Chapter Two
“What was Portland like?” Lexi’s question was clearly about the city itself, and if it was possible, Sam loved her best friend a little for not focusing on her failed relationship, which had been both the impetus for the move and the reason she’d come back.
“It was nice. Quirky. Lots of personality. Exactly like you’d expect.”
“Did you love it?”
“Yes and no. I think my experience was a little tainted.” She surprised herself with her own honesty. Being around her old friends had an immediate impact. She couldn’t lie to them. She didn’t even want to. She looked around the table at the faces she had missed in the last year and completely relaxed. “I’m glad to be back.”
“Well, you look awesome,” Meg said, eyeing her closely. “Your hair is on point, dude. And I liked it before, when you had that shaggy hipster thing working. But this is even better. Lean forward, I want to touch the back.” Sam indulged her and swallowed a smile when Meg whistled with envy as she rubbed her fingers against the short gradual slope of her hairline.
Jesse put a basket of Italian bread in the center of the table and began doling out pasta. “Lexi tells us that you did a lot of traveling, Sam.”
“Oh, yeah,” Meg agreed. “Where’d you go?”
“Europe, mostly.” Sam pierced a tube of penne with her fork. “I really had no say. It was all work, but I got to see some cool places. Copenhagen, Tokyo, Paris, London, Fiji. Prague. That was my favorite.” She heard nostalgia in her own voice. “It was great. Truly.”
“And now you’re stuck in Staten Island. Is that a buzzkill?” Meg asked.
“Not at all. Being abroad was great. I’m ready to be home, though. I mean, I wish home wasn’t my old bedroom at my parents’ house, but hey, you can’t have everything.”
“At least not right away,” Jesse offered. “Give it time. Did you see if there’s anything available here?” Sam saw Jesse look to her wife for an answer. Lexi’s parents were on the board of Bay West. She was always in the know, but tonight she shook her head in response, following Jesse’s question with one of her own.
“Would you be open to being in the rental section?”
“Sure, I guess.” She washed a mouthful of food down with a sip of wine. “I have no problem with renting in theory, but it will depend on the situation. If there’s a unit that’s completely vacant, I’m in. But at twenty-eight, I have to be honest, I’m not down with just taking a filler spot and having roommates I don’t know. Any chance there’s a one-bedroom available?”
Lexi clenched her teeth and looked skeptical. She exhaled. “Doubtful. There’s so few of them. I’ll find out though. Speaking of which”—she nodded at Meg across the table—“Kam Browne wants us to come by the office sometime this week. What day is good for you?”
“What, now?” Meg asked, choking down her drink. Sam wondered if her surprise resulted from excitement or fear. It sounded like it might be both.
“I told you this, I thought.”
“Um, am I in trouble?” Meg covered a grin with her napkin. “Cause it sounds like I’m getting called to the principal’s office.”
Happy not to be the center of attention, Sam got in on the action. “It kind of does sound like that. What gives?”
“It’s nothing.” Lexi shook them both off. “Marnie told me the other day that Kam was looking for some new ideas. Ways to make the community appeal to the younger crowd. Mom told her to pick my brain and I guess she decided it was worth a shot.”
“Did she ask for me specifically?” Meg asked. “Or did she just tell you to bring a friend?”
“Nope. She asked for you by name.” Lexi dimpled as she teased her friend. “You can stop pretending to be cool, Meg. Jess and I already know how obsessed you are with Kam. It’s only a matter of time before Sam’s in the loop too.”
“Stop. You’re into her?” Sam asked. “Isn’t she way older? And wait, don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“Not like that.” Meg waved her off. “I mean not at all,” she added trying to save her dignity. “I admire her business sense. She’s smart and savvy. That’s it. Trust me.”
“Meg idolizes her.” Jesse clapped Meg’s shoulder. “We think she wants to be her when she grows up. It’s really sweet.”
“I don’t, actually.”
“It’s pretty adorable,” Lexi added. “I bet she already has an outfit picked out and everything.”
Meg narrowed her eyes and shook her head as she played along. “Black button-down, dark jeans, and these awesome new boots I just bought. Casual but trendy, and you guys are jerks.”
They all laughed together and Sam watched Meg blush and beam at the same time. She had been around three years ago when Meg had been a complete newbie at Bay West and had witnessed her immersion into the community first hand. It was nice to see her obvious elation at being part of the inner circle now. If she had stayed, would she be part of the in-crowd too? Well, no regrets. Time to focus on the positive. Perhaps between Lexi and Meg she could get a line on an apartment here in the development. Sooner rather than later, with any luck.
Lexi and Jesse didn’t allow her to lift a finger during the cleanup, so she sat with Meg, observing the comfortable back and forth between her married friend and her wife. They doted on each other, even when it came to stacking the dishes in the sink and wrapping up the leftovers. It made her heart happy, and she found herself surprisingly envious of their connection. “So, Meg,” she said, redirecting her attention. “Tell me about your girlfriend. Reina, that’s her name, right?”
“Yep. Reina.”
“How come she didn’t come to dinner? I was looking forward to meeting her.”
Meg swallowed the last of her wine. “She’s working. The dental office she works at has late hours some nights.”
“How long are you together now?”
“Seven months.” Meg nodded in affirmation of her own response.
“Nice. Well, next time, I hope.”
“Yeah, definitely.” It was silent for a second before Meg added, “Hey, Sam, I was sorry to hear about you and Julie.”
“Thanks.” Sam drummed the table with her fingers hoping to break the momentary tension. “It’s all good.” The moment passed on its own when Lexi placed the box of cookies Sam had brought in the center of the table, cutting the tie as she spoke.
“Do you guys care if I just leave these in the box?” she asked.
“Unacceptable. We’re very formal, as you know, Alexis,” Meg teased.
“Well, Megan…get over it.” Lexi reached for a chocolate chip, making a silly face at her friend before she took a bite. “Oh my God, where did you get these, Sam? They’re amazing.”
Sam peered into the box, eyeing up the cinnamon one Lucy had mentioned earlier. “Some store just down the block. A coffee place,” she added. “Lucy’s, I think it was called.” She saw Lexi’s eyes widen as she chewed.
“I should have known.” Lexi reached for one more. “Wait. Did you meet Lucy?” She sounded too excited and it made Sam skeptical, but she answered anyway.
“I did.”
“Pretty, right?”
Sam paused for a second, not really sure how she wanted to field this question.
“Stop.” Jesse came to her rescue. She stood behind Lexi and covered her mouth with her hand. “Don’t do it. Fight the urge.”
Lexi pulled her hand down but held on to it and leaned back. “What? All I said was she’s cute. That’s it.”
Meg chimed in, “Yes, but we all know where you’re headed with this. You love to play matchmaker. And it never works.”
“Who are you kidding?” Lexi challenged. “It worked for you.”
Meg tilted her head, obviously considering her friend’s words. “True…I guess. But it wasn’t even you who set me and Reina up.”
“Semantics,” Lexi quipped.
“Guys”—Sam stopped to laugh at both of them—“I just got back. Really, I don’t need a setup. I’m fine. Really.” She reached for another cookie and decided she could get away with one more question without sounding too eager. “You all know her? Lucy, I mean.”
“Sure, we know her.” Lexi rocked a little against Jesse who was still holding her from behind. “She’s sort of the reason we got together,” she continued sweetly as she laced her fingers with her wife’s. “Abstractly, anyway.”
“How do I not know this story?” Sam asked.
“You do,” Meg answered, before Lexi took over.
“Remember that case that I was working on when I was interning at Jesse’s law firm? Before we were together? The one with the cop and the shooting?”
Sam took a second to think back. “Vaguely?” Her tone was full of uncertainty and Lexi brushed her off with a wave of her hand.
“When I was interning for Jesse, there was this cop who was wrongly accused of firing her gun inside the precinct. It was a whole to-do, and Jesse pulled me in to work the case with her. We ended up spending all this time together.” She bit her lip, looking shy for a second. “That’s how we fell in love.” She paused and Jesse dropped a kiss on her head. “If it wasn’t for Lucy, we might not be here right now.”
“Wait, Lucy was the cop?” Sam let her confusion show. “Why is she working at a coffee shop?”
“It’s a long story. The case didn’t pan out.” Lexi shook her head, appearing mildly frustrated before moving past it. “But the point is, we owe her.” Sam was about to speak but Lexi wasn’t done. “So you’ll all forgive me if I want to repay the debt by introducing Lucy to one of the best people in the world”—she looked right at Sam—“and seeing if maybe you two can’t find just one ounce of the happiness that I have. Fucking sue me for wanting a little romance.”
Sam couldn’t help herself and she felt her smile reach all the way up to her eyes. “Thank you, Munchkin,” she said, pulling out a long forgotten childhood nickname. “She is pretty. Lucy, I mean. We talked a little.” There was no point in trying to hide it. Not now. “Let’s just not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Yes.” Lexi clapped once, in support or success, Sam wasn’t sure. The topic was dropped there for the night, but when she zipped by the closed coffee house on her way home, Sam couldn’t stop her mind from picturing Lucy’s sweet gray eyes, her tight body, her gravelly voice. What was that caveat about no girls? Tsk, tsk. Rules, made only to be broken, she reminded herself as she sped off into the night.