Chapter 15
CHAPTER 15
MARIAM
A fter Thanksgiving dinner, a bunch of us helped clean up while others went out into Deb’s yard to play football. I joined them out there after a while, but my head wasn’t in the game today.
It wasn’t in any game.
All I could think about was Arland, wondering what he was doing and if he had any Thanksgiving traditions of his own. I was really starting to wonder if this level of thinking about another person was healthy, but as hard as I tried, I couldn’t seem to stop.
Eventually, I joined Gemma on the patio where she was watching Noah play football with stars in her eyes, like she was witnessing magic being performed for the very first time. I chuckled as I sat down beside her, drawing my legs underneath myself on the comfortable armchair Deb had out there.
“You haven’t told Laurel about Arland yet, have you?” Gemma asked, not moving her eyes away from her megastar.
I sighed, another pang of guilt hitting me right in the gut. “Not yet, but I will. I’m not even sure why I’m holding back. I guess I’m just still trying to figure the whole thing out.”
“No shame in that,” she said gently, finally tearing her gaze away from the game to glance at me. “You’ve gone through a lot in the last month, girl. Signing those papers to sell your half of the company to me. Packing up here and moving to Idaho. Putting all your things in storage. Meeting and sleeping with a delicious silver fox who just so happens to be your brother’s friend and your new boss. Anyone would need a minute to catch their breath. Girls like us need more than just one minute.”
I laughed. “Girls like us?”
She shrugged, but there was a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. “Ones who aren’t used to doing things even a little bit differently.”
“Maybe, but I know I have to tell her. Right now, I’m a lying liar whose pants are on fire. I just… he’s more than seventeen years older and he’s my direct superior at work. Not to mention that I got with him the same night I met him.”
Gemma offered me a gentle smile. “Tell her whenever you’re ready. She’ll understand. We’re all experiencing a lot of new things at the moment. I think it’s natural for us to feel some hesitation about sharing our adventures.”
I arched an eyebrow, wondering what she was hesitant about sharing, but I didn’t ask. Like she’d just pointed out, it was natural for us to want to keep some things to ourselves while we tried to process them. Instead, I turned our conversation to the task at hand. “Speaking of new experiences, are we still TPing Suzie’s house tonight?”
“You bet.” A wide, evil grin cracked her face in half. “That bully deserves it for being such a jerk to us at school. Besides, Laurel and I both want to be there for this list item, so you might’ve drawn it, but it’ll be a team effort.”
I smiled nervously. None of us girls had ever TPed a house before, but Leif, Jack, Gemma’s ex-husband, Dave, and even Noah had assured us we had nothing to worry about. It could absolutely get us in trouble though, and it was way out of my comfort zone, but I had to do it for the list. There was no getting out of it.
Deb came up to us, smiling as she looked out at the game going on in her backyard even though dusk was setting in. “Those two seem to be getting along well.”
She inclined her chin toward Noah and Dave, who were high-fiving each other after scoring on Jack, the most sports-obsessed of the McIntosh brothers. Gemma glanced up at her and grinned. “I told you there wouldn’t be any drama. Dave even made me promise to get him an introduction to one of Noah’s bandmates. Apparently, Brandon is his celebrity crush. Good thing it’s not Noah, otherwise there might’ve been drama after all.”
Deb chuckled and took a sip of her wine, swallowing before she reached out to squeeze Gemma’s shoulder. “It’s so great that you two kids managed to stay friends after the divorce. I know how worried your parents were. He always was one of your best friends.”
Gemma lowered her cheek to Deb’s hand. “It’s thanks to all of you reminding me that he could still be one of my best friends. I haven’t told Noah yet that he’s my ex-husband, though. Or why he left me.”
“It’ll come,” Deb said with that edge of wisdom in her voice that said she was speaking from experience. “When you’re ready and the time is right, you’ll tell him. It’s okay not to tell everyone everything as it happens. It’s healthy, even. You need to know that it’s okay to do things on your own time.”
Amen to that, sister.
Deb smiled and took us, rejoining our moms inside while the men kept at the game until it was too dark out to keep playing in just the lights in the yard. Leif and Laurel disappeared to the swing set at the back and I got up, getting comfy in the living room and settling in for a Christmas movie with Dave and some of the others.
Even as the opening credits played, I found my thoughts drifting back to Arland, and I was barely aware of what was going on in the movie until a hand on my shoulder startled me. I shot upright, twisting to see my mother smiling down at me.
“We’re leaving now, sweetheart. You’re still coming home to spend some time with us before you leave, right?”
“Of course.” I blinked myself awake, wondering if I’d dozed off while thinking about him. I returned her gentle smile. “I’ll see you soon, Mom. Thanks for coming. Love you.”
“Love you too, honey.” She bent over to kiss my forehead, and my dad took her place when she backed away, giving me a quick, upside-down hug before they left.
Gemma’s parents said goodnight soon after, and Deb and her new friend , Doug, eventually came to join us for the next movie. I glanced at them sitting side by side on one of the couches, no parts of their bodies touching and yet it was like I could feel the tension from here.
Resting my head back down on the armrest of the couch, I left them to whatever they were doing, but I was happy for Deb. It’d been a long time since Laurel’s dad had passed and it was good to finally see her opening herself up to love again.
Not that she was admitting that was what it was, but I was hopeful. On the other hand, thinking about love post loss and love post divorce, as in Gemma’s case, got me wondering about Arland again. I knew next to nothing about his romantic history, and while I knew I shouldn’t have been curious, I was.
Our night passed in a haze of movie watching, snacking on leftovers, and relaxing, and before I even knew it, Jack suddenly sat upright on the couch and checked his watch. “It’s time to go, kids. Suzie still lives in that fancy house her grandpa left them, right?”
“According to my research,” I said, sitting up too and stretching my arms above my head. My jaw unhinged with a yawn I tried to fight. I stood up. “We’d better go round up all the lovebirds or we’ll never get there.”
Jack and Dave were at the door at lightning speed, as if they were genuinely excited about this, and then Deb stuck the keys to Laurel’s dad’s old truck into Dave’s hand. “I’ve kept this thing running perfectly all these years. Don’t bring it back to me all smashed up, okay?”
“You got it.” He grinned at her. “We’ll bring her home safe and sound.”
After everyone piled in, I was stuck on the backseat between Noah and Leif, with Laurel on Leif’s lap and Gemma on Noah’s. Both guys were built like they got paid to work out, which in Noah’s case, I supposed was at least partially true, and there wasn’t much space for my shoulders, but I was just happy we were finally on our way.
I was even glad my thoughts had been distracted by Arland all evening, or else I might’ve chickened out before we’d gotten to this stage. As we headed over to the nice side of town where Suzie lived, I kept to myself, hearing the couples on either side of me whispering to each other and doing my best not to get overwhelmed by the jealousy burning in my gut.
We stopped to pick up toilet paper, and my jealousy simmered down when I realized it was distracting me from the true purpose of this evening: getting our collective revenge on the mean girl from high school.
Gosh, I can’t believe I almost forgot we’d need toilet paper in order to toilet paper a house.
Once we were armed and ready, Dave drove into her neighborhood, and when we were on the right street, he parked down the block from her place and twisted in his seat to give us a dramatic look.
“Now remember,” he said, making eye contact with Gemma, Laurel, and me, each in turn. “I realize that you’re all virgins at this, but the important thing when popping your cherry is to remember to be quiet.”
“Said no one ever,” Jack muttered.
We all burst out laughing, but Dave rolled his eyes and playfully scolded him. “I was talking about their pranking virginity. Do you think any of these girls know the first thing about pulling a prank?”
Jack glanced at us in the rearview mirror, blowing out a loud breath and pretending to be disappointed. “It’s always so hard when they grow up to be rebels.”
There was a lot more laughter, but when Leif opened his door, he cut it off, laughter glittering in his own eyes. “Let’s get this done, people. Dave is right, though. Try not to wake all the neighbors, okay?”
I nodded dutifully. Leif helped Laurel out of the truck while Noah helped Gemma. I followed them, feeling like a cat burglar. We made our way down the street to Suzie’s house with Jack leading the charge like our self-appointed captain.
Noah and Jack carried the toilet paper, hunched over, as we jogged quietly to the correct yard. I glanced at Laurel, caught her eye, and started giggling. Why, I didn’t know, but all of this just seemed hilarious to me right then.
She caught the giggles from me, her dark curls bouncing as her shoulders shook. Leif grinned when he grabbed her hand, urging her to move faster. I kept up with them, sticking close to Jack and Dave when we reached Suzie’s place.
Laurel and Leif went off to one side of the yard while Noah and Gemma crept around the other. Us people who were here solo this evening moved as a pack, laughing the whole time. Dave and I pretended to play football with our rolls, letting them fly and watching white streaks land on the lawn with every pass.
Jack eventually joined in, and after a while, even I relaxed and started having fun. Until the outside lights suddenly came on and we all froze.
Dave looked like he’d stopped breathing, but a moment later, he grinned. “It’s just a light sensor, but we should hurry.”
Doing what he said, Jack and I cut the theatrics with our TP football and simply focused on covering as much of the porch and hedges as we could. Then we got out of there, exhilarated laughter following us all the way back to the truck.
“Wow, that was amazing,” I said breathlessly as we piled back in. “What a rush!”
“You know it.” Laurel grinned. “We’re never doing that again, right?”
“Never,” I promised, but I was glad I’d experienced it now.
Leif and the guys decided we needed more pie, somehow not as exhausted in the wake of all that adrenaline as I was. By the time we finally made it back to Gemma’s, it was nearly three a.m. and I was beat.
“Good night, everyone,” I muttered, throwing my hand up in a wave and forcing my legs to carry me to my bedroom.
“Good night,” Dave called. He was sleeping over too, and he followed me down the hall to the spare bedroom.
We left Gemma with her new love, and they barely managed to say goodnight as they headed into the kitchen. I smiled. I was so happy for her right now, but I was also too tired to tell her.
Bleary-eyed and too exhausted to even think about grabbing a shower before I turned in, I stumbled to my bed, face-planting on the mattress and mustering barely enough energy to reach out to switch off the lamp. But I managed, and then I realized I at least needed to get into the actual bed.
Before I crawled under the covers, I rolled over to take off my jacket, pulling my phone out of my pocket to put it on charge. It took all the energy I had left, but a refreshed burst of it shot through me when I saw the message waiting for me on my screen.
“Happy Thanksgiving Mariam Walker”.
I didn’t even need to read the name to know who had sent it, and butterflies took flight in my stomach at the thought that he’d taken the time. Quickly climbing into bed, I smiled into the darkness, and then I fell asleep with Arland Stone front and center in my mind.
It was crazy how often I thought about the guy, but I was starting to make peace with the fact that I wasn’t going to stop soon—and I was seriously wondering whether Gemma was right.
Perhaps this was one rule I should actually consider breaking.