Chapter 38
Friendship takes center stage and lifts your spirits with the Three of Cups.
CAL
Carl jumped on me as soon as I opened the door to my cottage. “I’ll bet you are starving, big boy. I didn’t expect to be gone all night.” I fed and watered him and then we sat together on the front porch, enjoying the cool morning air. Atlanta is brutishly hot during the summer, but mornings can be pleasant under the canopy of the pines in my yard.
I don’t even know what to think about last night.
Three months ago, I was very content with my single life. I didn’t date and was happy to teach and write books and spend time with friends. I had created a simple but fulfilling life that I loved.
Everything about that life I so carefully created was now a shambles. Especially my resolve to remain single for the rest of my life.
Marci barreled into my driveway. “Well?” she yelled, hanging halfway out of the car door.
I motioned for her to join me on the porch.
“I drove by your house last night around 1:00 a.m. and then at 6:00 a.m. I know you weren’t home.” She looked at me expectantly. “Tell me everything. Do not leave out any juicy details.”
“Not without an apology from you first. You tricked me.”
“I had to get you out of your own way. You and Danny are meant to be together.”
“Maybe. He has a lot of depth. And kindness. He is a very nice man. I could see myself falling in love with him.”
“Falling? Did you say falling? Hmmmpf. Girl, you drove off that cliff at high speed yesterday. You’re in a free fall at 90 miles an hour.”
This is the first time I have ever held back details from Marci. Whatever is going on between Danny and me feels different and I want to protect it.
I give her the, “I’m still processing it,” excuse.
“Oh, I see? That good, huh? Multiple orgasms, I presume?”
I blush.
“I can read you like a book, you know. I respect your boundaries. But I don’t have to like them.” She looks wistful. “I’m just a little jealous.”
I scoot my rocking chair closer to hers. “I know, baby. I know.”
We sit for a while, rocking and holding hands. Marci keeps the grief of losing her husband tightly controlled. She told me once that she felt if she let go and let it out, she wouldn’t recover. I’ve never pressed her to open up and process her grief differently. Everyone has their own way of dealing with tragedy.
“Since you set me up with such convincing chicanery, you need to answer a few questions. You’ve known Danny a lot longer than I have. Have you ever seen him with a date? Why isn’t he married? How long has he been divorced?”
“Actually, I don’t know him that well. He eats at Serendipity almost every day so there must not be anyone at home to cook for him. I heard he got a divorce several years ago.”
“Do you know his ex-wife?”
Marci shakes her head. “If I ever met her, I don’t remember.”
“Did you know he and Laura used to be married?”
“What? I can’t picture that. Laura is so prim and proper, and Danny is so down to earth.”
She had described my attorney and my boyfriend perfectly.
Boyfriend? Did I say boyfriend?
Indeed, I had. I don’t know how I feel about that.