The Dream - Whitney Dineen Page 0,95
opening his arms to me.
I crawl into his embrace and lay my head on his shoulder. “I’m fine. I have a horrible mess of a house I can’t wait to move into and I have my job. I’ll be too busy to even think about you-know-who for a very long time.”
“Do you want me to kick his ass for you?”
I start to laugh before answering, “Yes, please. Seriously though, everything is going to work out. I really believe that. Plus, what are the chances we’d both live happily ever after with our high school crushes? I don’t even think John Hughes could have come up with that.”
“I’ll definitely take you to that movie if they ever make it,” he tells me.
“I’ll let you. Hey, Buck?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry about all that weird stuff between us.”
“I’m not,” he says. “I love you and you love me. It’s good we worked through what that means. It’s also nice to have our forty-year-old backup plan in place. We might need it.”
“True dat,” I tell him. “I probably won’t be as firm and my hair might be turning gray,” I joke.
“With any luck my eyesight will be going, so it won’t matter.”
“Nice,” I tell him. “You were supposed to say there would just be more of me to love.”
“That’s what I meant.”
We spend another hour wrapping up our visit before Jessica knocks on the door. “Am I too early?” she asks. “I could come back.”
“No way,” I tell her. “He’s all yours.”
“Thanks, Ashley,” she says. “Are we still on for tomorrow?”
“What are you ladies doing tomorrow once you get rid of me?” Buck asks.
“We’re going shopping for our new houses,” Jessica tells him. “Then we’re going to go to Ashley’s place to start removing wallpaper.”
“That sounds horrible,” he says. Then he pulls me back into his arms. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks, Buck. I’m pretty darn happy for me, too. I’m also happy for you guys. Now get out of here so you can spend some time together before you leave.”
I give them both a hug goodbye and watch while they walk over to Buck’s grandmother’s place. Buck Freeport and Jessica Holt are a couple. I wish I could go back in time and tell my friend that was going to happen. His geeky goth self would have never believed it was possible.
Once Buck and Jessica go into his grandmother’s trailer, I rush over to knock on Sammy’s door. I no longer walk in without being invited. Things went well with the spanker the other night and I don’t want to risk embarrassing any of us; or, you know, sudden blindness.
I’ve met Jim twice and he seems like a really nice guy, not a kinky vibe at all. I’ve actually started thinking he might be Sammy’s happily-ever-after. She’s more than ready to settle down.
After I knock a second time, my friend calls out, “Come on in!”
She’s lying on her couch with a bag of frozen vegetables on her head. “You okay?” I ask.
“My allergies are acting up. I have a sinus headache that could kill the Incredible Hulk.”
“You want me to come back another time?”
“I could be in agony until late June. Take a load off and keep me company.”
“Buck is leaving in the morning,” I tell her although I’m sure she already knows that.
“He’ll be back before you can whistle ‘Dixie’,” she says.
“He’s going to try working remotely every few weeks to see if he and Jessica are the real deal.”
“That’s what he said when I said goodbye to him earlier. It’ll be nice to have both of you kids around, even though you won’t be my neighbors.”
“Jessica and I are going shopping tomorrow if you want to come. We’re picking out paint.”
“You know I’d love to, but I have nail appointments booked all day. Now that open-toe sandal weather is upon us, everyone suddenly needs to get their hooves filed and prettied up.”
I snort at her description. “Okay, but I’m not letting you off the hook for the whole season. I want you to come over and keep me company while I work on my new house.”
“Honey, I’ll do more than that. I’ll be your free slave labor. I might even bring Jim along. You know he’s a plumber, right? I figure if he knows his way around pipes, he might know how to use a hammer, too.”
“Sounds like things are going well for you guys.”
“I’m not holding my breath, but I have to say, he’s different from the other guys I’ve gone out