I love having the girls over. It’s good for the soul and right now, with the way my head is spinning over my building feelings for Andy, and our trip to the cabin for spring break, I think it’s needed.

Lauren is blending up another pitcher of margaritas, her face matching my own, white with the mask we just applied during our at-home spa day.

I glance over at Tess, her face black with the mud facial she applied earlier, her one hand in a nail light that she brought from home while the rest of us mess around with each other’s nails to get them ready to be painted.

Carly just emerged from my bathroom, wet washcloth in hand as she continues to carefully pat off the black mud that was just on her face.

“What’s up with you and Andy?” Tess asks, her expression expectant; clearly she’s not going to let me get by with not disclosing what’s on my mind today. Not that I would expect any different from her.

I shrug, feeling the mask on my face tighten and hoping that it hides the blush on my face. “I don’t really know.”

“Pinocchio.”

I almost roll my eyes at how predictable Tess is.

Lauren crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows at me, the white mask cracking on her forehead.

“We’re waiting.”

“You guys are so damn nosey.”

Carly scoffs. “You’re just now figuring this out? Remember what happened the first time we had margaritas? It was like y’all were part of the CIA and I was on the receiving end of a training session for how to interrogate suspects.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Lauren teases with a smile on her face.

“You got me drunk! For the first time in my life!”

“Ladies! Stop! We always do this! Task at hand. Task. At. Hand.”

Six pairs of eyes stare at me, waiting.

“Ugh. Fine! Fine! Andy is… well… he’s incredible. He’s kind and sweet, and Heather is such an effing idiot because there is no one like him. He’s helped me move forward in a way that I never saw coming, and his boys? They’re just hilarious and so much like their father, thank the good Lord for that one.”

“So, are you dating? Together? What? I’m so confused,” Carly admits.

“Honestly? Right now, we’re just hanging out. Getting to know each other. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more. I mean, for one thing, look at the guy,” I say on a sigh, to which all the girls follow.

“He is kind of dreamy.” Tess giggles. “Even though I’m old enough to be his mother.”

“Uh, if you could be, then I could be, and that’s not something I’m okay with thinking about.”

“Christine the Cougar,” Lauren says, her body bending over in half as peals of laughter burst from her.

“Shut up!” I shout but laugh right along with her.

“He’s not that young. And you’re definitely not that old,” Lauren shocks us all with a moment of sincerity.

Another sigh.

“I know. He’s thirty-five so really, it’s not even an issue. It’s just… he’s overwhelming.”

“In a good way?” Carly guesses.

“Very,” I admit and look out one of the living room windows.

“What is it?” Tess asks quietly, probably noticing my thoughts were beginning to run away from me. Perceptive woman.

“He asked me to join him and the boys at the cabin next weekend.”

Lauren chokes on her margarita, and Tess erupts into a series of hand claps that makes her look more like a seal. I glance over at Carly only to see a wistful smile spreading across her face, her diamond ring glistening on her left hand as she reaches over and grips my fingers in hers.

She squeezes once and nods her head.

“This. This is a good thing.”

“Is it?”

“It is. You’ve been through so much, Christine.” And the way she says it, the look in her eyes, it makes me think she’s not just talking about losing my husband to cancer. “I get it. Moving on is hard.”

I narrow my eyes, trying to decide if she knows about the affair, too, and briefly wondering if Andy told her what happened.

As quickly as the thought enters my mind, it vanishes. Knowing that he would never do that to me.

Betrayal isn’t in his bones.

More likely, she’s remembering only a few months ago when she, herself, moved on. James pursued her with such patience.

“Carly’s right. As usual. This is a good thing, Christine. You deserve the happy. You deserve the hot younger guy salivating over you — and believe me when I say he so does. It’s almost sickening to be around you two, watching him track your every move like he’s a lion on the prowl. Just… say yes to this weekend and enjoy yourselves. Let loose and allow him to be more.”

“You make it sound so easy. He has little boys.”

“Aidan and Reece are hardly little. They’re fourteen now. And you know Andy. Would Andy bring anyone around his boys if he didn’t think they were going to be a permanent part of their lives?”

“No. He wouldn’t.”

“Go to the cabin. Enjoy yourself. Is Bri going?”

“No. She wants to stay home and get some hours in to keep saving for college. I’ll only be gone a few nights, so I’m not worried,” I tell Tess, knowing she’ll understand what I’m getting at.

“I’ll keep Grady home as much as possible.”

I laugh, knowing she will. Or she’ll just make sure Bri is over there and under Harper supervision the entire time. Which is just as good as adult supervision.

“Maybe time away will be good.” I shrug, hoping it to be true.

“See? You just need to get your mind on board because I can see already your heart is there. It’s ready. For him. Take that leap into your happiness, Christine. Just rip it off like a Bioré strip.”

“That’s not the term. It’s rip it off like a Band-Aid.”

“I don’t give a flying turkey what the saying is. Ripping off the Bioré strips hurt like a son of a bitch.”

“It hurts?” Carly asks, a horrified expression covering her face.

“What do you mean, it hurts? Doesn’t it hurt when you do it?”

“Ummm… I’ve never done it before.” Carly… expression innocent and eyes wide after just shocking the crap out of each of us.

“You say what, now?” I shout.

Carly shakes her head and looks at the three of us.

She sniffs and finishes her margarita, because we've become bad influences and have taught the girl how to get her drink on. Safely, of course, and without needing to join AA.

“No way! You're lying!” Lauren accuses as she walks back into the living room, pitcher in hand, and tops off Carly’s glass then proceeds to the rest of ours.

“I've never done it before! It's not my fault! I was a single mother to a boy! I didn’t exactly have a lot of privacy.”

How does her reasoning make a bit of sense? But far be it for me to question it because the focus is finally off me and Andy and our non-relationship for a few blessed moments.

“And that's your excuse? Girl, I've been doing it for years! Anyone who says they don't get satisfaction out of it is a liar, too. When it pulls just right… oh yeah. It's so awesome. Not only can you see the results, but you can feel it, too! I literally can't even with its awesomeness.”

“She's right. You really haven't lived. You'll feel and look decades younger,” Tess adds.

Lauren pats her arm. “Decades, Tess? Really?”

She pouts and shrugs her shoulders. “You don't know everything,” she mumbles and throws back her margarita like a boss. Hmm, I wonder if her fine line has been reached yet. I'll let Barrett worry over that one.

“Trust us,” Lauren says, but it sounds like the snake on the Jungle Book.

“Yeah, my hoo-hah trusted y’all once, too!” She points an accusing finger in their direction.

I raise my hand. “Do I or do I not want to know the when, where, and why to the you trusting them with your hoo-hah question?”

“Awww, Little James is rubbing off on you! Saying y’all all Southern like. So proud,” Tess says, clutching her chest, ignoring me.

“Ladies! Focus! We need to settle this! Carly can't go through life without experiencing this at least once! And telling me the hoo-hah story.”

“I'll do it at home! I promise!”

“No. We want to see!”

“For real? That's kinda gross, isn't it?”

“Not gross! It's so satisfying. You'll love it. Then you'll be addicted to it and want to do it all the time.”

“Come on,” I tell her, dragging her to my bathroom.

“Now? In here? In front of y’all?”

“Damn right. This is gonna be awesome. Don't take away our happiness, Carly. That's not what true friends do.”

Lauren, folks. Master manipulator.

I reach into the closet in the bathroom and pull out the box.

“You have them on hand?” Carly shrieks.

“Keep up, Carly. We said it was addicting.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Oh, stop being such a baby! Get yourself wet, ok? It won't work dry.”

“How wet do I need to be?”

“Not like dripping — you don't want it to just slip away.”

“Okay, hold still.”

“Wait. Let me get ready.”

What the heck does she need to get ready?

“How do you need to get ready?” Tess voices my question aloud.

“Just… let me take a breath. I've never done this before! I'm kind of nervous, and you guys are watching! You could turn around, you know.”

Lauren scoffs and sticks her hand out to shake, “Hi, I'm Lauren. Nice to meet you for the very first time ever.”

“Okay, fine. Just tell me if I'm doing it wrong. I mean… look what happened the last time I took your advice with my hoo-hah! I almost had to live the rest of my life on the bathtub! I'm not going through that again!”

Seriously, someone needs to tell me the story!

Tess brushes away her complaint.

“You need to get wet again since it dried up while you were delaying. It’s not like you need to be dripping wet. Just enough to…”

“Fine! Okay, so I just need to get myself wet then…”

“Christine?” I hear Andy’s amused voice come through the door.

“Yeah? We’re in here, Come on in!”

“Uhh, not sure I'm supposed to come in there.” I think his voice actually cracks at the end. He clears his throat. “Right?” His voice is full of fear.

The girls and I look at each other, trying not to laugh. The conversation he must have overheard coming to me, and oh yeah… we need to make this good.

“Yeah, maybe you're right. We’re not exactly…”

“Decent,” Tess says, trying not to laugh.

She fails.

Though, to her credit, it does come out low and husky, so we roll with it.

“Right. Wouldn’t want you to see something you, uh, shouldn’t,” Lauren says.

“Umm, okay? Well, umm, can I? What I mean is… what is it you're… okay maybe I'll just… wait?”

“Maybe that would be best. It will only take us ten minutes.”

“No!” Carly shouts. “We need more… time. Sometimes it takes me a… while.”

Lauren shoves her face into a towel, and I bite my fist to keep from laughing. How she said it all with a straight face, I’ll never know.

“Oh. Okay. Yeah. I'm just… I'm gonna get a beer, yeah? Yeah. That's where I'll be. In the kitchen. While you guys are in here. Getting Carly… wet,” he says, his voice faltering.

“Sounds good!” I shout.

The second we hear his footsteps bound away, bumping into some piece of furniture in the bedroom, curses exploding from his lips, we all fall to the ground in a fit of laughter.

“Oh damn. That was so good!”

“If that were Barrett, the guys would have already been told.”

“Right? Oh, my gosh. That's the best thing ever.”

“That's what he's thinking right now,” Lauren snickers.

When we finally regain composure, I straighten up. “Okay, Carly, here's the Bioré Strip.”