She grabbed Franny’s arm. “Don’t. It’s not his fault,” Drinda mumbled. She was tempted to cry again at the looks of sympathy and support on her friends’ concerned faces. “I brought this on myself.”
“What?” “How?” “No way.” They all blurted responses at once. Oma shook her head.
“Wait, I’ll make tea. I plugged in the kettle when I cleared your tissues.” Sage hurried back to the kitchen. Everyone stared at each other until she returned. “Okay, the tea is steeping. Dish.”
“Dish?” Annabelle said. “Who says dish these days?”
“Sh. Let the woman talk,” Franny chided like the grandmother she was.
Drinda couldn’t help but laugh. She let out a watery giggle. “It is my fault. I’m losing my suite. The other day, the day before yesterday, after the committee meeting, Ford realized that Oscar is livinghere. At least he guessed. I couldn’t lie when he asked. I confessed.”
“What’s the big deal?” Sage wrinkled up her nose. “He’s a clean, quiet pet.”
“Ford has an archaic no pets policy.” Franny tsked. “As if he couldn’t change that if he wanted to. He does own the building.” She made another sound of disapproval.
“He’s kicking me out. He said I’d get an eviction notice.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and choked on her tears. “I’m screwed.”
“No. You are not. Come stay with Brad and me. He won’t mind. It won’t be long until you find a place.” Sage patted her hand comfortingly.
“Or stay with me,” the others chimed in.
Their words should have been reassuring. Drinda gasped; the room suddenly lacked enough air to breathe. Her chest tightened and spasmed. She’d lucked out when she moved to Cherry Lake to open her Coffee Loft, even if their kind offers somehow made her situation more dire.
“It’s not that,” she managedbetween tears.
Nobody responded. The silence was heavy with expectation. This was it. These were her best friends. Franny was practically a mother to her. Sage and Annabelle were like sisters. Even her Oma looked on the verge of anger and nothing set her off.
Her voice trembling, she managed to squeak out, “I think I love Ford.”
“Holy moly.” Sage clapped her hands.
“I knew it.” Annabella did an excited dance in her chair, waving her arms over her head like she’d scored a touchdown.
“I knew he was perfect for you,” Franny crowed. “Now, we just have to convince him.” Her enormous smile doubled her wrinkles yet made her seem much younger.
“Sorry, guys. I’m done with Ford. We had a good thing. A few good weeks. He’s easy to be with. He understands me. He makes me laugh. Honestly, I didn’t want to fall for him, I couldn’t help myself. I thought he felt the same way. We nearly kissed. Twice.”
The others feigned shock and she let out a watery laugh. “But if he’s going to make me choose between my home and the safety of Oscar, I’m not interested.”
Hurt and anger choked off her words. She curled forward into a ball and rocked back and forth making Oscar whine and paw at her thigh. She scooped him up. “Oh, Oscar. It’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
“When do you have to be out of here?” Sage blurted. “I have an idea!”
“I don’t know. He said to expect an eviction notice yesterday. It hasn’t come yet.” She sniffed. “But I think a month.”
“Three months is standard if your lease is month to month. At least in Alberta,” Annabelle offered. “That leaves you plenty of time to figure things out.”
“In that amount of time, you might even bring Ford around.”
Drinda leaped up. “I don’t want tobring him around,” she made air quotes. “I don’t ever want to see him again. He has no heart.”
“Do you love my grandson? I mean really love him. I’m talking marriage, kids, alifetime together.”
The idea of holding Ford’s baby in her arms was poignant and sweet. She’d lost that chance. He had ruined it. “It doesn’t matter. He wants a stay-at-home wife. I want my career. They are mutually exclusive.”
“With true love, compromise can fix anything. Just look at Brad and me. We fought over a lot of stuff before coming together.” Sage shrugged. “No human is perfect. You just have the one who’s perfect for you.”
“Don’t give up yet,” Annabelle suggested. “Find a new place to live and take it from there. If you remove the housing issue, there’s nothing to come between you. At least nothing that isn’t fixable. Although I’m with you on this, why wouldn’t he just bend the rules for this adorable pup?” She scratched Oscar’s head.
