The door opens.
It takes Simone less than a second to spot me standing awkwardly in her kitchen.
Her head snaps toward Darren, who’s carrying the car seat in his lap.
“What’s she doing here?” she hisses.
He shushes her immediately, gesturing toward the baby.
“Please,” Simone snaps. “If she didn’t wake up to you yelling at the student driver, she’s not going to wake up now.”
He grits his teeth. “You were the one who honked for twenty seconds.”
“You’d know about that,” she mutters under her breath.
My brows shoot up, and I can’t stop the smile that breaks across my face.
Simone catches it. For a split second, her eyes twinkle.
Then they narrow.
I narrow mine right back.
She looks shocked for a second before scowling. “Why is she here?”
“He called me and begged me to come help you,” I say.
“I’m not talking to you,” she fires back, holding up her palm. Then to Darren: “Andyou.”
“Thanks for that,” he mutters to me before turning to her. “You cried for an hour last night because you missed her. This silly little feud needs to end. Since neither of you will apologize-”
“Why would I apologize?” I cut in. “I didn’t do anything to her.”
“Yeah,” Simone shoots back. “You only do things to strangers in bars.”
My mouth drops open.
“You know what? I’m going to leave.”
“No, wait,” Darren says quickly, setting the car seat down beside the sofa. The baby, whose name I still don’t know, sleeps peacefully, completely unbothered by her mother’s cackling volume.
“Jess,” he says gently, “she misses you.” Then to Simone: “And honey, Jess is moving out and she could probably use her best friend.”
“Actually,” I say, raising my hand like a first grader before Simone can explode, “Logan and I made up. We’re good.”
“You are?” they both exclaim.
“Yup.” I nod. “We talked. Logan forgave me.”
“Just like that?” Simone says skeptically.
“What?” Darren adds at the same time.
I keep nodding. “Yeah. I totally believe him.”
My voice comes out less confident than I’d like.
Simone’s eyes soften just slightly.
