“Me too,” I say, squeezing her back. It feels great to hug my best friend. “I’m glad to be here. I just wish it were under better circumstances.”
“You’ll find a new job soon,” she assures me. “You’re the world’s greatest nurse, after all. Every hospital in the world will want you.”
“I’d actually love to work at a retirement home,” I say, because that’s always been my real goal. As a kid, my grandma lived at an elderly living facility and the nurses were so nice and patient and caring. They inspired me to become a nurse myself.
“Well then you will be the world’s greatest retirement home nurse,” Julie says.
I chuckle at her optimism, but her words do make me feel a little better, even if everything feels so hopeless lately. She glances toward my car’s back door. “Let me get your bag for you.”
“No!” I say, stepping in between her and my car. If she opens that door, she’ll see that my car has been jam-packed with all my belongings. Then she’ll know what happened. I can’t let her know that I’m homeless… not yet. I know she’s my best friend and she won’t judge me, but it feels like admitting my situation to her will be accepting my situation. And I can’t accept it just yet. I need to take a few days to see if I can find a job and fix my life before everything falls apart.
“You’re my guest,” Julie says with a smile. “Let me help you.”
“It’s no big deal,” I say, forcing my voice to sound nonchalant. “I’m actually starving. Do you think we could get some food at that diner you’re always raving about?”
Her eyes sparkle at the mention of food, which is something we both love, probably more than we should. “Sounds good,” she says. “I’ll drive us since you just spent so much time on the road.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. Julie didn’t see inside my car. And luckily the windows are tinted pretty dark. My secret is safe for now.
Roger’s Diner is just a quick drive down the road. It’s famous for the delicious food and the view since it has a large patio that overlooks Lake Sterling. Julie talked about the food nonstop when she first moved here. It’s also her favorite date night place to go with Max, even though there are nicer restaurants on the lake. This place is just special to them.
Julie leads me to her favorite table on the patio and then we’re greeted by the most cheerful waitress I’ve ever met. With a big mess of white-blonde hair and bright red lipstick, she’s sure to brighten anyone’s day. Even someone who just lost their job and apartment. She introduces herself as Clare, then she beams at me.
“Is this the famous Best Friend Annie I’ve heard so much about?”
“Yep,” Julie says, gesturing toward me as if I’m a prize on a game show. “She’s visiting me for a few days, so expect to see us here three times a day.”
“I’ll keep your favorite table free for you,” Clare says with a wink. Then she takes our order. Julie is so excited to show me her favorite diner that she orders fried pickles, cheese sticks, and the queso for appetizers, promising me that I’ll love all of them. After a quick look at the menu, I order a good old-fashioned cheeseburger, waffle fries, and a vanilla milkshake since I’m still pretty sad about my life situation, despite being with my best friend. Drowning my sorrow in food and sugar sounds pretty good right about now.
“So how’s the boyfriend?” I ask, giving her a silly wiggle of my eyebrows as I snack on fried pickles. (She was right, the pickles with the diner’s homemade ranch dressing are incredible.)
“Perfect,” she says, grinning back at me. “I hate that he’s out of town for a job this week but it kind of works out perfectly since you’re here now.”
“Where’s he working?” I ask, reaching for another pickle.
“He’s over in Apple Valley doing a quick flip for his friend. The guy thought he could buy a house, fix it up, and make a huge profit selling it again but he’s a terrible handyman. So he hired Max to do the work and they’re going to split the profits when the house sells. Max has been really into doing big jobs that pay a lot lately.”
“I wonder why…” I say in a singsong voice.
She doesn’t seem to catch on that I’m insinuating the likelihood of a marriage proposal, because her brows crunch together in confusion. She takes a bite of a fried mozzarella stick. “Huh?”
“He’s earning big money so he cansave big money,” I say, making air quotes. “It must be forsomething special.”
“Like what? A new car or something?”
Oh my gosh, I love Julie, but she is so clueless right now!
I roll my eyes. “I’m just…proposingthe idea that maybe Max is considering aproposalof his own…”
Her eyes widen as she finally gets what I’ve been hinting at. Then her cheeks turn pink. “Oh my gosh! No way… I mean, yeah I think we both want to get married one day but it’s too soon. He’s probably not even thinking about that right now.”
I’m in one of those ethical sticky situations at the moment because I know for a fact that her boyfriend is absolutely thinking about proposing. Since she’s my best friend, I kind of have a moral obligation to tell her. But her boyfriend also came to me in confidence when he was trying to figure out her ring size without her knowing. I promised him I wouldn’t tell her that he’d reached out to me so as to keep it all a surprise, so I also owe him that. It’s my best friend duty to take care of Julie, but in this case, I think it’s better if I keep my mouth shut. Her surprise when he proposes will totally be worth it. I’m sure she’ll forgive me.
I shrug and reach for another fried pickle. “I’m just playing with you. But at least you’ve got a man who likes to earn money. He’s got ambition. He’s a total keeper.”
“Plus he’s extremely gorgeous,” she says, gazing up at the sky while she swoons over her own boyfriend. It’s adorable. And slightly annoying to those of us who are pathetic single people with no job or apartment.
My heart twinges a little, but I shove the pain aside. I’m not here to sully my best friend’s happiness. Luckily, Clare walks out with our entrées which means I can now stuff myself with food instead of sad feelings and fried pickles.
