and Trish jumped right to it. “Rumor has it you had a visit from Kane and his mom.”
“How did you know?” I still hadn’t quite gotten used to how quickly news moved in a small town.
“Someone saw her car parked outside your shop. What did she want?”
“To warn me off of her son,” I said with a laugh. “She thinks Kane and I have a thing going on.”
“Do you?”
“No!”
“Protesting much?” Trish arched a brow. She’d tamed her hair for work, pulling it back in a bushy pony wrapped in a bright strip of cloth that matched the hue of her shirt.
“I do not have a thing for Kane.”
It was over eggplant lasagna, with ground beef, mushrooms, and tons of cheese, that I managed to mumble, “Any recommendations on where I can buy some cute underwear? I think I’m ready to get rid of my granny panties.” Comfortable to the extreme, up to my waist, cotton, loose. But not exactly the sexiest thing.
My BFF didn’t bat an eye as she said, “The kind that is cute but functional, or that screams, take me, I’m yours?”
“Both?”
“Things must be getting serious between you and Darryl.” Trish nodded with approval. She’d been team Darryl from the start.
“I think so. He came by the store today just to say hi.”
“Only hi?”
I blushed. “We’re taking things slow.” Mostly by circumstance. I was ready to ignore my previous trepidation and go for it.
“Slow can be nice,” she said. “Although I expected that more of Jace than him.”
She referred to my reticent neighbor, who lately appeared to be keeping to himself. The brief occasions I’d seen him, he’d been skulking in the shadows, dragging around that axe of his. I used to wonder why until I met some of the monsters that lived in the forest around Cambden.
“What are you two chatting about?” Marjorie arrived with coffee and slid into the booth beside Trish.
“Darryl popped in to say hi to Naomi today.”
“Oh, how cute. You and Darryl are adorbs,” she declared.
“Thanks.” We did have a lot in common being just normal, blue-collar folk. About the same age. We both knew the words to eighties music. I flashed for a second to Kane. Slightly older, a jet-setting architect who’d been pictured intimately with models. I’d never be able to compete.
Wait, why would I want to? Kane and I were nothing. I had Darryl. A guy I was over the moon for.
“So when are you planning for Darryl to see your underwear?” Marjorie asked, and I spewed coffee.
Choked for a good minute while Trish killed herself laughing.
“Not funny,” I managed to complain in a raspy voice. “Almost drowned.”
“If you’d seen the look of panic on your face.” Trish snickered.
“Don’t tease her too bad. It’s not easy getting your feet wet after a bad relationship,” Marjorie, whom we sometimes called Jojo, chided.
“She’s got to get on that horse sooner or later,” Trish remarked.
“I will. I am. Soon.” Should I tell them he planned to spend New Year’s with me? Hopefully I wouldn’t chicken out. Having nice panties was all well and good, but I also had to show him the rest of me. Stretch marks. Loose skin. A history etched on my flesh. I wasn’t a woman in her twenties but one creeping up on fifty.
Life left its mark. Surely Darryl would understand. After all, when I first met him, he’d been a bit overweight and unkempt, too. I liked to think his attention to his appearance started because of me.
“Soon means we need to get it done.”
“I’m not working tomorrow,” Marjorie stated.
“Since it’s Friday, I can close the municipal office early. It’s not like people are stampeding for town services right now.” Trish worked as a clerk handing out permits and information.
“I’m surprised you’re not busy. Seems like the town is crowded lately.” A glance around the diner showed it packed. The faces all new to me.
“Lots of new folk moving in, plus we got a few that showed up to be a part of the New Year’s Eve event.”
“What event?”
Marjorie blinked her heavily mascaraed eyes at me. “How have you not heard about it? The one at the mill. The party?”
I shook my head.
“The mill is throwing a New Year’s Eve bash. Catered food. Drinks. And the whole town is invited.”
“I already have plans to spend it with Darryl.”
“Doing what?”
I’d actually not thought that far ahead. “I don’t know.” Other than I’d assumed it would involve sex at one point.
“You’re going to the party,” Marjorie declared.
“I should talk to