She wipes under her eye, blinking fast. “It’s just me and June now. My sister moved back from L.A. to help. I’m grateful for her. But yeah. That’s life. You think you’ve got it figured out, then boom—it bites you right in the ass.”
I shift the car into park and give her a long hug across the console.
“Tell me about it,” I murmur, before easing back into drive.
“We don’t have to get into all that.” She glances at me. “Iamcurious about you, though.”
The moonlight glows over the cornfields, just barely coming into full.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, who were you texting earlier at the bar? Your fiancé?”
I let out a breath as the GPS chimes for a left turn. “Oh God. You got an hour?”
“This is me up here,” she says, pointing to a tiny mobile home on the edge of the trailer park.
I pull into the gravel drive.
“So it’s that complicated, huh?”
“Let’s just say… probably more than an hour.”
A woman with jet black hair and a take-no-shit vibe steps out onto the porch. “Hey Daphne! You ready for margarita hour? That baby of yours is wearing me out.”
“Well, I’ve got sweet tea, too,” the black-haired woman says, then looks at me. “And if you end up crashing since you’re driving, I’ve got a little trundle bed you can use. No big deal.”
I think for a moment. I’m sad that Thor ditched me tonight, and those were my big plans, not only for tonight, but for the week, aside from working. And Daphne’s got good vibes. So why not?
“Honestly…what the hay. Sure. I could go for a drink.”
Two margaritas later, I’m crying laughing on the patio. Turns out Mary Ann is hilarious—and the good kind of unfiltered.
Shoot. Dadgummit. Has it already been two hours?
“I need to call my parents,” I say, stepping aside to dial.
Mom picks up on the first ring. “Faith! Where on Earth are you?”
“I’m at my friend Daphne’s house.”
“Who’s Daphne?”
I gulp. If she finds out I’m on the west end of Vansborough, she’ll throw a fit. Safety concerns. Image concerns. Just…everything concerns.
“She’s a colleague. At the restaurant.”
“I don’t like this, Faith. I don’t know this girl. Are you coming home?”
“I’m crashing here. Everything’s fine, Momma. She’s a friend.”
A long pause. “Give me the address.”
Oh no.
I rattle off a fake downtown address.
“You sure this is safe?”
