Epigraph #3
Royal’s Audi pulled up, and he started to get in, but our attention drifted to LJ. He was waiting in line for his own car, but was currently on his knee picking up something.
“Sorry. Didn’t see you there,” he said, helping a young woman pick up the scattered items from her purse.
She was on her knees with him. She looked to be around our kids’ ages.
She was pretty, with large, curly hair. Though those were clearly her items on the ground, she seemed to be distracted while picking them up.
She shook her head. “Yeah, sorry. I’m a klutz.”
“Well, it would have helped if I didn’t run into you in the first place,” LJ said. He grabbed a tube of lipstick and handed it to the woman. His eyes warmed. “Sorry about that.”
“No, it was all me,” she said, then got up quickly. LJ did too, his head cocked.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” he asked, and she shook her head. She had tanned skin, but her face flushed. It was probably LJ. Even girls half his age blushed looking at the guy. He could have easily been a model instead of a businessman with his height and movie star looks.
“I don’t think so,” she said, lowering her head. After gripping her purse, she darted off, and Royal and I came over.
I touched LJ’s arm. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just accidentally ran into that girl. I felt like I knew her, though, after looking at her, or at least that I’ve seen her before.
” He shrugged, but he was still gazing in her direction; she was heading toward the parking lot.
He rubbed his neck. “Maybe I’m working too hard. Making shit up.”
He did work really hard, and he wouldn’t say it, but I knew he’d kept busy over the years for something to do.
He obviously loved his jobs—real estate and all the other businesses he owned—but I knew he and Cleo wanted more.
They’d wanted a family, but things hadn’t turned out that way for them.
My friends and I all made sure he and Billie were a part of ours, though.
Even still, I could imagine that was hard.
“Well, thanks for coming out today despite that,” I said to him, shaking his hand.
“You know I’ll take any opportunity I can to see you fuckers and my godkids,” he stated, then shook Royal’s hand, too.
“Hope we didn’t bore you too much today with all the birth stories,” Royal said.
“You know I don’t mind.” He smiled and folded his arms. “Sure, it would have been nice to offer some of my own, but I love hearing yours.”
I knew he wasn’t lying. He and Billie were at peace, since it’d been so many years, but my friend would have been a hell of a dad.
We all hugged it out before heading to our cars, and, ultimately, to our wives. I think we were just as pathetic as our kids. We were addicted to the loves of our lives.
And that definitely wasn’t a bad thing.
Cleo
I opened a box in my son’s new home. I still couldn’t believe it, but he and his boyfriend, Bru, pooled their trust funds and bought their girlfriend, Bow, a house. It was so amazingly responsible of Wells, actually. He normally asked his father and me for anything he wanted.
So his purchase of this house let me know something: he not only loved his girlfriend and boyfriend but wanted to provide for them in whatever means he had.
I smiled before looking into a box labeled Bru’s shit. I was pretty sure Wells labeled that box. I glanced over my shoulder. “Bow, do you know where this box goes?”
It was full of books, which was Bru’s personality. He was a lot like Bow, actually; they both spent a lot of time at the library.
My son’s girlfriend came over. All the moms were here, my friends. We’d all raised our kids together. Bru’s mom, Brielle, was amongst them. Our little friendship of mamas started because our husbands were all close friends.
Our sons’ girlfriends and significant others were here, too. We were all helping Bow get settled in the house while the boys played golf again today. They’d been doing that a lot recently, spending time together.
Leave it to the boys to be off having fun while the girls unpacked boxes, but we didn’t mind. It was a rare occurrence that all us girls could just hang out, and, I didn’t know about the others, but I simply loved organizing.
Bow was such a cute little thing, and I loved her like my own daughter. She came to my side in her Mary Jane heels and pleated skirt. She looked like a paper doll I used to play with when I was a kid, just adorable.
Bow glanced at the side of the box, then immediately blushed. She placed her hand on her mouth. “Sorry about the box’s label. Wells did that.”
Did I know my son or did I know my son?
“The box can go next to the bookshelf,” Bow said. “My mom’s almost done setting it up.”
That sounded like something Greer would do. She may have been the smallest amongst all the mamas, but she was mighty.
Together, Bow and I picked up the heavy box. We headed to the living room and found all the mamas and our sons’ significant others there. Aspen, Thatcher’s girlfriend, was hanging pieces of art on the wall, and Sloane was directing her, which wasn’t surprising, as Brielle’s daughter was an artist.
“Just a little straighter,” Sloane told her, standing back. She was a tall girl with wavy dark hair and was completely gorgeous, like her mama. Sloane grinned. “Perfect.”
“Heck, yeah,” Aspen said, then slapped Sloane’s hand.
She was also gorgeous, with dark skin and long locs that flowed down her back.
She was a concert cellist. Like, a famous one, and I still got kind of starstruck around her.
I heard her latest album may be in the running for a Grammy, which was insane.
Aspen nodded. “We don’t need those boys to help us.”
“No, we don’t,” Greer said, coming over with her hammer. She propped her hands on her hips. “December and I just finished the bookshelf.”
“Perfect, because we have books,” I told the room, grunting.
The box was very heavy, even with Bow’s help.
We managed though, and, together, we placed it on the coffee table.
It was oak and matched the balance of masculine and feminine elements of the house.
The kids had gone with a farmhouse style, which was so quaint and cozy.
Most of the furniture was just delivered today.
I definitely wasn’t surprised to hear that December helped Greer with the shelf. She was a dark-haired beauty who may have looked like Snow White but was no damsel.
She placed her arm around Sloane, who was married to her son, Dorian. She rubbed Sloane’s shoulders. “The room’s looking great, honey. The artwork really makes it pop.”
“My gift to the new homeowners,” Sloane said, pulling Bow over. Bow laughed. The two were definitely besties since they were the only daughters in the group of our kids.
Sloane beamed. “I wasn’t sure if I’d finish the pieces in time, but I managed.”
What a beautiful gift she gave them, her artwork.
“Well, sweetie, you were kind of busy between getting married and going on your honeymoon,” December crooned, which made Sloane smile. It was still hard to believe some of our kids were married. Like, when did that happen, us getting old?
December hugged her. “Still can’t believe you’re my daughter now.”
“And that we’re family.” Brielle, Sloane’s mama, came over. December let go of Sloane, which allowed Brielle to give her daughter the biggest squeeze. She also squeezed December’s hand. “I guess we’re just making it official now.”
We all had been in each other’s lives for so long that we were like family.
“You still owe us all a wedding though,” Billie said, as she came down the stairs with Fawn, Ares’s fiancée. Ares was Brielle’s son. Billie and Fawn carried empty boxes, so I assumed they’d been working upstairs.
Billie hip-bumped Sloane. “So have we decided on a date for that?”
We all threw some out there for Sloane. She and Dorian got married in Vegas recently, and we’d all nearly missed it. They’d decided to impulsively get hitched after graduation.
“Um, no, not yet,” Sloane said, chewing her lip.
“Well, no pressure, baby,” Brielle said, hugging her daughter. Maybe she picked up on the expression. She rubbed Sloane’s arm. “We’ll be ready when you are.”
“I know,” Sloane said, but I noticed her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I have an idea,” I said, deciding to change the tone of the conversation.
I wasn’t sure why it suddenly felt heavy but, me being me, I couldn’t help but try to make things light again.
We were all having so much fun a minute ago, and I wanted to keep that going.
I clapped a little. “We should throw Bru, Wells, and Bow a housewarming party! We could divvy up roles and—”
“Hire catering. Oh my God, please let me be in charge of that. There’s a service I’ve been wanting to try out before we move forward with Dorian and Sloane’s big wedding.” December clapped, too. “Ah. This will be so much fun.”
“And I could play the music,” Aspen said, looking excited herself. “I have some friends who would love to join me.”
Aspen’s friends ended up being Grammy Award–winning artists when she named them, and that made us all excited of course.
“I’d love to help with the decorations,” Fawn said. “I bet Ares would have some great ideas. And you, too, of course, Sloane.”
“Yeah, that’d be great,” Sloane said, and, to my delight, her expression brightened again. She beamed at Fawn. “Oh my God, I’ve got so many ideas for something like this.”
She proceeded to tell us all about them, and the room’s excitement went into overdrive.
“This will be so much fun,” Sloane said.
“And a housewarming party is okay with you, right, Bow?” Greer asked, looking at her daughter. I suppose I’d gotten kind of ahead of myself. I hadn’t asked her.
“Of course, it’s okay!” Bow clapped. “How can I help?”