How to Marry Your Frenemy - London Casey Page 0,102

the corners of my eyes.

I cleared my throat.

Jackson didn’t want a thing to do with me.

That was clear.

Vince fired me.

I had no desire to fight back against him.

So for now, this was my new job.

I had enough savings that I could take a little time and think.

I could help Mom get the shop back on track and in order.

She could pay herself from the business. And she could pay her taxes and her car payment - and all her other bills. Once I had that set up for good, then I could get out there and find a new job.

Part of me even thought about leaving the city.

Or the state.

I could definitely start over somewhere else.

As far as a reference went, I just needed to call Vince and make it known if he wanted to play this game, I would tell the truth and ruin him. I knew how to scare him.

In fact, I could have had my job back in a heartbeat.

I just didn’t want it.

I couldn’t work that close to Jackson ever again.

“You need to go with them,” Mom said to me from behind me.

I turned around.

Joni, Sunny, and Lake were walking toward the back.

“What?” I asked.

“Go with them,” Mom said. “Please just trust me. Trust them. Trust this.”

“Mom…”

“Callie,” she snapped. “I know everything you’ve done for me. I know how you feel about this place. I’m asking, just one time, trust this.”

I swallowed hard.

I walked from behind the counter to the back room of the shop.

I had no idea what to expect.

The lights were out.

There were four candles lit.

“Sit,” Lake said to me.

I sat at a small table.

“This is where we tell the truth,” Sunny said. “Speak your truth and blow out the candle.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“Then let fate take control,” Joni said. “No more trying to plan it all out.”

“Trust us,” Lake said.

“I’ll go first,” Sunny said. “My name is Sheila. I married a wonderful man. I had a dream life. All we wanted was a family together. We tried and my body refused. The universe had other plans for me. For us. I was told I would never have children. No matter what. I looked into my husband’s eyes and just knew it was over. I knew the truth. So we sat down and said we loved each other, but it was over. A month later, he impregnated a woman. We weren’t even officially divorced yet. I never knew if that meant he was seeing that woman while we were together or not. I never asked. I changed my name to Sunny and I embraced my fate.”

Sunny blew out the candle.

I heard her sniffling.

I wanted to cry.

“My name is Lisa,” Lake said. “I fell in love as a teenager. With the most beautiful boy in the world. He was my best friend. He was my first everything. He took care of me in a way nobody could ever understand. They blamed our age. As though that’s a punishment for feelings. We were going to run away together and get married. Have a family, a house. I had a dream of him working as a mechanic and me as a waitress. We would struggle to get by, but we would have so much love…” Lake wiped her eyes. “He died in a car accident when we were eighteen. I’ve never loved since then. I’ve had lovers, but have never loved. He was the one and only. The truth of the universe. I changed my name to Lake and became part of that universe. My fate is to wait for my time to see him again.”

Lake leaned forward and blew out the candle in front of her.

“My name is Joni,” Joni said. “That’s my real name. My husband and I were happy. We were living our dream life. There were ups and downs. Marriage isn’t easy. Don’t let anyone tell you that.” Joni smiled at me. “And as fast as something can go right, it can go wrong. My husband was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May and the day after Christmas the same year he passed away. We celebrated that Christmas together, him in his hospital bed, me in a chair, watching our favorite movies. His death proved to me just what life meant. So here I am.”

Sunny blew out her candle.

The room was mostly dark.

Minus my candle burning.

They all looked at me.

“Speak it,” Joni said.

“The truth,” Lake said.

“Trust us,” Sunny added.

I nodded.

“I’m Callie,” I said. “I spent my entire life proving to everyone I don’t