“At least they’re only gone for a night this time,” Audrey says, looking at Jules. “The long road trips are the hardest.”
The rest of the world thinks Colt and Jules were secretly dating all of last season. But we know the truth... that what started out as a fake engagement during the playoffs quickly turned real. Since travel during the playoffs is different from the regular season, she’s never had to be without him for more than a couple of nights.
“I’ll be fine,” she says breezily, sweeping her long blond hair over her shoulders. “I’ve got plenty of work to keep me busy.”
Jules may look like Barbie, but she runs an all-female construction crew, and the design and build firm she co-owns with Audrey has a nearly yearlong waitlist at this point. We’ve been working on a plan to hire more female contractors by partnering with some of the local trade schools on a mentoring program that is near and dear to Jules’s heart, and we’ve made good progress but there’s still a long way to go. Especially because I don’t have enough time to devote to it now that I’m working part time for the Rebels.
“I’m so glad you don’t have to travel with the team,” Audrey says to me. “Girls nights to watch the away games are the only thing that gets me through the time that Drew is gone.”
“I will absolutely be at your place for every away game,” I say.
As if we summoned her by talking about the Rebels, my phone lights up with a text from AJ.
AJ
Are you around? I need to run an idea by you. And I really need you to say yes.
My deep sigh has my friends asking me what’s wrong, and when I tell them about AJ’s text, Jules says, “Morgan, whatever it is, if you don’t want to, or you can’t because it’s too much, just say no.”
“It’s just work,” Audrey says.
“Easy for you to say, when your company is well established. I’m still in the building phase of my PR firm. And currently, the Rebels are my biggest client.” Yes, my company is growing and things are going well, but it’s still new and nearly half of small businesses fold within the first five years. I don’t want to be a statistic.
Besides, I’m not the kind of person who can just say no when a friend needs them. I know that my response should be based on my capacity at the moment andnoton my friendship with AJ. But I also don’t want to let her down.
And honestly, the longer I’m with the Rebels, the more I realize how much they need someone with more knowledge and skill than Tatum has. It can’t be me because I’m not looking for a full-time job with them, but it could be Natalie after she graduates, if I can get her ready by then.
“Still, you are only one person, and there are only twenty-four hours in the day,” Jules says.
“I know, I just need to remember that when I talk to her.”
“If this helps at all,” Jules says, “when AJ first found out aboutOur House,she was very interested in having us do a remodel for her. But we didn’t jump right in and say yes or drop everything for her. We simply told her we had a waitlist, and she understood. It’s a good thing we didn’t drop everything back then, because we’re now slated to do a much larger project for her and McCabe when they combine their two condos.”
I lift an eyebrow. “They’re already planning that?” The way they went from not knowing they lived right next to each other to practically married over the past three months is kind of wild.
Audrey laughs and says, “Well, at this point she has nine months to make sure, because that’s how far out she is on our waitlist right now. People wait for things they think are worth waiting for. You don’t need to drop everything or prioritize everyone else over yourself.”
It’s exactly the type of advice that I’d give a friend, and yet it stings being on the receiving end. Because Idodrop everything to help everyone else, all the time. Deep down, in places I don’t like to explore often, I know that this stems from a fear that if I don’t prioritize other people, they’ll leave just like my mom did.So I try to be whatever other people need me to be, instead of doing what’s best for myself.
I nod in agreement, because there’s a lump in my throat as I let this realization wash over me again. It’s not new information. Years of therapy as a teenager and a degree in psychology have made the source of my people-pleasing traits abundantly clear. But all the knowledge in the world doesn’t make it easier to change my behavior.
So while I’m finishing up my omelette and then saying goodbye to my friends, I’m mentally preparing to say “no” to whatever project AJ wants to give me. I don’t have time for more than I’ve already taken on, and the dark circles under my eyes are proof.
“No. No, no, no.” I shake my head like she can see me on the other end of the phone, while I pace back and forth in front of the large bay windows in my fifth-floor condo overlooking Newbury Street.
“I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t desperate, I promise you.”
“AJ, your desperation doesn’t magically create more hours in the day. When you add in Friday night and all day yesterday, I spent over thirty hours last week working on projects for the Rebels. That’s twice what we agreed on, and I still have my own company to run.”
“I swear, I don’t need you to be working for us the whole time we’re gone. I just need you to be with us to keep Renaud in line.”
“As appealing as being a traveling babysitter for a professional hockey player sounds...I can’t. You’re going to be there.Youkeep him in line. Or put his teammates on the job.”
Her sigh is deep and deliberate. “Colt, McCabe, and I were all at that bar Friday night, and that didn’t stop him from fighting.Youdid.”
“AJ, I fear your logic is backward. He wouldn’t have gotten in that fight if I hadn’t been there.”
“I don’t think that’s true. I think Renaud’s a loose cannon and Carter’s harassment was anexcusefor him to let it all out. If it hadn’t been that situation, it would have been another.”
