I had the foresight to talk to Linda before Tuesday, and we went out and grabbed coffee together at Sleepy Hollow, where we sat under the old wooden planter hanging from the ceiling loaded up with lush greenery, vines draping down around us.Linda looked a little more comfortable in her work clothes than she did in her party clothes, with a heavy wool jacket and a beanie, and her shoulders didn’t hold the same tension they had before. We chatted and made small talk before I worked up to casually dropping that Jade and Cat were coming to the Tuesday event at the Birdhouse, and her expression darkened.
“Should I make myself scarce?” she said, and I shook my head.
“No, not at all. I’m hoping to see all my friends there.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, studying. “You really do just operate on that frequency, huh?”
She was so blunt. It was kind of nice. “Yeah, kind of. I mean, I don’t like conflict.” Which did not explain why I was so upset about Jade and Daniela.
“Hm.” Linda sipped her coffee delicately, eyes narrowed out to infinity, before quietly, she said, “Well, I’ll drop by and say hello. I guess I haven’t seen Cat in a while.”
“You should!”
“Do you still think Jade and Daniela are getting together?”
“Oh, um…” I felt myself collapsing all over again. I pushed out a smile. “Yeah, I think so. They’re really cute… the way they just gravitate towards one another. Do you know anything romantic?” I blurted, not thinking the question through, and I scrunched up my face hearing how weird it sounded. “I mean, like, events, locations, anything like that. I want to see if I can get the two of them into a romantic situation together, see if that helps move things along.”
She gave me that little downward-tilted smile she had again. “You’re really invested in the two of them, huh?”
“Ah, yeah. I mean, I’d heard all about Daniela’s crush on Jade even before I got to town, and I’ve been committed to helping them get together.”
“Cute. There is a dinner and dance party on Friday at Gianni’s. It’s a romantic setting with the spring blossoms starting to come in, too.”
“Oh, that’s perfect,” I said, forcing a laugh. “God, I can picture it now.”
And I really could. Couldn’tnotpicture it, actually. As weird as it was to picture my friends kissing, it was even weirder to picture them falling in love, gazing into each other’s eyes while they twirled under the drifting blossoms, slow-dancing to soft music. And picture myself off to the side watching, all by myself.
I really needed to find a job back in Boston. I was not cut out for this place, if I couldn’t handle my friends spending their time with each other instead of with me.
It was a good thing I’d told Linda about them, because when Daniela took me to the Birdhouse for the community night, everything was lively until Jade and Cat showed up, but the sudden tension dissolved when Linda made a show of casually greeting both of them and gave Cat a relaxednice to see you againon her way to the bar, and everyone settled down a little. When the four of us met up at the side, Cat hugged me, and Jade went to give me a polite nod before Cat pushed her forward.
“C’mon, hug your friends,” she said. “You need physical contact too!”
“Cat—” Jade blurted, but she relented with a sigh, not quite looking at me, as she awkwardly offered me an arm. “I’ve been out in the grass all day, I probably smell weird.”
She still smelled amazing—she always did—but I wasn’t lingering on that thought. I was thinking enough weird things about Jade and Daniela lately. I hugged her quickly, giving her a light squeeze before I stepped back and, before Jade could regain her balance, I matched Cat’s energy and pushed Daniela towards Jade.
“Hug your friends,” I said. “You need physical contact too!”
“Oh, god, I don’t do this many hugs,” Jade said, but she relented, hugging Daniela too, and even though I laughed along with the group, I felt this gnawing ache in my chest watching them, and I stepped back.
“I’m just going to run to the bathroom real quick,” I said. “I’ll be right back with you.”
Cat was on board with Jade and Daniela too, so I was sure she’d get the message, even though she gave me a look like she wanted to stop me. They’d all figure it out. For now, I needed to be away from it, and away from it I went, running to the bathroom and spending longer than I needed overthinking everything that had ever happened.
When I got out of the bathroom, I nearly bumped headlong into a familiar face, turning to look at me with a big, bright smile, framed by midnight-purple hair—Abby, who was dressed up in a little black dress today, sharp liquid eyeliner giving her a polished, dramatic look.
“Hey, you,” she said, eyes sparkling. “How’s everything been going?”
“Ah… yeah, it’s been good.” I remembered too late to smile. Her smile fell, and she set her martini down on the table next to her.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Sorry, I’ve just got stuff on my mind.” I scratched my head, and I found my gaze drifting past her, over to where Jade and Daniela were standing close to the bar together. Daniela had her hand on the bar surface close to Jade’s back…
“You had a fight with them?” Abby said, and I realized I’d been staring—she must have followed my gaze and noticed what I was thinking. I shook my head, feeling myself blush violently.
“No—no, no. Just thinking about… you know.” I forced myself to stand up straighter, pushing out a smile. “I think theylike each other, so I’ve been trying to smooth out the differences between them, help them get together. It’s going pretty well. I’m thinking about how to get them to the dinner and dance together at Gianni’s on Friday.”
