I smile at the sight. I’m part of something bigger.
“Hey. How can I help?” I ask.
Everyone says “hey” as Maggie turns and moves toward me.
She hugs me as she says, “What took you so long?”
I smile. “I got a little sidetracked. I saw Calloway and Asher as they were leaving.”
She nudges me. “You seem happier. Can I assume it has something to do with Asher, or is therapy that good?”
“Yes, we would all like to know,” Kim chimes in.
“Therapy is good. I am opening up a bit more, and it is helping, but honestly, you helped me more than anything, Kim. That advice you gave me changed my thinking,” I tell her.
“Oh. Wow. I’m glad I was able to help.”
Maggie gives me a weird look. “Is that why you have been going around and talking with everyone?”
“Yes and no. It was her advice that gave me the courage to do it, but I really did owe you an apology,” I tell her.
“You didn’t, but I’m glad it helped ease some of the worries on your mind. You look good. I’m happy to see you happy.” Maggie hugs me once more before moving back toward Rain.
“I’m happy to see you giving the prospect a real shot instead of being a bitch all the time,” Rain chimes in, not bothering to look my way.
“Hey!” I exclaim.
“What? It’s the truth. You were mean to him when all he wanted was to be here for you. I understand why, but I’m glad we are past that. He seems like a good guy, and you deserve the world.” She shrugs.
“She’s right about that, my dear. You deserve a man who looks at you the way Asher does,” Lisa adds.
“How is that?” I ask.
“Like you hold his entire world within your being,” Maggie says.
The other three women nod their agreement.
“I worry that it isn’t real, though. Don’t they say not to start relationships after traumatic events?” I ask.
“I think that was the movieSpeed,” Rain jokes.
Kim glares at her before turning toward me. “It doesn’t matter how it starts. It matters what you feel in your heart. Trust that and your gut, and you can never go wrong.”
I smile, grateful for my newfound family. I couldn’t imagine this would be where I would have ended up.
“Thank you. Enough about me. What do we have going on for this carnival?”
Lisa holds up a bag. “We are inventorying all the stuffed animals and prizes for the event and separating them into tiers so we can figure out how we can maximize our donations.”
“While we are looking into different places to get the word out. So far, we have three newspapers, but there is so much more out there that we can do. We are brainstorming ideas,” Maggie says.
“What about radio stations? That one station back home used to do a marathon on the radio to raise money for charity. We could do something like that the day of the event,” I offer.
Maggie smiles. “That is an amazing idea. Here is my laptop. Make a list and then start calling. I think I’ll call local businesses and see if any are willing to match any donations.”
“I could check social media. See if there are any local groups that would like to sponsor an hour or something. There are clubs for everything,” Rain offers.
“It sounds like we have a good plan in place. You girls get to that, and we will help once we are done,” Maggie says.
