Chapter 5
FIVE
Juniper
Riley’s chatting with Pat, behind the deli counter, about school.
I swear, she never tells me anything about her day.
Eva—my best friend since high school—is engrossed in her phone as she follows me up the aisles of the grocery store.
On my way into town from school, Eva called and said she wanted to catch up.
I told her it would have to be while shopping for groceries because our cupboards were bare.
“I’m going to get vegetables,” I call out to Riley.
“Okay, Mom.”
Eva shuffles behind me like an elderly dog, still looking on her phone. I’m not quite sure what she wanted to catch up about. Maybe her cell battery.
“The guy is rich,” Eva says out of nowhere.
“What guy?” I ask.
“Your guy,” she says.
I frown. “I don’t have a guy,” I say. “What are you looking at on your phone?”
“I saw the chemistry between you and Fisher the other night. There’s no way things can end there. We just need to find a way for you two to run into each other again.”
I roll my eyes and head to the vegetables section of the market. Eva is out of her mind. No change there.
The sale of eighteen pieces of art to the Colorado Club has been pretty life-changing.
I put most of the money aside into a college fund for Riley, but I kept some to help with the day-to-day.
Now, instead of having to worry about whether I can afford rice and cannellini beans this week, I can pick healthy, nutritious ingredients and know that my card won’t be declined when I get to the cashier.
It also means I can treat Riley to a packet of Snoballs and not feel bad about it.
I see a packet of the less-than-nutritious snack on the shelf and toss it into my cart and grin at what I know will be her expression when she sees what I bought.
Then I continue to find something green and leafy to counteract the sugar and chemicals in the Snoballs when I almost run into Rosey.
“Hey, Juniper!” she calls.
Rosey’s lovely. She’s one of those women who’s always smiling and happy. I wonder what that must be like.
“Hey, Rosey. How ya doing?” I glance behind me. “This is my friend Eva.”
“We know each other,” Eva says, and they exchange smiles. “Excuse me for a second. I just need to try outside for a better signal.”
“It’s so good to see you!” Rosey says. There’s a little bounce to her step, which is just adorable. “It was great hanging out at Grizzly’s the other night. All of us out together was so fun, especially with Fisher.”
So much Fisher talk this afternoon. Fisher wasn’t exactly what I had expected him to be.
Yes, he was hot as all holy hell. He was charming and flirtatious.
But there was something more to him that came as a bit of a surprise.
He was a little deeper than I’d thought he would be.
Not at first, but as we talked, he really seemed to want to hear what I had to say, and he…
thought about what I’d said. It’s been a while since I’ve even talked to someone I haven’t known at least twenty years—and usually since one of us was born.
Fisher was not only new, but he was genuinely interested in what I had to say. And I was interested in him.
It was nice. More than nice.
“It was really fun,” I say.
“You and Fisher seemed to get along.”
I nod, trying to think of what I should say that doesn’t include how hot I think he is. “Yeah, he seems great.”
“He really is. Such a good man. And so kind.”
Her eyebrows pull together a little, like there’s more to it than she’s telling me. No doubt there is plenty about Fisher I don’t know.
“Even Byron had a good time,” she adds with a laugh. “Fisher always enjoys himself,” she says. I wonder if that’s true. “He’s single, you know.”
I smile. “I gathered that. He was quite flirtatious. But I get the impression that’s part of what makes him, him.”
“Yeah. I think he’s flirtatious by nature. But he was particularly flirtatious with you.”
I can’t tell if she’s just trying to make me feel better or if she’s telling me Fisher liked me. Although I’m not sure it matters either way.
“Well, I appreciated it,” I say.
It’s true. He’s built like a Greek god, and he had a way of looking at me like the rest of the world just disappeared—like the world could go up in flames and he wouldn’t care as long as he could keep talking to me. Keep smiling at me. Keep making flirtatious little jokes.
Truthfully, I haven’t enjoyed myself so much at a night out at Grizzly’s for—well, ever.
Rosey grins at me, and all I can do is shrug. It’s not like we’re going to date or anything. He lives in New York. That might as well be the moon. I’ve never been outside of Colorado before, let alone a city as big as New York.
“He just needs a woman to be his partner in crime,” she says.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll find someone.” I imagine there’s more than one who’s interested in fulfilling that particular role.
“I think so,” she says. “Hey, would you like to come up to the Club for dinner? Tonight even?”
“The Club?” I ask, trying to buy myself some time. I’m ninety-nine percent certain my mom would come and sit Riley, but I have no idea what I’d even wear to a place like the Colorado Club, and I’m one hundred percent certain I don’t own it, whatever it is.
I don’t know if my expression gives me away, but Rosey follows it up with, “It will be super relaxed. In our lodge. So, just jeans and sweaters. No need to dress up.”
I want to ask her whether Fisher will be there, but it seems rude. Would it be? I’m not sure of the etiquette when it comes to dinner invitations. And if she says yes, would that make me more or less likely to want to go? Maybe it’s better that I don’t know.
“We’d love to have you,” she says.
I’ve spent the last eight years trying to make sure Riley’s life is as stable and consistent as possible.
Especially since her dad left town, I’ve worked hard to keep all her other routines in place.
To make sure she always knows what comes next.
Riley feeling safe, secure, and loved has been and is my absolute priority.
A last-minute change of plans shouldn’t be a big deal.
Riley’s routine wouldn’t change. It would just be my mom in my place.
I wouldn’t normally go out during the week, but talking to Fisher the other evening shifted something.
Swapping stories with someone who didn’t already know everything about my life and I didn’t know anything about theirs—well, it was kinda refreshing.
And I don’t think it was just because he was hot.
It was as if something long dormant inside of me woke up.
Like maybe I could have something for me.
“I’d have to check whether I can because—”
“I don’t think I have your number.” She pulls out her phone. “No pressure. Just let me know by six. Does that work?”
We swap numbers.
“Oh, and don’t worry. I’m not cooking. Owner’s perk is getting delicious food delivered right from the Colorado Club kitchens.”
“But will you have Grizzly’s chicken wings?” I ask with a smile. “I don’t know if I can come if you say no, Rosey. It’s a deal-breaker.”
She laughs. “If it means you’ll be at our place at seven, I can make that happen.”
It’s so nice of her to invite me. She seems so insistent.
“Okay, well, I’ll let you know. Thank you for the invitation.”
Eva appears from wherever she was, and she and Rosey say hi and bye to each other again.
Then Eva turns back to me, her mouth hanging open. “I think I made that happen,” she says.
“Made what happen?”
“Rosey appear and invite you up to the Colorado Club. With Fisher.”
“She didn’t mention Fisher.”
“You’re going on a double date!” She looks like she just found out she won the lottery.
“First, I haven’t said I’m going yet, and second, I have no clue if Fisher will even be there.”
She rolls her eyes. “I can watch Riley if your mom can’t. And where’s your phone? You need to text her right away and say you’ll be there.”
“Eva!” I say. “You can’t go around just making decisions for me. I need to think about it. And ask my mom.”
“There’s nothing to think about. You’re going.
Riley will be looked after by either me or your mom, and you’re going to go and enjoy yourself.
I swear to god, Juniper, you never do anything for yourself.
” I go to speak, but Eva cuts me off before I can get any words out.
“And a night out at Grizzly’s twice a month doesn’t count.
You’re going to have a great time. Time to blow some cobwebs out of your vagina.
” She pulls her eyebrows together. “Out of your vagina? From your vagina? Whichever way, the cobwebs in the vicinity of your vagina shall be gone.”
I groan. “Stop saying vagina.”
“Vagina,” she says. “I’ll only stop saying it if you promise me you’ll go tonight.”
“I’m definitely not leaving my kid with you.”
“So, you’ll go? Your mom will definitely sit for you.”
I start trying to think about whether I want to go. Do I want to see Fisher? Do I want to miss the opportunity to see him again?
“Vagina,” Eva repeats.
“Okay, I’ll go. And you know what? I’ll bank an opportunity to terrorize you about something one day.”
She shrugs. “So be it. As long as you go tonight, you will not hear another V-word from my lips.”
I grab a head of cauliflower and dump it in my cart. My mom makes great cauliflower cheese. She and Riley can make it tonight. While I’m out.