Rosie put her hand on Shay’s chest and pushed her away gently. “And we will. But first: pool.”
She turned abruptly and sashayed across the club toward Gabe and Lori. Shay watched her with intense appreciation, then glanced at Gabe. She looked like she was about to sink to her knees to worship at Lori’s feet, and Shay had her own desire for Rosie barely under control.The Lord help us both.
CHAPTER 2
“It’s sogood to see you, Karen.” Rosie relaxed into Karen’s warm embrace; she always gave the best hugs. Luckily, she’d passed that ability onto Lori.
Karen held her at arm’s length. “You’ve lost some weight since I saw you last. What’s going on?”
Rosie wrinkled her nose. “Lots of long days at work, and no time to eat, I guess.” She settled onto the seat opposite Lori, who rolled her eyes and mouthed an apology.
Karen swatted Lori’s shoulder before budging her along the bench. “I’m allowed to be worried about your best friend. She looks like she’s wasting away to nothing.”
“Lucky that she’s joining us for lunch then,” Lori said. “You can make sure she eats something healthy.”
“Andfind out if there’s more to it than time constraints.” Karen waved for the waiter’s attention, and they placed their order. “How’s your new job going?” she asked when the server had gone.
Rosie smiled. Karen had almost as good a memory as Lori, and warmth spread through her chest at Karen’s motherly concern, something she was entirely unfamiliar with. “It’s good. I’m busier than I ever was with my private practice, and it’s been a challenge getting used to having a boss again.”
“I can only imagine,” Karen said.
Lori chuckled. “That’s because you’ve always been your own boss.”
“That’s what I’m saying.” Karen gently nudged Lori’s shoulder. “There’s no way I could work under anyone else after running my own business for so long.”
“I do miss my old workplace.” Rosie sighed, remembering her bright, spacious office on the edge of Millenium Park.
“I miss our lunches at the roof garden restaurant. That was one of my favorite views of Lake Michigan,” Lori said.
Rosie nodded, though they hadn’t lunched at that office since Lori withdrew into herself following her divorce from Katherine. “And I miss the autonomy. Having someone else tell me what to do is taking some getting used to. Especially when they’re fifteen years younger than me.”
Karen frowned. “How can that be? They wouldn’t be out of high school.”
“She might be exaggerating slightly, Mom. Isn’t your manager twenty-five?”
“Twenty-three,” Rosie said then waited to continue until the waiter had placed their drinks on the table and left. “He’s a millionaire whizz-kid who made his money in Silicon Valley on the latest social networking app the world can’t do without. Now he wants to revolutionize the world of advertising.”
Karen raised her eyebrow. “You’re not convincing me that your career change has been all that successful.”
Rosie emptied two packets of sweetener into her latte and stirred it slowly, contemplating the question. “It’s only been six months. I think I just need more time to adjust.”
“When Lori told me about it, I have to admit I was baffled, and she didn’t really explain what prompted the move.” Karen tapped her biscotti on her saucer. “I’m always intrigued by the motivation behind job shifts.”
“Mom,” Lori said, “not everyone has a calling like you did. Lots of people have lots of jobs. Change can be good; it stops the rot.”
Rosie shrugged. “I thought being a therapist was my calling…until I didn’t.”
“Did something happen?” Karen asked.
“Are you sure you want to talk about this? I want to hear all about Hank’s veteran project, and your daughter is desperate togrill me about my weekend.”
Lori wiggled her eyebrows. “It’s only fair. You already know the nonsense I got up to, but my night finished a lot earlier than yours.”
Karen gave Lori a sideways glance. “I thought you didn’t like gossip.”
“That isn’t gossip; it’s BFF talk.”
Lori’s enthusiasm made Rosie smile. It felt like it had been way longer than a year since she’d seen her best friend smile like that. She cursed the ex-wife for the millionth time for hurting Lori so badly.
