Great. This is friggin’ great.
They stand in front of my truck and Mary Jo beats her hands on my hood.
I shoot up in my seat, giving myself away before I can even think twice about it.
“Hey!” I yell through my closed window.
“Weirdo,” Jo Lynn says.
Mary Jo adds, “Why are you here?”
I roll down my window. There are so many things I want to say, but I stop myself. I will not let them screw with me.
I wave them off and they finally walk away. The phone buzzes; it’s Aunt Lisa again. This day cannot end soon enough.
Surely she sees Olivia is here.
MOM:Take pics of the flowers and food. Dad and I are throwing a party for the Fletchers next month and I’m thinking about using the same florist but want to see how everything looks. Same with the caterer.
MOM:And I heard there will be a line dance! Would love a video of that!!
MOM:Have fun! You know I’d love a picture of you and your friends but I’m not holding my breath!
What the…Are you freaking kidding me? Pictures of the flowers? And food? Sure, no problem, I’ll just multiply my creeper level by ten.
I know Bailey is inside the party already, so I pull up a text to her. God, I hope this works.
ME:Hey! I’m not going to make it. Please tell Danlee I’m so sorry I got caught up at work again. But mom is driving me nuts about getting pics of the food and flowers. Will you take some and send them to me please??
I read it a few times before I hitSEND. If she calls me back instead of texting, I’m screwed. Thankfully, her response comes pretty quick.
BAILEY:No prob I’ll send them
Then there’s another one.
BAILEY:I didn’t think you were working today
I lean back and rub a hand across my face, giving myself a second to think.
ME:Nonna was shorthanded. I couldn’t tell her no
After a couple minutes, Olivia’s phone starts vibrating andyes, Bailey is coming through with the pics. I save them to Olivia’s camera roll, then turn right around and send them to Aunt Lisa.
I’m debating how long I need to stay here to satisfy Aunt Lisa. Or maybe I can dump Olivia’s phone in the mailbox and come back for it. But what if the mail hasn’t been delivered yet today and the carrier accidentally takes it? Yeah, that would be bad.
Bianca catches my attention as I’m thinking about all my options. She’s walking back down the driveway toward my truck, her legs looking particularly long in those short shorts. Man, I love a themed party.
I roll down the window again and try to think about what I’ll say when she asks why I’m still here.
Bianca leans against my door, half hanging in the window.
“Bailey just sent Olivia a bunch of pics of the flowers and food because she’s not coming. Stuck at work. Did she not tell you?”
I let out a nervous laugh and pick up Olivia’s phone, trying to hide the floral case. “She just called.”
Bianca gives me a grin. “Okay, well, I wanted to make sure you weren’t still waiting for her. I tried to text, but you didn’t respond.”
Uh-oh. I hold the phone up in the air again and move it around. “Reception sucks out here.”
