“Ankle’s good,” Mad said.
Hailey pointed to the shoes. Mad shoved her feet in them.
“Carefully!” Hailey admonished. She shook her head as Mad grabbed her arm for balance again. “That’s why you dress like a guy. You don’t know how to be a girl.”
“Fuck you!” Mad snapped, jerking away from Hailey. “I know how to be a girl!”
The room fell silent.
Hailey immediately tried to backtrack. “I’m sorry. I just, I didn’t know…” She trailed off at Mad’s hostile glare. “I can help you.”
“I don’t need help!” Mad barked.
Hailey and Mad had a staredown. Hailey’s gaze went from defensive to empathetic in a snap. Mad jutted her chin out, her belligerent expression back in place.
“My turn!” Ally announced, breaking the tension. “I’d like something in blue.”
Claire hurried to help Ally, and the women soon focused on getting each of them fitted.
Hailey walked Mad up and down the long stretch between the bedroom and kitchenette in the heels, all while distracting her with questions about her brothers and her favorite sports teams. It was Hailey’s subtle way of teaching Mad to walk in heels. She occasionally tossed in instructions—keep your head up, one foot in front of the other, no shuffling, heel to toe in a smooth rolling motion. By the time Mad returned to the closet where all of them were in dresses, Mad was beaming.
“I totally rock this dress-shoe combo,” Mad said.
“All my beauty pageant training really came through,” Hailey exclaimed proudly.
Mad curled her lip. “Pageants are bogus.”
“Be glad for it,” Hailey said, bumping Mad with her hip.
“Better watch it, Red, I’m a fourth-degree black belt. You’ll be kissing the ground in two seconds flat.”
Hailey studied Mad for a moment. “Maybe we’ll get you kissing someone soon.”
Mad snorted indelicately. “Sorry. Don’t think you can set me up with your go-to guy.”
Everyone laughed. Hailey’s go-to guy was Mad’s brother Josh. At least he was before he hit number one on Hailey’s shit list. The poor man would never date in that town again if Hailey had anything to say about it.
“Anyone catch your eye?” Hailey asked.
Mad went scarlet. “No!”
The women laughed. There was someone.
“Maddy has a crush,” Hailey sang.
Mad marched out of the closet, and then turned back to holler, “It’s Mad and get a life!”
Hailey smiled sweetly. “I have a very nice life because of wonderful friends like you.”
Mad blinked a few times, her eyes shiny as she stumbled back into the room on tottering heels. “Shut up, Red. Payback’s a bitch.”
Hailey threw an arm over Mad’s shoulders and leaned her head against Mad’s.
Claire shook her head with a smile. “I need a picture of this.” She looked at her friends, all dressed up, beautiful inside and out. “Actually I need pictures of all of you. Come on.”
They headed to the living room and took a series of photos with her cell phone—posing like models, funny faces, and her favorite, all of them crowded in together, arms around each other in one giant squeezy hug, hollering, “SLUTS forever!”
But, of course, they all knew they were in it for the happy ending.
~ ~ ~
Late the next day, Claire arrived at Jake’s gorgeous contemporary home. She asked Frank to wait in the car, needing to see Jake on her own. For some reason, she was nervous.
And then she saw him, barefoot in jeans and a T-shirt, striding toward the door. He opened it and grinned. “Hi, neighbor.”
“Hi,” she said over the lump in her throat.
He pulled her inside, his arms wrapping around her. She let out a sigh, surrounded by warmth and love. Her long journey through this past hellish month had all been to bring her to this moment, this final stop, to find Jake again.
He pulled back and cradled her face with both hands. “Move in with me.”
Her lips parted in surprise, even though she really wanted to. She never wanted to leave him again. “You should get to know me better—”
“Do you have any idea what it’s like to finally feel like…” He dropped his hands and rubbed his chest. “I had this empty ache. Nothing could fill it, not work, not parties, nothing, and then you came along and it was like I could breathe again. Do you know how rare that is?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I do.” She rubbed his chest, remembering her own ever-present ache of loneliness. It was filled now with true friends and true love. “I feel the same way.”