Vanessa looked down at her wedge booties. “They’re Steve Madden booties. That’s not really designer.”
“For you, maybe,” Janae teased. “When you’re in my income bracket, paying two hundred dollars for ankle boots is considered designer.”
Vanessa couldn’t help but laugh. “All right, all right.” She acquiesced. “I might be a slight bit bougie.” She was, so there was no need denying it. “That still doesn’t change the fact that even I can’t resist cheese fries. Hurry up, now that you’ve got my mouth all fixed for some.”
“Vanessa, you okay, back there?”
She looked over her shoulder to see Michael coming down the hall to the storage room.
“I’ll see you when you get here, girl.”
By the time Michael stepped into the storage room, she’d ended the call.
“Hey, everything okay?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “Janae just called to invite me to lunch with her and Cree. Since I’m gonna be in town a little longer than expected, I thought it’d be fun.”
He nodded. “Good, those two together are always fun. How do you know them?”
She pointed to the crates of flower arrangements she’d come to get. “Help me get these into the front display cases and I’ll tell you all about it.”
He easily picked up the trays. One in each large, carved arm. While watching him, she had to wonder if a man carrying flowers intended for someone else was ever as enticing. Refusing to let herself dwell on it too long, she shook herself free of her musings and followed him into the shop.
He placed the crates on the floor and they set about placing the large bouquets in the display cases where customers could see them.
“So, Janae and Cree.” The intrigue etched into his face was almost comical. She wondered if he wanted to know because it was his natural inclination as a police officer to always want the details to piece the picture together, or if he was just plain old nosy.
“I met them two years ago, immediately after my divorce. I wasn’t doing very well and needed to connect with someone who understood what I was going through. Confiding that I felt weak and discarded to my so-called friends in rarified circles, it would’ve been like committing social suicide. I’d already been ostracized enough for filing for divorce, I couldn’t give them any more ammunition against me.”
She picked up another arrangement and fiddled with it on the shelf until it sat perfectly with all its red, pink, and white blooms on display. Not that she knew anything about floral arrangement. She just needed something to do with her hands as she spoke her truth.
“So, I went online to look for divorce support groups. There were a few near me, but I couldn’t risk it for fear someone I knew would see me. I found one in this tiny little town of Monroe Hillsthat was close enough for me to drive to, but far enough no one in my circle would ever see me.”
She shook her head as she listened to how pathetic this all sounded. It was her truth, however, and she owned it. No matter how ridiculous it was, it was her story. No sense in denying it.
“It didn’t take me long to realize the group wasn’t really what I needed, and when Janae and Cree rescued me, we all decided to go to the bar across the street and commiserate over drinks instead. That night, we formed the Savvy, Sexy, and Single Club, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.”
Finished telling her tale, she found the fortitude to look at him. Expecting to find ridicule, she found an inviting smile that made her even more eager to lean in and taste his lips again.
“Knowing the two of them, I can say you found yourself a good group. They’re loyal as hell.”
She tilted her head. “So, it’s true that everyone really knows each other in small towns?”
“Yes and no,” he answered. “I know most people in the town. I don’t have a personal relationship with everyone, though. I went to school with Janae and Cree. We hung out in the same circles. Still do.”
She turned to him, hoping he’d see the gesture as an invitation to keep talking. “So y’all were besties?”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t go that far. Cree and my other best friend Derrick have been inseparable since the cradle. While the rest of our little crew all left to go to school and live in other cities and states, Cree and Derrick stayed here and went to the local college. They never drifted far away from one another.”
She nodded, encouraging him to continue. She’d heard Cree mention Derrick a million times, yet she’d never shared the bit about them being as inseparable as Michael stated.
“Janae and Adam were academic rivals throughout our entire education. The only time they’ve ever agreed on anything was when they had to tag-team tutor me in calculus and chemistry so I couldgraduate. God, they bickered like an old married couple.” He lifted his eyes upward as if he were pulling those memories from the ceiling. “Fortunately for me, they had a singular focus when it came to taking pity on their clueless friend.”
She chuckled, imagining Janae, in her drill-sergeant way, beating equations into Michael’s head.
“That sounds like the Janae I know. She’s pushy as hell.” Pushy being a euphemism for bossy. Janae was always in charge. As long as everyone around her knew it, they got along just fine. Except her assertiveness was never about her needs and wants. “She always has the best interests of the people she cares about in mind. She and Cree pushed me to go through all the stages of grief regarding my marriage, never letting me wallow too long in my misery. I couldn’t have made it to the other side with them.”
He closed the display case when they finished putting away the rest of the flowers and turned to her. There was something unreadable dancing in his eyes. Whatever it was, she knew he was thinking carefully about what came out of his mouth next.
