was Gray who took my hand. “Di, if you honestly don’t think this is a good fit, then don’t do it. Walk away. But if you want to give this thing a try, give it a try. Don’t let fear hold you back.” She smiled reassuringly at me. “If you try it and he breaks your heart, guess what?”
“What?”
“You still have all of us.”
I bit my lip to keep the tears away. It was like a light bulb went off. Yeah. Things went bad—all the time. I’d always been okay. I’d be okay again. And I had these ladies to pick me back up if I fell. “You’re right. I can spend my life wondering or I can spend my life living.”
“Fine,” Janet said. “You win. Give him another chance. But you be damn careful.”
Gray lifted her bottle with the last sip toward me and said, “Sounds to me, honey, like there’s only one thing left to do.”
“What’s that?”
“Go and get your man.”
CHAPTER 13
gray: the winner
“Remember that picture of Brooke with her in that sombrero drinking the fishbowl margarita?” I asked Marcy as we lay in the front yard, waiting for our lemonades to wear off so we could go paddleboarding.
She cracked up. “That was the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I mean, Greg is a total tool, but that is, like, seriously the worst.” She sat up all of a sudden and said, “Hey, where’s hottie with a body?”
“He had clinics this morning and then he’s coming over.”
Marcy leaned over me, her nose mere inches from mine. “Are you going to marry him?” she whispered. “I mean, seriously. Y’all are like all in love. If you get married for the second time before I get married for the first, I’m going to be super pissed.”
“Marcy, you’re making me jealous,” I heard from behind me.
We all started cracking up as Andrew made his way toward where we were lying.
“Oh, oh, oh, it’s my little stud muffin. I have miiiisssed you.” I sat up and planted a big, wet kiss on him.
He backed away and made a face. “Babe, what have you been drinking?”
“Mike’s Hard Lemonade,” Marcy said through her giggles.
I pointed toward the guesthouse. “With Diana and her friends who have tolerances much, much greater than mine.”
He nodded. “I can see that.”
“Wait. Are you mad?”
“No!” He laughed. “In fact, I’m relieved. It’s going to make you a lot easier to sway.”
“Do I need to leave for this?” Marcy said, lying back down. “I mean, I’m not going to. But if I’m not supposed to be here, I’ll try harder not to say stuff.”
Andrew laughed. “It’s fine. I might want you on my side.” He took a deep breath. “Gray. I want you to come out with me on a proper date to a proper place, in public, where you will probably see people you know.”
“No.”
He laughed. “What? Why not? It’s been weeks, and I’m ready to take this thing out on the open road.”
Marcy started laughing.
“We can’t be frolicking around town together,” I said lazily, feeling myself starting to get tired.
He sighed. “So, what then? Am I supposed to sneak around in the shadows with you forever—well, I mean, forever until I go back to grad school in the fall? Is that the deal?”
I leaned forward and tried to charm my way out of the situation. “I kind of like sneaking around in the shadows with you.”
He backed away. “I’m serious, Gray. Can’t I at least meet your friends? I know they all know about me.” He gave me that boyish grin that I found irresistible. I bet his mom never punished him. That thought horrified me. His poor mother. She would just die if she knew he was dating a thirty-four-year-old woman. It was probably a good thing that my mother was dead because she would have killed me. My resolve was strengthened.
Marcy interjected, “You know me. I’m the only friend who matters.”
I pointed at Marcy and made a triumphant face. “See?”
But then he said, his irritation rising, “Are you embarrassed by me?”
Was I embarrassed by him? I looked him over, closed one eye, looked him over again. Nope. Not one single bit of that adorableness was embarrassing.
I scooted in closer to him. “Sweetheart, I am not even close to embarrassed by you. You are a prize if ever there was one.”
“Then what’s the big deal?”
Marcy raised her eyebrows at me and mouthed, You’re going to marry him.
“Look. I’m embarrassed of myself. I’m way too old to be gallivanting