to mess with.
“He absolutely did. We got into this big shouting match right there in the middle of the aisle with all these people I don’t even know watching like we were putting on a show or something.”
“That’s small-town livin’ for you, sweets. Everybody knows everybody else’s business. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually get used to it.”
I collapsed back onto mat with a pained groan, staring up at the gorgeous blue sky and puffy white clouds. “This is just sad. I’m a thirty-three-year-old divorcee whose husband couldn’t keep his dick in his pants and threw me over for the other woman. Then the best sex of my life turned out to be the biggest asshole I’ve ever met. Maybe I’m cursed or something.”
“Oh nonsense. There’s no such thing as curses.”
I turned my head and looked up at her, lifting a hand to block the sun. “Yeah? Then what do you think the problem is?”
“You’re simply crap at picking good men, that’s all,” Sylvia stated almost amiably before sucking in a gasp like she’d just had a lightbulb moment. “Oh! You know what? You should really meet my neighbor,” she insisted, like I wasn’t in the middle of a crisis.
“Sylvia,” I groaned, “another guy is so not the answer.”
“But I think this one may just be. He’s a great man.” She waggled her brows. “And I get a sense he’s quite accomplished in the sack.”
“And how would you have a ‘sense’ about something like that?”
“You get to be my age, you just know about these things.”
I looked back to the sky and let loose a laugh. It had started off slow and quiet but built in speed and sound until tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my temples into my hair. Man, did it feel good to laugh like that after the shitty twenty-four hours I’d had.
“You’re gonna be just fine, darlin’ girl,” Sylvia said, giving my knee a pat. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna finish my vinyasa. And I could really use a glass of iced tea.”
My laughter trickled off into giggles as I pushed up from my mat and started toward my back door. “On it. Be right back.”
I skip-walked down the cobblestones, feeling lighter than I thought possible a few minutes ago. The second I pushed the back door open, I heard my cellphone go off. Moving to the counter, I pulled it from its charger and swiped to answer, holding it between my shoulder and ear as I moved around the kitchen. “Hello?”
“Hey, babe. It’s Nona. From the flower shop the other day?”
“Oh, yeah, I remember. How’s it going?” I asked as I grabbed a couple glasses from the cabinet then headed for the fridge to get the pitcher of iced tea.
“Everything’s good. I’m calling because there’s gonna be a live band playing at The Tap Room tonight, and I wanted to see if you’d be interested in going.”
“What’s The Tap Room?” I asked as I poured the tea and moved to put the pitcher back into the fridge.
“It’s the best bar in town. You’re gonna love it, trust me. Say you’ll come. I know it’s really last minute, but it’ll be a lot of fun. And Eden and I can introduce you to the rest of our friends. You’ll fit right in.”
Fitting in with a new crowd in my new town sounded nice, especially considering I didn’t have a single friend in the world to speak of. Who was I to turn down a shot at making some new ones?
“You know what? That sounds great. What time should I meet you guys?”
“The band goes on at eight. How’s that sound?”
The corners of my lips began to tilt upward and excitement bloomed in my belly. “Sounds awesome. I’ll see you there.”
“See you then, doll.”
I hung up and set my phone down so I could grab the glasses of iced tea.
“Sure did take you longer than I expected,” Sylvia said as I made my way to her through the garden.
“Sorry. Nona called while I was in there. She invited me to a ladies’ night tonight.”
Sylvia took one of the glasses from my hand and sipped while lifting a dainty brow. “Is that so? Well it looks like this day’s takin’ a turn for the better after all, huh?”
I sure as hell hoped so.
“Now help an old lady off the ground, would you? I still have a few miles in these hips of mine. Be a damn shame to break one now.” She shot me a