Chapter Twenty-Eight
Harper was fiddling with her earring, trying to get it to fasten, when her phone rang. She set the earring down on the counter and smiled when she saw Shelley's name on the display.
"Hey, girlfriend," she answered. "What's up?"
"Nothing, just making sure that you're still coming tonight."
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?"
"It struck me that you might duck out on us."
"Not at all. I'm looking forward to it."
"And you're coming with Cash, is that right?"
"I am."
"You didn't ask Emmett?"
She made a face. "No, I didn't. It seemed wrong to ask him. I know that's how it works for all of you guys, but we're not… I don't know, we hadn't talked about it, and it didn't seem… So…"
"It's okay," said Shelley. "I'm not trying to interrogate you. I was curious, that’s all."
She let out a short laugh. "I know. I think I'm more annoyed at myself.
He's home alone tonight, so I could have asked him, but I didn't. And besides, the girls are both staying with friends, so he can have a peaceful evening to himself. I don’t want to drag him out to give me a ride to the restaurant and then hang around, waiting to pick me back up afterward.
" She stared out the window as she spoke.
"If I’m being honest, I could tell you that I'm really looking forward to the day when I come out on a girls' night and get to send him a text to say come pick me up at the end of the night, the way all of you ladies do with your men.
But… we're not there yet. And you know what?
Maybe we never will be. I don't know if I'd feel right calling him to come out and get me and leave the girls at home. "
"He leaves the girls at home sometimes when he has to go out on calls in the evening. It's not like he never goes anywhere. And Alana's fifteen. They're not small anymore."
"I know. But it's not something we need to worry about tonight, is it? Tonight, Cash is going to pick me up on his way by and give me a ride up there. And then later, I'll go with him while he drops Libby off in town, and then he’ll drop me at the cottage on his way home. It's all good."
"Okay, good. As long as you're still coming."
"I am. And sorry I gave you the long-winded explanation of all of it."
"You didn't. It's all good. I'll see you there then."
"You will. I'm looking forward to it."
She ended the call and finally managed to get her earring in and fastened.
Then she looked herself over in the mirror and nodded.
"Not too shabby," she said with a smile.
She'd gone to some effort to look good. Although, it was a little disappointing that the effort would be wasted, since Emmett wouldn't get to see it.
~ ~ ~
Emmett stared at himself in the mirror. He needed to get a move on if he wanted to arrive at Deacon's house early enough that the others wouldn't give him a hard time.
It hit him that he and Harper would have to figure out how they handled the tradition of girls' night out.
All the other guys went to hang out at Deacon's place while the women enjoyed their evening.
He frowned. If he wanted to be realistic about it, there was no reason he couldn't do the same.
The girls were fine to spend an evening home alone.
And he knew Alana liked it, appreciated that he trusted her to be the responsible one when he wasn't there.
She'd been encouraging about his plans for tonight.
He smiled. Tanya had been over-the-top enthusiastic.
And of course, she'd fallen in love with the bear.
He glanced over to where it was sitting on the ottoman.
Alongside it was a miniature bear that Tanya had left with him.
She'd wanted him to give it to Harper along with his own bear, but he'd decided that Tanya's could wait until later.
He'd had a good talk with the girls last night after Harper had left. It struck him that Alana felt the same way that Harper did. She wanted to believe in them as a family, but it would take her a while before she could relax into it.
He checked his reflection in the mirror again and shook his head. He was wearing the blue shirt. Alana had encouraged him to wear it, and if that wasn't her blessing, he didn't know what was. He turned to look around the bedroom, hoping that soon it would be the room he and Harper shared.
He glanced through the door and down the hallway to his old bedroom—the one he and Emily had shared. He'd turned it into an office after she died.
He reached for the bear, leaving Tanya's where it was. It was time for him to go.
Before he went downstairs, he stood in the doorway to the office and looked around. Emily was gone. She'd given him her blessing. He was finally ready to take it and move on. With Harper.
He reached for the handle and closed the door behind him before trotting downstairs, grabbing his keys, and heading out.
~ ~ ~
Harper sat back in her chair, grinning to herself as she looked around at the other women. They were a wonderful bunch, and she was starting to feel like they were really her friends.
Libby elbowed her. "Are you doing okay there, missy?"
"I'm doing great, thanks. Well…" She looked down into her almost empty glass. "I may have had a little too much wine, but other than that I'm great." The others had all turned toward them, and she raised her glass. "You ladies are awesome. Thanks for including me."
The others lifted their glasses. "I've told you before," said Ari, "you don't get to thank us as a group and leave yourself on the outside.
You're part of this group, and the thing is, we all know how you feel.
We're not some clique of women that you've managed to join.
We're just a bunch of misfits who banded together. "
"Hey, speak for yourself on the misfit part," said Libby. The others laughed.
"I don't mind owning the label," said Candy. "It's true for me."
"And me," said Retta.
Harper waved a hand at them. "None of you are misfits."
"And neither are you," said Shelley.
"Okay, okay. All I wanted to say was, I love you, ladies."
"Aw, I love you too," said Retta.
"Me three," said Candy.
Ari laughed. "And me, but I'm not going with a running total even for you. I've had too much wine for that."
Libby laughed. "Thanks. I was already trying to figure out what number I'd be and couldn't count past three."
"Let's just say we all love each other," said Retta. "And you have no idea how happy it makes me to say that. I never thought I'd have a group of friends like you ladies."
"Um, you say that every time," Ari teased.
"At some point you'll get used to the fact that you have us, and that we all used to feel the same way.
" She looked around at them. "You ladies are a blessing.
" She rolled her eyes. "And if I'm getting mushy, then you know I've had one glass of wine too many.
What do we say? Is it time to make the call? "
Harper was surprised when everyone turned to look at her. It was hardly her decision. But then she realized they'd only glanced before checking in with each other.
"I'm ready to call it a night," said Candy. "But I'm always the party pooper."
"I'm ready to go," said Libby. "How about you, Harper?"
"Yep, I'll be happy to get home to bed." She gave Libby and Ari a puzzled look when they snickered, but neither of them responded. They were both too busy sending texts.
Harper sighed before draining the last of her wine. She supposed she could text Emmett just to say hi. But that was probably a bad idea. He might be asleep by now. She didn't need to text Cash. Libby would take care of that. So she sat and waited.
Once they were done, their server came to deliver the receipt, and Harper's heart fell. She was used to dividing the check and paying her share, but it turned out that the guys took turns footing the bill for their evening. And so far, she hadn't managed to persuade any of them to accept her money.
Next time, she was going to ask the server as soon as they arrived to bring the check straight to her at the end of the evening.
"What are you looking so mad about?" Candy asked.
"Just that I forgot to ask for the check before anyone else could get it. I'm going to do that next time."
The others just smiled at her. "Relax, it's what the guys like to do," said Ari. "It took us a while to get used to it in the beginning, too. But if they want to, they can."
Harper nodded. She didn't want to point out that she was the odd man out.
Shelley leaned in on her other side. "What do you think? Want to indulge our age-old ritual before we go?"
That made her laugh. She and Shelley had been sneaking off to the bathroom together ever since college.
"Yeah, I should probably go before we leave. It'll be a while before I get home, since Cash has to drop Libby in town before we head back to Jim's place."
"What?" she asked, when she noticed the others were watching her and Shelley get up.
"We're not keeping secrets again, I promise.
Just paying a quick visit before we leave.
" From the way the others smiled back at her, it seemed to Harper that they had secrets of their own.
But that was fair enough. She could understand it.
Before they came out of the ladies' room, Shelley leaned in to give her a hug. "I had a really good time tonight. Did you?"
"Yeah, I did," Harper said with a laugh. "Are you a little the worse for wear?"
"No," said Shelley. "Well, probably. But it's not that. It's just, this is a really good night, Harper. I want us to remember it for always."
Harper chuckled. It had been a lovely evening, but she figured Shelley was just being sentimental.
As they started to make their way back to the table, she frowned when she saw that the others were no longer sitting there. She checked over at the bar, but they weren't there either. She was a little surprised to see Ari disappearing out the door.