CHAPTER SEVEN #2
As I backed out, the house loomed above me, white stucco and glass catching the sunlight, the ocean stretching behind it. I hit the remote to arm the secondary system. Layers upon layers of protection. The cost of having a husband like Ethan and a father like Tato.
Then I pulled through the gates, the world opening in front of me, and headed toward lunch.
THE RESTAURANT WAS already buzzing when I pulled into the lot, the kind of place that balanced casual and chic, with big umbrellas shading the patio and servers carrying trays of cocktails that practically whispered my name.
I walked in and told the hostess I was meeting a few friends. She pointed me in the right direction, and I went on my merry way.
I spotted them instantly.
Or heard them, more like.
Toya's laugh carried across the tables, loud and unapologetic.
Mehgan, sharp as ever, waved me over, her dark hair catching the sunlight.
Carmen sat as put together as always, red hair swept into a perfect updo I would never attempt because I just knew mine would end with me looking like I'd gone twelve rounds with a hairbrush.
She was scrolling through something on her phone until her brown eyes flicked up and found me, a smile immediately following.
The woman was a force, and not just in appearance.
She was the one who'd helped us find the land for our house. Without her, Ethan and I would probably still be circling half the coast, trying to find somewhere private enough to keep the world at arm's length and elevated enough to weather the storms.
Carmen had secured it in less than three weeks, cutting through red tape and competitors like they were nothing.
Now she was one of the top brokers in the city, moving multimillion-dollar listings like other people sold used cars. Every time I saw her with that phone in hand, I knew she was juggling half a dozen clients, all desperate for her attention.
Yet here she was, still showing up for lunch.
It was a pact of sorts between the four of us to never let life keep us apart.
We'd been girls together, and now, as women, the bond had only grown stronger.
Toya and I had met in pre-K, our parents already close enough to seal our friendship before we even knew how to spell the word. Mehgan, as Toya's cousin, had been a natural addition to our two-person circle, turning us into a trio.
Then Carmen came along in middle school, fearless even then, and fit right in as though she'd always been meant to.
Through crushes, heartbreaks, moves, careers, marriages, and babies, we'd held on to one another.
I couldn't do life without these women.
"There's our Juju," Toya greeted, lifting her glass in salute as I approached.
"Ladies," I greeted warmly.
"I saw you pulling in," Mehgan said. "Ordered a cocktail, your usual. Should be here soon."
"You know me so well."
I pulled out a chair and sank into it, setting my purse on the spare one Carmen had dragged over solely for that purpose.
We didn't bother with the whole so, what's new in your life? routine. We already knew those things from the texts, calls, and endless group chat that kept us up to speed.
Menus came and went now that I'd arrived, and by the time we were halfway through our meals and I'd swapped my cocktail for water, the conversation had taken an inevitable turn.
"So," Mehgan began, her eyes flicking around like she was about to drop Area 51-level secrets, "have you heard what happened with Elena Dawson?"
My brow furrowed. "I haven't heard that name in a long time."
"I think I heard some whispers," Toya replied. "Didn't pay much attention. It's your ass who always needs to gossip. Carmen too."
Carmen slid her a look. "I don't gossip, honey. I state facts."
I laughed, shaking my head. "Go ahead, then. Fill us in."
"So, we have the same nail tech, and she spilled all the tea..."
"Isn't that, like, ethically wrong or something?" I cut in.
"And using her nail tech as a therapist isn't?" Toya shot back.
I lifted a bite of fettuccine. "Touché."
"Anyway," Mehgan continued, "her husband has been having an affair for almost two years."
Carmen folded her hands. "How did she find out?"
"The girl showed up at her door and told her. Had proof, I guess. Photos, receipts, whatever side chicks like to keep on their phones."
Toya made a face. "Do you know the kind of balls you've gotta have to show up at your sneaky link's house, where his wife lives with his kids?"
Mehgan shrugged. "She was apparently tired of being his secret. It gets worse, though. The girl was one of El's old students."
"Oh, hell no," I breathed, disgusted.
Carmen tapped a nail against the rim of her glass, deadpan. "I cannot say how I would react to that. Maybe invite her in for a drink, lace it with arsenic, then figure out where to bury him. Since he seemed so fond of her, they can spend eternity together in a nice dark hole."
Toya smirked at her. "Lucky for you, you've got friends with lawyer husbands to make it go away."
The joke hung there, half funny, half true.
For a beat, I watched the condensation trickle down my glass of water.
"People do wild things. What a mess that has to be now."
I didn't say the rest of my thoughts aloud.
That could just as easily be us one day, our names being traded around as gossip fodder.
"I don't know how the hell I'd handle that either," Toya said, apparently riding the same wavelength. "Two years is insane. Why don't they ever just leave? Damn. That's seven hundred and thirty days of being a secret. Seven. Hundred. Thirty."
She punctuated each number like a tiny blow.
Mehgan scoffed. "They don't leave because they don't think they'll get caught. It's always some bullshit when they do. It meant nothing. I only love you. Where was all that love when your trifling dick was in another woman's snatch?"
Carmen's mouth twitched, sympathy and disgust mingling. "Poor thing. She just had a baby six months ago."
I sighed. "Men."
I felt a flash of anger for a woman I didn't know personally but couldn't help feeling for.
"Women do it too, sure, but in this case? Men."
Toya sat back in her chair, long hair swaying as she shook her head. "But if I take a razor to his dick and balls afterward, I'd be the one in the wrong."
We shared a laugh, and I noticed two older women at a diagonal table glance over, lips pursed like they'd just sucked on lemons.
"I think they're going to try and work it out," Mehgan went on, lowering her voice now as if it mattered and the rest of the patio hadn't already been treated to half the conversation.
Carmen gave a short laugh. "Because now he's sorry, right? Now that his mistress showed up on their doorstep, suddenly he's had time for self-reflection and wants to start respecting his wife."
"Only took him two years," Toya muttered.
I traced the rim of my glass.
"I think that's the part I'd struggle with most. The physical act would hurt me, sure. Knowing another woman got something that was supposed to be sacred and mine. But the disrespect? The betrayal?" I shook my head. "That would destroy me."
Mehgan nodded, her mouth a tight line. "Yeah. I agree. If Troy cheated on me, I'd be haunted by never knowing exactly what was going through his head. Because it sure as hell wouldn't have been me."
She paused.
"Then he'd die and go right in the hole with Damian."
That cracked us open again, our laughter spilling across the table and earning us more stares we happily ignored.
By the time our plates were cleared and the check was settled, the sun was leaning heavily toward mid-afternoon.
We started going our separate ways with promises of the next meet-up and kisses pressed to cheeks, the comfort of knowing our pact still held.
Except Toya and me.
We lingered since we both needed to pick up the kids from Palm Crest Academy before heading to the park. By the time we climbed into our cars, we'd already decided on a detour, tailing each other to the shopping district a few blocks away for some window shopping to kill the extra time.
The street was crowded, every parallel spot tighter than the last.
I attempted one, pulling in at an awkward angle, then cursed under my breath when I nearly mounted the curb. People walked past, a few of them even glancing my way, and the heat of their imagined judgment crawled up my neck.
If I bent another rim, Ethan would never let that shit go.
"Great," I muttered, wishing I could turn invisible.
I gave up pretending I knew what the hell I was doing and tapped the button for the car's self-parking feature, watching as the Escalade eased itself neatly into the spot I'd been mangling.