That’s my dad
for you. Named all three of them Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.
It was either that or Pork Chop, Ham, and Bacon.”

Chris laughed. “So, what do they
eat?”

“Everything,” Kate shrugged. “Seriously. I don’t think my mom uses the garbage disposal
anymore. The pigs eat a lot of leftovers. Let’s go take a look at the
chickens.”

They headed towards the corner of
the yard where the garden was situated. The garden looked like it was full of
everything from tall stalks of corn to thick watermelon vines.  Kate let out a whistle. She’d have to remember
to tell her mom how good the garden looked.

Kate’s dad’s tool shed was right outside
the gate, as well as the chicken coop. “Is this your parents’ property, too?”
he asked, watching two chickens strut past.

“Oh, yeah,” Kate said. “They have
ten acres. Which is, well… Way out into the woods that way,” she pointed, “and
way out into the woods that way towards the road we came in on. They’re working
on fencing all of the property in, but it costs so much…”

“I’m sure it does,” Chris said,
looking around at the property.

“So, anyway…  These are the chickens. Apparently they run
around during the day but all end up back into the coop in late afternoon or
early evening and I just have to shut the door so nothing gets in and gets them.”

“Do they lay
eggs?”

“Yeah. My
mom said she tried to get them this morning, but that she wasn’t sure if they’d
all laid their eggs yet,” Kate laughed.

“Should you look?” Chris asked,
peering into the coop. “There’s two sitting in there.”

“I don’t know,” Kate said. “I don’t
really know how to do this. Mom said you just reach underneath and grab the
egg, but…”

“I’m not doing it!” Chris laughed,
holding his hands up and backing away.

Kate took a deep breath. She stepped
quietly towards the coop, so as not to startle the nesting hens. She slowly
reached her hand into the coop, towards the first chicken.

“It won’t move!” she hissed. She
reached further and touched the chicken’s feathers. “Nice chicky,”
she said. “Move, chicky.”  She tried to push the bird with one hand, but
the hen just squawked and looked at her sideways with one glassy, golden eye. Kate
reached in with two hands and gently lifted the bird up. Holding the bird up with
one hand, she reached underneath and felt something… slick?  Slimy? Smooth?

“Ew!” she
cried.

“What?” Chris cried in response. He
looked alarmed.

“It’s… umm. It’s an egg,” she said,
her fingers closing around the egg and pulling it out. “It’s… kind of soft.”  She held the egg out to Chris, who cupped it
gently in his palm.

“Weird,” he said.

Kate repeated the process with the
other hen, but there was no egg. She peeked in and around the straw to make
sure she wasn’t missing any eggs. “I guess there will be more tomorrow.”  She turned and headed towards the house,
circling back around to the front porch. She stooped to pick up her bag and
Chris picked up his backpack, still holding the egg in his hand.

Kate reached down into the basket of
pink impatiens at her feet. She felt around a bit in the damp soil and came up
with the key to the front door. She unlocked the door and tossed her bag on the
couch. “I’ll take that,” she said, holding out her hand for the egg. “Make
yourself at home.”

Her mom had said to stick the eggs
that she collected in an egg carton in the fridge, so she headed towards the
kitchen. When Kate opened the refrigerator door, she stood gaping at the
contents for a second. An entire shelf was filled with egg cartons. She lifted
one up. Full. She reached for another one. Full. She reached for another one. It
felt lighter, so she opened it and placed the egg in an empty slot. “I think
we’ll have omelets in the morning!” she called. “Big ones.”

Kate went back into the living room
and leaned against the door frame, tucking her hands into the back pockets of
her jeans. Chris was standing in front of the fireplace, looking at all of the
pictures on the mantle. “You were a cute kid,” he commented.

“Thanks,” she said, peering over his
shoulder and hoping that none of the pictures were too embarrassing. “So, what
do you want to do?” she asked.

Chris turned and looked at her. “I
don’t know,” he said. “What is there to do around here?”

“Um…”  Kate scratched her head. “Not much.”

“Is there someplace we can go grab a
drink or something?”

“Not anywhere nearby,” she said. “But…
my dad always has beer in the fridge in his tool
shed!”

*

She couldn’t help it; so much for being
girly. Kate let out a big burp. She and Chris had been sitting on the front
porch swing for hours, drinking beers and talking. There was nothing else to
do!

She
felt completely comfortable and at ease around Chris. Maybe it was the beer
talking, or maybe they were just getting along really well. Either way, she was
enjoying herself. The late September weather was perfect, with the air just
beginning to cool off in the evenings.

“No wonder it’s getting cool,” Chris
said, nudging her and pointing through the trees. “I think we’re in for some
rain,” he added, just as the breeze picked up and sent Kate’s hair flapping
into his face. She tucked her hair over her shoulder and peered at the sky.  Dark clouds were quickly rolling in their
direction. They didn’t look pretty.

“Maybe we should go inside.”  Kate got to her feet just as another gust of
wind scattered their empty beer cans off the table and sent them rolling across
the porch. She and Chris stooped to gather them up and the rain began to splash
down in big, fat drops. They dashed inside and dumped the empty cans into the
garbage. Both of them leaned against the sink, looking out the window into the
back yard.

“It’s coming down really hard,”
Chris commented.

Kate yawned. “I bet the satellite
goes out. That means no TV.”  She trudged
into the living room and picked up the remote control. Just as she aimed it at
the television, the living room lit up with a flash of lightning. Thunder crashed
and she jumped. “Not even going to bother!”
Shaking, she placed the remote onto the table and backed onto the couch.
She curled up in the corner, poised and ready to clap her hands over her ears
the next time there was lightning.

“That was close,” Chris said, coming
in and sitting down next to her. He slipped his arm around her and rubbed her
shoulder.

Kate smiled and leaned closer. Chris
bent his head towards hers and their lips met. Kate smiled at the thought of
making out with a boy on the couch while her parents were out. She felt like a
teenager again. She scooted down so that her head was on the armrest and so
that Chris could position his body over hers. They kissed and groped and Kate
was thoroughly enjoying the buzzed make-out session when suddenly Chris lifted
his head and said, “I think it stopped raining.”

“Okay,” Kate said. “So?”

Chris sat up and looked out the
window. “Yeah. Looks like it stopped. You want another
beer?”

Puzzled, Kate sat up. “I’m good.”

Chris stepped into his sneakers by
the front door. “I’ll be right back,” he said. Kate listened to his footsteps
treading across the porch and down the steps. She leaned back against the
armrest and sighed. Then she sat up again, thinking that she had heard
something. Was that Chris?  Was he… yelling?

She got to her feet and opened the
front door. Yes, Chris was definitely yelling. She rushed to the top of the
porch steps to see what was going on.

“The pigs!  Kate!
The pigs are out!”

Kate hurried down the steps and
rushed towards the tool shed just in time to see Chris darting through the brush.
She sprinted through the gate to see what he was talking about. Swatting away
the palmettos, she came across Dinner the pig, happily flopping around in a mucky
puddle that had formed. “How the hell…?”

“Help!”
Chris yelled. Kate looked up to see him chasing Lunch towards the pig pen. “C’mon,
pig!” he cried, shoving the pig’s hind quarters and pushing her towards the
fence.

“Be careful!” Kate cried, running
over. “Those are electrified wires!
You’ll get shocked. You have to go through the gate!”

Chris stopped pushing Lunch for a
minute and straightened up. “If the fence is electric, then how did they get
out?”

Kate’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, shit.
Is it working?  How can you tell?”

Hesitantly, Chris approached the
fence. He stretched out his hand slowly and Kate cringed. He touched one of the
wires lightly with his fingertip. Then he touched it again. Then he closed his
fingers around the wire. “It’s not working.”

“What happened?” Kate cried.

“Maybe it shorted out in the storm
or something,” Chris said. “What are we going to do with these pigs?  They obviously won’t stay in there if the
fence isn’t working.”

Kate looked around in a panic. “They’re
going to have to go in the yard,” she said. “It’s the only way to keep them
fenced in.”

Chris nodded and started pushing
Lunch back towards the tool shed. “Where’s the other one?”

Kate’s eyes widened. “I saw Dinner
in the mud…”  She ran back towards the
tool shed. “Breakfast!
Here, piggy!” she cried. “Breakfast!”  She stopped to listen. She could hear snuffling
towards the front of the property. She pushed through the palmettos, wishing
she would have put shoes on.

She came to a bit of a clearing, and
found Breakfast rooting her way through the dirt towards the road. Kate ran in
front of the pig and tried to push her back towards the direction of the house,
but Breakfast seemed to ignore her and just kept moving. Kate pushed the pig on
her shoulder, on her rump, but Breakfast slowly kept trudging forward.

Kate had an idea. She sprinted
towards the house, relieved to see that Chris was getting Lunch closer to the
gate and that Dinner was still stretched out in his pile of mud. She pushed
through the gate and ran to the house. She flew up the steps to the back door
and slid on the mudroom floor, her feet leaving muddy streaks on the linoleum. She
hurried into the kitchen and looked around for food, for something to tempt the
pigs with. She grabbed what was left of a loaf of bread off the counter. What
else?  She grabbed a bunch of bananas. She
opened the refrigerator and grabbed a head of lettuce and a bunch of celery out
of the produce drawer.

Hoping her idea would work, she ran
back out into the yard. To her dismay, it was starting to drizzle again.

Chris had gotten Lunch to the gate,
but the pig didn’t want to seem to enter the yard. Kate tossed him the head of
lettuce, which he quickly started to unwrap. With her hands full of food, she
burst through the palmettos, feeling her arms getting scratched by the fronds. She
hurried to the clearing where Breakfast was snuffling around in the dirt and
tore open the bag of bread. “Hey, Breakfast!” she called, approaching the pig
calmly. “Check this out!” she tossed a slice of bread so that it landed on the
ground just to the right of the pig’s snout.

Breakfast sniffed the piece of bread
and gobbled it up, then quickly lifted her head to see if Kate had any more. Kate
ripped a piece of bread in half and tossed it in front of Breakfast. The pig
turned and started making her way towards Kate. Slowly walking backwards, Kate
kept tossing a trail of bread pieces and Breakfast followed her, gobbling them
up.

As she reached the gate, Chris
jogged up to her, his face and t-shirt smeared with dirt. “Lunch headed right
for the garden,” he said, gasping for breath.

Kate whirled around. “What?”

Chris threw his hands up helplessly.
“It was like as soon as she saw it, she took off.”

Kate stuffed the bread into Chris’s
hands and ran into the yard. “Lunch!  Piggy!
No!”  She hurried to the garden,
just in time to see the pig pull a ripe, juicy tomato off of a plant and squish
it in her mouth, juice and seeds dripping down her chin. Kate groaned. There
wasn’t anything she could do about it. The only way they could keep the pigs
from roaming around would be to keep them in the yard, which meant… they’d demolish
the garden.

She turned and marched back towards
Chris and Breakfast. She squeezed through the gate past them and realized that
the woods seemed pretty quiet. She hoped that Dinner was still lying in his
pile of mud. She stopped short. She couldn’t hear anything except for a distant
roll of thunder. She took off running past the chicken coop, past the tool
shed, and through the palmettos to where Dinner had been resting.

As soon as her bare foot hit the
slick, black mud, Kate’s feet flew out from underneath her. The celery and the bunch
of bananas she’d been holding went flying. She landed hard on her tailbone alongside
Dinner. The back of her head smacked into the mud puddle. When she lifted it,
her head felt heavy from all the muck instantly caked in her hair. The dirty,
mud-crusted pig lifted his head and stretched, just able to reach the bananas. He
started munching on them, peels and all, and in seconds, they were gone. Then
he gave his head a shake, sending droplets of mud and dirty water flying. He
let his head droop so that his chin was resting across Kate’s shins and looked
at her almost smugly.

Kate didn’t know whether to laugh or
cry. The electric fence was messed up, the pigs had almost gotten away, they
were going to ruin her parents’ garden, she had fallen on her butt and it hurt, and now she was covered in mud.
This was not what she’d imagined she’d be doing this weekend.

“Kate?”

“Over here,” she replied, sitting up
on her elbows. It was hard to move in the mud; it was like she was stuck to a
giant suction cup.

“Holy shit!”
Chris cried, getting down on his knees and tossing aside what was left of the
loaf of bread. “What the hell happened  Are you okay?”

“I slipped,” she said. “And I’m
stuck.”

Chris got behind her and cupped her
underneath her armpits. “One, two, three!” he said, pulling her straight up. Her
feet slipped in the mud as she tried to stand upright, but Chris held her
steady as he, too, got to his feet. “You okay?
Are you hurt?”

Kate shook her head, her pride
probably hurting the worst. “Let’s just get him in the yard,” she said, picking
up the bread bag. She shook out the remaining two pieces and handed them to
Chris. “Dinner!
Look what I got,” she said, pulling the celery out of the mud. The pig
lifted his head, and then slowly got to his feet, the mud making suction-y, slurpy sounds as he stood up.

Kate and Chris called the pig and
teased him with the pieces of bread and celery as they led him towards the yard.
“Come on, Dinner, come get some bread!” Chris said, holding the slice out in
front of him. Tired of being teased, Dinner lunged forward and swiped the piece
of bread out of Chris’s hand. Chris jumped back in surprise.

“I told you, he bites!” Kate warned,
dangling her celery out and then hiding it behind her back. “Hurry up and get
the gate.”

Chris rushed past her and opened the
gate. Dinner followed Kate through and once Chris slammed the gate shut, she
tossed the celery into the grass. Dinner trotted after it and Kate turned and trudged
towards the house. She couldn’t bear to watch the pigs destroying her parents’
garden.

In the mudroom, she started the
washing machine, dumped in detergent, and began stripping off her clothes. Her
skin already felt stiff where the mud had caked up and dried and her head felt
heavy with her mud-soaked chunks of hair. She looked and felt gross. She held her
jeans up and looked at them. They were completely covered in mud. She wasn’t
even sure if they’d be salvageable, but she plunged them into the washing
machine anyway.

The door opened and Chris stood on
the top step, looking over his shoulder at the three pigs working their way
through every row in the garden. Kate could see that the sky had grown darker and
it was starting to rain harder. “I don’t know anything about electricity or
wiring to even try to fix that fence,” he said, pulling the door shut behind
him. He turned and caught sight of Kate at last, holding her dirty t-shirt in
front of her. “And it’s starting to rain again,” he said. There was a loud boom
of thunder.

Kate nodded, feeling awkward being
stuck with Chris in the tiny mudroom. Wearing just her
underwear. He looked her up and down and a smile came across his lips. He
reached out and tweaked a crusty tendril of her hair. They both chuckled. Chris
pulled his t-shirt off and tossed it in the washer.

Kate was tired, chilly, and dirty. Her
lower back hurt, but the sight of Chris’s naked torso perked her up a bit. She
smiled as he reached for the t-shirt she was holding in front of her, gently
tugged it out of her fingers, and dropped it into the wash.

She sucked in a deep breath,
wondering how in the world she was going to pull off some kind of sexy seduction
move while covered in mud and grime. She put her hands on her hips and looked
down at her dirt-streaked body. When she looked back up at Chris, he was moving
closer.

Reaching his hand out to her…

She swallowed nervously as Chris
took a step closer…

Then he bent down and pulled a bath
towel out of the laundry basket at their feet. “Here,” he said, draping it
around her shoulders. “Get into the bathroom, get undressed, drop
your stuff outside the door. I’ll get it into the washing machine.”  He took her by the shoulders and guided her
towards the bathroom, gently pushing her in and shutting the door behind her.

She let the towel drop to the floor
and scratched her crusty head. Puzzled, she checked herself out in the mirror
over the sink. Of course she looked a mess – but she didn’t look… bad. She had
a decent body. She’d never been ashamed to get naked in front of anybody and
wasn’t plagued by body issues the way other women seemed to be. But Chris
didn’t seem interested. Weird.

She stripped off her undergarments
and dropped them outside the door just as Chris had ordered. Then she stepped
into the shower, cranking up the hot water. She stood under the spray, watching
it send dark, gray water swirling down the drain. She scrubbed and scrubbed at
her skin, picked at her fingernails, and finally turned her attention to her
hair. After what felt like forever, her hair finally seemed dirt-free.

Kate dried herself off and then
wrapped herself in her mom’s bathrobe which had been hanging on a hook on the
back of the door. She found a comb and ran it through her hair, spending a long
time picking through all the knots. She looked at herself in the mirror again. She
looked much better, but now she was also exhausted.

When she left the bathroom, steam
billowed out around her and she stood for a moment, listening. The house was
completely quiet. The washing machine had stopped. The TV wasn’t on. But she
could hear…

Snoring?

Kate lightly pushed open the door to
the guest bedroom. Chris had obviously taken a shower, too. His hair was wet
and slicked down across his forehead. He was wearing a clean t-shirt and a pair
of gym shorts. He was also out cold.

Yawning, Kate pulled the quilt up
from the bottom of the bed to cover him. He stretched a little in his slumber,
grasped the blanket, and tugged it up to his chin. She turned off the lamp and
left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

In the kitchen, she made herself a
cup of tea. She pulled the clothes out of the washing machine, amazed to see
that they didn’t look all that bad. She tossed them into the dryer, and then
sat at the table to try to figure out what to tell her parents about their
garden.

*

“So,
how was your weekend?”   Lucy asked,
stretching out on the couch and plopping the papers she had been grading on the
coffee table.

“It
was… good,” Kate said, sitting down on the edge of the couch.

Lucy
raised an eyebrow. “Did you and Chris…?”

Kate
shook her head sadly. She wasn’t sure, but it appeared that Lucy looked
relieved. “I don’t know… We kissed and made out. It seemed like everything was
going fine…”  She paused for a moment,
remembering how they’d stood together, half-undressed in the laundry room.

“And…?”

Just
then, Kate’s cell phone rang. “Oh, God, that’s probably my mom!”  She fished around in her purse and pulled her
cell phone out. “Hello?  Mom?”

“The
garden!  Kate, what the hell?”

“Mom,
I can explain!”

“What
in the world happened to our garden?
Why. Are. The. Pigs. In. The. Yard?”

“Something
happened with the electric fence. We had a storm, and I guess the fence shorted
out. I don’t know. The pigs got out and were running all over the place and the
only way we could keep them locked up was to put them in the yard,” Kate
explained. “I’m sorry.”

Lucy
sat up and leaned forward, listening as Kate explained the situation to her
mother.

“And
I tried and tried calling you guys, but neither one of you answered your cell
phone. Honestly, Mom, what’s the point in having a cell phone if you don’t ever
answer it?”

“I’m
sorry, honey,” Mrs. Thompson said. “And I’m sorry for flipping out, I just
couldn’t believe it when we walked out the back door and saw the pigs all lying
at the bottom of the steps. And the garden… it’s completely ruined.”

“Is
it bad?” Kate asked.

“There’s
nothing left. Your father is so upset. All that hard work.”

“We
didn’t know what else to do, Mom. I’m sorry.”

“We?  Who is we?”

“Me…
and… Chris.”

Her
mother drew in a sharp breath. “And who is Chris?  A boyfriend?”

“I
guess you could say that,” Kate said, twisting a strand of hair around her
finger. “He came up there and spent the night with me. I hope that’s okay. He
was the one who realized the fence was messed up. He helped me get the pigs
back in the yard. We didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Tell me more about him.”

Kate
smiled at Lucy and excused herself, heading into the bedroom for some privacy. “What
do you want to know?” she asked.

“What
does he do?  How did you meet?  Is he cute?”

“He’s
a photographer. We met through work and he’s friends with Jackson. Yes, he’s
cute. Very tall, built really nice, curly blonde hair.
Blue eyes.”

“Wooooo!” her mom cried. “Is it serious?”

“I
have no idea.”

“What?”
she demanded. “How do you not have any idea?
Is it serious or not?”

“I
don’t know, Mom. We’ve only been seeing each other for a little while. I mean,
we see each other all the time through work and poker and stuff…”

“Poker?  He’s one of your… poker buddies?”

“Well,
yeah. We’re friends.”

“Oh.”

“What
do you mean, ‘Oh.’?” Kate asked. “What’s wrong with that?”

“Do
you think it’ll last?”

“I
have no idea!  ‘It’ only just started.”

Her
mother clucked on the other end of the phone. “I just wish you’d find yourself
a nice guy.”

“He
is a nice guy!”

“I’m
sure he is. But do you think you’ll settle down with him?  Do you think he might be the one?”

Kate
giggled. “I don’t know. I’m just enjoying it for right now. Who knows where
it’ll go?”

“Well,
that’s just it. You should know.”

“What
do you mean?”

“I
can’t explain it, honey. You’d know it if you felt it.”

“What
in the world are you talking about?”

“Honey,
I think I better go. I should see if your father needs any help out there.”

“Okay,”
Kate said. “Tell Dad I’m really sorry about his garden. And
his beer.”

*

Kate let herself into Kevin’s
apartment and called out a cheerful hello to the guys. She stopped in the
kitchen, tossed her purse on the counter, peeked into the pizza box on the
stove, (mushrooms – she’d have to pass!) and helped herself to a beer from the
fridge. “Sorry I’m late!” she said, popping the top and taking a sip. She
joined them at the poker table in the dining room and took a seat between Max
and Jackson. “Wedding ran a little late. The couple was having such a good time, they wanted to rent the country club a little later. Not
that management minded with what they’re charging,” she added.

“Who
was the photographer?” Chris asked, shuffling the cards.

“Lillian Gregory,” Kate said,
grimacing. Lillian Gregory was an elderly woman who had been in the business
forever. She was very well-known in town for her simple, classic portraits –
but they weren’t as fun or as captivating as the more candid images Chris was
known for. She also wasn’t as much fun to work with.

Chris snorted and rolled his eyes as he began dealing
the cards.

“So
what else is new?” Kate asked, looking around the table at the rest of the guys.
She didn’t want to be obvious and focus all of her attention on Chris.

“My
divorce is final,” Jackson said abruptly.

“Oh?”
Kevin asked.

“I
got the divorce decree in the mail from my ex-wife’s attorney today,” he said.

“Wow. You okay?”
Max asked.

Jackson
stroked his chin. “Yeah. I hate to say this, but I’m
glad it’s all finally over with.”

Kate
squeezed Jackson’s arm. He hadn’t ever really spoken much about the divorce to
any of them. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re moving on. You’re leaving behind a
relationship that wasn’t so great. And you’re working on a new one.”

“You’re
pretty lucky, dude,” Max said in agreement.

Jackson
nodded. “I know. I just hate the fact that…” he trailed off and everyone looked
at him in surprise. Poker games usually didn’t get this serious. “I just hate
the fact that I always wanted to be with Lucy. I wanted to marry her. I should
have married her. But I made a mistake, and now… I did all that stuff with
somebody else first. With the wrong person.”

“But
that part’s over now. Just focus on the future,” Chris said.

“I
know…  But then I think… I messed things
up for me, but I also messed things up for Sloane. I shouldn’t have married her.
She was just supposed to be my rebound person after Lucy,” he chuckled. Everyone
around the poker table sat quietly, letting him continue. “I guess I just kept
going with the flow, doing all the stuff we were expected to do… Moved in
together, got engaged, got married, started trying to
have a baby…  I was just doing what I
thought came next, even though it wasn’t what I really wanted.”

“What
does Lucy think of all this?” Kate asked, surprised that Lucy hadn’t said
anything to her about it.

“She
didn’t really want any of the details,” Jackson said. “I think it upsets her to
think of herself as ‘the other woman.’
You know, like she caused the divorce.”

“But
that’s it?  Your ex signs the divorce
papers and you’re off the hook?” Kevin asked.

“Basically.
Neither one of us contested the divorce. We agreed on all the terms,” Jackson
said. “So that’s it.”

Kate
sat back and studied Jackson. She’d envied him and Lucy for finding each other
and making their relationship work after all these years. It had seemed like
such a fairy tale. But when you stopped to think about it…  Lucy and Jackson had both cheated on their
significant others to be with each other. Lucy had broken off her engagement to
her boyfriend, Matt and Jackson had left his wife, Sloane. What seemed like
“happily ever after” was actually pretty messy, once you considered the details.

“I’m
just glad to finally be able to put it all behind me.”

“Hey,”
Max said. “You have Lucy now. That’s all that matters.”

Jackson
nodded. “When I moved back down here, I had no idea if I’d get her back or
not,” he said. “I didn’t even know where to start. I had made such a mess of
things that I didn’t know if she’d ever speak to me again.”  He looked at Kate. “And then when I ran into you guys at her sister’s wedding…”

“I
remember,” she said. Jackson had just moved back into town and was staying at
the Davenport Hotel where Lucy’s sister, Maggie, had gotten married. He hadn’t
even known that Lucy was in town for the wedding, or that she had moved in with
Kate.

“It
took, like, ten years too long, but now I finally feel like things are going
the way they were supposed to,” Jackson said.

Kate
squeezed Jackson’s arm. “Want me to talk to Lucy about it?”

Jackson
looked at her for a moment, and then nodded.

“Okay,”
Kate said. “I will. Now can we play some cards, please?”

*

Max managed to take both Kate and
Chris out of the game in one hand. His straight flush beat Kate’s three of a
kind and Chris’ straight. The game stopped for a minute as Kate and Chris said
goodbye to everyone and Kevin went to the kitchen to grab another slice of
pizza. Kate gave Jackson a big hug as he held the door open for them and then
she followed Chris down the stairs to the parking lot.

He walked her to her car and waited
as she rummaged through her purse for her keys. Suddenly, she felt nervous. Were
those butterflies in her stomach again?
She pushed things back and forth in her purse, knowing that her keys had
probably worked their way to the bottom as usual. “So, um,” she said, pulling
out two ballpoint pens and sticking them in her mouth, “do you maybe want to
come over?” she mumbled.

“Tonight?”
Chris asked.

“Yeah, like now,” Kate said. She
finally located her keys and held them up triumphantly before unlocking the
door. She tossed the pens back into her purse and then tossed the bag onto the
passenger seat. “You don’t have to spend the night or anything. I mean, if you
don’t want to.”

“Well, first, I kind of wanted to
talk to you about that.”

“Oh.”  She closed the door and leaned
up against it. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and pressed her lips
together. “Okay. So… talk.”

“Last weekend was great,” he began.

“It was?” Kate beamed. She’d been
meaning to ask him about it.

Chris grinned. “Yeah, I mean,
despite the mess with the pigs, it was nice. I just don’t want to get carried
away.”

“Okay…” Kate said. “What does that
mean?”

“Look, Kate. I don’t want to mess
with your emotions or anything like that. I just want to have fun and see where
this takes us.”

“Um… Okay.”

“I guess what I mean is that we’re
friends, right?  I just don’t want to
mess anything up…  And I don’t know if we
should tell any of the guys about this…”

“Don’t worry about that. Nobody
needs to know our business, okay?” Kate said. “I’m fine. It’s fine. Let’s not
mess things up with all this talking, either,” she said, grabbing the front of
his shirt and playfully pulling him closer. She kissed him and smiled up at him.
“You can come over some other time.”

Chris nodded. “Some
other time.”

Kate drove home, feeling a little
disappointed that Chris wasn’t coming to join her, but glad that they had kind
of cleared the air between them. It sounded like they were both on the same
page. They both just wanted to have fun and see what happened. Nothing serious or romantic – at least not yet, anyway. And
nothing that anybody needed to know about. They could just keep things quiet
for as long as possible, until they figured out where exactly they stood.

When
Kate got home, she let herself in quietly and then tiptoed towards Lucy’s
bedroom door. It was closed and the light was off, so she would have to talk to
Lucy about Jackson’s divorce in the morning.

She
crossed the living room to her own bedroom, closed the door softly, and
stripped off her dress. She hung it in the closet, thinking that if she got up
early enough the next morning, she’d drop off her dry cleaning before heading
into the office. She tossed her bra in the hamper and pulled on a t-shirt.

In the bathroom, she pulled her hair
up into a ponytail, brushed her teeth, and washed the makeup off of her face. She
pulled the covers down on the bed and was just about to crawl in when she heard
a car pull up in the driveway. She grinned. So Chris had decided to come by
after all!

She ran into the bathroom and tugged
her ponytail holder out, shaking her hair loose so that it spilled down over
her shoulders. Her t-shirt wasn’t too ratty, and it would have to do. She
hurried through the bedroom and into the living room, where she flung the door
open wide and struck what she hoped was a seductive, inviting pose.

“Well, hellooo,”
Max grinned, his eyes wide. “Don’t you look good enough to eat,” he said,
grabbing her around the waist and pressing his lips against hers. She was so
startled that she couldn’t move. Until he reached around
behind her and squeezed her barely-covered behind.

“What are you doing?” she hissed,
backing away.

“I got knocked out of the game right
after you and Chris. Jackson and Kevin decided to split the pot and they’re all
headed to the Sand Bar. I said I might meet them, but I thought I’d stop by
here first,” he said. “Is that okay?”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I thought maybe we could…”  Max hooked his thumbs through the belt loops
of his jeans. “You know. It’s been forever.”

“You think you can just drop by
after poker whenever you want and try to hook up?” Kate asked.

“Well, isn’t that how it usually
goes?” he asked.

“Well… Yes. But…”

Max took a step closer. “It doesn’t
just have to be about hooking up, you know.” he said. “I’ve told you that
before.”

“Not tonight, Max,” Kate said. “Go
to the Sand Bar with the guys and have fun, okay?”

Max pouted. “Is everything okay?”

“Is what okay?” Kate asked, biting
the corner of her lip. She was tired. She didn’t want to deal with this right
now.

“Everything.
Me. You. Are we all right?”

“Yes, we’re fine. Why?”

Max looked hurt. “Because the past
couple times I’ve tried to… hook up, you haven’t been interested. You keep
blowing me off.”

Kate sighed. This was her chance to
let Max know that their arrangement was no longer going to work. However, she
didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “It’s complicated. I don’t know what I want
anymore.”

For a moment, Max looked like he was
going to say something, but he closed his mouth and held up his hands. “Okay. Fine. Sorry for bugging you. Good night.”

Kate could see that she’d pissed him
off. “Hey, Max,” she said, leaning against the door. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,”
he said over his shoulder. He got into his car and drove away without saying
anything else, not even goodbye.

Kate
closed the door and locked it and then headed to her room. She flopped onto the bed on her stomach and buried her face in
the pillow, wishing she knew what the deal with Max was. When they’d first
gotten together, they were strictly supposed to be friends with benefits. She
was the one who worried about getting her feelings hurt and getting in over her
head, but so far, she’d managed to be the only one who kept up her end of the
bargain. Max always seemed to want to complicate things.

She
should’ve just put an end to things right then and there, but she hated to see
him upset. She also didn’t know how to end things without explaining about
Chris. She wasn’t even sure what to say about Chris.

*

When
Kate returned from the office the following morning, she found Lucy sitting in
a lounge chair out by the pool with a magazine in her lap and a cup of coffee
on the ground next to her. Kate propped her sunglasses on top of her head and
waved hello. She went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee for herself, and then joined Lucy outside. “What’s up?” she
asked, kicking off her sandals and stretching out on the lounge chair.

Lucy
closed her magazine. “Not much. How was the poker game last night?”

“I
lost,” she said. She took a sip of coffee and then set her cup on the table in
between them. “Jackson told us his news last night.”

Lucy
nodded, squinting her eyes. Kate peered at her, trying
to tell if she was squinting in the sunlight, or if she was trying not to cry. “I
thought he might.”

“It’s
good news, right?” Kate asked. “I mean, that’s all over and done with now. You
can finally put all that stuff behind you.”

Lucy
took a deep breath. “I know. I know I should be happy. But when I stop to think
about it… I’m happy that someone’s marriage ended. That it failed. Because of me. That’s terrible.”

“Not
because of you. Their marriage failed
because it wasn’t meant to work out. You guys are the ones that are supposed to
be together.”

“That’s
what Jackson said,” Lucy said. She drew her knees up to her chest and hugged
them. “It was bad enough when we were sneaking around to see each other. I’d
never cheated on anybody before. Neither had Jackson. We’re
not like that.”

“But
you don’t have to worry about that now. You have Jackson!  He’s not going anywhere.”

This
brought a smile to Lucy’s face. “I know. I just don’t want to make a big deal
out of it. Like you said, it’s over. I keep trying to tell myself that their
marriage didn’t have anything to do with me. And I guess I don’t want to have
anything to do with the details of their divorce, either. I just want us to
move on.”

“That’s
all that Jackson wants, too,” Kate said. “He wanted me to talk to you to make
sure you were okay with everything.”

“We
never talked about her. His wife. I never really
talked about Matt with Jackson, either. It was like we didn’t want to ruin what
we had by dealing with reality – the fact that he had a wife and that I was supposed
to be getting married. So we just never talked about it. I guess that’s why I
had a hard time talking about any of the divorce stuff with him. We never
talked about them when they were together… So I didn’t want to talk about them
now.”

“That
makes sense,” Kate said. “But you know that Jackson is crazy in love with you,
right?”

Lucy
beamed. She nodded and stretched back out on the lounge, folding her hands
behind her head. “Yeah,” she sighed.

“You’re
lucky,” Kate remarked.

Lucy
didn’t say anything for awhile. Finally, she asked, “How’s Chris?”

“He
didn’t want to come home with me last night. Said he doesn’t want to move too
fast and complicate things. So I don’t know if we’re dating… Or
if we’re just… friends?”  She
thought about being unable to end her friends-with-benefits arrangement with
Max and decided to not mention Max’s visit last night.

“Well,
it’s not like you need to go rushing into anything,” Lucy admonished.

“He
said he just wanted to have fun. That’s what I want, too.”

“Yes,
you want to have fun. But you also want to settle down. I know you, Kate. You’re
getting tired of all this crap.”

“What
crap?”

“Dating.
Trying to figure out these guys. Am I right?”

Kate
groaned. “I guess. But it’s not like I want to turn around and get married
tomorrow. I just want… a boyfriend. I want somebody like Jackson.”

“Well,
you can’t have Jackson. He’s mine,” Lucy grinned.

“You
know what I mean. I want someone that can be my best friend. But that I can do
all the other stuff with. I want someone that I don’t have to go through all
the stupid first dates and first times with. I want someone… comfortable.”

“Is
Chris like that?”

“I
don’t know. He might be. Maybe.”

“What
about Max?” Lucy asked with a sly grin.

“Max
is just a friend,” Kate said.

“Mmmhmmm,” Lucy said, getting up and going into the house
for a refill.

Kate
pulled her sunglasses off the top of her head and plopped them on her nose. She
folded her arms across her chest, trying to sort things out. She didn’t know
where things were going to go with Chris. Yes, they were taking things slowly
and seeing where they would lead. Hopefully they would lead to Kate having a
steady boyfriend for holiday dinners and family functions.

And
then there was Max. The whole friends with benefits thing had worked great when
they first arranged it months ago. Kate had a sexy guy who was interested in
her – at least for a few hours – but she could still go about her search for a
decent boyfriend. Max was great – he was incredibly good looking, the sex was
great, and he always liked to cuddle. Even though he was the one who brought it
up from time to time, she just wasn’t sure if a serious relationship with him
would really last. And now that Kate was semi-involved with Chris, it wasn’t
like she could have Max just showing up on her doorstep at two o’clock in the
morning whenever he felt it. She didn’t know what to do.

*

“Bride
Ideas, this is Kate. How can I help you?”

“Kate,
it’s Jackson.”

“Hey.
What’s going on?” she asked, saving the file she was working on and shutting her
computer down for the night.

“Do
you have any plans after work?” he asked.

Kate
straightened a stack of bridal magazines and scooped up some loose paperclips. “I
was just getting ready to leave,” she said, dropping the paperclips into their
little ceramic bowl. “You have something in mind?”

“Can
you meet me at Vintage in half an hour?” he asked.

“Sure,”
Kate said. “I’ll see you then.”  She hung
up the phone. Vintage was a smoky wine bar located just a few blocks from her
office. Since she was already done with her work, she decided to leave a little
early and walk there. She shouldered her bag and turned off the lights. Julia
was out at a cake tasting so she made sure to lock up before heading down the
street.

The tables
outside on the sidewalk were already taken when she arrived at Vintage, so she
headed inside, where it wasn’t nearly as busy. Only a few patrons were dotted
around the little tables, and there was only one person sitting at the bar. Max.

He
was reading something on his phone. A glass of red wine sat in front of him. Kate
walked up, perched on the stool next to him, and hung her purse on the back. She
crossed her legs and smoothed her skirt across her knees. Max turned to see who
had joined him just as she reached for his wineglass. She brought it to her
lips, smiled, and took a sip. “Get your own,” he laughed, taking the glass from
her. “Can she have a glass, please?” Max called to the bartender.

“What
are you doing here?” Kate asked. She thanked the bartender as he poured her
glass of wine.

“Waiting
for Jackson.”

“Oh?  Me, too.”  Kate said.

“You
know what this is, right?” Max asked.

Kate
took a sip of her wine. “He just called a couple minutes ago and asked if I
could meet him.”

“Yeah.
His divorce is final…”

Kate
studied Max’s face, puzzled. “Um, yeah.”

“So
now he’s probably going to tell us that he’s going to propose.”

Kate
gasped. “You think?”

Max
shrugged. “You heard him the other night. Talking about how he wanted to marry
Lucy, he should’ve married Lucy…  Now
that he’s divorced, he probably can’t wait to pop the question.”

Kate
placed her fingertips on the base of her wine glass and slowly turned it. Max
was probably right.

Lucy
was going to get married. She was going to lose Lucy. It was bad enough after
college when Lucy had decided to stay in Miami with Matt instead of coming home.
They’d always been close, but things weren’t exactly the same when they lived
so far apart. And now, if she got married… they wouldn’t have anything in common
anymore. Lucy would be Mrs. Jackson Parker and Kate would be… still single. Still Miss Kate Thompson.

“There
he is. Ten bucks says I’m right,” Max said, getting to his feet. He moved to
the next stool so that Jackson could sit in between them.

Jackson
was talking to someone on the phone, and as he approached, Kate could tell by
the tone of his voice that it was Lucy. He said goodbye and hung up, slipping
the phone into his pocket. “Hey,” he said, fist-bumping Max and then bending to
give Kate a polite kiss on the cheek. He sat down on the stool in between them
and ordered a glass of wine. He loosened his tie a little.

“So,
I asked you both to meet me here because you’re two of my best friends. Next to Lucy, of course. And Lucy’s the real reason why we’re
here,” he said. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, black
velvet box. He placed it on the bar in front of him.

Kate
looked across Jackson and caught Max’s eye. He winked at her. Kate looked at
the box and then at Jackson. He nodded. She reached for the box, opened it, and
gasped.

“Do
you think it’s big enough?”

“Big
enough?” Kate asked. “Are you crazy?”  She took the ring out of the box and slipped
it on her left ring finger. She splayed her fingers and held her hand out in
front of her. Max let out a whistle as they admired the emerald cut-diamond and
the diamond-studded band it rested on. “Carat and a half?” she asked.

“One
and three-quarter carats total weight.” Jackson smiled
proudly. “Is it okay?”

“Are
you kidding?  It’s gorgeous.”  She slid it off her finger and carefully
placed it back in the box. Jackson put it back in his pocket and Kate threw her
arms around him. “Congratulations,” she whispered. The next thing she knew, she
had tears in her eyes.

“Thanks,”
Jackson said. He gave her a squeeze and when he let go, the tears were spilling
down over Kate’s cheeks. “Are you okay?”

Kate
nodded clumsily and reached for a cocktail napkin so she could blot her cheeks.
“I’m just really happy for you guys. I mean… finally!” she said, a giggle
escaping through the tears.

Max
smiled, and Jackson laughed. “I know, right?”

“You
guys are like a fairy tale,” she said. “Best friends, high school sweethearts. Getting married!”  She
sniffled, folded the napkin over, and carefully dabbed underneath her eyes.

“Lucy
has to say yes first,” Max interjected, chuckling. Jackson turned from Kate to
Max to laugh with him. “Just kidding, man. Congratulations!”
Max hugged him and pounded him on the back. “I’m happy for you.”

Kate
took that as an opportunity to slide off of her stool, grab her purse, and head
to the ladies’ room. She used her fingertips to remove some of the mascara and
eyeliner that had smudged, then rummaged around in her bag for a compact to
blot at her cheeks. Then she studied her reflection in the mirror.

It
was going to suck, having to stand by and watch her best friend get married.

But that was
just what she was going to have to do.

*

Even though it’s customary for the
losers to clean up after the poker game, the following Saturday, Kate found
herself hanging out with Jackson and Kevin long after she’d beat the two of
them. They were hanging out on Kevin’s little balcony, watching people stroll
through the downtown streets below them. It was mid-October and although the
warmer weather was lingering, it cooled off nicely in the evenings. Kate was
enjoying the fresh air while Jackson and Kevin both enjoyed two more of the cigars
that Jackson had brought over to celebrate his upcoming proposal.  Since Kate had given up smoking awhile back,
she found that she kind of liked the smell of the cigars.

“So have you talked to Lucy’s
parents yet?” Kevin asked.

“Yes,” Jackson said, puffing on his
cigar. “And I have their blessing.”

“I bet they were relieved,” Kate
said, leaning against the railing and resting her chin in her hands. “I don’t
really think they wanted her to marry that other guy.”

“Lucy’s parents have always been
great,” Jackson said. “Now I just have to figure out when to do it.”

“Her birthday’s next week, right?”
Kevin asked.

Almost immediately, Kate said,
“Don’t do it on her birthday!”

“That’s what I was planning,”
Jackson said. “Why not?”

“Because… Her birthday’s her
birthday. The day you propose should be… the day you propose,” Kate explained.

“I can’t propose to her on her
birthday?”

“It’s like proposing on Valentine’s
Day. Everybody proposes on
Valentine’s Day. Propose on another day, not her birthday. You want that day to
be special because it was the day you asked her to marry her. Not… It was her
birthday, so you gave her a ring as a present.”

Jackson and Kevin exchanged glances.

“I swear I’m not the only girl who
feels that way. And I’m almost positive that Lucy would not want you to propose
on her birthday.”

Kevin scratched his head in
puzzlement. “I don’t know, but I’m going to bed, kids,” he said, snuffing out
his cigar. Jackson did the same. Kate hugged Kevin.

“Good night,” she said. She and
Jackson made their way through Kevin’s cramped apartment, out into the hall,
and down into the parking lot.

“Come with me tomorrow,” Jackson
said. “Now that you mention it, I need your opinion on a present for Lucy.”

“Do you know what you want to get
her?” Kate asked, looking through her purse for her keys.

“I have an idea. I’ll pick you up at
your office and we can do lunch. How about that?”

“Does this mean you won’t propose on
her birthday?”

Jackson grinned and hugged her. “I’ll
wait. But I can’t wait much longer.”

“Okay,” Kate said. “See you at noon
tomorrow?  How’s that?”

“See you then,” Jackson said.

Kate got in her car and headed for
home. She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Earlier in the
evening, Chris had claimed that he was tired and wanted to go home and get some
sleep. When he went out of the game, he left shortly afterwards. Kate wasn’t
sure if he was really going home to go to sleep, or if she should try to hook
up with him later.

A
glance at her cell phone answered that question. She didn’t have a single call
or text message from him. She considered calling him, but maybe he really was
tired and had gone to bed. Oh well. She had been enjoying herself and was
determined to beat Jackson and Kevin, so she was glad she hadn’t thrown the
game just so she could join him.

However,
she was a little disappointed that he didn’t even attempt to show her any
affection at the wedding they worked that evening, or at the poker game. Usually,
he’d steal glances at her, put his hand on her leg under the table, or touch
her shoulder as he walked past her chair… Tonight, she felt like she was just
another one of the guys sitting around the table, drinking beer and playing
poker.

That
seemed to be how things went with Chris. One minute, they were buddies – just
hanging out. Then they were making out on her couch, but Chris never wanted to
spend the night. It had been awhile since they’d gone out on an actual date. They
always seemed to go out in the group, like always.

And
then, whenever Kate would start to question exactly where things were going,
Chris would say or do something just thoughtful enough to squelch her worries
and make her think that maybe they were on their way to being a serious couple
after all. This, however, was one of those times where she wasn’t so sure where
they stood.

*

Kate was in the alley behind Bride
Ideas, waiting for Jackson to arrive for their shopping trip. Checking her
phone once again and seeing that she still had zero calls and zero text
messages, she sighed. She’d texted Chris a few times throughout the morning,
but never heard back from him.

Jackson arrived just as she tossed
her phone into her purse. Kate got in the car, kissed him on the cheek, and
fastened her seatbelt. He drove them to a little diner their crowd sometimes
went to. The place was pretty full, so they sat at the counter. They both
ordered burgers, fries, and shakes. Kate silently cursed the fact that she
would probably have to watch what she ate for the next six months until Jackson
and Lucy finally got married. Looking down at her plate of greasy food and her
tall, frosty milkshake glass, she decided that this would probably be her last
cheeseburger for awhile.

“So, what are you planning on
getting her?”

“How about I just show you?” Jackson
said, taking a bite of his burger.

“You already got something?” Kate
asked, dousing her fries with ketchup. “I thought you needed my opinion.”

“I think I managed okay on my own.”

Kate looked at him, puzzled. “So
what is it?”

“I’ll show you. After lunch,” he
said, stuffing a couple fries into his mouth.

From the way Jackson was eating,
Kate guessed that he was either starving, or really excited to show her Lucy’s
present. She tried to keep pace with him, but got full and eventually tossed
her napkin onto her plate.

Jackson drained his milkshake and
paid for their lunch. When they were back in the car, Kate looked at him in
surprise. “So… Are you going to show me Lucy’s present?”

“Yes. I’m taking you right to it.”

Kate fiddled with the radio. “You’re
not going to tell me what it is, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Can I guess?  Will you tell me if I get it right?”

“You’ll never guess,” he grinned. Kate
screwed up her face and folded her arms across her chest, trying to pay
attention to where they were going. They were headed south, but she knew that once
the road narrowed down to one lane, the only thing left was the lighthouse. She
looked at Jackson and he winked at her. “Just wait.”

As the lighthouse came into view,
she sat up a little bit in her seat. Jackson slowed down and then pulled into
the driveway of a large house. He put the car in park, turned off the ignition,
and leaned over the steering wheel, peering up at the house. Kate sat, gaping
at him, her hand on the door handle.

“You didn’t…”

“I did!”

Kate clapped her hand over her mouth
and was out of the car almost immediately. She stood in the middle of the brick
driveway, gazing up at the towering house. Fresh white paint,
bright red tile roof. Two huge palm trees on either side of the
driveway, blue plumbago spilling out of the flower
beds on either side of the front door. It was gorgeous.

Jackson clapped his hand onto her
shoulder. “Do you think she’ll like it?”

“She’d better!” Kate said.

Jackson reached into his pocket and
dangled a key in front of her. “Be my guest.”

Kate ran to the front door and
unlocked it, throwing the door open wide and then stopping in her tracks. From
the front door, you could see clear through the kitchen and living area to what
was probably the dining room, and then beyond that – the beach.

Jackson followed Kate to the dining
room where she stood staring out of the immense sliding glass door. He unlocked
and opened the door for her so she could step out onto the sprawling back porch.
Being the last house before the bridge to the lighthouse, there was an amazing
view of the lighthouse and the jetty. Kate gazed down at the grasses swaying in
the dunes, then out at the ocean, and then over at Jackson.

“This is incredible. It’s really
yours?  You bought it?”

“I close tomorrow. The realtor’s a
friend of mine, already gave me the key,” he said.

“Does Lucy have any idea that you
did this?”

“Nope.
I don’t think she suspects anything.”

Kate gasped. “Wow.
A house. Congratulations!” She hugged Jackson tightly.
“I am so happy for you guys. Everything’s happening for you all at once!”

Jackson gave her a squeeze in return.
“Come on, I’ll show you the upstairs. I’m sure you and Lucy will love the
master suite.”  Kate followed him up the
stairs to a loft that split the second floor in half. “Second floor ocean-view
balcony,” he said, pointing to two French doors in the center of the loft. “Two
bedrooms and a bathroom that way,” he said, pointing to the left. “Master bedroom that way.”

Kate walked into the master bedroom
and nearly laughed out loud. “I think this room is as big as my living room,
kitchen, and dining room put together,” she gasped.

“Check out the bathroom.”

Kate opened the set of French doors
into the bathroom. In one corner was a walk-in shower. In the other corner was
an enormous tub set into a bay window. A wall-length mirror and countertop ran
in between the shower and tub, with a vanity table spaced directly in the
center. As she turned around, she realized that tucked behind the French doors
were massive his-and-hers walk-in closets. “Lucy is going to freak out.”

“I know,” Jackson said, his face
lighting up.

Kate stood in the middle of the
bedroom, trying to imagine what it would be like for Lucy and Jackson to fill
this whole entire house. Then it hit her… it was starting.

The beginning of the end of the Lucy
she knew. Soon she would be married, a housewife, and eventually, maybe even a
mother… Kate swallowed. Finally, she said, “So you got her a ring AND a house?”

Jackson chuckled. “I’m not really
going to give her the house for her birthday. She said she just wanted to hang
out with her parents for her birthday, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

“But when are you going to give her…
the house?  And when are you going to
propose?”

“Well, this is what I was thinking,”
Jackson said, sitting down on the floor in the middle of the empty bedroom. Kate
joined him. “We do dinner and cake at her parents’ house like she wants, and her birthday’s over and done with. She’s not
going to be expecting me to give her something after her birthday, right?”

“Right.”

“So I’m thinking, that Saturday
night, after her birthday, if you
don’t have anything going on… Do you
have anything going on?  Do you have to
work?”

Kate thought for a second. “I have a
wedding at two, but it’ll be over and done with kind of early in the evening,”
she replied.

“Okay, so here’s the plan. We let
Lucy think there’s a poker game as usual, but we tell her that you have to go
to somebody’s housewarming party… I don’t know,
somebody from work, or something. You suggest that she come with you to this
party, because I’ll still be playing poker.”

A grin spread across Kate’s face. “I
love it!”

“Great!  I mentioned it to Lucy’s mom and sister, and
they are flipping out. They’ve already started inviting people and planning
food. Anyway, she’s going to think she’s coming to a party for someone she
doesn’t even know…”

“…but the party’s going to be for
her!” Kate sighed. “That’s so sweet.”

“And that’s when I’ll propose.”

“Jackson, that’s amazing. You’re amazing. God, she’s a lucky
girl.”  Kate leaned over and threw her
arms around Jackson in another hug.

“And I’m a lucky guy!”

*

Later
that evening, Kate and Chris lay sprawled on the couch, taking a break from
their marathon make-out session. “So, I know you know that Jackson is going to
ask Lucy to marry him, but did you know he bought her a house?” Kate asked,
running her fingers lightly up and down across Chris’s flat stomach.

“A
house?  He bought
her a house?”

“Yeah.
A huge house on the beach, just before the lighthouse.”

Chris
whistled. “Seriously?
Moving in?  Getting married?”  He shook his head.

“What’s
wrong with that?” Kate asked.

“It
just seems a little fast, doesn’t it?
They haven’t been together that long, right?”

Kate
chuckled. “They’ve had a thing for each other since high school!  And you think it’s moving too fast?”

Chris
shrugged. “When’s he going to pop the question?”

“That’s
the thing. He bought the house but she doesn’t know about it. So next weekend,
he’s going to have a bunch of us over. We’re going to act like he’s playing
poker but that I have to go to a friend’s housewarming party. I’m going to get
Lucy to come with me, but the housewarming party is going to end up being for
her, and then Jackson will ask her to marry him.”

“So
he’s springing a house and a ring on her at the same time?”

“Isn’t
that amazingly romantic?” Kate gushed. She could see from the bored look in
Chris’s eyes that he found the idea neither amazing, nor romantic.

“I
guess,” he yawned. He stretched and sat up, disentangling his arms and legs
from Kate’s.

“Leaving
so soon?” she asked, propping her head up in her hand.

“Yeah,”
Chris said, scooting to the edge of the couch. “I really should get going.”

“You
know, Lucy’s spending the night at Jackson’s tonight. You don’t have to leave. You
could stay if you wanted to.”

Chris
glanced at Kate, and then slid his feet into his flip-flops. “I could, but I’ve
got a lot to do tomorrow.”

Kate
sat up. “What are you talking about?  I’m
the one that’s got to be at the office at like, eight. Just stay,” she said,
reaching for him, trying to hook her finger in a belt loop as he stood up. She
missed.

“Sorry,”
he said. “I’ve got to go to the gym, and then I’ve got to get to the bank, I
have a meeting with a client, and I have a lot of editing to do. I want to get
up early and get going right away,” he said. “Maybe we can do something during
the week,” he added. He leaned down over the couch and kissed her while she was
pouting.

“What about after Lucy and Jackson’s party on
Saturday?  She’ll be staying with him
again, and then you can come home with me.”

He
smiled. “It’s tempting,” he remarked.

“Tempting
like you’ll actually stay?”

“We’ll
see,” Chris said, ruffling her hair. “Have a good night,” he said.

“Good
night,” Kate replied. She didn’t bother to make a move to walk him out. She
watched him pick up his wallet and keys from the coffee table. He gave a little
wave and winked at her. She waved back. As soon as she heard the door close,
she grabbed a pillow and the remote and curled up into the corner of the couch.

She
would have preferred curling up to Chris. She didn’t understand what the big
deal was about spending the night. Max never seemed to mind staying over. And
he always liked to cuddle. It’s not like she was asking Chris to move in with
her. They’d been seeing each other and making out for… weeks now. But he still
didn’t seem interested in spending the night. What was the deal?

*

“Happy birthday,
dear Luuu-cy. Happy birthday
to-ooo yooou!”  Everyone clapped as Lucy bent over, held her
hair back, and blew out the candles on her cake.

“Thank you,” she said. She kissed
Jackson, and then her dad, Ed. Then she went around the table and hugged her
sister, Maggie, her brother-in-law, Mark, and her aunt Janet. She hugged and
kissed her mom. At last, she came to a stop in front of Kate.

“Happy birthday,” Kate said,
flinging her arms around Lucy.

“Thank you. This is so much better
than last year!” she said. “This is the kind of birthday I want every year. Just hanging out with you guys.”

“Lucy, you have to cut the cake,”
her mom called.

Lucy returned to the table and
started slicing up the cake, chatting with her mom and her aunt. She didn’t
notice Jackson sidle up to Kate and nudge her as he stuck his hands down in his
pockets. “Did you ask her about the party yet?” he whispered.

“Not yet,” Kate whispered back. “Haven’t had a chance.”
Lucy looked up at them just then, and held up a plate of cake.

“Hurry up!” Jackson said out of the
corner of his mouth.

Kate smiled at him over her shoulder
as she took her piece of cake from Lucy. She followed Lucy’s sister, Maggie,
into the living room. Maggie had declined a piece of cake and sat, curled up in
the corner of the loveseat. Kate plopped down on the floor and smiled up at
Maggie. “How have you two newlyweds been?”

“Good, thanks,” Maggie smiled. “How’s
business?”

“Busy,” Kate replied, sticking a big
bite of cake in her mouth and smiling as Jackson came in and sat down on the
floor next to her.

“Hey, Lucy!  There’s presents in
here for you!” he called.

Lucy peeked around the corner as her
parents, her aunt, and her brother-in-law all filed into the living room. She
shook her head at the small pile of gifts on the coffee table. “You guys
shouldn’t have!” she squealed.

Lucy sat down on the loveseat next
to Maggie and quickly gobbled up what was left of her cake. “I think you should
open Jackson’s first,” Maggie said, picking up a small white box with a tiny
silver bow on top. She gave it a little shake.

Beaming, Lucy took the box from
Maggie and bent to give Jackson a kiss. Kate noticed Lucy’s hands shaking a
little as she pulled the top off of the box and slid the black velvet box out
into her palm. Taking a deep breath, she opened the lid and gasped.

Everyone in the living room held
their breath in suspense as Lucy turned the box around for all to see. “Diamond
earrings,” she said. “Wow. Jackson, they’re beautiful.”  She bent and kissed him again as everyone in
the living room exchanged knowing glances. “Thank you, honey.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kate grinned at Jackson. “Are you
planning on totally spoiling her, or what?” she whispered.

“She needed something to open on her birthday,” he whispered back.

“This is from Maggie and Mark,” Lucy
said, reading the tag on a bright yellow gift bag. “Thanks, guys,” she said,
pushing aside layers of tissue paper and pulling out a t-shirt. She unfolded it
and held it up in front of her, then let out a shriek. “Oh my God!” she cried,
jumping to her feet. She bent down and hugged Maggie, then crossed the room and
nearly tackled Mark. “Oh my God!” she cried again. “Congratulations!”

Everyone was looking at each other
in confusion as Lucy made her way back to the loveseat. She hugged Maggie again.
Maggie could just be seen over Lucy’s shoulder, and she was beaming. “Mom and
Dad, I’m pregnant,” she announced.

Lucy held up her “# 1 Aunt” t-shirt
for everyone to see. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler both grabbed each other’s hands for a
moment and smiled at each other. Then Mrs. Wheeler got to her feet and hugged
Mark. She then made her way to Maggie. Mr. Wheeler sat for a minute, smiling,
and then quickly swiped at the corner of his eye before getting to his feet and
pulling Mark into a big bear hug.

“Wow!  Congratulations, you guys,” Kate said, giving
Maggie a hug. “That’s awesome!”  She
stepped aside as Lucy, her mother, and her aunt surrounded Maggie and started
bombarding her with questions. Kate turned to look at Jackson, but he was
huddled in conversation with Mark and Ed. Being the
only non-family member, she decided to take a breather out on the back patio.

It was refreshingly cool outside as
Kate sat down at the picnic table and pulled out her cell phone. She had asked
Chris to tag along tonight, but he said he had already made plans with friends.
That was the last she’d heard from him. She didn’t know what friends he was
referring to.  She knew that Max was at
home working on some website project for a new client. Jackson was here. Kevin
usually spent Friday nights with his work buddies. She considered texting Chris
and asking him to stop by later that night, but then thought better of it. If
he came over, he probably wouldn’t spend the night, anyway. She wanted some
company.

She
scrolled to Max’s entry in her phone book and sent him a quick text. “Are you
doing anything tonight?”

It
was barely a minute before she got a response. “Do you want me to come over?
:)”

Kate
chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Just want to cuddle. Is that ok?”

His
reply was quick. “See you at 10?”

Smiling,
she texted him back, telling him that 10 o’clock was fine. Then she headed back
inside to the party, where Lucy had finished opening her cards and presents and
was going around the room hugging everyone and thanking them for her gifts. She
gave Kate a big, hard squeeze. “Thank you,” she said. “I love you!”

“I’ll
take you out to dinner for your birthday some night this week,” Kate said.

“There
you go, Lucy,” Jackson said, coming up and putting his arms around both girls’
shoulders. “Maybe Kate can take a night off from poker tomorrow night to take
you out. And then somebody else can win for once.” Lucy grinned. Jackson kissed
her on the cheek and then winked at Kate.

“That
sounds like a plan,” Kate began. Then she feigned forgetfulness and smacked
herself on the forehead. “Wait a second. You know what,
I can’t play poker tomorrow night anyway. I have to go to a friend’s housewarming
party,” she said. “Lucy, why don’t you go with me?”

“To
your friend’s party?” Lucy asked.

“Sure!
It’s just a girl I know from work. Bought this big fancy
house on the beach. He wants to show it off,” Kate said. “I’m dying to
see the inside.”

Lucy’s
eyes widened. “Do you think she’d mind?”

“If
I brought someone with me?  No way. She’s cool. You’ll like her. So
you’ll come with me?”

Lucy
shrugged. “Might as well, since this guy’s got poker plans,” she said, elbowing
Jackson lightly in the ribs.

“Great!”
Kate cried. “I have an early wedding tomorrow, so maybe afterwards, we can go
do a manicure and a pedicure before the party. How about that?  My treat.”

“I
can’t say no to that!” Lucy exclaimed.

Behind
Lucy’s back, Jackson gave Kate a thumbs-up.

*

Kate got to her house just seconds
before Max did. She closed her car door and smiled at Max as he pulled into the
driveway right behind her. He got out of the car wearing a faded t-shirt, plaid
flannel pajama bottoms, and flip-flops. He held up a pint of ice cream. Kate
reached for it, but he pulled it away, leaning in for a kiss.

“I’m not sleeping with you,” she
said. As soon as she said it, she wondered what was wrong with her. She wanted
to sleep with Chris, but he didn’t seem to have any interest. Max would sleep
with her in a heartbeat, and she didn’t want to.

“Just a kiss!”
Max said, puckering up.

Kate kissed him quickly, and he
handed over the container of ice cream. He followed her into the house and
plopped on the couch while she turned on a few lamps. He watched her as she went
into the kitchen to fetch two spoons. “Haven’t seen you much lately,” he said,
kicking off his flip-flops. “Except for poker. How
have you been?”

“Good,” she replied, placing the ice
cream and spoons on the coffee table. She stood on one foot to pull off a boot.
Then she switched to the other foot and tugged off the other boot before
picking them both up and tossing them into her bedroom. “Can I get you
anything?”

“Just come and cuddle,” he said,
taking the lid off the ice cream. He licked the ice cream off the lid and dug
his spoon in.

Kate disappeared into her bedroom
and quickly shimmied out of her jeans, looking forward to cozying up on the
couch. She pulled a pair of sweatpants off the top of the laundry basket and stepped
into them. She took off her sweater and bra, flinging them onto the floor, and
pulled on an oversized sweatshirt. Since she wasn’t worried about seducing Max,
she didn’t care what she looked like.

When she curled up next to Max and
dug her spoon into the ice cream, he was busy flipping through the channels
trying to find something to watch on television. He settled for a show on the
Food Network, something where a guy was being challenged to eat a four-pound
omelet. “I’m surprised you asked me to come over,” he said, waiting for her to
take another spoonful of ice cream.

“Oh yeah?  How come?” she asked, licking her spoon clean.

“Because I figured you were seeing
someone,” he said, taking another spoonful.

“What makes you think I’m seeing
someone?” she asked. She had an odd feeling in her stomach. She hoped Chris
hadn’t said anything. And why would he?
What kind of relationship did they have, anyway?  It didn’t seem like it was really all that
serious. What would he say about it?

“Well, you and I were seeing each
other pretty regularly,” Max said slowly. “And I thought our arrangement was
working out okay. And then, all of a sudden, you kind of stopped wanting to
hang out.”

Kate stuck her spoon back into the
Cherry Garcia and forced a chunk of chocolate out. “How long did you think we
were going to keep doing that?” she asked.

Max shrugged. “Until it wasn’t
working anymore,” he said. “Is that it?
It wasn’t working?”

“I don’t know,” Kate replied. “It
was fine, I guess. I just don’t know how long two people can keep that up. Just having sex. Nothing else.”  She scooped up another spoonful of ice cream
and let it melt in her mouth slowly.

Max groaned. “I’ve told you before,
it doesn’t just have to be sex, you know,” Max said. “I’ve always thought we’d
make a good couple. Don’t you think?”

Kate smiled at him. He was adorable,
sitting cross-legged on the couch in his pajamas, happy to share his ice cream
with her. His dark hair stuck up all over the place and he looked pretty sleepy.
This wasn’t the first time he’d proposed that they give dating a try, but for
some reason, Kate just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea. “I don’t know…
We’re friends,” she said. She stabbed her spoon into the ice cream and leaned
back, resting her head against the arm of the couch. She stretched out her legs
and placed her feet in Max’s lap. She was friends with Chris, too. But that
didn’t stop her from attempting to have a relationship with him. She rubbed her
eyes.

“We could be more than friends,” Max
said, continuing to dig into the ice cream. “No?”

“I don’t know, Max. I’d hate to…
ruin things.”

“You don’t know that it would ruin
things.”

“I don’t know that it wouldn’t,
either. Can’t we just leave well enough alone?
Please?”

A look of disappointment crossed Max’s
face. He leaned forward, picked up the lid from the ice cream container, and
abruptly got to his feet. Kate sat up and watched as he went into the kitchen. She
could hear him put the ice cream in the freezer and put the spoons in the
dishwasher. When he came back, she was relieved to see that he was at least
smiling.

“Well?”

“What?” she asked.

“Are we going to cuddle or what?” he
asked.

Kate got to her feet and turned off
the lamps as Max made his way into her bedroom. She checked to make sure the door
was locked. She went into her room and closed the door softly behind her. Max
was already in bed with the blanket pulled up to his chin. He pulled the covers
aside so that she could climb in next to him.

She rested her head on his shoulder,
tucked just under his cheek. Hearing her sigh contentedly, Max smiled. “I can’t
believe you don’t think we’d make a good couple.”

“Good night, Max.”

Kate leaned up on one elbow and peered
down at him, her hair falling over his face and tickling his nose and lips. He brushed
the curtain of her hair away with the back of his hand, waiting for her to say
or do something.

She
wanted to explain to him how she felt, but she couldn’t put it into words. Things
didn’t make sense. She didn’t have a problem with just having sex with Max
before. That was all she had wanted from him, and she had never considered
having an actual relationship with him. They’d agreed in the beginning that it
would only complicate things, although from time to time, Max would try to
convince her to get more serious about their relationship.

Kate
bent her head and her lips managed to find Max’s mouth in the darkness. She
kissed him sweetly, waiting to feel some stir of excitement, but there was
nothing. “Good night,” she said.

“Is
everything okay?” Max asked softly, as she snuggled down against him again.

She nodded,
draping her arm over his chest and giving him a squeeze. “Just hold me, please,”
she murmured. He pulled the covers up over both of them and wrapped his arms
around her.

It felt so good
to be held… but Kate just wasn’t sure who was supposed to be holding her.

*

Kate couldn’t help giggling at Lucy.

She was sitting stiffly in the
passenger seat, so she wouldn’t smudge her freshly polished fingers and toes,
clutching a bottle of wine between her knees and holding a delicate potted
orchid on her lap.

“What is that?” Kate had asked. “What
are you doing?”

“I can’t go to a housewarming party
and not take a gift!” Lucy had squealed. “I might not know the girl, but I
figured if she doesn’t mind me tagging along, I should give her a little something.
Aren’t you taking a housewarming gift?”

“I hadn’t thought of it,” Kate said.

“We can tell your friend it’s from
both of us,” Lucy offered.

“I’m not that worried about it.”

What had been worrying her was whether or not she could pull off this
whole charade. She wasn’t the best at keeping secrets and she would be glad
when the whole thing was over with. She was relieved when the lighthouse popped
into view in the distance.

“These houses are huge!” Lucy
gasped, leaning against Kate’s shoulder to peer out of her side of the car. “Could
you imagine living in one of these things?
What does your friend do, anyway?”

Kate hesitated, not sure how to
answer the question. She was saved by the ringing of her phone. She grabbed it
out of the center console and pressed to her ear. “Hello?”

“Everyone’s
here. Are you close?” Jackson asked.

“Hey!  I’m almost there. And I’m bringing a friend
with me, if that’s all right.”  She
smiled at Lucy.

“Okay. Everybody’s here,” Jackson
repeated. “When you guys walk in, it’s going to look like the house is empty. Everyone’s
going to be upstairs in the loft.”

“Okay!  See you in a minute!” she said cheerfully,
hanging up the phone. She smiled at Lucy. “I guess people are already there,”
she said. As they continued down the road, she hoped that Lucy wouldn’t
recognize any of her friends’ or family members’ cars.

At last, they slowed down and pulled
up in front of the house’s mailbox. Lucy got out of the car and stood staring
at the house in admiration. “I can’t believe you know someone who lives here.”

“It’s gorgeous,” Kate said admiringly.
“Can’t wait to see the inside."

As they walked up the driveway
together, Lucy held up the bottle of wine and the plant. “Which one do you
want?”

Kate tried not to roll her eyes and
grabbed the orchid. She walked up to the door and pushed the doorbell. She let
out a shaky breath as the chimes echoed majestically inside the house. Like she
and Jackson had discussed, she waited a second, and then rang the doorbell a
second time. Then she tried the doorknob and pushed the door open. She walked
in and stepped aside, closing the door behind Lucy, who was looking around in
bewilderment at the bare, seemingly empty house.

Kate cautiously chanced a glance
upwards and saw everyone standing in the loft, silently looking down over the
railing. Lucy’s and Jackson’s parents were up there, along with Maggie and Mark.
There were some other family members that Kate recognized. The guys were up
there, too. Chris tilted his head away from his camera to smile down at her. Next
to him, Max stood with his arms folded across his chest, grinning with
excitement. Behind him, Kevin raised his hand in a silent, but obviously
excited, greeting. She smiled up at them. And slowly, quietly, Jackson
approached them from the kitchen.

Lucy
saw him before Kate did and gasped. Kate’s eyes snapped away from Kevin’s and
she focused her attention on Lucy and Jackson. He’d already lowered himself
down onto one knee and was reaching for her hand. Kate glanced up again, this
time at Chris, shooting away with his camera. Suddenly, she realized that she
was going to be frozen forever in Lucy and Jackson’s engagement photos if she
didn’t hurry up and get out of the way.

Kate
stepped forward to take the bottle of wine from Lucy. Lucy thrust the bottle
into Kate’s outstretched hand without even casting a backwards glance. Kate
retreated meekly, only half-hearing Jackson’s proposal as tears of happiness filled
her eyes. She made her way up the stairs, hugging the bottle of wine and the
orchid to her chest. Kevin and Max made room for her at the railing, so she
could look down and watch as Jackson completed his proposal.

Jackson
slipped the ring on Lucy’s finger, they kissed, and everyone in the loft
showered them with confetti and streamers. Max and Kevin each brandished two
cans of silly string. They squirted the newly engaged couple as the guests
poured down the stairs to congratulate them.

The
huge sliding glass doors were opened, people started pulling platters of food
out of the fridge, and someone turned on a stereo that was sitting on the floor
in the living room.

Wiping
her eyes, she turned to smile at Chris, one of the last guests still standing
in the loft with her. He was so busy with his camera that he didn’t even
realize that he’d brushed right past her as he headed downstairs. He paused to
lean over the railing, study the shots on his camera, and then continue
shooting. He was so intent on his job, that he didn’t look back or look around
for her. Now she was standing alone in the loft with Lucy’s orchid and the
bottle of wine.

Downstairs,
Kate placed the flower pot in the middle of the kitchen counter, running her
hands along the smooth, cold marble. She placed the bottle of wine in the
refrigerator and then looked around. Lucy and Jackson were still surrounded by
people. Chris was wandering around with his camera glued to his face. She
decided to head out onto the back deck.

Several
coolers were lined up against the railing, filled with beers and sodas. She
helped herself to a beer, popped the top, and looked around as she took her
first sip. She was surprised to see Max talking to some tall, leggy blonde that
she didn’t recognize. The girl was beautiful to begin with, but she was wearing
an impossibly tight pair of jeans and knee-high boots with huge heels that made
her almost taller than Max. The Amazon woman was wearing a cropped red sweater
that showed off her ample (and probably fake, Kate guessed) bust and enviously flat
stomach. Her bright red lips parted as she laughed at something Max said and
Kate felt a tinge of jealousy. They were flirting. And she was watching. She
felt herself getting angry.

A
heavy hand landed on her shoulder. “Hey,” Kevin said, turning her around and
pulling her into a hug. “That was quite the entrance. Congrats
on pulling that off.”

“Thanks,”
Kate said, grateful for the diversion. She took a long gulp of beer. Over the
top of the can, she could see Kevin’s eyes flicker behind her, in the direction
of Max and the supermodel. She glanced over her shoulder. “Who the heck is that?” she asked.

“That’s
some girl Jackson knows through work. We were talking to her earlier. I forget
her name. Sounds like a stripper name. I don’t remember.”

“How
do you forget a girl like that?” Kate asked.

“She’s
kind of a dipshit. Crazy rich, though. Her family owns the Davenport Hotels. So
I guess, in a way, Jackson kind of works for her.”

Kate
nodded at Kevin’s description. She remembered that Julia had organized the
girl’s 21st birthday bash a few years ago. Her elaborate celebration
had brought more of a profit to Bride Ideas than some of the bigger weddings
Kate and Julia had put together.

Kevin
shrugged. “But Max seems to like her.”

Kate
guzzled more beer and groaned inwardly as Chris sauntered up to Max and the
girl. He introduced himself to her, said something funny, and she tossed her
hair, laughing. Chris gestured with his camera and she and Max posed for a few
photos. Kate scowled as Max slipped his arm around the girl’s waist. She placed
one hand on her jutted-out hip, angling herself expertly towards the camera. Kate
couldn’t help snickering at the girl’s camera-ready poses.

Chris
shook the girl’s hand again and then turned towards Kate and Kevin. He held up
his camera and Kevin’s arm landed squarely around Kate’s shoulders. “I think blondie over there likes Max,” Chris said, snapping a
couple pictures of Kate and Kevin. “C’mon, smile.”

Kevin
squeezed her shoulder and she straightened up, tilting her head towards Kevin’s
and pasting a smile on her face. Chris snapped a few more pictures and before
Kate could even say anything, he slipped away to take more photos of the guests.
Kate turned around to see what Max and the blonde were up to, but they’d
disappeared. She turned back around and Kevin had started talking with Mark, Lucy’s
brother-in-law. Alone and with no one to talk to, Kate headed back over to the
coolers. She helped herself to another beer and then hopped up onto the railing
to people-watch. She recognized some of Lucy and Jackson’s family members, but
she wasn’t in any mood to make small talk with people whose names she didn’t
remember.

So
she people-watched and drank beer. After beer. After beer. After beer.

Occasionally,
Lucy and Jackson would appear on the deck and make the rounds, talking to their
guests. They were always together, side by side. They were smiling. No, not
just smiling; they were beaming. Lucy was glowing with pride and happiness. Why? Kate thought. Like she didn’t know they would end up together eventually?  Kate had suspected this would happen when
they had first gotten back together. For Lucy to get
reacquainted with Jackson behind her boyfriend’s back, and then cheat on him…  Lucy wouldn’t just cheat on someone to do it
and get away with it. Lucy and Jackson had gotten together because they were
really in love. They were meant to be together.

This
thought should have made Kate happy for her friends. Things had all worked out
for them, the way they were probably supposed to happen originally. Instead, it
soured Kate’s mood. While Lucy was walking around on the arm of her new fiancé,
Kate was sitting on a railing by herself, while her only two recent dating
prospects were wandering around the party without her. She had seen Max and the
blonde girl take off for a walk down the beach. Chris was chatting with Lucy’s
aunt Janet. So far, neither one of them had paid much attention to her.

“You’re
still here?”  Kevin hopped up on the
railing next to her. “Every time I’ve come out here to get a beer or see what’s
going on, you’ve been in this same spot. Are you enjoying the party?” he asked.

“Oh,
yeah,” Kate said. “It’s great.”

Kevin
nudged her. “What’s wrong?”

She
sighed. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She’d been so mixed up lately.
“I don’t know. Nothing like your best friend getting married to make you
realize you don’t have your priorities in order.”

Kevin
chuckled. “Priorities?
What are you talking about?”

She
shook her head, scraping the hair back off of her forehead. “I just mean, she’s
getting married. I’m single. They’ve got this big, beautiful house. I still
live in my parents’ house. They’re going to be going and doing all that married
people stuff, and we won’t have anything in common anymore. Especially
if they start having kids.”

Kevin
looked at her sideways, and Kate felt slightly ashamed. She hopped off the
railing, grabbed two beers out of the nearest cooler, and hopped back up again.
“I’m happy for them,” she said. “Really. I am. It just
makes me feel like I’m not where I’m supposed to be in life.”  She handed him a can.

“You
think you should be married and settling down?” Kevin asked. He opened his beer
and took a thoughtful sip.

“I
guess. I don’t know. I’m in my thirties, right?”  She opened her beer and sucked the foam off
of the top.

“So
am I,” he replied.

“Well,
yeah, but you’re a guy.”

“What
difference does that make?”

“It’s
different for guys,” she said. When she saw his raised eyebrows, she asked,
“Isn’t it?”

“Not
really,” he replied, pushing up his sleeves. “I feel the same way sometimes. Maybe
not the way some of you girls do, but every once in awhile, I think it would be
nice to not have to mess with dating girls that I don’t really have any hope of
having a serious relationship with.”

“Exactly!”
Kate cried.

“And
I think it would be nice to settle down with one girl, but… I don’t know if
I’ve met that girl yet. And it’s kind of hard to meet girls when you’re tired
of going through the same thing over and over again.”

“Exactly!”
Kate echoed. She sat quietly for a moment, surprised that she and Kevin had
never really talked like this before. She hiccupped.

“I
figure there’s nothing I can really do about it for the time being, so I’m just
enjoying it,” he said. “Not complaining about it. I don’t have to get married
tomorrow.”  He nudged Kate’s arm. “Neither
do you. Don’t let it get to ya, you know?”

Kate
nodded. “Yeah. I shouldn’t let it get to me.”  She started thinking about Chris and his
indifference towards solidifying their relationship. They hung out a lot with
their friends, made out on her couch, and that was about it. He didn’t want to
spend the night and didn’t seem interested in taking their relationship to the
next level. And then there was Max. Max seemed like he wanted a relationship,
but where was he right now?  Walking down the beach with that blonde girl. They didn’t
seem to be very worried about things, so why was she?

She
leaned her head against Kevin’s shoulder. She took another sip of her beer and
sighed. Just then, she saw Chris wander out onto the deck. He had finally put
the camera down and was walking with his hands in his pockets. He glanced
around, spotted Kate and Kevin, and made his way over. He sat down on the
cooler in front of them and stretched out his legs. “Nice party, huh?” he said.

“Yeah,”
Kevin replied. “Is there any food left?”

“There’s
some. Lucy’s aunt is starting to clean up, so you better go grab something
quick,” Chris said.

Kate
straightened up and Kevin slid down off the railing. Chris got up and leaned
against the railing, right next to Kate. “So, what do you think?” he asked. “You
want to get out of here?  Head back to
your place?” he asked.

Kate
took a sip of her beer and looked down at Chris. “Are you serious?”

“Well,
yeah,” he asked, grinning up at her. “Don’t you want me to come over?”

“No.”

“No?  What?
Why?”

“Because
you haven’t so much as said ten words to me tonight.”

“I
thought you wanted me to come over. I thought you wanted me to stay the night.”

“Would you actually spend the night?” she asked. Chris’s
hesitation was enough for her.

“Forget
it. Don’t bother coming over,” she said. She hopped off the railing and pushed past
Chris to head into the house. She saw Lucy and Jackson standing at the door,
saying goodbye to his parents. She smiled at the sight of the two Mr. and Mrs.
Parkers, and then she saw Max and the blonde girl slipping out right behind
them, turning to say goodbye to Lucy and Jackson and give them both
congratulatory hugs. She whirled around and placed both hands on the
countertop, trying to steady herself.

Kate
wasn’t sure how long she stood like that, but before she could move again, Lucy
clasped her arms around her shoulders. “Thank you so much,” she said.

Kate
turned around and looked at her. “What did I do?” she asked, reaching into a
bowl and picking up a handful of pretzels.

“You
helped Jackson propose!” she said.

“I
just brought you here,” Kate said, stuffing a pretzel into her mouth. “Pretty
sure he’s the one who picked out the ring and asked you to marry him. Not
me.”

Lucy
just giggled. “We’re going to make a bonfire down on the beach. Will you stay?”

Kate shrugged
and followed Lucy back out onto the deck and down onto the beach where Jackson
and Kevin were already piling up some pieces of driftwood and flicking a
lighter.

Lucy’s
mom was spreading out a couple blankets that she had found in the trunk of her
car. Kate plopped down on a blanket and watched in amusement as Jackson and
Kevin attempted to get the fire started.

The
fire finally caught, and soon, Lucy and Jackson were snuggled on a blanket
surrounded by Lucy’s parents, her sister and brother-in-law, and Kevin and Kate.
They passed around a plate of leftover sandwiches and it seemed like every time
someone got up, they came back with a couple cans of beer. With a full belly,
warm, toasty feet, and the moon shining down brightly on the ocean, Kate
couldn’t help but feel her mood lifting. Lucy and Jackson looked so happy;
everyone was smiling and laughing…

And
then Kate realized who was missing. Chris wasn’t sitting around the fire. When
did he leave?  Where did he go?  She dug in her pocket for her phone and
looked at the screen. No messages. No phone calls. Hmm.
Well, Chris had said he wanted to leave. He obviously was planning on leaving
whether Kate went with him or not.

Max
had left with the blonde girl. Chris had disappeared. She was all by herself.

Boys were
stupid.

Suddenly
everyone was looking at her. “Did I just say that out loud?” she asked, clamping
her hand over her mouth, her cheeks flushing.

“All boys?”
Jackson asked.

“Present
company excluded,” she hiccupped, deciding that maybe it would be best if she
kept her mouth shut for the rest of the evening.

After
awhile, Lucy’s family members got to their feet and shook the sand out of their
blankets. Maggie and Mrs. Wheeler folded up the blankets and Mr. Wheeler
stretched. Kate waved goodbye as Mark wrapped his arm around Maggie’s shoulder
and escorted her back up the stairs to the house. Lucy, Jackson, and Mr. and
Mrs. Wheeler followed behind them, chattering in excitement about the beautiful
house and future wedding.

“I
hope I didn’t offend Lucy’s dad,” Kate said to no one in particular. “I didn’t
mean all boys are dumb. Just some of them.”

Kevin,
the only one still sitting by the fire with her, chuckled. “Are you okay?”

“No.
No, I’m not,” Kate said, rubbing her full stomach. Before she could feel too
sorry for herself, she shook her head. “Actually, wait a minute. I’m fine.”

Kevin
raised an eyebrow at her.

“I
mean it. I’m fine. I’m fine,” she
repeated, poking herself in the chest. “I’m not the one with a problem. They’re
the ones with a problem.”

Kevin
continued to look at her blankly, as she continued on with her tirade.

“I
mean… I said I didn’t want anything serious, but then one acts like he does and
the other acts like he doesn’t and I don’t know what to do. I don’t know why I
bothered. And then blonde girl comes along and he leaves and…” She looked
across the fire at Kevin and blinked. “Just dumb. You
know what I mean?”

“I
have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Kate
took a deep breath. Did she really want to get into it?  Should she spill the beans?  She’d discussed her situation with Lucy,
sure, but Lucy was a girl. Kevin, on the other hand, was a boy, and boys were…
No, Kevin wasn’t stupid. He probably knew that something was going on with Max…
and Chris… Both of them.

“I’m
just tired of people asking me when I’m going to get married. I don’t know if I
even want to. I mean, it’s not like I’ve got a lot to choose from,” she rambled.
“It’s not like I have anybody like Jackson. Those two… Man. Made for each
other.”

“Are
you talking about us?” Lucy asked, coming back and plopping down on the blanket
next to her. Jackson dropped down next to Kevin.

“I
was just saying that you guys are made for each other. And I will never find
anybody like that. Because the guys I seem to hook up with are all jerks.”

Lucy
looked at her in surprise. “Really?”

“Oh,
don’t start. I know you didn’t like him from the beginning. You were probably
right. But he’s so cute. But he’s such a jerk…”

Jackson
and Kevin exchanged puzzled glances.

“And
the other one. So cute. What
is it with these guys? Cute and jerks. Jerks.”

“I
think she’s had enough,” Jackson said.

“I
have had enough. Enough
of the jerks!”

Kevin
got to his feet and held out his hands. “Come on, you,” he said. “I think you
need to get home.”

“I
wanted to go home with him tonight, but he didn’t say hardly ten words to me,”
Kate mumbled, taking his hands and rising unsteadily to her feet. “So I told
him not to bother and he left with somebody else. I mean… No. That was the
other one. But he left. Didn’t even say goodbye.”

“I
think it’s time for you to say
goodbye,” Jackson said. He and Lucy got up and started tossing sand on the fire
to douse it.

“What?  Okay. Goodbye!” Kate said, throwing her arms
around Jackson and Lucy and drawing both of them in close for a big hug. “I
love you guys. Congratulations, you two. You’re the best. You deserve it.”

Lucy
held Kate out at arm’s length. “Are you okay?
Please tell me you’re not driving.”

“Should
we take her back to your place?” Jackson asked.

Kevin
took Kate by the elbow. “I’ll take her home,” he said.

“Are
you sure?” Lucy asked, afraid to let Kate go, lest she fall over.

“Yeah.
You guys need some alone time. Just the two of you, or
whatever. I mean, you’re going to have alone time for like, the rest of
your lives, but… whatever,” Kevin laughed. “I got this.”

“He
got me,” Kate said. She held out the arm that Kevin wasn’t restraining and
hugged Lucy again. “I love you.”

“I
love you, too,” Lucy said.

“And
I love you,” Kate said to Jackson, poking him in the chest. “And she loves
you.”

“What
did she have to drink tonight?” Jackson asked, kicking more sand onto the
remains of the fire.

Kevin
started guiding her towards the steps. “Just beer, I think.”

“How
many?” asked Lucy, picking up the blanket and shaking it out.
Jackson helped her fold it and the two of them walked slowly behind Kevin and
Kate as they made their way up the steps to the house.

“Honestly,”
Kevin said over his shoulder, “I don’t think I saw her without a beer in her hand tonight.”

Lucy
and Jackson exchanged glances.

“That’s
because I had a beer. Beers,” Kate corrected. Then she hiccupped. “Oh, geez. I had a lot of beers.”  At the top of the stairs, she paused. Kevin
put his arm around her waist to steady her and Lucy slipped around them to open
the door.

“Are
you going to be okay?” Lucy asked.

“I
think so. Someday,” Kate smiled.

“Call
us when you get her home, okay?” Jackson asked. Kevin nodded and escorted Kate
through the house to the front door.

“I
will,” Kevin said. “She’ll be fine.”

Lucy
and Jackson stood at the front door together and watched Kevin trudge Kate down
the driveway and to his car. Still grasping her around the waist with one arm,
he managed to free his keys from his pocket, open the door, and get Kate
situated in her seat.

By
the time he got in and fastened his seatbelt, Kate tipped over and rested her
head on his shoulder, letting out a soft moan.

“You
okay?” he asked, starting the car.

“Pull
over,” she said. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

*

Kate’s whole body ached. She wanted
to stretch, but she was also afraid to move. Her stomach was churning and she
felt sweaty and cold. She slowly opened her eyes, afraid that her bedroom would
be blindingly bright, only to discover that she wasn’t, actually, in her
bedroom.

She squinted. She could see a poker
table. The poker
table.

She was hugging a garbage can. She
lowered the garbage can to the floor.

She
wasn’t wearing any pants.

Trying to move as slowly as
possible, she fumbled around for something to cover up with and her fingers
closed around the edge of a fuzzy fleece blanket. She pulled it up to her chin.
She was pants-less on Kevin’s couch. Oh. No.

“Hey. Sorry if I woke you up. I was
trying to be quiet,” Kevin said softly, peering over the back of the couch. “You
want some coffee?”

Kate pressed her lips together and
shook her head slowly.

“Are you okay?” Kevin asked, walking
around to the front of the couch. He sat on the coffee table and looked at her
anxiously. Kate shook her head again. “Are you going to get sick?”  Another shake.

“Where are my pants?” she finally whispered.

Kevin smiled. “They’re in the dryer.
I’ll go get them.”

Kate shivered under the blanket. She
could hear Kevin padding through the apartment, opening and closing the dryer
door, and then padding back to her. He draped her jeans over the arm of the
couch. “What happened?” she asked, slowly rolling over onto her side and
tucking the blanket down around her.

“Well, apparently, you overdid it
last night.”

“I just drank beer,” she said.

“But how many?  Never mind. Who knows?” Kevin said. “I was
going to take you home, but the whole way home you kept saying you felt sick
and you thought you were going to throw up, and then you started to cry, so I
didn’t want to take you home to throw up and cry by yourself.”

Groaning, Kate covered her face with
the blanket. “Did I?  Throw up?” she
asked.

“No, you just got up here and cried
a lot,” he said. “I didn’t know you were one of those sad drunks that got all
weepy and emotional.”

Kate nodded. “Yeah, I can get pretty
bad,” she agreed. “So how did I lose my pants?
Why were they in the dryer?”

“I tried to make you drink a
Gatorade last night, but I think more of it ended up in your lap than in your
mouth.”

“Oh,” Kate said. “Oh,
God. I’m so embarrassed.”

Kevin waved it off. “Stop. Don’t even worry about it. I don’t know what brought
all that on last night, but I couldn’t leave you all by yourself like that.”

“Thank you,” Kate mumbled, closing
her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, it
only felt like a few minutes later. However, hours had passed and the sun was
now streaming through the doors leading out onto Kevin’s little balcony. Feeling
much better, she got to her feet, pulled on her jeans, and headed to the
balcony. “Hey,” she said, gently rubbing her temples.

“Hey, you. How
are you feeling?” Kevin asked. He was sitting at his little table with a cup of
coffee, reading the paper.

“Okay,” she said. “Kind of a
headache, but it’ll go away soon.”

“You want breakfast or anything?” he
asked. “I could make you a fried egg sandwich. Or there’s cereal.”

She held her stomach. “I’m okay, for
right now,” she said. “I might stop and get something on the way to the
office.”  Although, as her stomach churned,
she wasn’t sure if that was such a good idea.

“The office?”
Kevin asked.

Kate nodded. “I’ve got to get to
work,” she replied. “I hate leaving my paperwork ‘til Monday. I always get it
done on Sunday. The sooner I get it done, the sooner I can get home…” she
trailed off, wondering how, exactly, she was supposed to get home.

Kevin sensed her confusion. “We left
your car at the party last night. I already called Lucy, and she said she’d
come by and pick you up whenever you were ready to go,” Kevin said.

“Oh. Thank you,” Kate said. “I’ll
call her from the office, I guess.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she said,
leaning against the door. “Once I get some Advil in me.”

“I can get you some,” Kevin said,
getting right to his feet. He brushed past Kate and hurried through the
apartment. He returned with a small glass of water and three of the little
brown pills. She popped them into her mouth and washed them down with just
enough water to coat her throat.

“I should get going,” she said,
handing the glass back to Kevin. “Thanks for taking care of me,” she added. She
could feel the heat rising up her chest and face. She’d probably been a
hysterical, crying mess last night. If she could actually remember any of it,
she’d probably be even more embarrassed than she already was.

“Any time. Let
me know if you need anything,” Kevin said.

“Thanks,” Kate said, not knowing
whether to give him a hug or a fist-bump. She opted for the fist-bump.

Even with her
sunglasses on, Kate squinted as she trudged a couple blocks to her office. She
was glad to see that the building was empty, and relieved that Julia wouldn’t
see her in her disheveled, hung-over state.  She headed to her office, plopped in her
chair, and resisted the urge to put her head down on her desk.

She booted up her computer and
reached for the file folder from the wedding yesterday. Thankfully, it had been
a small and simple wedding, and wouldn’t require a lot of work to finish up her
profit analysis. She located the client’s file, spread out the wholesaler
invoices on top of her desk, opened the spreadsheet, and started calculating
the profit. It wasn’t until she saved the file and printed her documents that
she realized she was still wearing her sunglasses. Not feeling much like talking
just yet, she sent Lucy a quick text to let her know that she would be waiting
at the office.

Kate deposited her client’s folder
in the box just inside Julia’s door and returned to her office to shut
everything down. She sat down on the sofa in the waiting area and contemplated
lying down to take a nap. Before she could get too comfortable, however, there
was a light tapping on the window. Outside, Lucy waved and held up a Starbucks
cup.

Kate got to her feet, slung her
purse over her shoulder, opened the door, and immediately fell into Lucy’s arms.
“Thank you,” she said. Kate locked up and gratefully accepted the cup of coffee.
They walked down the street to where Lucy had parked Kate’s car.

“Do you feel like getting brunch or
anything?” Lucy asked.

Kate shook her head and took a slow
sip of her triple grande mocha, slurping mostly foam.

“That bad, huh?”

“I don’t know what it was,” Kate
sighed. “I just had beer.”

“You had a lot of beers, I think. And
did you even eat anything yesterday?” Lucy asked, unlocking the car and sliding
in behind the wheel.

Kate lowered herself into the
passenger seat and rested her head against the window. “I guess not,” she said.
She really didn’t remember.

“So… What was that all about last
night?  Kevin said you were ranting and
raving about how guys were assholes. The poor guy took a verbal bashing from
you about how all men are jerks.”

Kate groaned. “He didn’t say
anything about that.”

Lucy giggled and started the car. “He
didn’t say anything to you. But he
talked to Jackson this morning. Jackson didn’t know what to tell him. We
assumed you were complaining about Chris, but Kevin said that it sounded like
you’d gotten burned more than once.”

Kate sagged lower in her seat. “I
guess I was talking about Max.”

Lucy shook her head. “I knew it…”  She stopped.

Kate looked at her sideways. “Oh,
it’s okay,” Kate said. “I know it, too. This was all a bad idea. All of it. Trying to do the whole ‘friends
with benefits’ thing with Max. Trying to date Chris.
It was stupid.”

They drove along quietly for awhile,
and then Lucy finally spoke. “Jackson said to tell you this morning that you
shouldn’t shit where you eat,” she said, biting her lip and trying to suppress
a giggle.

Kate snorted. “He would.”  She raised her coffee cup to her lips and
then swung her head around slowly to look at Kate. “Did you tell him?  He knows?”

“Well…” Lucy exhaled. “He knew about
Chris. I mean, we had dinner together and everything. And I didn’t say anything
about Max, I swear, but somehow he knew.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “What do you
mean, he knew?  He knew what?”

“About your…
arrangement.”

“What?” Kate shrieked. “That’s
impossible. We never acted like there was anything going on between us. I never
told him. Are you sure you didn’t say anything?”

“I promise,” Lucy said. “But he
didn’t say anything to Kevin, I don’t think. He just said something about how
you weren’t having much luck in the dating department.”

Kate groaned. That was an
understatement. Things with Max were so messed up; he acted like he wanted a
relationship, then he disappeared last night with that blonde girl. And Chris
seemed like he was interested in her, but so far he hadn’t made a move past
making out on the couch. He hardly spoke to her at the party, but then all of a
sudden he wanted to come over?

“I give up,” Kate said.

“What?”

“Max and Chris.
Forget ‘em both.”

“Really?”

Kate nodded. “Jackson’s right. About
shitting where I eat.”

Lucy pulled into their driveway and
turned off the ignition. “You’re serious?”

“I can’t date them. They’re my
friends. The whole time, we were sneaking around and trying not to let anybody
know what was going on. What is that?
That’s no way to start a relationship. And it’s not like either of those
relationships was going anywhere, anyway, right?”

Lucy nodded and leaned back in the
driver’s seat. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m done with both of them. I’ll
tell Max that since he took off with that blonde girl last night that I don’t
think we need to see each other anymore. And I’ll tell Chris that since we
haven’t really moved forward in our relationship yet, that there’s no point in
continuing.”

Lucy and Kate got out of the car and
headed towards the house.  Kate dropped
her purse by the door and kicked off her shoes. “But first,” she said, “I’m
going back to bed.”

*

Kate woke a few hours later,
disoriented and very, very thirsty, but happy to discover that the pounding in
her head had stopped. She tucked the covers under her chin, trying to figure
out what time it was without having to roll over and look at the clock. She
could hear the TV in the living room. It sounded like there was a football game
on. Lucy wouldn’t be watching football by herself, which meant that Jackson
must have come over. She yawned and got out of bed, glancing at the clock over
her shoulder. It was just after four in the afternoon. She was starving. Hopefully
Lucy and Jackson would be cooking something for dinner.

She left her bedroom and waved
wordlessly at Lucy and Jackson, who were both sprawled on the couch. Lucy had a
stack of wedding magazines in front of her, and Jackson was holding the remote
control in his hands. They watched, amused, as Kate shuffled into the kitchen,
poured a huge glass of water from the fridge dispenser, and then shuffled back
into the living room. She sat down in the big overstuffed chair and put her
feet up on the ottoman. “Don’t even say anything,” Kate said, catching the
smirk that was beginning on Jackson’s lips. “I already heard what you said,”
she sighed.

Jackson grinned and sat up, resting
his elbows on his knees. “Seriously, Kate?  You couldn’t try dating outside of the friend
pool?  Like there’s not a bazillion guys
out there?”

“Leave her alone, Jack,” Lucy warned.

Kate shrugged. “Whatever. It was
stupid. I know.”  She took a long guzzle
of water.

“And not just one
guy, but two?  What the hell?”

“Hey,” Kate said. “About
that. How did you know about both?”

“Well, Chris was over here enough. That
was easy.”

“But how’d you know about Max?”

Jackson squirmed. “From
him.”

“He told you?” Kate squealed. “That asshole. That was supposed to be a secret.”

Jackson nodded. “Relax. Yes, I know.
He told me all about the friends with benefits thing you had going on.”

Kate drained her water and placed
the empty glass on the coffee table. She curled up in a ball and sat staring at
Jackson. “Why did he tell you?  What did
he say?”  She shuddered at the thought of
Max telling Jackson about their arrangement – what they did, what happened when
they were together. Ugh.

“When you guys first started hooking
up, he was all excited. See, the thing is, Max always hoped it would turn into
something more than just what you two had going
on.”

Kate groaned. “I know. But I told
him it wouldn’t.”

“But he still hoped that it would. He
really had feelings for you, Kate.”

“But that’s dumb. We’re just
friends.”

“He had feelings for you, Kate,”
Jackson repeated.

“Feelings?”
Lucy asked.

“Feelings,” Jackson said. “Like, he
really wanted you guys to be more than just friends with benefits. He wanted
you to be a couple. He wanted you to be his girlfriend. And he was serious. But
you kept telling him no.”

“I know,” Kate said in a small
voice.

“But why?”
Jackson said, genuinely confused.

“Well, because we’re friends…”

“And you and Chris are…?” Jackson
purposely left the question hanging.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m done with
both of them, Jackson,” Kate said. “I can’t be with either one of them. It’s
not going to work out either way. It’s just dumb. I give up.”

Jackson held his hands up. “I’m not
telling you what to do or anything. But I will say one thing. Things will either all blow over and it’ll just be no big deal, or…”

“Or what?”

“Or things could get really
awkward.”

*

Later that evening, Kate was lying
on her stomach, scrolling through numbers in her phone. She was looking for
guys that she had dated in the past, or guys that she could possibly call up
and go out with, but none of the names she came across seemed like they would
work. Tim?  He’d been nice, but there
hadn’t really been much of a spark. Drew?
Even though he was thirty-five, he still partied like he was twenty-two.
Every time Kate ran into him somewhere, she felt like she was babysitting. Brian?  He’d gotten married, hadn’t he?  She deleted those numbers and considered a
few more.

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked,
coming into the room and crawling onto the bed next to her.

Kate tossed the phone over her
shoulder onto the bed behind her and rested her chin on her hands. “This whole
dating thing is so stupid,” she said. “I don’t know anybody worth dating. Maybe
I should go on a dating sabbatical.”

Lucy let out a groan. “Why are you
so obsessed with dating all of a sudden?”

Kate sighed. “You wouldn’t
understand.”

“Uh, hello.
I’m your best friend. Try me.”

Kate hesitated. She didn’t want to
ruin the afterglow of Lucy and Jackson’s engagement, but since she’d
asked…  “You’re getting married,” Kate
said. “You’re going to be married, and I’m still going to be single.”

“So what?”

“So…
Things are going to change. You’re going to start doing… married
things.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious,” Kate said. “Our
friendship won’t be the same.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. How
will our friendship be any different?”

“I don’t know. It just will. You’ll
see,” Kate said. Lucy sat looking at her in amazement. “I told you that you
wouldn’t understand,” Kate smiled.

“My sister’s pregnant,” Lucy
blurted.

“Yeah. And?  What does that have to do with anything?”

“You think I don’t understand?  My little sister is having a baby. She’s totally
excited and ready for it. She can’t wait. She’s one of those girls that loves
being pregnant and loves shopping for maternity clothes and loves watching her
belly grow.”

Kate raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“So… It scares the shit out of me. And
it made me realize that I don’t want to have kids. And Jackson and I have
talked about it – he doesn’t, either. So now, we’re going to have to spend the
rest of our lives explaining to people why we don’t have kids. Or why we don’t
want to have kids. While everyone fawns over my sister and
her baby and her family. We just got engaged and people are already
asking us when we’re going to start having kids. Already!”

Kate chewed her lip. Lucy had a
point. She did understand.

“So, I promise you. Even after I get
married, I’m still going to be me. Just with a different last name,” Lucy said,
holding out her left hand and smiling at her sparkly engagement ring. “And we
will still be best friends, no matter what.”

Kate rested her head on Lucy’s
shoulder. “Thank you,” she said.

Lucy patted her chin. “Anything for you.”

“Anything?”
Kate asked. “Does Jackson have any cute cousins you could introduce me to?”

“Kate…”

“I was kidding!  Just kidding.”

“No, you weren’t.”

“Okay, I wasn’t kidding.”

“Seriously.
Maybe you should just give the whole
dating thing a rest for awhile. Take a break. You don’t need to date anybody. Just
have fun. Work. Go out. Do stuff. Without
worrying about finding the right guy. He’ll come along eventually.”

“Says the one
marrying her high school sweetheart.”

“And look how long that took to work
out,” Lucy said, getting to her feet. “It’ll happen when you least expect it. Watch.”

*

A
few days later, Kate was shocked to come home from work and find a stack of
moving boxes piled up in the living room. She surveyed the coffee table, which
was scattered with Post-It notes, rolls of packing tape, and thick black
markers. She swallowed hard. Of course Lucy would be moving out. Jackson had
bought them a house.

Kate
dropped her purse by the door and crossed the living room to peek into Lucy’s
bedroom. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi!”
Lucy said, loosening and retying her ponytail. “How was your day?  I was thinking about ordering a pizza or
something,” she said. “I brought home all these boxes from school and once I
started, I completely forgot about dinner.”

Kate
plopped down on the edge of the bed, sitting on a pile of t-shirts. “That’s
fine.”

“Are
you okay?” Lucy asked, taking a handful of paperback books off of the bookshelf
and crouching down to layer them in the box at her feet. “How was your
day?”  When she looked up again, she was
surprised to see tears spilling down Kate’s cheeks.

Kate
managed a feeble laugh through her tears. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,”
she said. “I should be happy for you. For both of you.
I just feel like I’m losing my best friend!
I don’t know.”

Lucy
pushed aside a pile of folded sweaters and sat down next to Kate. She threw her
arms around her friend and gave her a squeeze. “I told you, nothing will change!”

“I
know, I know,” Kate said, fanning herself. She wiped her nose. “I guess I just
can’t believe you’re getting married. And to Jackson!” she said. “I feel like
you should’ve done all this ten years ago!”

Lucy
grinned. “I know. I feel the same way.”

Kate
smiled and slid her arm around Lucy. “I really am happy for you guys. You guys
were meant to be together.”

Lucy
inhaled deeply and looked down at the box of books at her feet. She exhaled. “It
wasn’t easy. For awhile there, I wasn’t sure if we were ever going to get
together. And we definitely pissed some people off along the way,” she said. Then
she looked at Kate. “But I’d do it all over again to be with Jackson.”

Kate
nodded and wiped at her eyes, looking around at the clothes strewn around the
floor and on the bed. “So, what can I do to help?”

“Oh.
So now you’re ready to kick me out?” Lucy giggled.

“You’re
the one with the big fancy house waiting for you,” Kate teased.

Kate
changed into jeans and a sweatshirt and called to order the pizza. Then she
returned to help Lucy finish boxing things up from around her room – mostly
books, summer clothes, and other little odds and ends.

It
had only been eight months or so since Kate had helped Lucy unpack her things
in this room when she had broken up with her fiancé, Matt. Lucy had moved in
with Kate because she didn’t want to return home to her parents’ house. At the
time, Lucy’s sister had been planning her
wedding, and Lucy had just destroyed her future with Matt in the hopes of
starting over with Jackson. So, yes, she probably understood how Kate was
feeling, even better than Kate realized.

They carried the boxes into the living room and sat
on the floor to eat their pizza. “What’s Jackson up to tonight?” Kate asked.

“He’s
painting our bedroom. We’re leaving most of the house the way it is, but we
wanted some color upstairs. We picked out a shade of sage green. It’s really
pretty. Not too girly, not too… boring,” Lucy said, chewing on a pizza crust.

Kate
picked a pepperoni off of a slice and popped it into her mouth. “At least Jackson
has good taste,” she said. “And he’s neat. He’s not a slob or anything.”

Lucy
nodded in agreement. “We had no problem picking out new bedding and all that
stuff. I couldn’t believe it. And he’s so excited to register for wedding
presents,” she giggled.

“Your
house will look so awesome,” Kate said. “Do you think you’ll be all moved in by
the holidays?” she asked.

“I’d
really like to be all settled by Christmas,” she said. “But we’ll see.”

“Maybe
you could have a Christmas party at your house,” Kate suggested. “Or New Year’s Eve.”

Lucy
seemed to like that idea. “As long as we actually have
furniture and stuff.”

“And
please make Jackson buy a dining room table.”

“What?”
Lucy laughed.

“At
Kevin’s apartment, he doesn’t have a dining room table. Kevin has a poker table
where the dining room table should be.”
Lucy gasped and Kate giggled, unsure as to why that particular thought
had popped into her head.

“Maybe
that should be the first thing we buy,” Lucy grinned. “Jackson was already
talking about whether or not we’d have enough room for a pool table…”

“No!”
Kate squealed. “Although that would be better than the poker
table.”

Lucy
shook her head and gathered up their paper plates and napkins. Kate closed the
pizza box and stuffed it in the fridge. “I don’t think so,” Lucy groaned. “Not
in my house.”

*

Kate
shivered as she pulled the gate closed behind her and hurried to get back in
her car. If there was one thing that she didn’t like about her parents’ house,
it was how dark it was. It was only six o’clock, but it was pitch
black, and it was much colder here than it was back home. The last time she had
been to her parents’ house was when she and Chris had had to do battle with the
roaming pigs. Now it was two days before Thanksgiving!

Her
dad had eventually gotten over the fact that the garden was a complete and
total loss and he had successfully repaired the electric fence surrounding the
pig pen. Now he liked to tease her about it, trying to picture her running
around in the woods, chasing after Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

She
parked next to her dad’s pickup truck and pulled her overnight bag and purse out
of the backseat, along with a twelve-pack of beer. She closed the car door with
her hip and made her way up the steps to the front door.

“There’s
my girl!” Bob Thompson cried, holding the door open for her. “I’ll take those,”
he said, relieving her of the case of beer and bending down for a kiss on the
cheek.

“Hi,
Dad.”  While he
went off to put the beer in the fridge, Kate dropped her bag and purse on her
bed in the guest room and then went to join her mom in the kitchen.

She
wrapped her arms around her mom’s shoulders as she flipped three massive
breaded pork chops in a hot skillet. “How are you?”

“I’m
good,” Kate said, giving her mom a squeeze and pulling out a chair at the
kitchen table. Her dad, having finished putting the beer in the fridge, sat
down and passed her a cold one. They both cracked their beers and clinked the cans together.

“How’s
your… boyfriend?” Karen asked, turning around to steal a glance at her
daughter.

Kate
knew it wouldn’t be long before her mom asked. “No boyfriend,” she said.

“What happened
to pig boy?” her dad asked.

Kate
grinned at her dad’s nickname for Chris. “Pig boy and I are just friends,” she
said. At the stove, her mom clucked.

“That’s
too bad,” Karen said.

Kate
shrugged. “Not a big deal. We’ve been friends for awhile. No sense in messing
that up. It would just complicate things.”

“Your
mom said he was one of your poker buddies.”

Kate
nodded.

“Don’t
you have any girl friends?” Karen asked, bending down to peek at the scalloped
potatoes in the oven. “I mean, don’t you and Lucy ever do
anything together?  All I ever hear about
is you and Jackson and the boys you play poker with.”

“They’re
my friends,” Kate said helplessly. “And they’re all very good friends, which is
exactly why I’m not dating them anymore.”
When this last sentence came out, Kate clamped her lips together, hoping
that her parents didn’t catch how that sounded. …I’m not dating THEM anymore.

“Smart
move, baby,” her dad said.

“But
she needs to date, too. Do you go out any dates anymore?  What about that one guy from awhile back?  Brian, I think?”   She turned a burner off, took the pot of
broccoli to the sink, and drained it.

“He’s
married.”  Kate giggled as her father
made a face behind her mother’s back. “I don’t feel like dating anyone right
now. I work a lot. I’m busy.”

“Don’t
think I didn’t see that, Bob. Katie, how are you going to ever get married if
you don’t date anybody?” Karen asked, dropping a couple oversized pats of
butter into the bowl of broccoli and placing it on the table.

“It’s
not 1952, Mom. I don’t have to run out and get married right this second.”

“But you’re not
even looking!”

Having
had enough of the dating discussion, her father excused himself to leave Kate
and her mother in the kitchen. He paused behind Kate’s chair to lean down and
whisper in her ear,

“Don’t rush. The right guy will come along when you
least expect it.”

The
words gave her goosebumps. Lucy had said the very
same thing. And awhile back, so had Julia. Everyone
was saying that. Maybe she really did just need to cool things for awhile.

“I
just want you to be happy,” Karen said, going to a cabinet and handing her a
stack of plates. Kate got to her feet and set the table.

“I
am happy,” she insisted. She
retrieved silverware from the drawer and placed the forks and knives on the
table as her mother pulled the potatoes out of the oven and rested the hot
casserole dish on a folded-up dishtowel. Then she plated the pork chops and
announced that dinner was ready.

Kate
took her seat again and hoped that they could talk about other things over
dinner. As her mom split and buttered corn muffins for everyone, Kate spooned
scalloped potatoes on her plate. Then she eyed the huge pork chops and wondered
how she was supposed to eat all of this food. “This is the biggest pork chop
I’ve ever seen,” she remarked.

“That’s
dinner,” her dad replied.

Kate
lo            oked
at him quizzically as she speared a pork chop and put it on her plate. She cut it
into several pieces and then heaped some broccoli onto her plate as well.

“He’s
not kidding,” Karen said. “That’s dinner.”

Kate didn’t know what her parents were talking
about, but the pork chop was delicious.

She
quickly gobbled up a few bites and then helped herself to a big mouthful of
scalloped

potatoes.
Her parents were looking at her and quietly eating.

Finally,
Bob broke the silence. “The pig.”

Kate
paused, her fork in midair. She looked at her dad, and then at the breaded
piece of meat on the end of her fork.

“That
pork chop is Dinner. The pig.”

Kate
gasped.

“We
shouldn’t have told her,” Karen said. “Now she won’t eat it.”

Both
parents waited for her reaction. Kate erupted into giggles, and then finally,
full laughter. Her parents joined in, as well. “Dinner’s pretty good, right?”
her father grinned.

“This
is Dinner?” she asked, looking at her fork. She shook her head, thinking back
to how worried she’d been about her parents’ pigs and what could have happened
if they wandered off the property and out onto the road. Dinner, the biggest of
the pigs, had just been happy to flop around in the mud puddle he’d found. Kate
of course, hadn’t been happy to land in the puddle with him.

“Dinner
is pretty good,” she agreed, sticking
her fork in her mouth.

*

Later that night, after sitting on
the porch and having a few more beers with her dad, Kate found herself sitting
on the swing by herself, wrapped in a blanket. The woods around her parents’ little
house were extremely quiet. She could see why her parents liked it up here; she
just wasn’t sure that she could live here all the time.

She
fumbled under the blanket to reach the phone in her pocket. She slid it out and
peered at the bright screen. No phone calls, no text messages. It was unusual
for her not to hear from anybody when she traveled to visit her parents.

She imagined that Lucy and Jackson
were probably busy planning the first of many joint-family holiday
get-togethers. Max was probably with the blonde girl. Chris was… Oh, who cares?

*

When Kate returned to her house the
day after Thanksgiving, she was struck by how quiet everything was. She was
used to Lucy hanging around the house during school holidays, grading papers
and working on lesson plans. Now Lucy and all of her stuff was all moved in to
her new house, and the house seemed empty.

Kate dropped her things off in the
bedroom and then carried the cooler of leftovers that her mom had packed into
the kitchen. She started putting the containers of turkey, mashed potatoes, and
gravy away when the phone rang.

“Hello?” she said, tucking the phone
into her shoulder.

“Oh, hey. You’re
home. It’s Kevin.”

“Hey,” she replied. “I just got in. What’s
up?”

“I was thinking about seeing if the
guys wanted to go out tonight. I just didn’t know if anybody was doing anything.
What do you think?  You want to do
something?”

Kate finished putting the last of
the leftovers away and considered Kevin’s invitation. She didn’t really feel
like hanging out with Max or Chris. She also had to get up early the next day
for work. “I think I’m going to have to pass,” she said.

“Okay,” Kevin said. “Just thought I’d ask. Are you in for poker tomorrow
tonight?”

“Umm,” Kate chewed her lip. “Tomorrow’s
actually a really busy day, and I have an evening wedding that might run kind
of late. Probably not. Maybe next
weekend.”

She and Kevin chatted for a few more
minutes and then they said goodbye. Kate felt somewhat relieved that she
wouldn’t have to see Max or Chris for a few days.

She changed into a pair of
sweatpants and an old t-shirt, deciding that she would do some cleaning, and
maybe even get some Christmas decorations down out of the attic. She turned the
radio on and turned the volume up high.

Throughout the afternoon, she ran
the dishwasher, did a few loads of laundry, vacuumed, and cleaned both
bathrooms. When the dishwasher cycle was finished, she emptied it and then
thoroughly wiped down all of the countertops in the kitchen. She collapsed on
the couch, thinking that she should’ve poured herself a glass of wine when she
was in the kitchen.

She dozed off for a few minutes,
only to be awakened by the distant ringing of her cell phone. She stumbled into
her bedroom to grab the phone out of her purse, and plopped down on the bed. “Hello?”

“Kate?  It’s Julia.”

Kate immediately sat up and whirled
around, looking at the clock on her night stand. Had she forgotten an
appointment?  Was she supposed to be
doing something?  “Hello?”

“I’m sorry to be bugging you…” Julia
began.

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything is… Fine.
I just…  Do you think you could meet me
somewhere?”

“Yeah, sure.
No problem. Where?  When?”

“How about Vintage
in, say, half an hour?”

Kate agreed and hung up the phone,
wondering why in the world her boss wanted to meet her at such short notice. She
hoped everything was okay. She hurried into the bathroom and scraped her hair
back into a neater ponytail. She did her makeup in a flash and then found
herself staring at the clothes hanging in her closet. She decided on a pair of
black leggings and a long, charcoal gray sweater. She added some earrings and
pulled on a pair of slouchy black boots. Pleased with how she looked, she
grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

When Kate arrived at Vintage, the
place was packed and the mood was very festive. Pine garlands and twinkle
lights were strung back and forth across the ceiling and red and green candles
dotted all of the little tables. She spotted Julia sitting at the corner of the
bar with a glass of red wine in front of her. She hurried over and Julia moved
her purse and coat from the bar stool next to her, so that she could sit down. “Is
everything okay?” Kate asked, loosening her scarf. She waved to the waiter and
pointed to Julia’s wine glass, indicating that she’d like one for herself.

Julia sighed. “I just needed to get
out of the house.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I know it’s terrible, but I had to
get out of there. And I didn’t know who else to call.”

“So you… called me?” Kate asked, reaching for the wine glass the bartender handed her.

“I invented a ‘work emergency.’”
Julia grinned.

Kate giggled. “You mean, so you would
have an excuse to get out of the house?
Why?  What’s going on?”

Julia shook her head. “It’s nothing,
really. Alex’s parents are in town for Thanksgiving and while they’re great people,
it is so frustrating to listen to them talk to Alex about his job. All these
years later, and they still think he should’ve gone into medicine like everyone
else in the family.”

“They don’t like that Alex is a
teacher?”

Julia shook her head. “And I really
think that they hate the fact that I’m kind of the sole breadwinner. I think
that bugs them.”

Kate exhaled. “That sucks.”

“And of course, they don’t like the
fact that we had Allie before we got married. Sometimes I wonder if they like
anything about us.”  Julia took a long
sip from her wine glass.

Kate looked at Julia with surprise. “I
didn’t know all that. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry to dump that on you,” Julia
said, screwing up the corner of her mouth as she chewed on the inside of her
cheek. “I just had to get away for a little while, and when I was trying to
decide where to go, I realized that I didn’t have anyone to call who might
understand. And it’s not just that – I realized that I didn’t have anyone to
call who might be free.”

Kate giggled. “Well, usually if I’m
not working, I’m free.”

“You are so lucky.”

“Me?”

“To be single.
To be unattached. To be able to get up and go do
whatever you want without having to make up stories about work problems. To not have to deal with your in-laws.”

“You’re the lucky one. Married to a great guy. With a sweet kid.”

Julia shrugged. “Sometimes I
wonder…”

“Oh, don’t say stuff like that!”
Kate said. “Don’t ruin the dream for the old single lady!”

Julia sighed. “Seriously,
though…  Thank you so much for coming out
here.”

“Not a problem,” Kate said. “I was
just thinking about opening a bottle of wine and taking a bath and watching a
movie or something. What an exciting Friday night, right?”

“Oh, God, that sounds so great.”

Kate laughed. “Great?  Sounds boring to me.”

Julia drained her wine glass. “Are
you kidding?  Do you have any idea how
long it’s been since I’ve been able to do something like that?  Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve
gone to a bar like this?”

Kate shook her head and gestured to the
bartender for another glass of wine for Julia. “Then we should do this more
often!” Kate said. “We always say we’re going to go out and we never do.”

“I know, I know.”  Julia smiled. “It would be really nice to go
out with a friend and not always have to talk about the in-laws, pre-school,
and who got who sick this week…”

“For me, it would be really nice to
hang out with a girl,” Kate admitted. “I mean, I have my friend Lucy and
everything, but she’s the one who’s getting married…”

Julia nodded. “Things are
different?”

“Not yet…” Kate said slowly. “But
I’m sure they will be. She’s my only girl friend. Everybody else that I hang
out with is a guy. And I love the guys… But it would be nice to have more girl
friends to spend time with.”

“Weren’t you dating one of these
guys or something?”

“Kind of. But not anymore. Just friends.”

“Friends and
dating. That hardly ever works out.”

“Tell me about it,” Kate said.

*

Kate and Lucy sat on the floor,
looking up at the massive Christmas tree that now took up one corner of Lucy
and Jackson’s living room. Lucy and Jackson were all moved in, furniture had
been purchased and delivered, and all of their things had been unpacked and
combined to fill the house and make it into their home.

Lucy had decided to wait until New
Year’s Eve to have a party rather than try to have everyone over for Christmas.
People were too busy shopping, traveling, and visiting, and Lucy and Jackson
had been so busy getting moved in, that she decided that it would be better just
to wait. However, she couldn’t wait to decorate the house for the holidays, so
while Jackson tackled putting the lights up outside, she and Kate decorated the
tree.

Now that she’d had some time to get
used to the idea, Kate didn’t feel so bad about Lucy and Jackson’s engagement
anymore. She’d spent enough time with the two of them to know that their
friendship would remain the same.

“More wine?” Lucy asked, getting to
her feet.

“Yes,
please.”  Kate handed Lucy her glass and
adjusted an ornament that had twisted around backwards on one of the bottom
branches of the tree. Jackson came into the room and sank into the couch,
kicking off his shoes. “All done outside?” she asked him.

“Yeah.
I think Lucy will be pretty happy,” he said.

Lucy
rejoined them in the living room. She bent and gave Jackson a big kiss. “The
lights look great outside,” she said. She handed Kate her glass of wine, and sat
down cross-legged on the floor in front of the tree again.

“Should
I order dinner?” Jackson asked.

“Sure,
go ahead.”

“I
get dinner, too?” Kate asked. “Thanks.”

Lucy
smiled. “Get extra egg rolls,” she said to Jackson.

The
two girls sat admiring the tree and making adjustments to the ornaments that
were in reach while Jackson called and ordered Chinese food. “A honey garlic
chicken, an orange chicken, an order of Szechuan beef, chicken fried rice, a
couple orders of spring rolls… and egg rolls. Yes. Yes. Chicken fried rice
instead of white rice…”

Overhearing
Jackson’s order, Kate nudged Lucy. “Why is he ordering so much?  You know how Chinese food is. The three of us
could split an order of garlic chicken and we’d be fine.”

Lucy
took a sip of her wine. “I think he said the guys are coming over, too. To watch some football game or something.”

“Oh.”  Kate groaned inwardly.

For
the past few weeks, she’d managed to avoid the guys. She’d been very busy at
work, she’d had several evening weddings, and last weekend, she’d even managed
to convince Julia to meet her for drinks again after they both finished the
weddings they were overseeing. Anything to avoid seeing all
of the guys at poker. Of course, she’d have to see them eventually.

With
the food order placed, Jackson got up to get the dishes and silverware. Lucy
got back to her feet and started adjusting a few ornaments higher up on the
tree. Kate thought about going to check her appearance in the bathroom, but it
was too late. The doorbell rang and in came Max, Chris, and Kevin. They all
hovered in the kitchen for awhile with Jackson, drinking beer and talking
loudly about whatever game they were going to watch on TV.

Lucy
went into the kitchen to greet everyone, but Kate remained on the floor with
her glass of wine.

“The
tree looks nice.”

Kate
looked up just as Chris crouched down next to her. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey,
yourself. Where have you been lately?  I haven’t seen you at poker in forever.”

Kate
shrugged. “Busy, I guess.”

Chris
narrowed his eyes. “Busy, or did I piss you off?”

“I
don’t want to talk about it,” she said.

“Is
it because I wouldn’t spend the night at your house like you wanted?” he asked.

“Lower
your voice!” she said.

“Do
you know why I didn’t want to spend the night with you?”

Kate
glared up at him, not sure she wanted to hear what he was going to say.

“There
are several reasons. One, because apparently you were dating
Max. Two, because Max always said you didn’t want to get serious with
him because you were looking for a real relationship. So yeah, that makes
three, that I was afraid that we were going to get too serious, too fast, and
that it would ruin our friendship.”

Kate
sat staring at him, feeling like a little child being scolded.

“So
which is it?”

“Which…
What?”

“Who
are you dating?  Are you dating Max?  Are you dating me?  What’s going on?”

“I’m
not dating anybody. I thought Max and I had a deal. I thought you and I could
be a couple. That didn’t seem like it was working. So I’m not dating anybody.”

“That’s
it, then?  We’re done?  Just like that?”

“What’s
the point?  You just said you didn’t want
things to get too serious. So, there you go. You’re off the hook. You don’t
have to worry about it.”  With that, Kate
got to her feet, grabbed her wine glass, and headed for the kitchen. She
stopped in her tracks when her eyes met Max’s. He’d told Jackson. He’d told
Chris…

In
the kitchen, Jackson put his arm around her and gave her a squeeze. “Can I fill
up your glass?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“There she is!  Hey, Kate!
You haven’t been at poker lately. Jackson says you’ve been really busy
with work!” Kevin said, digging into a bowl of chips
as Lucy shook them out of the bag.

Kate nodded. “Everybody’s starting
to plan their summer weddings…”

“Which reminds me!”
Lucy shrieked. “I need to show you something. Come upstairs!”

Although she was relieved, Kate
raised her hands in a gesture as if to say, “See what I mean?” and allowed Lucy
to grab her by the wrist and pull her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“What’s this all about?” Kate asked,
sitting down on the edge of Lucy and Jackson’s bed.

“I found my wedding dress.”

Kate gasped. “What?  I thought we were going to go shopping
together after Christmas.”

Lucy held up her hands. “That’s the
thing. I didn’t go shopping.”

“What?”

“Hang on. I’ll be right back.”  Lucy disappeared into the bathroom with a
grin, closing the doors behind her.

Kate sat, fiddling with her wine
glass, wondering what Lucy was going to come out with. She had her answer a minute
later, when the bathroom doors were flung open, and Lucy emerged, wearing a
long, pale pink, satin sheath. Kate stared at the dress. It looked vaguely
familiar, with delicate rhinestone straps and a loose gathering of material at
the bust.

“Is that your prom dress?” Kate asked, getting to her feet.

Lucy did a little twirl, and when
Kate saw the low back and the little train, she realized that it was, indeed,
the dress Lucy had worn to their senior prom. “I found it when I was at my
parents’ house getting the last of my stuff. Can you believe it still fits?”

Kate cocked her head to the side and
grinned. “I actually think it looks better on you now than it did back then.”

Lucy beamed. “Good. Because this is
what I’m marrying Jackson in.”

Kate shook her head. “Wait a minute.
You’re going to get married in your… prom dress?  In your… pink prom dress?”

“It’s pale pink,” Lucy said, smoothing it down
over her hips and turning to look at herself in the bathroom mirrors. “And I
figure, why not?  I loved this dress. It’s
a great dress. And I only got to wear it once.”

“What did your mom say?”

“She wasn’t thrilled. But I told her
that she could hang on to the money she was saving to buy my dress and put it
towards some other part of the wedding. The flowers or the
food or something. She actually seemed to like that idea.”

Kate shrugged. “It’s your wedding. You
have to do what you want.”

Lucy threw her arms around Kate and
gave her a big hug. “I’m so excited!”

After Lucy
changed back into her clothes and the dress was once again hanging carefully in
her closet, she and Kate made their way back downstairs. They sat at the dining
room table with wedding magazines spread out around them, looking through them
for ideas and inspiration.

“I
don’t want a wedding like my sister’s,” Lucy said, repeating what she’d said
several times already. “I just want it to be small. I don’t want a huge bridal
party – just you, my sister, and Bridget. And the guys.”

Kate
looked up from the hairstyle article she had been skimming. “The
guys?”

“Well,
yeah. I have three girls, and he needs three guys. He wanted Chris to be in the
wedding, but he’s going to be taking the pictures, so the groomsmen will be
Max, Kevin, and Jackson’s friend James, from New York.”

“Please
don’t make me walk down the aisle with Max,” Kate said.

Lucy
rolled her eyes. “You can walk down with whoever you want,” she said. “Did I
tell you that my parents’ friend is going to do the ceremony for us?  And I think we decided on a location!”

“I
didn’t even know you’d decided on a date yet. That should come first, so we can
see what places are available.”

“Sometime
in June, after school gets out,” Lucy said. “And I think we’re just going to
have the wedding here.”

Kate
looked around the dining room. “Here?”

“Outside
on the beach.”

“I
thought you said you didn’t want your wedding to be like your sister’s,” Kate
said, puzzled. Last year, Lucy’s sister, Maggie, had gotten married on the
beach.

“Well,
yeah, but that was at the Davenport, and it was this big fancy reception. I
want to get married right outside the house. Do you realize, that when we were
kids, it was somewhere on the beach out there, that Jackson first told me that
he loved me and wanted to marry me someday?” Lucy said, her eyes shining.

Kate
swallowed. There was no denying the fact that Lucy’s mind was made up. “Okay,
so you’ll get married outside. What about the reception?”

“Here
at the house,” Lucy said matter-of-factly. “We’ve got this big, beautiful
house; we might as well use it.”

Kate
closed her magazine and started ticking things off on her fingers. “Dress – check. Location – check. Officiant
– check. Photographer – check. All we need to figure out is food, cake,
flowers, music, and what the bridal party is wearing.”

Lucy
nodded excitedly. “I told you, I don’t want to go overboard with this. I want
it to be as easy and simple as possible.”

“Well,
you’re definitely making my job easy!” Kate said, grinning.

The doorbell
rang and Lucy jumped to her feet. “The food’s here!”  She grabbed some money off of the kitchen
counter and hurried to the front door.

Kate
stacked up the magazines and Lucy started unpacking the bag of food. The guys
came in from the living room and plates and takeout containers were passed
around. Soon, everyone was talking, laughing, and eating. Max plopped down in
the chair next to her and dug into his food. She kind of wanted to ask him why
he’d spoken to Jackson and Chris about their arrangement, but it didn’t really matter
anymore. Jackson had said things with the guys would either all blow over, or
they’d be really awkward. Things actually seemed to be okay.

*

On Christmas morning, Kate woke up
feeling like a kid again. Her parents had arrived two nights before. She’d
spent a lot of time with her mom shopping, wrapping last-minute presents, and
baking cookies. Lying in bed, she could smell piping hot cinnamon rolls in the
kitchen and she could just barely make out the faint strains of Christmas
carols playing on the radio. She stretched and then hopped out of bed, eager to
celebrate with her parents.

They were sitting at the counter,
each with a cup of coffee and a gooey cinnamon roll in front of them. She
hugged and kissed her mom and dad and wished them both a merry Christmas before
helping herself to one of the enormous pastries. For as long as she could
remember, her parents had always made her eat breakfast before opening any
presents. As a child, it had been an agonizing wait; now it was just nice to
have her parents back in the house with her.

The three of them chatted over
coffee before moving into the living room to exchange presents. Afterwards,
Kate and her mother returned to the kitchen to begin their preparations for Christmas
dinner that afternoon. Or, rather, Kate stood by and watched as her mother
began preparations for Christmas dinner.

“Will you guys stay for New Year’s
Eve?” Kate asked. “Lucy and Jackson are having a big party at their house.”

“I’d like to,” her mother said,
chopping celery. “Unfortunately, your father is itching to get back home.”

“Well, that’s too bad. Do you guys
have plans?”

“Up there?” she asked incredulously.
“What kind of plans would we have up there?
There’s nothing to do up there. Nothing.”

Kate had to agree there, but she had
assumed that her parents enjoyed the solitude of country living. It sounded
like maybe her mom didn’t like it as much as she’d thought. “Maybe dad has
something up his sleeve that you don’t know about.”

Her mom paused, the knife hovering
over the ribs of celery on the cutting board. “You’re joking, right?  This is your father that we’re talking
about.”

Kate shrugged helplessly, unsure of
what to say. It was rare to hear her mother voice any form of unhappiness. “Well,
maybe…” she began.

“How are plans for Lucy’s wedding
coming along?  Has she started making any
plans?” her mother interrupted, changing the subject.

Sensing that her mother wanted to
change the subject, Kate launched into the details of Lucy’s wedding plans. They
both had a chuckle over Lucy’s pink prom/wedding dress, and they agreed that no
matter what, Lucy would always do things her way.

After awhile, when the turkey was
stuffed and in the oven and the kitchen was straightened up, Kate and her mom sat
out on the back porch with cups of coffee. “And what about
you?”

Kate groaned inwardly. “What about
me?”

“Are you dating anyone now?  I haven’t heard you talk about anybody.”

Kate shook her head. “Things with
Chris didn’t really go anywhere,” she said. “Someone will come along
eventually, that’s what everybody says.”

Her mother nodded. “I just want you
to be happy.”

“I don’t necessarily need to date
anyone to be happy, do I?”

“No, but I’m sure it must be hard. Watching
Lucy and Jackson get together…”

Leave
it to my mom to hit the nail right on the head. “I’m really happy for them,
though. Really.”

“Of course you are.”

*

The
office doorbell jingled. “What are you doing here?” Julia asked, sticking her
head in Kate’s office.

Kate
was just shutting down her computer. “I wanted to finish my paperwork so that I
wouldn’t have to worry about it tomorrow or New Year’s Day. I’m all done,” she
said, holding out a stack of file folders. “What are you doing here?”

Julia
accepted the files and tucked them under her arm. “I didn’t want to call you
and bother you, what with your parents being in town… but I wanted to get away
for a little bit.”

“My
parents left this morning,” Kate said. “My dad couldn’t wait to get back to the
pigs and chickens,” she chuckled. “What’s up?
Alex’s parents still in town?”

Julia
nodded. “They’re staying ‘til after New Year’s.”

“Drinks?”
Kate suggested.

Julia’s
face lit up and she nodded again. “I’ll just go put these down!”

A
few minutes later, they were tucked away in the back corner of a little bar
just down the street. “I absolutely love Alex… but his family. Ugh!” Julia
groaned. “There’s not really anything I can do about them. Family is family.”

Kate
nodded. She’d heard Julia complain about Alex’s family on other occasions. Julia
didn’t seem to have anyone to vent to; she was so busy with work and taking
care of her daughter that Kate couldn’t recall her ever talking about friends
of hers. Kate wondered if she had
any.

*

Kate
peeked inside the coolers to make sure there were still plenty of drinks. Lucy
and Jackson were busy in the kitchen, pulling treats out of the oven and piling
them on trays while talking to the guests that lingered around the counter,
waiting to get their hands on snacks. The New Year’s Eve party was in full
swing. The night was mild and the doors to the back porch were wide open. People
came and went and Kate realized that, along with old friends and the usual
crowd, there were several people that she didn’t recognize. Most of these
people seemed to be coupled up.

She
leaned against the door frame and surveyed the crowd on the back deck.

Max was there
with the blonde girl from the engagement party. Apparently, they’d been pretty
hot and heavy. Kate had heard from Jackson that Max had been missing poker night
a lot lately because he’d been going out with his new girlfriend. Kate had been
missing poker night, too, but mostly just because she was working or didn’t
feel like hanging around all the guys.

Chris
had also brought a date to the party, but neither Lucy nor Jackson seemed to
know anything about her. She was short, with long black hair, and eyelashes so
thick and dark that Kate wondered if they were false. She didn’t seem to talk
to anybody but Chris, and he seemed hesitant to leave
her side.

Even
Kevin was busy chatting up a girl at the table. Kate scanned the deck one last
time and then turned her gaze inside. Then she glanced down at her watch. Forty-five
minutes until midnight. She stifled a yawn.

“Bored?”
Jackson asked, coming up next to her and taking a swig from his bottle of beer.

“No,”
Kate said. “Sorry. I just don’t think I’m really in the mood to party.”

“What?  You?  Not in the mood to party?”

Kate
smiled up at him. “You know, I’m actually kind of tired. I think I might head
home. Beat all the traffic and crazy drunk drivers going home. Watch the ball
drop in bed.”

Jackson
studied her face suspiciously. “You okay?”

“I’m
fine!” she cried. “Seriously. I think I’m just going
to go.”

“Are
you okay to drive?” he asked.

“Yes.
Tell Lucy to call me tomorrow morning and I’ll come back to help you guys clean
up.”  Kate threw her arms around
Jackson’s waist and gave him a squeeze. “Have fun!”

“Happy
New Year!” Jackson said.

Kate
hurried upstairs, grabbed her purse and keys out of Lucy and Jackson’s bedroom,
and made her way out of the house without anyone noticing her departure. Twenty
minutes later, as she turned down her street, all she could think about pulling
on her pajamas and curling up in bed. Then she saw the car in the driveway and
realized that there were lights on in the house.

Kate
pulled in next to the car - her mom’s - and rushed into the house. “Mom?  Are you
here?  Mom?” she called.

“Hi,
dear,” Karen said, emerging from the hallway wearing a thick robe. She was
toweling her hair dry. She looked exhausted.

“What’s
going on?  Is dad here?  Did you guys come back for New Year’s?  Why didn’t you call me?”

Karen
shook her head and her lip trembled.

“Mom,
what’s wrong?”

Kate
stood, still clutching her purse and keys, and watched as her mom bent at the
waist, wrapped her hair in the towel, and settled herself on the couch. She
patted the cushion next to her, and Kate sat down stiffly, dropping her things
on the floor at her feet. “I left your father,” she said simply. “I couldn’t
stay in that house, in the middle of nowhere, any longer. I just couldn’t do
it.”

“You
left him?  What do you mean, you left
him?  You’re going back, right?”

Karen raised her
shoulders in a half-shrug and shook her head slightly. “I can’t go back there. I
hate it there.”

“I
thought you guys wanted to retire up there!” Kate gasped.

“I
wanted to retire. Not… get put out to pasture. There’s nothing to do up there. Nothing. I miss the beach. I miss our friends. I miss you.”

Kate
wrapped her arms around her mom and pulled her in for a hug. “I miss you, too,
Mom. What are you going to do?”

“Your
father knows where to find me,” she said.

“Are
you guys… getting divorced?”  Just saying
the words made Kate cringe, and she felt as if she was ten years old.

“That’s
up to your father,” Karen said. “He can either stop pretending to be Old
MacDonald on the farm and come back here with us, or…”

“With
us?”

“Well,
yes. Here.”

“You
mean you’re staying here?  Living here?” Kate asked, leaning ever
so slightly away from her mother.

“It
is my house. Our
house.”  Karen said. “That’s okay,
isn’t it?”

“Um…”
Kate smiled. “It’ll have to be, right?
It’s your house.”

Kate
got up and went into her bedroom. She closed the door and sank against it,
wondering what the world was coming to. Her parents were separated?  Her mom was moving back in with her?  She looked around the room – the master
bedroom. When her parents moved out, she had immediately taken over the large
master bedroom. Would she have to surrender it to her mom?  What about having guys sleep over?  Not that she was really planning on having
any guys come over again anytime soon, but how would that work, with her mom at
home?

She
quickly shimmied out of her jeans and sweater and threw them in the closet. Then
she tugged on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt that were lying on the floor.
When she rejoined her mother in the living room, she couldn’t help but smile. Her
mom had gotten Kate’s pint of Cherry Garcia out of the freezer and was sitting
cross-legged on the couch, eagerly digging in.

Kate
curled up next to her mom and turned on the TV, quickly finding Ryan Seacrest and the New Year’s Eve festivities. “Are you
okay?” she asked, taking the spoon from her mom and helping herself
to a mouthful of ice cream.

“I’m
fine,” Karen smiled, taking the spoon back and scooping out a cherry. “I’m actually
better now that I’m here.”

Kate
scratched her head, unsure of what to do in this situation. “Should I call Dad
or anything, and tell him you’re okay?”

“He
knows I’m okay,” Karen said. “But you… Why are you home so early on New Year’s
Eve?”

Kate
shrugged. “I was tired. It also looked like I might have been the only single
person at Lucy and Jackson’s party. And I really wanted to come home and put my
pajamas on.”

“There’s
nothing wrong with that.”

*

“So,
how’s it going with your mom?” Lucy asked.

“Actually,
it’s not so bad,” Kate said, switching the phone to her other shoulder and flipping
through the clothes in her closet. “I gave her the master bedroom, so I’m back
in my old room. It took a couple weeks to get everything moved around and
reorganized. We’ve been going out a lot. I have to keep telling her not to do
my laundry. But she seems to be having fun.”

“What
about your dad?”

“I’ve
talked to him, and he seems kind of… undecided. I feel bad for him. I don’t
think he had any idea how unhappy my mom was. He really wanted to do the whole
Green Acres thing, but she didn’t. She just went along with it because that was
his dream.”

“That’s
so sad.”

Kate
sighed. “They love each other; they just don’t know what to do. One wants to be
there and the other wants to be here. And I think they might actually enjoy
being away from each other for the first time in thirty-something years.”

“Maybe
that’ll be me and Jackson someday,” Lucy giggled.

“Uh,
no. I don’t see either one of you running off and
trying to start a farm. What are you kids up to tonight, anyway?”

“I
think we’re going to see what’s on Netflix. Want to come over?  You can bring your mom.”

Kate
pulled a sparkly, purple sweater off of a hanger and tossed it on the bed. “Thanks,
but Mom and I are going out with Julia tonight.”

“Really?  Again?”

“We’re
going to karaoke. It’s something my mom has never done. She’s all about going
out and doing different things. Says she’s tired of sitting
at home and doing nothing.”

“Well,
you ladies have fun!”

Kate
said goodbye and tossed her phone on the bed. She yanked her t-shirt up over
her head and quickly tugged on the sweater. She yelled for her mom as she
opened her bedroom door. “Are you almost ready?”

“I’m
ready to go. You look nice in purple.”

“Thanks,”
Kate said, pushing up her sleeves and raking her fingers through her hair. “Let’s
go!  I told Julia we’d meet her there at nine.
We’re going to be late!”

They
arrived at the karaoke bar, named Fifteen Minutes, shortly after nine, and the
place was already crowded. Kate led her way through the web of tiny, crowded
tables and finally spotted Julia holding down a high-top near the stage. “Sorry!”
Karen said, reaching out and giving Julia a hug. “Kate was on the phone.”

“Sorry,”
Kate laughed.

“No
problem. I am just so glad you guys wanted to come out again. We’ve been so
busy getting ready for the Valentine’s Day fundraising benefit for the Heart
Association that I’m glad Kate’s taking a break and having some fun!”  Julia gushed. “What are you drinking, Karen?”

“I’ll
have a Long Island,” Karen said, perching on the stool and looking around. “So
how does this work, exactly?” she asked.

“I’ll
get the drinks,” Kate said, leaving Julia to explain karaoke to her mother. She
threaded her way through the crowd and to the bar where she quickly managed to
flag down a bartender and order two beers and a Long Island iced tea. She
turned around and leaned her elbows against the bar while to watch a trio of
girls belting out Prince’s “Kiss” on stage while she waited.

“I’ve
only been trying to get that guy’s attention for, like, ten minutes,” a loud
voice said in her ear, nearly making her jump.

“Kevin!”
she cried.

“Hey,
stranger!  I
haven’t seen you in forever!  What’s been
going on?”  They hugged quickly.

“Did
I jump in front of you or something?” she asked. She waved the bartender down
again. “Another beer, please?” she asked. “Put it on my tab.”

“Thanks,”
Kevin said. “So, where have you been?”

“Loooong story,” Kate said.

“You’ll
have to tell me sometime.”

“Yeah.
I’ll give you the abbreviated version for now. My mom’s been staying with me.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.
My parents are kind of doing this whole trial separation thing, I guess. So,
I’ve been spending a lot of time with her. She’s here with me and my boss,
Julia.”

“That
sucks. Is she okay?  Are you okay?”

“Oh,
yeah. She’s fine. I’m fine, too,” Kate added, tucking her
hair behind her ear. “I think they’ll work it out eventually.”

The
bartender placed the drinks in front of them and Kate and Kevin smiled at each
other. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your mom,” Kevin said, taking the bottle
of beer. “Thanks for this.”

“No
problem,” she said. She handed the bartender her debit card for the tab and
grabbed her two beer bottles in one hand and the glass in the other.

“Hey,
Kate. Call me if you ever want to talk or hang out. Don’t
be such a stranger.”

Kate
nodded and made her way back to her mom and Julia. She placed the drinks on the
table and seated herself in between them. “Have you picked a song yet?”

Karen grinned in
response.

“Really?  Already?  Do I know it?
Do I have to get up there and sing it with you?”

Karen
nodded. Julia giggled. “Yes, you know it.”

“Okay,”
Kate groaned. She wasn’t really a fan of karaoke. She had also been ridiculously
drunk every time she’d done it, so she couldn’t really recall any of her past
performances.

The
three ladies sat and chatted through renditions of “Like a Virgin,” “Living on
a Prayer,” and “Piano Man.”  The next
thing she knew, Kate was being hauled off of her bar stool by her mother and
led onstage.

As
soon as the music started, Kate recognized the song. “Just like the white winged dove sings a song, sounds like she’s
singing, who… who… who…”   Kate and
Julia let Karen take the lead, and Kate was surprised to find that her mom made
a halfway decent Stevie Knicks.

She
spotted Kevin and a couple of his buddies in the back of the crowd, near the
bar. He raised his bottle to her in a salute and she waved back, trying not to
laugh as she sang into the microphone with Julia. When the song ended, they
made their way back to their table. Kate was relieved that the experience
hadn’t been too terribly traumatic.

As
the three of them giggled and rearranged themselves on their stools, Kevin
approached with two bottles of beer and another drink. “Nicely done, ladies!”
he said, high-fiving everyone at the table.

“Thank
you,” Kate said. “Kevin, this is my mom, Karen, and this is my boss, Julia. This
is my friend Kevin,” she said.

“Hi,
Kevin. Thank you for the drinks. That’s so sweet,” Karen
beamed, taking her glass and swirling the little straw around in it. “How do
you two know each other?”

“We’re
friends,” Kate said. She looked at her mom, wide-eyed, hoping that she didn’t
think that Kevin was one of her other kind
of friends. “Just friends.”

Kevin
nodded in agreement. “Yes, and as your friend, I was coming to ask if you’d
like to go to my friend’s Super Bowl party.”

Kate
found herself staring at Kevin. Did he
just ask me on a date in front of my mom?!

“As friends,” he
added.

Karen
nudged Kate into speaking. “Yes. Sure. That sounds like fun. Thank you.”

“I’ll
call you,” Kevin said. “Ladies, I really enjoyed your performance.”

“Thanks
for the drinks!” Julia called as he walked away.

“He’s
cute,” Karen said.

“Mom,
that’s Kevin.”

“He’s
cute,” Julia agreed.

“We’re
just friends,” Kate said. “That’s it.”

*

When
Super Bowl Sunday rolled around, Kate found herself not knowing what two teams
were even playing, but she knew that Madonna was the halftime show, so it
couldn’t be all that bad. She finished up her work at the office and rushed
home to freshen up. She threw on jeans and a plain white t-shirt and pulled her
hair up into a ponytail. I’m only hanging
out with Kevin, she thought, so it’s
not like I need to get all dressed up. She studied her reflection in the
mirror, and then another thought crossed her mind. But what if he has cute guy friends?

Half
an hour later, she had curled her hair and applied a full face of makeup. It
seemed like a bit much for just going and watching the commercials during a
football game, but she figured it was better to make the extra effort just in
case she met anyone interesting.

“Wow,”
Kevin said, as she got into the car next to him.

“Hi,”
she smiled. “What?”

“Nothing,”
Kevin said. “Nothing.”

They drove along companionably, making small
talk about who would be at the party, the hosts, Mike and Valerie, and some of
Kevin’s other friends. Kevin fumbled with the radio a few times until he
finally gave up and played a Coldplay CD instead.  Kate felt a little awkward and tried to
remember the last time she and Kevin had really done anything together, just
the two of them. The only thing she could really come up with was waking up on
his couch the morning after Lucy and Jackson had gotten engaged.

When
they arrived at Mike and Valerie’s house, however, Kate immediately felt
relaxed and welcome. “Hi!” Valerie gushed, immediately taking Kate by the arm. “I’m
glad Kevin brought someone with him. Can I get you anything to drink?  We have a ton of snacks. Grab something and
go pick a seat in the living room before all the comfy spots get taken!”

Kevin
nudged Kate. “I told you that Valerie was really nice. Want a beer?”

Kate
nodded and wandered into the kitchen and picked up a football-shaped plate. She
started scooping chips, dips, meatballs, and macaroni salad onto her plate. “Save
room for dessert,” Kevin said. “Valerie makes these crazy-delicious chocolate
peanut butter brownies.”

Kate
took her beer from Kevin and stood by while he loaded his plate with food. Then
she followed him into the living room where they plopped down on the loveseat
together. “Hey, man, what’s up?” Kevin said, balancing his plate on his knees
and leaning over to shake a guy’s hand. “Everybody, this is my friend, Kate. Kate,
this is everybody!”

Kate
smiled and said hello. “Hey, it’s Stevie Nicks,” one of the guys said, raising
a bottle of beer in her direction. Kate assumed that he had been with Kevin at
Fifteen Minutes and witnessed her karaoke performance. She said hello and hoped
that she wasn’t blushing too much.

As
she surveyed the room, she realized, again, that everyone seemed to be paired
up with someone else. And most of the guys who were single didn’t seem to be
all that cute. A lot of them were wearing backwards baseball hats and acted suspiciously
like they were perhaps still in their early twenties. She’d definitely overdone
it with the hair and makeup. She looked down at the plate of food in her lap. At
least there would be brownies.

*

Kate
and Julia leaned against their cars in the parking lot of the Davenport Hotel,
both absolutely exhausted. The Heart Association’s Valentine’s Day fundraiser
had been a huge success, and Julia had made contact with lots of future clients.
It was rare that Bride Ideas organized such a large-scale event, but Julia was
never one to shy away from a challenge when it presented itself. It had been a
lot of work on top of the weddings they had planned earlier in the day, but
everything had gone smoothly.

“So,
do you and Alex have any romantic Valentine’s Day plans?” Kate asked.

“Are you
kidding?” Julia asked. “All I want to do is go home and go to bed. What about
you?”

Kate
snorted. “I guess I’m going home to hang out with my mom.”

“What?  No date?”

Kate
shook her head. “Nope. Everybody’s busy.”  This was an assumption, really. She hadn’t
heard from anybody in awhile, so she didn’t really know what anybody was up to.

“What
about that nice guy from karaoke?  Didn’t
you go out with him?”

“I
went to a party at his friends’ house. It wasn’t a date or anything. Besides,
I’m tired. I want to go home and take these shoes off and get into my pajamas.”  Sometimes she felt like that was all she did
after work anymore. “Maybe I’ll pick up some Pei Wei on the way home or
something.”

“Well,
I hope you have a good night. Thank you for all of your hard work on this event.
I’d say it was a success!” Julia threw her arms around Kate.

They
said goodbye and Kate slid in behind the steering wheel. She rummaged around in
her purse for her cell phone and quickly dialed. The phone rang and rang; her
mom didn’t pick up, but the answering machine did. “Hey, Mom, it’s me. I was
going to stop at Pei Wei on the way home and get some caramel chicken for
dinner. Do you want an order?  Call me
back.”

She
drove to the restaurant and was surprised to find that even though it was busy,
the line moved quickly. Before her turn at the counter, she quickly dialed her
phone one more time. Still no answer. She decided to
order two dishes, just to be on the safe side.

On
the drive home, all Kate could think about was putting on her pajamas, finding
a movie on Netflix, and digging in to some good food. By
the time she turned down her street, her stomach was actually growling. She was
so focused on getting food into her belly, that when she pulled into the
driveway, she nearly drove right into the back of a truck that was parked in
her spot. She stepped on the brake just in time and peered over the steering
wheel. It was her dad’s truck. No wonder her mom hadn’t answered the phone.

Kate
gathered up her bag of food and her purse and headed towards the door. Unsure
of what to expect, she took a deep breath and headed inside. She stopped dead
in her tracks.

The
whole house was glowing with candlelight. Candles were spread out over every
surface. Kenny G was playing on the stereo. And in the middle of the living
room, her parents were slow-dancing.

“Uh.
Hi, Dad. Hi, Mom.”

“Hi,
honey!” her dad said, holding out his arm to her. Kate crossed the room and her
parents folded her in their embrace while she stood, holding her bag of Chinese
food.

“Everything
okay, I take it?” she asked, stepping back.

“Everything
is wonderful!” her mother beamed, leaning in and resting her head against her
father’s chest.

“That’s
good,” Kate said, taking the food into the kitchen. She pulled a fork out of
the drawer and opened her container of chicken. She kicked off her shoes and
stood at the counter, eating and trying not to spill rice down the front of her
dress, while her parents continued to slow dance around the living room, murmuring
to each other and smiling. They were kind of cute, actually.

Kate
sighed and continued to shovel chicken, pineapples, and rice into her mouth,
only pausing to get a can of Diet Coke out of the fridge. When she closed the
refrigerator door, her parents were standing in the kitchen, arms wrapped
around each other, smiling gaily at her.

“Your
father’s moving back home!” her mother announced.

Even
though she knew that her parents’ separation would be short-lived and that
their reconciliation was inevitable, she still felt a sense of relief that
everything was going to be okay with them. And then…

“Wait.
What?”

“I’ve
decided to sell the property up north. I had no idea that your mother was so
unhappy up there. Living apart like this – this is no way to live. So I’m
moving back home. Here. Where we
can be together like we belong.”

“All
of us,” her mother added.

Kate put her fork down and swallowed her most recent
bite of food with some difficulty. “You’re moving back here?  When?”

“Your
mother and I are going to go pack up the house tomorrow. I’ve already spoken to
a realtor, and…”

As
her father explained how quick and easy the moving process would be, all Kate
could think about was the fact that she would be living at home with both of
her parents again. The only time she’d actually done so after college was when
she first graduated and was still looking for a job and an apartment. She moved
out as soon as she could so that she could be on her own. Of course, when her
parents decided that they were going to move north to play at being farmers,
she happily accepted their offer to stay in their old family home, which they had
decided to sit on, rather than sell.

“Isn’t
that great?” her mother asked, interrupting her thoughts.

She
nodded. “That’s great,” she said. “I’m glad you guys worked everything
out.”  She hurriedly scooped the last few
forkfuls of food into her mouth at once and smiled at her parents, her cheeks
bulging. She chewed quickly, hugged both of her parents, and then excused
herself to go to her room.

She
tugged off her cocktail dress and replaced it on the hanger. She hadn’t
intended on going anywhere tonight, but she also didn’t want to sit around and
watch her parents kiss and swoon like lovesick teenagers. She pulled on a pair
of jeans, a hooded sweatshirt, and flip-flops and headed back into the living
room. Her parents were back at it, dancing again. They were completely
oblivious as she grabbed her purse and slipped out the front door.

Kate
started driving without really having a destination in mind. She didn’t want to
bother Julia, knowing that she was probably already fast asleep. She hesitated
a few seconds, and then decided to give Lucy a call. The phone rang a few times
before Lucy’s voicemail picked up. Of course, Lucy and Jackson were probably
out celebrating Valentine’s Day.

Months
ago, Kate would have called up Max or Chris. Now, both of those guys were also
probably celebrating Valentine’s Day… with someone else. It wasn’t necessarily
that she wanted someone to be romantic with tonight – she just wanted someone
to hang out with.

Taking
a deep breath, she dialed Kevin’s number. As the phone continued to ring, she
realized that he, too, might have Valentine’s Day plans with someone. She was
about to hang up, when he finally answered in a sleepy, gravelly voice. “Hello?”

“Hey…
Kevin. It’s Kate. Um… Were you… sleeping?”

“Yeah,
but that’s okay. What’s up?”

“It’s
not even ten o’clock yet!” Kate exclaimed.

“Well,
it’s not like I had any major plans this evening.”

“Me
either. Happy Valentine’s Day, by the way,” she said.

“Yeah,”
he yawned. “So what’s up?”

“Well,
I was going to ask if maybe you wanted to, um, hang out or do something, but,
um, since you’re sleeping and all…”

“No!  I’m up. I’ll get dressed. What do you want to
do?” he asked.

Kate
chewed on the inside of her cheek. “Uh… I don’t know. I didn’t really have a
plan. I just kind of got in my car and started driving. Everyone’s busy
tonight,” she added. Suddenly, she regretted saying that. She didn’t want Kevin
to think he was her last resort. Even though… Well, he
kind of was.

“Everyone
except me and you,” Kevin laughed. “How about I meet you at the Sand Bar in ten
minutes?”

“That
sounds good,” Kate asked. She was already only a few minutes away. “I’ll see
you then.”

Kate
hung up the phone and tossed it in her purse on the passenger’s seat, relieved
to have some sort of plan for Valentine’s Day. It would beat sitting at home
with her parents. When she arrived at the Sand Bar, it was obvious that any
couples celebrating the romantic holiday had chosen to go elsewhere. There were
people sitting at tables clustered around the portable heaters and there were
several patrons at the bar, but none of them looked to be particularly
lovey-dovey; it was just the typical Saturday night bar crowd.

She
ordered two beers at the bar and then sat down at an empty table. She put her
feet up on one of the empty chairs and sat waiting for Kevin. As she thought
about how she was spending her Valentine’s Day, she smiled. She wasn’t moping
around the house. And it was actually kind of nice to not have to worry about
getting dressed up to go out on a date, or to worry about buying a present or
making some kind of romantic gesture. She was happy to sit with her feet up,
bundled in a heavy sweatshirt, drinking a beer – even if it was a little chilly
out.

“Take
it easy,” Kevin said, coming up behind her. “I know what happened the last time
you had too many.”  He gestured to the
two beer bottles on the table.

“One’s
for you,” Kate said, rolling her eyes. “Thanks for coming out.”

“No
problem,” Kevin said, sitting down next to her. He struck the same pose,
putting his feet up on the empty chair across from him, and took a sip of his
beer. Kate peered at him. She found it funny that they were dressed alike –
jeans, hooded sweatshirt, flip-flops. He smiled at her, and she realized that
he still looked a little sleepy.

“Sorry
for waking you up,” she said.

“It’s
really no problem. I’m glad you called. I keep telling you not to be a stranger.
So, to what do I owe this unexpected invitation?”

“Well,
I wasn’t planning on doing anything tonight,” she said. “But I got home from
doing this thing for work, and… You know how I told you my parents were
separated?”  Kevin nodded. “Well, I got
home and apparently they’re back together.”

“That’s
great!” Kevin said.

“Kind
of. They’re back together, and they’re moving back in. With me.”

“Oh…”
Kevin said.

“I
mean, it’s their house anyway, so it’s not like I can do anything about it,
but…  It means that I’ll be living with
my parents again.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.
Not too thrilled about that. I mean, I love my parents, and I’m glad they
worked everything out. I’m just not sure that I can handle living with them
again,” she admitted.

“Maybe
it won’t be so bad.”

“I
don’t know,” Kate sighed. “We’ll see.”

*

The next morning, Kate woke up with
a terrible headache. She rubbed her eyes and reviewed the night before. All she
had done was have a few beers with Kevin. Three. That
was it. They’d sat together at the Sand Bar until it got too cold and they were
both too sleepy, and she came home and went straight to bed. She didn’t think
it was much after midnight when she’d fallen asleep. So why did she feel so
awful?

She yawned, and her yawn turned into
a cough. She swallowed and her throat felt dry and scratchy. When she sat up,
she felt a little light-headed. On her nightstand, her cell phone rang. The
shrill tone made her head hurt even worse. “Hello?” she croaked.

“God, you sound terrible!” Lucy
cried.

“I feel terrible,” Kate groaned.

“Oh, no. Are
you sick?”

“I don’t know,” Kate said, sinking
back down against her pillows. “My head hurts, my throat hurts, and…” she
sniffled. “And my nose is stuffy.”  She
felt very cold.

“Do you want me to bring you
anything?”

“No, I think I just want to go back
to bed. Thank you, though.”

“Okay. Well, let me know if you need
anything.”

Kate said goodbye to Lucy and then,
before she could fall back to sleep, she called Julia. As soon as she spoke,
Julia could tell something was wrong. “You poor thing!”
Julia said. “You probably got yourself all run down from working on the
Valentine’s Day gala. You’ve just been go-go-go for weeks!”

“I just wanted to let you know that
I wouldn’t be in today, in case you were looking for me,” Kate said. “I really
think I just need to go back to sleep and then I’ll feel better.”

“No problem!” Julia said. “You just
get some rest and let me know if you need anything.”

Kate replaced her phone on the
nightstand and snuggled back down under the covers. She was asleep within
minutes.

When she woke up a few hours later,
her head was still pounding and her nose was completely stuffed up. Kate made
her way into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. She helped herself
to some Advil, some vitamin C, and some cold medicine that was probably expired.
She walked slowly into the kitchen and it dawned on her why the house was so
quiet – her parents had gone to start packing and moving things out of the
other house. At least she’d have the place to herself a little while longer. She
poured herself a glass of orange juice, gulped it down quickly, and then poured
herself a refill, which she took back into her bedroom.

She slept on and off throughout the
day, ignoring her phone as it buzzed on the nightstand next to her. Every time
she woke up, the light in her room had changed, and she knew that hours had
passed. Fine with her. All she wanted to do was sleep.
She got up once to go to the bathroom and considered getting something to eat,
but as she looked around the kitchen, nothing seemed appealing. Back to bed she
went.

Later that afternoon, she became
aware of her cell phone’s almost constant buzzing. She reached for it and
dropped it into her purse on the floor, hoping that it would get lost in the
contents and dull the sound. She wanted desperately to go back to sleep so that
she didn’t have to be annoyed by her stuffy nose and scratchy throat. The
pounding in her head got worse and worse until she realized that it wasn’t just
her headache… there was actually a very loud knocking coming from the front
door.

Holding her head, she got out of bed
and stumbled through the living room to the door. She opened it and winced at
the afternoon sunlight. It took her a second before she realized that Kevin was
standing in front of her, holding two plastic shopping bags. She didn’t know
what to say, so he carefully moved past her and headed towards the kitchen. She
closed the door and followed him.

“I heard you were really sick. Lucy
told Jackson and Jackson told me and I felt really bad because you probably caught
a cold from sitting outside last night.”

Kate’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, gosh. It’s not like it’s your fault or anything,” she
said. She watched as he emptied the grocery bags onto her kitchen counter –
Kleenex, ginger ale, orange juice, NyQuil, a decongestant,
Lysol spray, cough drops, and a deli container of soup.

“Well, I still feel bad. Where are
your bowls?”  She pointed to a cabinet
and watched in a daze as he poured her a steaming bowl of soup and handed it to
her. “Spoons?”
She pointed to a drawer and he handed her a spoon. “Now, eat that,” he
said, “take this, and go back to bed.”
He pushed the decongestant towards her, balled up the grocery bags, and
tossed them in the garbage can under the sink.

“Thank you,” Kate managed to say.

“No problem,” Kevin said. He patted
her gently on the shoulder and went back into the living room, where he paused
at the front door. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” Kate repeated. Kevin
let himself out and closed the door softly behind him. She stood in the middle
of the kitchen, looking down into her bowl of soup. “What the heck was that?”
she said to herself.

She sat at the counter and slurped
her soup. She was really hungry, and even though her sense of taste was dulled,
the hot soup felt good on her throat. When she finished, she put her bowl and
spoon in the sink and poured herself a glass of ginger ale. She helped herself
to the decongestant and was headed back to her bedroom, following Kevin’s
orders.

*

“Feeling any better?” Lucy asked.

“A little,” Kate sighed into the
phone. She’d spent most of the past two days in bed and had finally returned to
work so that she could reschedule her missed appointments. All the work had
made her even more exhausted, so now that she was home again, all she wanted to
do was go to bed.

“Do you need anything?” Lucy asked.

“No, I’m okay. Actually, Kevin
brought a bunch of stuff over the other day.”

“Kevin?”

“Yeah. He
said he heard that I was sick and he showed up with a bunch of stuff.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that was sweet,” Lucy said.

“And totally unexpected,” Kate
agreed. “As a matter of fact, I should probably call to say thank you.”  She vaguely remembered thanking him when he’d
brought everything over, but she was so sick and in such a daze, that she felt
it was necessary to thank him again now that she was a little more
clear-headed.

When Kevin answered the phone, he
was happy to hear that she sounded better. “No offense, but you looked like the
walking dead when I came by your house the other day.”

Kate laughed, and it turned into a
spluttering cough. She cleared her throat. “None taken,” she said. “I felt like
it.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,”
Kevin said. “But you still sound like crap.”

“Thanks. I’m getting there,” she
said.

“Well, go get some rest. You
probably still need it.”

Kate hung up the phone and made herself comfortable on the couch. She was flipping through
the channels when she heard a big truck pull into the driveway. Her parents
were back. The front door flew open and the house was immediately filled with
noise as her parents came in carrying the first armfuls of boxes. “House is on
the market!” her dad cried.

“How are you feeling?” her mom asked.
“You just stay put,” she said, putting down a box in the middle of the living
room and going over to feel Kate’s forehead. “No fever. That’s good.”

“I’m fine,” Kate said. “Let me help
you.”  As exhausted as she was, she
couldn’t sit by and watch her parents unload the U-Haul by themselves. She
would help them carry everything in and then they could sort it out later.

As they made their trips back and
forth, Kate found herself dragging, but seeing her parents so happy together
lifted her spirits. Living with them again probably wouldn’t be a picnic, but
it was reassuring to see them being so cheerful, the way they always were.

When they finished unloading the
truck, her parents got cleaned up and went out to dinner to officially celebrate
their reunion. They invited Kate to join them, but she decided to take a shower
and get to bed early.

She was just dozing off when her
cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hey, Kate.
It’s Kevin.”

“Hey,” she said.

“I know that you’re still getting
over your cold, but I was wondering if maybe, if you were feeling better this
weekend, if you’d want to come to my niece’s first birthday party on Saturday.”

Kate sat up in bed. What an odd
invitation. She wasn’t sure how to respond. “Uh…”

“I know. That’s weird, right?  The thing is, it’s going to be a lot of
family and little kids, and I figured it would be kind of boring. I mean… Yeah.
You don’t have to come. I just told you it was going to be boring. Why would
you want to come?  I just thought, you
know, it would be a little more bearable if I had someone to hang out with.”

“Okay,” she replied, after some
hesitation. “If I’m feeling better, I’ll go. If you want me
to.”

“If it’s not your thing, I
understand. It’s not really my thing either, but it’s family,” Kevin chuckled. “You’ll
really go?”

“Sure,” she said. “I mean, I’ll call
you on Friday and let you know how I’m feeling.”

“Really?  Thanks,” he said, sounding almost relieved.

“Thanks for the invitation,” she
said. “I’ll talk to you on Friday.”

Kate hung up the phone, turned off
the light, and slid down under the covers. She wasn’t sure what was going on
with Kevin. She hoped she hadn’t given him the wrong impression by calling and
asking him to hang out on Valentine’s Day.

*

Recalling how Lucy had showed up to
her own engagement celebration with gifts for the host, Kate stood next to
Kevin holding a pink ceramic piggy bank for the birthday girl as he introduced
her to his entire family – his parents, Carol and John; his sister and
brother-in-law Kelly and Peter; his niece Isabella, several cousins, some aunts
and uncles, and even his 89-year old grandmother.

Kelly accepted the piggy bank and
gave Kate a huge hug. “This is so cute!
Thank you!” she said.

“Would you like to hold her?” Carol
asked, coming forward with Isabella. “She loves to cuddle.”  Kate looked at Kevin as he suspiciously took
a step away from her.

She didn’t want to seem impolite so
Kate took Isabella in her arms and smiled down at the little girl. Isabella
looked back and forth from Kelly to Kate and then finally reached up with both
chubby hands and squished Kate’s cheeks together. Kate made a fish face and
Isabella cracked up. Then she reached up further and grabbed two chunks of
Kate’s hair in both hands and pulled. Kate gasped and giggled nervously.

“Bella!  No!  Leave Kate’s hair alone!” Kelly said, rushing forward to
untangle the baby’s fingers from Kate’s hair. She scooped the baby up and
offered Kate an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry about that,” she said.

“No problem,” Kate said. “It’s fine.
I’m fine!”

“Maybe you should put your hair in a
ponytail,” Kevin winked, nudging her. He gestured to the sliding glass doors
leading out to his parents’ backyard and Kate followed him. They sat down at a
picnic table to wait for the festivities to begin. One of Kevin’s preteen
cousins came up with a football and asked him to throw it around for awhile. “Will
you be all right for a few minutes?” Kevin asked.

“Sure. Go play,” Kate said. She
cupped her chin in her hand and watched Kevin pass the ball back and forth with
his cousin.

“Have some punch,” Carol said,
coming and sitting down next to her. She handed her a cup. Kate thanked her and
took a sip. “Kevin’s talked about you an awful lot lately. It’s nice to finally
meet you.”

“He has?” Kate asked, nearly choking
on her punch.

“Yes. He said that you two went out
on Valentine’s Day,” Carol smiled.

Kate found herself blushing. “Oh. We,
um, went out on Valentine’s Day, but we didn’t… go out,” she tried explaining.

Carol patted her hand. “That’s what
I meant.”

“Oh,” Kate grinned.

“He must like you, though. He told
me that he got up out of bed to go meet you.”

Kate’s blush grew deeper. “I felt
bad for waking him up,” she admitted.

Carol laughed. “If there’s one thing
that Kevin loves, it’s his sleep.”

“Are you guys talking about me?”
Kevin called from across the yard.

“No!” Kate replied.

“Of course!”
Carol teased.

“Mom, leave Kate alone!” he groaned.
Kate and Carol both chuckled. They were joined by his sister Kelly. “Not you, too!”

Kelly giggled. “How long have you
and my brother been dating?”

“We’re not dating,” Kate replied. “We’re
just friends.”  She wasn’t sure, but she
thought she saw Carol and Kelly exchange glances across the table.

“Sorry,” Kelly said. “It’s just that
he mentioned there was someone…” As if she could sense Kevin approaching her
from behind, she let her words trail off. He rested his hands on her shoulders.

“What are you guys talking about?”
he asked.

“Nothiiiing,”
Kelly grinned, stiffening.

Kevin jokingly pretended to wrap his
fingers around Kelly’s throat and wring her neck before sitting down next to
her. He nudged Kate’s foot under the table with his own. “Are they harassing
you?”

“Not at all,” Kate smiled. “We were
just chatting.”

“When are you going to ask her out?”
Kelly asked.

It was Kevin’s turn to blush as he
sat, gaping at his sister.

“Kelly, don’t embarrass your
brother,” Carol ordered, chuckling. “Let’s go get the cake and get set up out
here so Isabella can open her presents.”
The two of them got up, grinning.

“Sorry. I’m not sure who’s worse. My mom or my sister.”

“It’s okay,” Kate said. “They’re
cute.”

“Yeah. Real
cute,” Kevin laughed.

A few minutes later, Kelly came out
with a small cake for Isabella and Carol trailed, carrying another one for the
guests. Kevin’s family gathered around as Peter carried Isabella to the high
chair and strapped her in. John stood by with his camera, feverishly snapping
pictures of the guests, the baby, and her parents. Kelly placed the cake in
front of Isabella, who looked at it questioningly. She swiped her fingers
across the top, gathering a fistful of fluffy, pink frosting. She squeezed the
icing in her hand and held out her sticky, messy palm. Everyone chuckled. Isabella’s
mouth formed a little round “o” of delight as she did it with the other hand
and nobody did anything to stop her. Then she immediately started pounding on
the tray of her high chair, sending flecks of frosting splattering everywhere.

While Isabella destroyed her
birthday confection, Kevin got up and got two pieces of cake. He sat down next
to Kate and slid a plate in front of her. “Thanks,” she said. They ate their
cake and laughed with everyone else as Isabella picked up handfuls of cake and
frosting and threw them onto the ground, letting out a laugh with every splat.

Kate and Kevin sat together as Kelly
helped Isabella open her presents, which took a long time, because Isabella had
to inspect every scrap of paper, length of ribbon, and piece of tape. From time
to time, Kevin would get up to talk to family members and someone would sit
down in his spot and make small talk with Kate. She especially liked talking to
his grandmother, who seemed very sweet, if not all there.

When Isabella had finished with her
presents and had gone down for a nap, Kelly and Carol started cleaning up. Kevin
announced that it was time to take Kate home. “I think she’s had enough of you
guys,” he said, wrapping his mom in a big bear hug.

“He’s just saying that!” Kate said,
playfully smacking him on the arm. “It was really nice meeting you!”

Carol let go of Kevin and pulled
Kate into a hug. “It was nice meeting you, too, dear. We’ll have to have you
over again sometime when there’s not a huge crowd of people.”

Kelly was right behind Carol,
waiting to give Kate a hug, too. “It was great to meet you!” she said warmly. “Thank
you for Isabella’s piggy bank!”

Kevin and Kate made their way
through the house, saying goodbye to the family members that remained. In his
car, Kevin let out a sigh of relief. “Sorry about that,” he said.

“What?  Your mom and your sister?  No big deal.”

“I hope they weren’t too annoying.”

“God, no. They
were really nice.”

“You still not feeling well?” he
asked. They both laughed.

“I had a nice time. Really.”

“Thanks for coming.”  He smiled at her.

Kate
smiled back and wasn’t sure what else to say. When they arrived at her house,
she thought about inviting him in, but considering that her parents’ boxes were
still all over the place and things were piled up around the house, she decided
against it.

“Let’s
hang out again soon,” she said.

“Sure.
You know, you can come play poker whenever you want. I’ve gotten some other
guys to play, every once in awhile, too. You know, Miles and Joe?  They were at the Super Bowl party.”

“Maybe
sometime,” she said. “Thanks again.”

Inside,
she was greeted by her mother standing in front of the entertainment center,
dusting and rearranging picture frames. “How was your date?  That was the nice guy from karaoke, right?”

“It
wasn’t a date,” Kate corrected her. “But yes, that was the guy from karaoke. My friend Kevin.”

“Not
a date?  Where did you go?  What did you do?”

“We
went to his niece’s first birthday party.”

Her
mother raised her eyebrows. “You met his family?”

“Yeah.
So?”

Her
mother just smiled.

*

A few weeks later, Kate was hanging
out at Lucy’s house for a girls’ night in while Jackson was out celebrating his
birthday with the guys. Kate brought two bottles of wine and Lucy provided lots
of snacks.

They started out the evening by discussing
wedding plans, but Lucy wanted everything to be so simple, and so much had
already been planned, that there really wasn’t much to discuss. They ended up
sitting out on the deck and just talking about anything else that came to mind.
It had been awhile since they’d spent much time together, so they had some
catching up to do. They talked about Lucy’s class at school, and some of Kate’s
clients, and Kate’s parents’ reconciliation. Before they knew it, it was after
midnight, and Jackson was home from his celebration.

“Hello, ladies,” he said, bending
down in between them and kissing each one on the cheek.

“You’re home awful early, aren’t
you?” Lucy asked.

“It’s a bitch getting old, huh?”
Kate teased.

Jackson nodded. “Yeah, it is,” he
said. He sat down with them and grinned. “Plus Chris had to get to his
girlfriend’s house. She kept calling and calling. That boy’s got it bad.”

“Really?”
Kate asked.

“She’s kind of a snob. None of us
like her,” Jackson said.

“Jackson says she’s a real pain in
the ass,” Lucy added.

Kate shrugged. “Doesn’t
matter to me. That’s all in the past.”

“Then why don’t you come play poker
anymore?” Jackson asked.

“I don’t know. Things just got
weird.”

Jackson waved it off. “Whatever. Chris
is dating somebody. Max is dating somebody. We’re all still friends. No big
deal.”

“I know,” she said. “I just haven’t
felt like it.”

“You can’t avoid those guys
forever,” Jackson said.

“Have you worked with Chris at all
lately?” Lucy asked.

“Actually, no,” she sighed. “But I
do have a wedding coming up with him next weekend.”

“Seriously, Kate.
It’s not that big of a deal,” Jackson said.

“I know, I
know,” Kate said, starting to get annoyed. “It was just stupid, that’s all. I
never should have gotten involved with either of them. Things will never be the
same.”

“Things
may never be the same, but that doesn’t mean you guys can’t still be friends,”
Lucy said.

Kate
folded her arms across her chest.

Jackson
got to his feet. “Just leave Kevin alone,” he said, winking at her. “Three
strikes and you’re out.”

*

The
following weekend, Kate worked on her first wedding with Chris in a long time. He
kept popping up out of nowhere to try to engage her in conversation, and she
kept coming up with excuses to avoid him.  She made it through the entire wedding and
reception without really having to talk to him.

That
is, until she made it to her car. “Hey,” Chris said. He was leaning against the
trunk. Kate had to fight the urge to groan out loud.

“I’ve
missed you,” he said. She raised her eyebrows at him, opened the car door, and
tossed her purse onto the passenger seat. “I mean, we all have. There’s a poker
game tonight at Kevin’s. You should come. How come you don’t ever come play
cards anymore?”

“Because
things got complicated, that’s all.”

“Complicated?”
Chris repeated. “You mean with me?”

“Whoever.
Whatever.”

“None
of that matters.”

“It
doesn’t matter?” she asked. “Thanks a lot. It mattered to me.”

“I
didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that we’ve been friends for a long time.
We should be able to get past this.”

“Maybe
you can, but I can’t,” she said. “I never should have dated you. Or fooled around with Max. Once you go there with a friend,
things are never the same. Admit it.”

“We’re
still friends,” he insisted. “Kate, come on. You’re like one of the guys.”

“Yeah,
well maybe I’m tired of being one of the guys,” she said, getting in the car and
slamming the door.

*

Sitting in her office a few weeks
later, Kate was busy typing up proposals and doing research for her newest
clients. Every year, usually starting sometime in March or April, she and Julia
became swamped with new brides that had gotten engaged on Valentine’s Day. This
year was no different.

“Go home,” Julia said, sticking her
head in the door. “It’s late. I don’t want you getting sick again. You work too
hard.”

Kate grinned. “I know, but we’re so
busy!”

“Isn’t it great?” Julia beamed.

Kate nodded and saved the file she
was working on. “Want to get a drink?” she asked. “Maybe some
dinner?”

“I can’t tonight,” Julia said. “Alex
has something going on at the school tonight so I’ve got to get home to Allie.”

“Okay,” Kate said, trying to hide
her disappointment.

“Soon, though. We need another night
out. You should ask your mom, too. We can go to karaoke again.”

Kate giggled. “She’d like that.”

“I’ll lock up. Don’t stay too long,”
Julia said.

Kate decided that since she didn’t have
any plans that evening that she might as well stay late and get all of her
research done because it would make the rest of the week easier. Besides, she
liked looking through their files of pictures for ideas and trying to find a
visual representation of what a bride was looking for. It was times like this
when Kate found herself daydreaming about her own wedding.

Sometimes she thought she’d want
something small, simple, and private like Lucy and Jackson’s wedding. No fuss,
no muss. Other times, when she was trying to find a rose in the exact same
shade as a bridesmaid gown or when she’d come across a picture of a beautifully
decorated table, she couldn’t help picturing a huge, romantic wedding.

Someday.

For now, she’d have to concentrate
on Miss Elizabeth Cutcher’s wedding in November. She
reached into her desk drawer and pulled out a file folder marked “Autumn.”  In it were
pictures that she’d torn out of magazines, printed off the Internet, and taken
at weddings that she herself had planned. The bride had mentioned that purple
was her favorite color, but she wasn’t sure how she could work that color into
her autumn colored wedding. No problem. Kate started picking out pictures to
show her the next time she came in. Plum colored calla lilies. Bouquets wrapped
in eggplant colored ribbon. She even found a picture of a bouquet of peach
roses with delicate purple orchids tucked in. If this bride wanted purple, she
would get purple.

She did the same type of research
for several more of her new clients, compiling pictures and printouts to help
the ladies visualize all of the possible combinations of colors, flowers, and
styles. When she finished, she was stunned to see that it was almost eight
o’clock. It was definitely time to go home.

Happy that she had gotten so much
accomplished, Kate shut down her computer, turned all the lights off in the
office, and made sure to double check that the door was locked. She started
walking to her car and was surprised to see Kevin walking down the sidewalk
towards her, carrying a pizza box. “Hey there!” he said, his face breaking into
a wide smile.

Kate immediately felt bad. It had
been a few weeks since she’d seen or spoken to Kevin. This was partly because
she’d gotten so busy with work, and partly because she was afraid that maybe
she’d given him the wrong impression by hanging out with him. Yeah, it was cute
when his mom and sister teased them about going out, but there was no way that
could happen. Like Jackson had said, three
strikes and you’re out.

“Hi,” she said. “Dinner?”

“Yeah. You
see, I’m a guy. And I don’t really cook.”

“I better let you get home so you
can eat,” Kate said.

“Actually, why don’t you join me?”
he suggested. “It’s an extra-large. Extra pepperoni. No
mushrooms.”

Kate thought it over for a second. “How
can I say no to that?” she asked, stuffing her keys in her purse. She turned
around and started walking with Kevin towards his apartment.

“Why don’t we eat outside?” Kevin
asked, unlocking the door and holding it open for Kate
to walk inside.

“Sure. It’s nice out,” she said. Kevin
turned on the lights and handed the pizza to Kate. She hadn’t been to his
apartment in ages, but it looked exactly the same as she remembered. Poker table in the dining room. Couch with the blanket
tossed over the back. Kate dropped her purse on the coffee table. She turned on
the light outside and went out on the balcony while Kevin went into the kitchen
to get plates, napkins, and drinks. He handed her a can of Coke, opened the
pizza box, and offered her the first slice.

“So
how have you been?” Kevin asked. “Busy at work?”

“Very!”  Kate explained the post-Valentine’s Day spike
in business to him.

“Chris
said that you guys worked together and that he tried to get you to the poker
game last week.”

“He
tried,” she said, leaving it at that.

They
sat at the little table eating off the plates in their laps. Kevin asked how
things were going with her parents, and she in turn asked about his family.

“They’re
good. Mom keeps asking when I’m going to bring you over for dinner.”

Kate
giggled. “Tell her I said hi,” she said, hoping to deflect his suggestion.

When
they had polished off half the pizza and neither one of them could eat another
bite, Kevin cleaned up and took everything inside. Kate stood up and leaned
over the railing. She remembered hanging out with Kevin and Jackson after a
poker game once. It seemed so long ago.

Kevin
rejoined her and rested his arms against the railing. “So, when do you want to
go to dinner?”  She turned to face him,
and he could tell by the look on her face that maybe that wasn’t such a good
idea. “I mean, just casual. Just friends. Mom knows
that.”

Kate
chewed the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know. It’s just hard to make any plans
because I’m so busy all of a sudden,” she said, knowing that it was a lame
excuse.

“Okay.
Well, you’re invited any time. Mom really liked you.”

This
made Kate smile. “My mom likes you, too,” she said. “She calls you ‘the nice
guy from karaoke.’”

It
was Kevin’s turn to smile. “We should do karaoke again sometime. Maybe I’ll
actually sing for once. ”

Kate
chuckled and looked down at the street below them, but she had the feeling that
Kevin continued to smile at her. She looked at her watch. “I really should get
going,” she said. She turned to look at him again. “Thanks for dinner.”

“I’m
glad we ran into each other,” he said. “Call me when you’re not so busy with
work and maybe we can hang out again.”
She nodded. “Want me to walk you back to your car?”

“No,
you don’t have to do that!” she said.

“It’s
no problem.”

“No,
really. It’s okay,” she insisted.

“Are
you sure?”

“I’ll
be fine. It’s like two minutes away. Really.”

Kevin
gestured to the door and Kate walked inside. She grabbed her purse off the
coffee table. “Remember, poker is still on Saturday. There’s always a seat at
the table for you,” he said, following her.

She
smiled over her shoulder at him. “Maybe when I’m not so
busy.”

“Right,”
he said, reaching around her and opening the front door.

Kate
said goodnight and headed down the stairs. She pulled her cell phone out of her
purse, wanting to call Lucy, but she wasn’t sure what she wanted to say. She
was worried that Kevin was starting to get the impression that maybe they should
go out on a date. She was also worried that maybe Kevin was just a really nice
guy who was becoming a really good friend. She didn’t want to piss him off by
brushing him off, but she didn’t want to give him any ideas, either.

She
put her phone back in her purse, deciding to keep her feelings to herself for
awhile until she figured things out.

*

Telling Kevin that she was busy with
work wasn’t just an excuse. Throughout most of April and all of May, Kate found
herself working later and later at the office. She and Julia were up to their
eyeballs in appointments and weddings, and they were both ecstatic. And exhausted.

She didn’t have to worry about being
stuck at home with her parents because she felt like she was rarely there to
see them. Eventually, she wanted to start looking for an apartment, but right
now, she just didn’t have the time.

One of the good things about being
so busy was that Kate had completely forgotten about the mess with Max, Chris,
and Kevin. She hadn’t seen Max in forever, but she’d heard from Jackson that he
was very happy with his girlfriend. She worked with Chris from time to time,
but they rarely spoke, and when they did, it was only about business. As for
Kevin, they checked in with each other from time to time, but hadn’t spent any
time together since dinner at his place.

Now it was June, and her best friends
were getting married.

Kate sat on the edge of the bed with
Lucy’s sister Maggie, now hugely pregnant and due any day now. They watched as
Lucy slipped into her prom/wedding dress. Lucy’s friend, Bridget, who had
traveled up from Miami for the wedding, zipped up the dress and clapped.

“I’m so jealous,” Maggie moaned,
rubbing her big belly. “I’m basically wearing a tent for a dress and you still
fit into a dress that you wore in high school.”

Lucy smoothed the satin down over
her waist and hips and then rushed across the room to give her sister a big hug
and a kiss. She, too, rubbed Maggie’s belly. “Any day now,
Magpie. You’re almost there. Just please, please, please, wait until
after the wedding to have this baby.”

Kate giggled and went into the
bathroom. She grabbed the can of hairspray and a few bobby pins. “Come here,”
she ordered. Lucy plopped down on the corner of the bed and allowed Kate and
Bridget to tuck a few loose tendrils of hair up into the pile of curls on the
back of her head. Kate finished the job with a heavy dose of hairspray. The
three girls coughed and giggled and waved their arms to disperse the big cloud.

The door opened and Mrs. Wheeler
stuck her head in. “Girls, Chris would like to take some photos of you all
getting ready.”

Lucy groaned. “Mom, I’m already dressed.”

“It’s for your album. You need some
pictures of you girls before the wedding.”

Lucy looked at Kate and rolled her
eyes. “Fine,” she said.

“Great,”
Maggie groaned, slowly getting to her feet and smoothing her dress over her
stomach. “I’m so glad you insisted on us wearing something floral,” she said,
indicating the various flowery sundresses all of the girls were wearing. “If I
stand next to the window, I’ll blend in with the drapes.”

“Oh, stop!” Lucy said. “I didn’t
pick the dress out. I just said to wear something with flowers on it. You
bought it. Besides, you look beautiful. All three of you.”
She stood and gave her sister a big hug, being careful around her belly. “Tell
Chris he can come in, but he needs to make it quick.”

The door opened all the way and
Chris followed Mrs. Wheeler into the room. She stood aside while Chris posed
the women: Lucy and Maggie together, then Lucy, Maggie, and their mother, then
some shots of Lucy by herself, and then finally some pictures of Lucy and all
of the bridesmaids. “Thanks for your time,” Chris said when he finished. “I’ll
be downstairs waiting for you ladies to come down the stairs to take some
pictures as you walk out. Then I’ll be moving around during the ceremony. I’ll get
some pictures of the girls and guys together right after the ceremony, and then
I’ll just circulate around the house during the party afterwards.”

“Thank you, Chris,” Lucy said. She
gave him a hug and daintily kissed him on his cheek.

“You look beautiful,” he said. “Congratulations.”

Lucy beamed at him and then turned
to face her mother, her sister, and her friends. “Let’s do this!” she said with
a smile. Lucy hugged each of them and then wrung her hands nervously.  Kate felt a rush of love for her best friend
and her eyes brimmed with tears. “Don’t you start!”
Lucy warned, squeezing her hand.

Kate nodded and blinked rapidly,
fanning at her eyes.

“We should head downstairs,” Mrs.
Wheeler said. The girls headed out into the loft where they stopped and picked
up their bouquets. Mrs. Wheeler descended the stairs first. As
Kate bent her head to inhale the fragrance of her gardenia bouquet, a smaller
version of Lucy’s, she could hear Canon in D playing outside. She heard
it all the time at weddings, but when she looked at Lucy and Maggie squeezing
each other’s hands, she felt her eyes starting to fill with tears again. The
girls giggled and sniffled, trying not to smudge eyeliner and mascara. Bridget
headed down the stairs next, and Kate followed. She smiled at Chris as he
snapped pictures, and she paused to give Lucy’s dad a quick hug. Then she
headed through the dining room and out onto the deck. The sun was just
beginning to set, and the sky was a dazzling rainbow of orange, pink, and
purple clouds.

The throng of guests was split down
the middle, forming an aisle. The Justice of the Peace was waiting to perform
the ceremony and Jackson, his friend James, Kevin, and Max were standing
alongside her, grinning. Each of the guys was wearing charcoal gray pants and
pale pink shirts the color of Lucy’s dress. She and Jackson smiled widely at
each other and Kevin winked at her. She hadn’t seen Max in ages, and he smiled
warmly at her. As Kate descended the stairs onto the beach, she couldn’t help
thinking how handsome they all looked. She walked down the aisle and took her
place next to Bridget. Maggie followed behind her, also now trying her hardest
not to cry.

The music faded into silence for a
moment and the bridal chorus began. Everyone standing on the beach turned back
towards the house and watched as Lucy and her father made their way carefully
down the porch steps and down the aisle. Lucy looked amazing.

Mr. Wheeler bent and gave Lucy a
kiss before turning to Jackson and giving him a big hug. Maggie took the
bouquet from Lucy. Lucy and Jackson clasped each other’s hands and stood
beaming at each other. Mr. Wheeler stepped away stood next to Lucy’s mom, and
the ceremony began.

As Lucy and Jackson said their vows,
Kate had to fight not to start crying. It was silly, really. These two had
loved each other all through high school and were meant to be together. It was
obvious that they would end up together someday, but Kate couldn’t help feeling
emotional. This is what love looks like,
she thought. This is what ‘meant to be’ looks
like. Feeling her eyes threatening to spill over yet again, Kate quickly
looked down at the sand. She looked at Maggie’s short, fluffy bob haircut
floating off of the back of her neck in the breeze. She looked anywhere she
could besides at Jackson and Lucy, professing their love for each other in
front of everyone. Her eyes came to rest on Kevin’s face, and he, too, actually
looked a little emotional. He visibly let out a deep breath, and they smiled at
each other.

And then, without even realizing
what had happened, Lucy and Jackson were kissing and, just like that, their
wedding ceremony was over. They were officially husband and wife. Kate clapped
and cheered with everyone as the music started up again and Jackson and Lucy
strolled through the crowd and back towards the house. Maggie took Jamie’s arm
and followed them. Then Kate and Kevin linked arms and trailed along behind
them. “You held it together like a champ up there,” he said.

Kate grinned at him. “I was trying
so hard not to cry.”

“Me too. I
didn’t want my mascara to run,” he joked.

“That’s why you should wear
waterproof,” she said, squeezing his arm and giggling.

Chris gathered the bridal party
together and took a massive amount of photos. The group posed in every possible
combination on the beach near the water, in the sand, on the steps going up to
the back deck, and on the stairs inside the house. When Chris finally announced
that he’d gotten a sufficient amount of pictures, Lucy and Jackson threw their
hands up in celebration and started circulating through the house, hugging
people and thanking them for coming.

Kate helped herself to a glass of
champagne and stood back to admire the party. Aside from the massive wedding
cake on the dining room table and the bottles of champagne on the kitchen
island, it looked like it could be a regular party at Lucy and Jackson’s. Because
the ceremony was going to be so short, they insisted on keeping the party
casual and comfortable for their guests. Coolers were stocked with ice, beer,
and sodas. The kitchen counters were covered with platters of homemade fried
chicken, three different kinds of pasta, salads, sandwiches, and a variety of
cookies, brownies, and sweets. Rather than hire a DJ, Jackson had his iPod
hooked up to the stereo outside and people were already beginning to dance on
the deck.

“Excuse me. You’re Kate, right?”

Kate turned to see who was
addressing her. She was startled to see Max’s girlfriend, the tall, gorgeous
blonde from Lucy and Jackson’s engagement party. “Yes, I’m Kate.”

“I’m Max’s girlfriend, Candy.”  Kate batted her eyelashes, not believing what
she’d just heard. Candy?  There are really people named Candy?  “I can’t believe we haven’t met
yet!”  She reached out her hand and Kate
shook it.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kate said,
attempting to sound sincere.

“What a great wedding. This is
exactly how I’d do it someday,” Candy said.

Again, Kate couldn’t believe what
she’d just heard. This girl’s 21st birthday gala looked like
something you’d see on MTV. “Lucy said that she wanted a very simple wedding.”

“But it was perfect!  So small, so intimate.
But still so much fun!”  Kate had to nod in agreement. That was what
she and Lucy had been going for. “Anyway,” Candy said. “The reason why I wanted
to talk to you was because I can’t believe that I still haven’t gotten to meet
one of Max’s best friends. He told me that you always used to hang out and play
poker with them. I haven’t been invited over there on poker night, but I also have
no idea how to play.”

Kate took a sip of her champagne,
wondering where Candy was headed with this conversation. “Those guys take their
poker game pretty seriously.”

“That’s what I figured,” she said. “That’s
why I was thinking that maybe you, Lucy, and I could get together some Saturday
night. You know, while the guys are playing poker.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Kate
said. “Get my number off of Max and we’ll set it up,” she said. “If you’ll
excuse me, I want to talk to the photographer and make sure he gets some
pictures of Lucy and Jackson with their grandparents.”

“Oh, sure. We’ll
chat later!”

Kate slipped away from Candy. Once
she was a safe distance away, she rolled her eyes.

“I saw that,” Kevin said, coming up
next to her.

“She’s very… friendly.”

“She’s not so bad, actually. It’s
Danielle who’s kind of a snob.”

“Danielle?”

“Chris’s
girlfriend. She’s really short. Long dark hair.”

Kate nodded, vaguely remembering her
from the New Year’s Eve party. “Thanks for the tip.”  She and Kevin split up and Kate moved through
the crowd, searching for Chris. She spotted him, taking pictures of Lucy and
Jackson’s parents sitting together in the living room. “Hey,” she said. “I just
wanted to remind you to get some pictures of the grandparents.”

“Already did.”

“Great. Thanks,” Kate replied.
Turning to leave, she bumped into Bridget, her fellow bridesmaid.

“You know, I was telling Lucy last
night that you two need to come visit me in Miami sometime. Either that, or I
need to make it up here more often,” Bridget said, linking her arm with Kate’s.

“I’d like that,” Kate said. She’d
only hung out with Bridget on a few occasions, but they always got along really
well and there was never any of that third-wheel awkwardness that sometimes
came along with having a mutual friend. “Lucy would like that, too!”

“I’d just have to ditch the kids,”
Bridget said. “Speaking of which… I left them at home this weekend. Want to do shots
with me?”

Kate threw her head back and laughed.
“Why not?”

“Go get the bride and meet me at the
booze,” she said.

Kate squeezed through the crowd to
where Lucy was standing talking to a group of teachers that she worked with. “Excuse
me,” she said politely. “The presence of the bride is requested at the
bar.”  She took Lucy by the hand and
pulled her out onto the deck where Bridget was standing in front of a table
littered with various bottles of alcohol, shaking a cocktail shaker.

Bridget expertly poured the mixture
into the line of shot glasses that she had arranged on the table. The three
girls raised their shot glasses in a toast, tipped their heads back, and drank.
Kate had no idea what was in it, but the shot was fruity and delicious. Bridget
refilled their shot glasses and they did it again. Kate wiped her mouth and
giggled. Just inside the door, she caught sight of her parents. Her mom waved
at her, but her dad was busy talking… to Kevin.

She put her shot glass down and
slipped over to where her parents and Kevin were standing. “Hi,” she said.

“Hi, baby. We were just talking to
your friend Kevin here. He was telling us what a good poker player you are,”
her dad said.

“Really?”  Kate raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah, I was actually just telling
your dad that we’re all kind of relieved that you don’t come by anymore. It
kind of gives the rest of us a chance to win every now and then,” he winked at
her and she knew that he was teasing her.

“Kevin invited your dad to play with
the boys some Saturday night,” her mom smiled. “Isn’t that nice?”

Kate’s eyes widened. Kevin grinned
at her and then turned back to her dad. “The invitation’s open any time,” he
said.

“I appreciate that,” Kate’s dad
replied. “But I haven’t played poker in ages.”

“Then maybe you can join us for
karaoke some evening,” Kevin said, giving Kate’s mom an exaggerated wink. Kate
rolled her eyes and lightly swatted Kevin’s arm before drifting back into the
kitchen in search of something to snack on.

She walked up to a massive tray of
cookies and debated on what to take. “The chocolate cookies with the caramel
drizzle are really good,” a girl said, clutching a handful of said cookies in a
napkin.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Kate said,
reaching for one. She smiled at the girl and realized that she was Chris’s
girlfriend. She popped the cookie in her mouth and smiled. “Are you Danielle?”
she asked.

She nodded in surprise. “Yes. You’re…?”

Kate finished chewing her cookie and
swallowed. “I’m Kate. I’m a friend of Chris’s.”

“Oh!” Danielle exclaimed. “It’s nice
to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Kate said.

“Chris says you play poker with the
guys.”

“I used to,” Kate corrected. “That
got kind of old after awhile.”

“I’ve asked Chris if I could go with
him a couple times, but he says I won’t take the game seriously enough,”
Danielle said, almost pouting.

“Well, those guys definitely take it
seriously,” Kate agreed. Danielle didn’t look like the type of girl who would
enjoy sitting around drinking beer, playing poker, and listening to the guys’
conversation all night long.

“Yeah…” Danielle said quietly,
nibbling at a cookie.

“Yeah,” Kate repeated, looking her
over. Jackson and Kevin had both said that Danielle was a pain in the ass, but
she didn’t seem all that bad. She was just a little quiet, that was all.

“Hi, Danielle!”
Lucy said, coming up and flinging her arm around Kate’s shoulders.

“Congratulations!” Danielle said. “You
look beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Lucy said. “You guys have
been introduced, right?”  Kate and
Danielle nodded. “Good. Because I was thinking, we really should get together
more often. Us girls, I mean.”

“I’d love that,” Danielle said.

“Sure,” Kate said.

“Awesome!” Lucy cried.

“Smile, ladies!”
Chris said, strolling up to them and raising the camera to his face. Lucy
pulled Danielle in close and the three girls posed for a few pictures. Chris
bent and planted a kiss on the top of Danielle’s head before going off to take
more pictures.

“So, yeah. We
should definitely do something,” Lucy said, trying to resume the conversation.

“We should do some more shots!”
Bridget said, approaching them with a plate laden with shot glasses.

“Did I hear someone say ‘shots’?”
Candy asked, squeezing into the small group that was forming.

“Help yourself, ladies!” Bridget
said, holding out the shots.

“To Lucy!”
Kate cried.

“To Lucy!” everyone echoed, raising
their glasses and touching them together. They took their shots and replaced
the empty glasses on Bridget’s plate. Bridget disappeared back into the crowd.

“I hope she doesn’t make more,” Lucy
giggled. “I’d like to actually remember my wedding.”

“It was a great wedding,” Candy
gushed. “And this is a great party!”

“Thanks,” Lucy beamed. “Candy, have
you met Danielle?”  The two girls smiled
at each other and shook hands. “I was just saying that we should all get
together sometime. You’re welcome to join us.”

“That would be fabulous!” Candy said,
flashing them all a smile. “I would love to do ladies’ night sometime.”

“We’ll definitely have to plan
something soon!” Lucy said. Suddenly, she spotted a guest in the crowd that she
hadn’t spoken to yet and excused herself, leaving Kate with Candy and Danielle.

“So, what do you guys do?” she
asked, reaching for another cookie.

“My family runs the Davenport Hotel,
and I run my dad’s store,” Candy said. “Shark Bait Surf
Shop.”

“I get my bathing suits there!” Kate
said.

“Ask for me when you come in next
time. I’ll give you guys a discount,” Candy smiled. “What about you?  What do you do, Danielle?”

“Me?
I’m an intern with the sheriff’s department right now. I’m studying
forensics.”

Kate’s mouth dropped open in
surprise. “Wow. What do you do?”

“I assist during crime scene
investigations. That kind of thing.” she said.

Candy shook her head in amazement. “Like
CSI?”

Danielle just laughed. “Kind of.”

As the three girls stood huddled
together, chatting and eating cookies, Kate felt guilty for her first
impressions of Candy and Danielle. She assumed Candy was going to be a stuck-up
bimbo because of her perfectly highlighted hair and her awesome body. She
thought Danielle was going to be a “pain in the ass” just because that’s what
Jackson and Kevin had said. She was wrong on both counts. Despite her flawless
appearance, Candy was very down-to-earth, friendly, and had a great sense of
humor. And Kate suspected that Danielle was probably mistaken for a snob
because she was a little on the quiet side. However, the longer they talked,
the louder she laughed and the more she shared about herself.

As the party wrapped up and Kate
hugged Candy, and later, Danielle, goodbye, she decided that she was really
looking forward to hanging out with them again.

*

The following week, Kate was
overseeing a late afternoon wedding at a country club. It had rained throughout
most of the day, wreaking havoc on her plans, but they were able to hold the
ceremony inside the country club’s dining room without a problem. Kate leaned
back against the bar, sending rapid-fire text messages to Julia to let her know
that everything had gone smoothly and that the bride and groom were completely
happy, reassuring her that she had done the best she could despite the awful
weather.

“It’s cleared up enough outside that
I think I’m going to try to get the bridal party together for some photos,’
Chris said, placing his camera bag on the bar and looking through it. “I
already checked and there’s a walkway throughout the golf course, which means
that nobody has to walk in the grass.”

“That would be perfect!” Kate said. She
tucked her phone into her purse, which she was keeping behind the bar. “I’ll
get everyone together. Thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll meet everyone at
the doors.”

“Thanks,” Kate said.

“Hey, Kate,” Chris said. “Any chance
you want to come to poker tonight?”

Kate flashed him a smile. “Sorry, I
can’t. I have a date tonight,” she said, turning on her heel to find the bride
and groom. She’d used that line on Chris once before.

When the wedding was over, Kate
hurried home to change and get ready for dinner with Lucy, Candy, and Danielle.
She kicked off her heels and pulled off her dress, quickly changing into a
lighter and more comfortable sundress and flip-flops. Then she was back out the
door and on her way to meet the girls.

Kate arrived at the restaurant at
exactly the same time as Danielle, so the two of them walked in together. They
spotted Lucy and Candy sitting in a booth in the corner and joined them. Kate
immediately dug into the chips and salsa already waiting on the table.

“How did your wedding go with all
the rain today?” Lucy asked.

“It was fine, actually,” she replied.
She smiled at Danielle. “I worked with Chris today.”

“He said he was really worried about
the weather this morning,” Danielle remarked.

“It worked out okay, though. We had
to push the wedding inside, but before the reception ended, he got the bridal
party together to get some outside shots. They looked good.”

“I can’t wait to see my wedding
pictures,” Lucy said dreamily.

“Your wedding was awesome,” Candy
gushed. “I love that you wore your prom dress.”

The girls fell into a discussion of Lucy
and Jackson’s wedding. Everyone agreed that the ceremony had been perfect –
short and sweet! – and that the party had just been a
blast. Lucy looked down at the sparkly rings on her finger and beamed. “I just
couldn’t be happier!”

The girls ordered their meals and
continued chatting non-stop throughout dinner. Kate felt like they had been
friends forever. Candy and Danielle were very much opposites – one was loud and
talkative, the other was shy and a little stand-offish at first – but the four
of them got along spectacularly and had a great time together.

When they finished dinner, they
decided to forego dessert and instead walk down the street to a little coffee
shop. The walk took less than five minutes, but by the time they arrived, they
were glad to be back in the air conditioning. The four of them ordered iced
coffees and then sprawled out on couches in the corner of the shop. Danielle
picked a magazine up off the coffee table and fanned herself with it. “I think
we should do this every weekend,” she said.

“I’m in!” Candy replied.

Just then, someone’s cell phone rang.
All four girls started looking through their purses, but it was Lucy whose
phone was ringing. “Hello?”  Her eyes
widened and Kate watched her with concern.

“Oh my gosh!  Now?  Really?  Okay. Okay. I’ll be right there!” Lucy
quickly snapped her phone shut and got to her feet. “That was my mom. My sister’s
having the baby!  She just got to the
hospital. I have to go!”

“Tell her good luck!” Kate said. Lucy
grabbed her iced coffee and her purse and scurried to the door.

“Congratulations!” Danielle called
after her.

“That’s so exciting,” Candy said.

Kate had to agree. The group of
three enjoyed their iced coffees and listened to an older gentleman playing an
acoustic guitar for awhile before Danielle asked where they were going next.

“We could always go grab a drink
somewhere,” Kate suggested.

The three girls walked back to their
cars and drove to the Sand Bar. Heads turned as Kate and Danielle followed
Candy to a table. Danielle went to the bar to get the first round of drinks. When
she returned, she came trailing Max, Chris, and Kevin behind her.

“Well, this is a surprise!” Candy
exclaimed, getting up and giving Max a hug. Max sat down in her chair and
pulled Candy into his lap.

“We called off the poker game,”
Kevin explained, pulling up a chair next to Kate. “Jackson went to the hospital
to be there with Lucy’s family for the baby.”

Chris dragged a chair next to Kate
and nudged her. “I thought you said you had a date.”

“I did. With the girls,” she beamed.

*

The following day, Kate and Candy
floated lazily on rafts in the pool. Candy had called early in the morning to
see what she was up to, and Kate was glad to line up plans with her. Candy
showed up with sandwiches for lunch, they changed into their swimsuits, and
spent the afternoon in the pool.

They made small talk and got to know
each other, discussing their families, their jobs, and their mutual friends. When
it came to talking about Max, Candy awkwardly inquired if it would be okay to
ask a personal question.

“Shoot,” Kate said.

“Did you and Max… You know, ever go
out?”

Kate cringed. She’d been wondering
if this topic would ever come up. She paddled her raft over to the edge of the
pool, climbed the steps, and stretched out on a lounge chair. “Well,” she said,
deciding it was best to be honest. “We sort of… hooked up. But we never dated. We
were never serious.”

Candy was wearing sunglasses, but
Kate could still see that her expression had changed and that her lower lip was
trembling. “Oh,” she said. Kate couldn’t believe it. Candy seemed upset. Was
gorgeous Candy with the smoking hot body… threatened?

“But that was awhile ago. And it was
before you guys,” Kate said. “And it was stupid.”

Candy slid off the raft and ducked
under the water, swimming the length of the pool and surfacing near the ladder
down at the far end. She climbed the ladder and took her time walking back to
the lounge chair next to Kate. “I couldn’t help but wonder,” she said. “He
talks about you a lot.”

“It was nothing, really,” Kate said.
“I swear.”

Candy nodded, sitting down on the
lounge chair and hugging her knees to her chest. “It’s just hard to hear your
boyfriend constantly talking about someone else.”

Kate didn’t know what to say. “I
promise, it was nothing,” she repeated.

“It was obviously something to Max,”
Candy said. “I kind of thought something had happened with you guys because he
talks a lot about how you’re not as close as you used to be. He said you used
to be one of his best friends. Like you were one of the
guys.”

“We were pretty good friends,” Kate
said.

“The thing is, it really bothered me
at first,” Candy said. “I couldn’t help but worry about why he was talking
about you so much. But now that I know you… Now that
we’re friends, I can see why he talks about you. He misses you. He misses your
friendship.”

“We never should have gotten
involved,” Kate sighed.

“I don’t know what all went on
between you,” Candy said, “and I don’t want to know. It’s none of my business. But
I think you guys should try to fix things. You guys should be friends. He wants
to be friends again.”

Kate nodded, promising to try to put
the past awkwardness behind her once and for all. She wasn’t sure how, but she
would try.

*

Over the next few days, Kate
couldn’t get the conversation with Candy out of her head. She called Lucy on
Thursday night to discuss it with her.

“Honestly, Kate, I don’t see what
the big deal is anymore,” Lucy said. “It was awhile ago. Max and Candy are very
happy. Chris and Danielle seem to be very happy. Both of those guys have moved
on. Maybe you should, too.”

“I know. You’re right. Candy’s
right,” Kate finally said.

On Saturday, she decided to drop in
at the poker game. She didn’t mention her plan to Lucy or any of the girls, in
case they might have said something to one of the guys. She just showed up at
Kevin’s apartment with a case of beer and knocked on the door. She could make
out Max and Chris talking loudly about a baseball game. She knocked again, and
heard Jackson say, “Hey, Kev!  I think the pizza’s here!”

The door opened and Kevin stood in
front of her, opening his wallet. When he realized she wasn’t there to deliver
a pizza, his face broke into a smile. “Holy shit,” he said. “Are you
playing?”  Kate nodded, and Kevin threw
the door open wider. “Hey, guys. Look who’s here!”

Kate stepped into the apartment. “And
I brought beer!”

“Hey!” Chris said, getting up off
the couch and coming over to give Kate a hug. Max was right behind him. Kate
hugged them both and handed Max the case of beer.

“Glad you’re here,” Jackson said,
giving her a squeeze. “Kevin has won three weeks in a row. Someone needs to
knock him down a peg or two, and you’re just the guy to do it.”

“Girl,” she corrected.

Kevin nudged her. “I keep asking
your dad to come. You should bring him with you sometime.”

“Why?  You want to take her dad’s money, too?” Chris
asked, laughing. “That’s just wrong.”

There was a knock at the door again
and Kevin left to pay for the pizza. Chris pulled another chair up to the poker
table and gestured for Kate to have a seat. She pulled out a twenty dollar bill
and placed it with the other money in the middle of the table. Then she sat and
reached for the deck of cards. She shuffled while the guys helped themselves to
pizza and beer. When they’d had enough, they sat down around the table and Kate
dealt the first hand.

It felt like forever since Kate had
last played, so she was trying her best to concentrate and ignore the small
talk going on around her. They’d have time to talk after the game. Right now,
she was playing cards, and she was on her way to winning the first hand. She
had pocket aces and had dealt another ace on the flop. She checked; when Max
raised, she called along with everyone else. Looking at the cards she had dealt
on the table, felt pretty confident in her three of a kind. She ended up
winning the hand and raking in a decent-sized pile of chips.

Kate started off strong and played
smart. She took Chris out of the game early and he assumed duties as dealer. It
wasn’t long before Kate took Jackson out as well. “Still glad I showed up?” she
asked, winking at him.

“Yes!” Jackson said, dealing the
next hand. “It’s good to have you back.”

“And besides that, you brought
beer!” Kevin said, raising his bottle in a salute.

She smiled at them briefly and then
turned her attention back to the game. She had a significant chip lead over
Max, but it looked like she and Kevin were about equal. Two hands later, Max
went all in. She studied the cards on the table, knowing that her pair of tens
probably wouldn’t do her any good with the two kings and two aces on the table.
Rather than try to bluff and do something stupid, she folded. Kevin, however,
called him. They both flipped their cards over, and Kevin’s full house beat
Max’s three of a kind.

“That’s it. I’m out of here,” Max
said, standing up and stretching.

“Gotta get
home to the little lady?” Jackson asked, shaking Max’s hand.

“Yeah, I’m crashing at her place
tonight. We’re going out on the boat with her dad tomorrow so we have to get up
pretty early.”  Max bent down and wrapped
his arms around Kate’s shoulders. “Glad you came back,” he said. “And I hope
you kick his ass,” he added, gesturing across the table to Kevin.

“I’ll do my best,” Kate said,
watching as Kevin straightened up his pile of chips. They were definitely
pretty even now. It could be a long night.

They played for hours; Kevin won a
hand, then Kate won a hand. They played back and forth like that, and their
chip counts didn’t really change all that much. At midnight, Jackson suggested
they raise the blinds in the hopes of making the game go by a little faster. An
hour later, Kate’s pile had grown significantly, but the game was still far
from over.

“I need to get going,” Jackson said.
He got to his feet and massaged Kate’s shoulders. “You got this,” he said,
kissing the top of her head.

“Thanks,” Kevin said.

Jackson jokingly punched him in the
shoulder. “And you’ve made how much money the past three times we’ve played?”

By two-thirty, Kevin’s pile of chips
had dwindled down to about what they had each started with. Kate looked down at
her cards. An ace and a ten. Chris dealt the flop – a
king, a queen, and a jack. She had a straight. Not bad. If she played it right,
the game could be over.

Kevin checked, so Kate checked too. Chris
dealt the next card – a six. Kate studied the cards. She wasn’t as good as the
guys when it came to reading the cards, so she couldn’t even begin to guess
what Kevin might have in his hand. He sat for a long time, debating what to do.
Finally, he checked. Kate checked, too. Chris dealt the last card – a three.

Kevin abruptly pushed
his chips forward. “I’m all in,” he said.

Kate raised her eyebrows. Now she really didn’t know what hand Kevin could
possibly have. Glancing at the clock, and then at Kevin’s measly pile of chips,
she figured it didn’t really matter. She was tired and ready to call it quits. She
called and they flipped their cards over. Kevin had triple threes. Her straight
beat his three of a kind. Smiling, he pushed his chips into the middle of the
table. “Good game,” he said.

“Thank God that’s over with,” Chris
groaned. “You guys can clean up. I gotta get out of
here,” he said.             Kate got to
her feet, pocketed her winnings, and started gathering up the chips. Chris gave
her a hug. “I’m glad you’re back,” he said.

Kate nodded at him and smiled. “That
was fun,” she said.

She and Kevin scooped up the poker
chips and put them back in their case. Then they went into the kitchen, where
Kate rinsed out empty beer bottles and Kevin wrapped up the leftover pizza. “Thanks
for staying to clean up,” he said.

“No problem,” Kate yawned. “But I
really need to get home.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.”

In the parking lot, Kevin gave her a
big hug. “I’m so glad you came tonight. Even if you beat me,” he said. Kate
giggled. “Are you playing next Saturday?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I might have a date
with the girls. We’ll see,” she said.

*

The following day at work, Kate was
extremely sleepy, but she managed to get all of her paperwork done in time to
meet Lucy and Danielle down the street for brunch.

“There’s the big winner!” Lucy said,
waving her over to their table.

Kate collapsed into a chair. “Brunch
is on me,” she grinned.

“Chris said he didn’t get home until
almost three o’clock last night!” Danielle said. “How was the game?”

“She won, didn’t she?” Lucy giggled.
“That’s awesome. Jackson was so glad that you beat Kevin.”

“I think Kevin might have gone all
in just to get the game over with,” Kate said.

“Doesn’t matter.
You still won!” Danielle said.

“I know the guys were really glad to
have you back,” Lucy said. “Just don’t make a habit of it. We need to have our
girls’ nights, too.”

“Without a doubt!”
Kate said. She had enjoyed playing poker with the guys again, but she
definitely wanted to plan another evening with the girls.

When the waitress came around, the
girls all ordered waffles, orange juice, and coffee. They sat and chatted about
the poker game, Lucy’s brand new niece, and the stack of thank-you cards that
Lucy still had to finish writing. They also started making plans for next
Saturday.

“We should do karaoke,” Kate
suggested. “I’ll invite my mom. And Julia.”

“That would be fun. We should get a
big group of people together,” Lucy agreed. “I’ll ask my mom and Aunt Janet if
they’d want to come.”

“That’s settled, then. I’ll call
Candy and make sure she knows,” Danielle said.

*

Kate spent the rest of the week
looking forward to karaoke with the girls. When Saturday night finally rolled
around, she and her mother headed out to Fifteen Minutes to meet everyone. Lucy,
her Aunt Janet, Julia, and Danielle were there and they had pushed two tables
together to accommodate their group. Candy was already on stage, singing “Don’t
Go Breaking My Heart” with an older gentleman that Kate didn’t recognize. While
her mom went to the bar to order a drink, Kate helped herself to a beer from
the bucket in the middle of one of the tables.

Candy and her partner finished the
song to a great round of applause from the crowd. The gentleman bowed to her
and thanked her for joining him. Candy bounced down the stairs and hurried back
over to the tables where everyone was waiting to give her a high-five. “Who was
that guy?” Kate asked.

“I have no idea!” Candy laughed. “He
came right up and asked if one of us would join him, so I just went up there
with the guy!”  Kate shook her head in
amazement.

The girls had a great time together.
Kate’s mom and Lucy’s aunt Janet got up and did a few songs together. Much to
her embarrassment, Kate agreed to sing a Lady Gaga song with Julia.  Lucy was even able to coax Danielle up on
stage to sing “I’m Just a Girl” with her.

When the opening notes to “Ice, Ice,
Baby” started, the crowd in the bar let out a huge
cheer. Lucy rolled her eyes and groaned. Danielle stood up on the rungs of her stool
to see who was going to be singing. “Oh my God!” she squealed. “You guys!  Look!”
She swatted Lucy on the arm and reached across the table to get Candy’s
attention. “Look!” she said, pointing to the stage.

Kate had to get to her feet to see
what the big deal was. Four guys stood on the stage with their backs to the
crowd. Then, right on cue, all four guys whirled around and started singing. It
was Jackson, Kevin, Chris, and Max. Kate cheered loudly. Candy knelt on her
stool and let out a long, loud whistle.

“What dorks!”
Lucy cried.

“They’re hilarious!” Kate replied.

When the guys finished their song,
they came down off the stage and headed straight for the girls’ tables. Danielle
hopped off her stool and gave Chris a big hug. Max planted a big kiss on Candy.
Lucy couldn’t stop pointing and laughing at Jackson, who was blushing furiously
but laughing about it. And Kevin…

Kevin strolled right over to Kate’s
mom and gave her a big hug. She laughed and threw her arms around his neck in a
big, sloppy hug. Then she stood on her tiptoes to talk into his ear and make herself heard over the music. Kate sat back and sipped her
beer, shaking her head and smiling. Kevin nodded at her mother and gave her a
thumbs-up. Beaming, her mother headed for the stage. Kevin came around the
table to stand next to Kate.

“Your mom just asked me to sing a
song with her.”

“No, she didn’t!” Kate said, almost
spitting out her beer.

“Yes, she did. Sonny
and Cher.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Swear to God.”

Kate laughed. “You’re stuck with
her.”

When her mother returned from
placing her request at the stage, Kevin drifted back over to her and resumed
their conversation.

“He’s so sweet,” Julia said, leaning
over.

“He’s a goofball,” Kate responded.

“But he’s sweet.”

Kate shrugged.

“And cute.”

Kate raised an eyebrow at that
comment. Julia just grinned.

Jackson came up to her and playfully
elbowed her. “Poker wasn’t the same without you tonight,” he said.

“Oh?
Why’s that?”

“Because Kevin won again,” Jackson
said. “I think you might be the only one who can beat him.”

“You let him win again?
Seriously?”

Jackson shrugged. “I had shitty
cards all night long.”

“That’s no excuse!” Kate teased.

“You’re coming back next weekend,
right?”

“As long as I’m not doing anything
with the girls, I’ll be there.”

*

On Wednesday, Kate and Julia were having
lunch in the office and rehashing the events of their trip to Fifteen Minutes
on Saturday. They giggled over Candy’s duet with the strange old man. They
laughed over the guys’ surprise appearance and their rendition of “Ice, Ice
Baby.”  And Kate had to agree that
Kevin’s duet with her mom had been adorable. It had been a great time.

Sitting there with her B.L.T and
thinking about the fun times she’d had with her friends the past few weeks –
girls’ night out, poker, karaoke – made her realize that things were really
good. Things with Chris and Max had definitely smoothed over; they were all
friends again and there wasn’t any awkwardness like she’d feared. She also had
new friends in Candy and Danielle. She was really happy with how things were
going.

So, when she bumped into Kevin as
she was leaving the office and he asked her if she was coming to the poker game
on Saturday, she said yes without any hesitation.

When Saturday rolled around, she
showed up at Kevin’s a little later than usual. The wedding that she’d been
working on had run a little longer than expected and she’d had to negotiate an
extended price for using the venue after hours. Everything had worked out fine,
though, and Kate was sure that the guys would wait for her.

She was surprised when there was no
answer at Kevin’s door. She knocked again and again and was just about to pull
out her cell phone to call, when the door slid open a little bit. “Hey,” she
said.

Kevin smiled, but he didn’t open the
door any further. “Hey. Can you give me a sec?”

Puzzled, Kate took a moment to
respond. “I guess so. Sure,” she said.

“Thanks. I’ll just be a minute,”
Kevin said, closing the door again.

“Okay.”  Kate stood outside the door. She shouldered
her purse and leaned against the doorframe, waiting and wondering what was
going on.

Kevin
opened the door again. “Okay, you can come in,” he said.

Kate
looked up at him, confused, and walked past him into the apartment. She
expected to see Jackson, Chris, and Max, but instead, the apartment was empty
and the lights were dim. Rather than cards and chips, the poker table was
decorated with flickering candles. She placed her purse on the kitchen counter
and turned around. “What’s this?” she asked.

“Why
don’t you go sit down?” Kevin suggested.

Kate
sat down on the edge of the couch, now completely perplexed. She looked around
the room. Kevin was not sloppy by any means, but his apartment appeared to be
extra neat. There were more candles on the coffee table. She didn’t remember
ever seeing candles in his apartment before.

Kevin
joined her on the couch and handed her a glass of wine. “Thanks,” she said,
taking a sip. “Now what’s this all about?
Why no poker game tonight?”

“Kate,
I wanted to talk to you,” Kevin began. He took a sip of wine and then set his
glass on the table.

“Okay,”
Kate said. “About what?  What’s going on?”  She wanted to ask him to turn up the lights.

“I
wanted to talk to you about us,” he said. He reached for her hand, but as soon
as his fingers touched hers, she pulled away in surprise and placed her hand on
her chest.

“What
about us?”

Kevin
scratched his head and then clasped his hands in front of him, nervously
cracking and popping his knuckles. “We’ve hung out a couple times together,
right?” he began.

“Yes,”
Kate said slowly. “As friends.”

“As
friends, yes,” Kevin said. “And we’ve had fun together, right?”

“Yes,”
Kate replied.

“And
I like to think that we get along really well,” he added. Kate nodded in
agreement. “And… I really like you.”

Kate
put her wine glass on the table and brought both of her hands to her head. She
rubbed her temples delicately, unable to believe where the conversation was
going. “Kevin, please…” she said.

“Hear
me out,” Kevin said. “It’s taken me a long time to be able to finally get up
the nerve to do this, so you have to let me finish,” he said, prying her hands
away from her head and holding them in her lap. She looked at him helplessly. “I
really like you,” he said.

“I
like you, too. As a friend,” she said, repeating her earlier phrase.

“But
I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if we were more than
friends.”  Kate opened her mouth to
speak, but Kevin continued. She looked down at their hands while he spoke. “I
know it isn’t exactly the easiest situation, but I think we should give it a
shot. I’d like it if you’d go out with me. On a date. Not
just as friends, but as a guy and a girl who like each other. Maybe,” he said.

Kate
pulled her hands away and wrapped her arms around herself. “That’s really not a
good idea,” she said.

“What
makes you say that?” Kevin asked.

Kate
looked at him, exasperated. “You know why. It doesn’t work,” she said.

“You
mean Chris?  Or Max?”

“I
mean both of them,” she hissed. “I’m not going through that again. It’s not
worth it.”

“What’s
not worth it?” Kevin asked.

“Us
getting together. And then what happens when we… break
up?  Or whatever?”

“Who’s saying we would break up?”

Kate
folded her arms across her chest. “Kevin, I’m just not doing that again. I
can’t.”

“Why
not?” he asked.

“Because
I don’t want to make the same mistake again,” she said.

Kevin
sat back against the arm of the couch and gazed at her, obviously hurt. He
didn’t say anything for a moment. “Dating me would be a mistake?”  Kate didn’t know how to answer him. “Dating a
guy who really cares for you and who doesn’t want to mess with your head and
play stupid games would be a mistake?” he asked.

“I
just don’t want things to get weird between us,” she said softly.

“Look
at me,” Kevin said. “I’m not those guys. I don’t want to be your friend with
benefits. I don’t want to be someone you can just call up and hop in bed with
whenever you feel like it.”

Kate
stared at him. “But we’re friends,” she said plaintively. “I don’t want to ruin
what we have.”

“But
you gave those guys a chance,” he said. “You fooled around with Max. You wanted
to hook up with Chris. Why those guys?
Are they better than me?  What do
they have that I don’t?” he asked.

Kate
didn’t have an answer, but her eyes started to fill with tears. “I don’t know,”
she said. “I don’t want to lose you as a friend,” she said.

“You
won’t lose me,” Kevin said softly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I
know, but…”

“But
what?”

“It
didn’t work with those guys, Kevin. I don’t want to go through that again.”

“Have
you ever stopped to think that maybe it didn’t work out with those guys because
it wasn’t supposed to?  That maybe it
just wasn’t meant to be?”

“And
what?  We are?  We’re meant to be together?” she asked.

Kevin
shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I
should go,” she said.

“We’ll
never know if we don’t take a chance,” he said.

Kate
got to her feet. “I don’t want things to be different between us,” she said.

Kevin
looked up at her and smiled sadly. “They already are.”

*

Kate didn’t sleep very well that
night. She woke up in the morning with an intense feeling of dread in the pit
of her stomach. Then she remembered last night’s conversation with Kevin. The
candles, the wine…  What had he been thinking?

She reached for her phone and dialed
Julia’s number. She left a voice message telling Julia that she wouldn’t be in
the office until later that afternoon, that nothing was wrong, and that she
just needed to do some things at home. Then she pulled the covers up over her
head and went back to sleep.

She woke an hour later as her phone
rang and vibrated next to her in bed. “Hello?”

“Oh, God.”  That was all Lucy said.

“What?” Kate groaned.

“Kevin was here this morning. He and
Jackson are now out playing a round of golf.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Care
to tell me what happened?” Lucy asked.

“As if you don’t
already know?”

“I’ll be over in twenty minutes,”
Lucy said.

“You better bring coffee.”

Kate got up and went into the
bathroom. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, and then went out into the
living room where her parents were sprawled on the couch, reading the newspaper
together. “Good morning, dear. How was the poker game last night?” her dad
asked.

“There wasn’t a game,” she said. She
went out onto the back deck and sat down on a lounge chair to wait for Lucy to
show up.

She must have dozed off, because the
next thing she knew, Lucy was standing over her, holding out a cup from
Starbucks. “I got you coffee,” she said. “Now talk.”

“Didn’t Kevin already tell you?”

“I heard his side. Now I want to
hear yours.”  Lucy sat down on the other
lounge chair and sipped her coffee. “Start from the beginning.”

“I went over to Kevin’s last night
for the poker game. When I got there, he didn’t let me in right away. I guess
he was going around his apartment lighting candles or something.”

“He lit candles?  He didn’t tell me that part.”

Kate glared at Lucy. “Do you want me
to talk or not?”

“Sorry. Go ahead,” Lucy said, her
eyes twinkling.

“He asked me to come in and sit down.
He gave me a glass of wine and said that he wanted to talk. He said that he
really liked me and that he wondered what it would be like if we were more than
friends. He said he wanted to go out with me, and I told him that wasn’t a good
idea.”

“And what did he say?”

“He asked why, and I told him. I
told him I didn’t want it to mess up our friendship, that it didn’t work with
Chris or Max, and that I didn’t want to go through all that again.”

“And then what?”

“He said that he didn’t want to just
be a friend with benefits. And he wanted to know why I gave the other guys a
chance but not him. I think that kind of hurt his feelings.”

Lucy nodded. “What else?”

“I said that I didn’t want to lose
him as a friend. He said that I wouldn’t.”

“Anything else?”

Kate thought for a minute. “He said
that maybe things didn’t work out with Chris or Max because they weren’t meant
to be.”

“So what did you do?”

“I asked him if he thought we were
meant to be, and he said we wouldn’t know if we didn’t take a chance.”

“He’s
right. Then what?” Lucy asked.

“Then
I left,” she said.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. I told him that I didn’t
want things to be different between us, and…” Kate frowned. “He said they
already were.”

Lucy nodded. “That’s pretty much
what he told Jackson and me this morning.”

“Why did he do that, Lucy?” Kate
sighed. “Does he really think things would work out with us?”

“Maybe he does,” Lucy said.

“But how can they?” Kate asked.

“If it’s
right, it’s right,” Lucy shrugged.

“How do you know if it’s right,
though?”

“I don’t know!” Lucy said, throwing
her hands up in the air. “You don’t always know right away.”

Kate snorted. “Right.
Like you and Jackson didn’t know that you were perfect for each other.”

“Hey,” Lucy said. “Jackson and I
didn’t get married right out of high school, you know. We went our different
ways, we were both in relationships with other people, and when those things
didn’t work out, we ended up back with each other when
the time was right. Kevin’s right. You won’t know if you don’t take a chance.”

“So you think I should go out with
Kevin?” Kate asked incredulously.

“I don’t think you should not go out with Kevin.”

“What the hell is that supposed to
mean?”

“You need to stop using this whole
‘friends’ thing as an excuse. You should
be friends with someone that you’re dating. And, yes, you were friends with
Chris and Max. And things didn’t work out with them, but you’re all friends now
and everything worked out in the end. And yes, sometimes relationships like
that don’t work out and then you’re
not friends afterwards, but so what?
What if you and Kevin are
meant to be together?”

Kate took a sip of her coffee and
looked at Lucy. “I don’t know…” she said.

“You won’t know if you don’t try,”
Lucy said. “Think about it.”

Kate did think about it. She thought
about it all day, in fact. She was sitting in her office a few hours later,
unable to concentrate on the profit analysis report she was trying to prepare. The
only thing that she kept thinking about was that maybe Lucy was right.

Yes, she and Kevin were friends.

Kevin was fun to be with. They got
along really well, whether they were playing cards, hanging out at a party, or
just having dinner or drinks together. They always had a blast when they were
hanging out with all of their friends, but Kate had really enjoyed hanging out
one-on-one with him, too.

He was incredibly sweet. She
remembered him taking care of her when she was drunk after Lucy and Jackson’s
engagement party. He’d even washed and dried her pants when she’d spilled
Gatorade all over herself. She thought about how he’d gotten out of bed on
Valentine’s Day to go hang out with her. And when she was sick, he showed up
with medicine and supplies to make her feel better.

And he was really cute. Maybe he
wasn’t as devastatingly handsome as Max or have a
great body like Chris, but there was no denying that he was awfully cute. She
loved that his hair tended to curl and get really messy when it needed to be
cut. She loved that he’d gotten embarrassed when his mom and sister teased him.
She loved that he enjoyed talking and being friendly with her parents. He’d
even sung karaoke with her mom!

Kate saved her work and shut her
computer down. She left the office in a hurry; she only paused to make sure the
door was locked behind her. She was going to walk, but on second thought, she
decided to take the car. With her heart pounding, she hopped in and drove the
short distance to Kevin’s apartment. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard,
wondering if Kevin and Jackson were done playing golf. It was four-thirty in
the afternoon at the end of June. It was too hot to be out on the golf course. Surely
they were done by now.

Kate hurried up the steps and
knocked on Kevin’s door. No answer. She knocked again and again, pounding on
the door in case he was asleep or in the shower. Then it dawned on her. She
leaned over the railing and looked out into the parking lot. She didn’t see
Kevin’s car anywhere, so he wasn’t home. With disappointment, she descended the
stairs into the parking lot and headed for her car. She considered calling Lucy
to find out if she knew where Jackson and Kevin were, but by the time she got
home, she’d lost her nerve.

Her parents were just walking out
into the driveway as she pulled in. “We’re going out to dinner,” her mom said. “Why
don’t you come with us?”

“That’s okay,” she said.

“Everything all right?” her dad
asked.

She managed to nod and gave her
parents both a hug before letting herself inside. She kicked off her shoes and
curled up on the couch, wondering what to do. Yesterday, she’d told Kevin that
she didn’t want to ruin his friendship. Today, she’d gone rushing over his
apartment to…

To do what,
exactly?

She wasn’t sure what she would have
said or done. She wasn’t sure if it would have mattered now, anyway.

Hoping to distract herself, Kate
turned the TV on. She flicked through the channels repeatedly, but couldn’t
settle on anything to watch. She turned the TV off and just sat, staring at the
blank screen. Outside, it began to rain. Kate snuggled down against the
cushions and listened to the wind and the rain against the house. Out the
window, she could see that the sky had grown very dark. She pulled a blanket
down off the back of the couch and was just pulling it up to her chin when she
saw headlights roll across the walls and the ceiling. Someone had just pulled
into the driveway.

She tossed the blanket off and
hurried to the door. She opened it just as Kevin dashed through the rain and
under the cover of the porch. “Hi,” he said, shaking the water out of his hair.
“Can we talk?” he asked, nervously.

Kate stared up at him, open-mouthed.
What was she going to say if he had been at his apartment?  What was she going to do?  She didn’t remember. She didn’t know. Before
he could say anything else, Kate placed her hands on either side of Kevin’s
face and kissed him. She liked that she didn’t have to stand on her tiptoes to
kiss him. She liked that he placed his hands on her waist and pulled her closer.
She liked that he was kissing her back. When she finally pulled away, it took
her a few seconds to finally open her eyes.

“Can I come in?” Kevin said.

Kate held the door open and allowed
Kevin inside. He didn’t seem as nervous as when she’d first opened the door,
and now he had a big smile on his face. He sat down on the couch and she felt a
smile on her face as she sat down next to him.

“I came here today to tell you that
I would be your friend no matter what,” he said. “Even if
you’re not interested in dating or trying something different with me. I
want you to know that.”  Kate nodded. “But
I also wanted to tell you that if you do
give me a chance, I will be your friend. I will be the guy you can call when
you want to go do something. I will be the guy you can go to parties with. I
will be the guy you can just sit and talk with. I will be the guy who takes
care of you when you’re sick…”

Kate reached over and grabbed
Kevin’s hands to stop him. “You already are,” she said.

“I’m not done yet,” he smiled.

“Sorry,” Kate said.

“I will be the guy who does
everything in his power to make you happy, and I will be the guy who will love
you forever… if you’ll just give me the chance.”

“We won’t know if we don’t try,
right?” she asked.

*

“Happy 4th
of July!” Kate called, opening the door to Lucy and Jackson’s. “You said
not to bring anything, but I brought sparklers!” Kate said, waving two boxes of
sparklers around. Lucy laughed. She was busy frosting red velvet cupcakes that
she’d made earlier in the day.

“Everybody’s out back. Candy and
Danielle are setting the tables and the guys are cooking. Dinner’s almost
ready.”

“It takes four guys to grill
hamburgers and hot dogs?” Kate asked.

Lucy shrugged. “They’re goofballs. You
should know this.”

“I do know this,” Kate said with a chuckle.

“Go ahead out
back. I’ll be right there,” Lucy said.

Kate went out onto the deck and was
immediately greeted by Candy and Danielle. She hugged the girls, helped them
finish setting the tables and moving chairs around, and then made her way to
the grill where the guys were standing. “Hey, guys,” she said.

“Hey, what’s up?  We missed you at poker last week,” Chris
said, winking.

“That’s funny. I don’t remember
there even being a poker game last week,” Kate said, folding her arms across
her chest.

“Oh, that’s right. It was canceled
for some reason,” Jackson said, taking hot dogs and hamburgers off the grill
and piling them up on the plate that Max was holding.

“Yeah, I think Kevin had something
going on that night,” Max said.

Kate caught Kevin’s eye as he was
taking a sip of his beer. He shrugged and smiled helplessly at her. When he
smiled at her like that, she couldn’t stay away from him any longer. She went
to him and snuggled against him, wrapping both arms around his waist. “You
know, there’s going to be a poker game at my place this Saturday if you want to come,” he said.

“Is there actually going to be a
game this time?” she asked, looking up at him.

“Yes. We’re really going to play
cards this time. And there will be beer and pizza. Why, are you interested?” he
asked.

“Yeah, I’m interested. Interested in
kicking your ass,” she grinned.

“We’ll see about that,” he said,
pulling her close and planting a kiss on top of her head. “I love you.”

Kate smiled up at Kevin. Her friend. Her boyfriend. “I love
you, too.”

THANK YOU FROM THE
BOTTOM OF MY HEART

Mom, Dad, Tim, Nikki,
Tommy, Lisa, Stephanie, Misty

xoxo

Jess

ALSO BY JESSICA STRASSNER

Here
We Go

The
One Who Got Away

www.jessicastrassner.com