Come Back for You

“I love you, Dean Allen.”

I love you more, Whit.”

Little did we know, life had different plans in store for us.

Whitley

Every Thursday night is girls’ night. Some nights we go out and some nights we stay in, but we always make it a point to get together. It’s usually just Lex, Clarissa, Avery, and me but this week we somehow managed to convince Lainey to join us.

Placing the last piece of cheese on the charcuterie board, I take a second to appreciate it before these vultures destroy it. I’ve added colby-jack and habanero cheese along with salami and pepperoni. There are crackers and pepper jam as well, the jam is my mama’s recipe and it’s to die for. Sighing, I grab the bottle of blackberry wine off the counter and head back to the living room with my tray.

“Now listen, I worked real hard on this, so if y’all could just not destroy it that would be great,” I announce, laying the board on the coffee table and dropping onto the couch beside Clarissa, Lex’s best friend from Jersey. Avery and Lex completely ignore me, making a total mess out of it in thirty seconds.

“She was so beautiful,” I whisper longingly and Riss pats my knee, handing me a glass of wine.

“She really was,” she murmurs in agreement, pouring herself a glass of scotch. No wine for this chick, she only drinks the hard stuff but that’s pretty understandable given what she’s been through. A few months ago, at another girls’ night, she got pretty tipsy and spilled the entire story to us. She was raped at her yoga studio in downtown Jersey and the guy who did it has never been caught. She spent weeks living in fear, holed up in her apartment before she couldn’t stand it anymore. Hung a for sale sign up at her studio, packed everything she could fit in her car, and left town. She’s been here in Alabama ever since, first living with Lex and just recently taking over Lex’s cottage rental next door to Ford’s when she moved in with him.

“You’re so good at these things,” Avery proclaims, snagging another cracker before dropping cross legged on the floor with her glass of wine. Lex comes back in the room with face masks and nail polish, laying everything out on the table.

“Alright, Lainey. What’s your story?” Avery asks the question we’ve all been dying to know the answer to. Lainey sighs and looks around at all of us.

“If you don’t want to tell us, you don’t have to,” Lex, ever the peacekeeper, says.

“Speak for yourself. I want the deets.” Clarissa exclaims and Lainey laughs.

“It’s really not that interesting,” Lainey says, sipping her wine.

“Let us be the judge of that.”

“Clarissa!” Lex hisses and Riss just shrugs her shoulders.

“I’m just a recently divorced mom who moved to a new city for a fresh start.” She says, shocking us all.

“Wait, you have kids?!” I screech, not believing that I didn’t know this. She’s been doing my hair for months. Lainey laughs.

“Yes, I have kids. My son is thirteen and my daughter is five. Well, Rowan is my stepson. My ex-husband had a son from a previous relationship. Rowan’s mom died when he was just a baby and Tim is a total flake,” she gulps down some more wine, “so when we split, I put in the divorce papers that I wanted custody of Rowan, as well. Tim can have the kids on holidays and one month out of the summer, but Rowan needs stability, not a parent who forgets to pick him up from school because he’s too busy getting high with his friends.” She shrugs her shoulders.

“How does Rowan feel about you having custody of him?” That question comes from Avery, who knows all too well what it’s like to raise kids that aren’t yours.

“He’s okay with it. He knows Tim isn’t a great dad, plus he loves being a big brother and I couldn’t imagine how it would affect him to not see Belle every day.”

“And where are you guys staying?” I ask and she blushes, rolling her eyes.

“With my grandma,” is all she says, and we wait, waitin’ for more information. She huffs out a breath. “Polly Peters.” Avery gasps dramatically and I bust up laughing. Clarissa looks around the room at all of us, clearly confused.

“I don’

t get it, what’s so funny?” Riss asks and I laugh even harder.

“Polly is….” Lex trails off, searching for the right word. “Unique.”

Avery joins me in laughing and Lex rolls her eyes.

“Polly is the epitome of a town gossip,” Lex starts, and I snort. “Jesus Whitley, get your shit together.” She scolds me and that makes Lainey laugh.

“Gossip is an understatement,” I say once I have control of myself. “She will tell anybody and everybody’s business and she always knows it first.” The girls murmur in agreement.

“I think I need to meet her.” Clarissa says, sipping her scotch.