Feels Like Falling - Kristy Woodson Harvey Page 0,41

that. But as I opened the fridge to make some breakfast, I could hear her and that boy laughing, so at least she had a man to protect her if someone came in.

I reorganized the fridge and found some good-looking bacon and eggs I had bought earlier in the week. Making breakfast would take my mind off that cigarette I wanted so bad.

“What are you doing here?” I heard a familiar voice ask.

“What are any of us doing here?” I responded.

Trey laughed. He was in a bathrobe and slippers, holding a laptop in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

“Do you ever quit working?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Do you?”

“Touché.”

“So I guess the date went well?” Trey whispered.

“Sure seems like it.”

I cut a perfect circle out of a piece of bread and was cracking the first egg, bacon sizzling away on the pan beside me, when I heard the door creak, and Gray came out of her room with her bathrobe on, smiling and giggly, that boy in nothing but his boxers trailing behind her. She stopped real quick when she saw me.

“Diana! What are you doing?”

“I figured you two might’ve worked up an appetite.” I smirked.

Gray made a noise like she was shocked and said, “We did nothing of the sort! I am a lady.”

Andrew half smiled. “Yes, ma’am, you are.” Then he looked at me, as if I were Mom and they needed to explain themselves. “For real, I just passed out here.”

“Please do not ever call me ‘ma’am,’?” Gray said. Then she whispered, “Maybe you should put some pants on.”

Andrew shrugged like clothes were optional when you looked like him. She gasped.

“What?” I said.

“You’re making egg on toast?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. What about it?”

“My mom used to make me egg on toast.”

Then she got real quiet and walked inside her big pantry. I didn’t know if I’d made her happy or sad, but either way I figured I had helped her have some real feelings about her mom. I heard some noise that I figured out was the Keurig once she came out a few minutes later with two steaming cups.

I finished plating the food, wiped my hands on my shorts, and said, “That’s my cue to leave. Y’all have a good day. Thanks for putting me up and all.” Then, in a loud mock whisper, I added, “You look like a damn fool carrying on with that kid.”

“Hey!” Andrew said. “Throw me a bone here. I’m having a hard enough time as it is.”

Marcy wandered in from the backyard, wearing Uggs, worn-out sleep shorts, and an oversize T-shirt. She added, “Yeah, come on, Diana. For God’s sake, she had to sleep with Greg for a decade. She deserves a freakin’ break.”

Trey turned to me and said, “Where exactly do you think you’re going?”

“I’m getting my new apartment today,” I lied.

Gray raised her eyebrows questioningly at me. Then she said, “It’s not like anyone stays in the guesthouse. Seems kind of dumb to waste your money on some apartment when you’ll be coming over every day for the next few months. The summer is just starting,” she added. “Why don’t you stay?”

My instinct was to argue, but it’s not like I could pretend I was doing great. She had seen me sleeping in my car. No way around that one.

“I did get you fired,” she added.

I shook my head. I wanted to stay in that gorgeous guesthouse more than I could say, but I couldn’t do it. It was too much, too soon. It felt wrong.

“How about we make a deal?” Gray said.

I wouldn’t take her handout. But a deal? A deal I could do.

“I’ve been thinking about hiring a professional organizer to get all my closets and drawers and stuff straight. How about you help me with that in exchange for rent?”

I put my hand out to shake hers. “But it has to be in addition to my normal hours.”

“Fine,” she said.

I exaggerated a sigh and said, “Somebody’s got to look after you. You’re a damn mess.”

“Preach it,” Marcy said.

Gray laughed and backed up to where Andrew was sitting on the stool and rested against his leg. He slid his arm around her stomach. “No use wasting this gorgeous day,” she said. “I vote we finish this up on the lawn.”

I grabbed one of the plates and walked into the sunny living room, the rays warming the floors, making them look like fresh honey.

I breathed for the first time in a long time without thinking