"What's Sunday?"
"We do a brunch as many times a month as we can," Bethany offered.
"It used to be things on a whim," Janie added. "But then we all started having kids, and the only time we could all seem to get away at once was in the early morning hours on Sunday when the kids are sleeping in and don't notice we're all gone."
"So Sunday at seven-thirty, yeah, I know," Kennedy said with a lip curl. "It's an obscene hour, but if you don't show, they are going to sic Alex on you."
"You'd only be missing a few tufts of hair," Alex promised with a grin as she patted the side of my head.
"Okay. Sunday at seven-thirty."
"Oh, at that place that used to be the best twenty-four-hour diner and is now a mediocre breakfast place," Lo explained as she started shuffling the other women toward the door. "It was nice to meet you, Reese."
"See?" Alex said when they were all gone. "That wasn't so bad."
It really wasn't. And I had to admit, the idea of maybe having some more friends in my life was intriguing. Maybe I wasn't one-hundred percent convinced that I was going to fit in like the rest of them, but anything was possible if shy, bookish me was suddenly dating some hot, bearded, outlaw biker, right?
"You have work in half an hour, don't you?" Elsie asked as she moved to stand, adjusting her dress back into place.
Oh, God.
Work.
I totally forgot work even existed.
I guess vacation did that sometimes.
And, you know, world-class sex too.
"Oh shoot," I gasped, jumping up, nearly toppling Alex in the process. "Ah, I need a shirt and... what are you doing? Those are Cy's drawers," I objected as Alex hopped up, and went into one.
"I'm assuming you have a bra here somewhere. You can just toss on one of his tees since you are going to throw a sweater over it anyway," she explained, tossing it at me.
Figuring she was right, I took the shirt, and found my shoes, realizing I was just going to have to go without panties that whole day since there was nothing I could do about that whole situation in half an hour. Especially since I needed to drop by She's Bean Around to grab some coffee because I knew Barb was going to be fit to be tied about my short notice of vacation, and there wasn't enough caffeine in the world to tolerate that, but I was going to test that theory.
"Ladies!" Cy's voice said suddenly, making me jump and turn to find him standing there, all awake and perfect already even though it was early. "You came to visit little ole me? I'm flattered," he said, giving Elsie a kiss on the cheek. "Nice dress," he informed her.
"I'm stealing one of those," Alex declared, meaning one of the coffees in the tray in his hands. Alex, it was widely known, was a huge caffeine addict. She blamed the late nights tracking down what kind of twisted porn some lady's husband was into.
"Yeah, take this one," he said, even though there were only two in the tray, I imagine, one for him and one for me. "This one is blueberry," he added tapping his finger on the front one. "With an extra shot since I know Barb is gonna be on her ass today."
"You really are dreamy," Alex said, voice dripping with sarcasm, but because I knew her as well as I did, I knew she actually meant that; she actually appreciated that he was someone who thought ahead like that, that he was someone who was going to be thoughtful to me. "See you Sunday," Alex declared. "You know, both times."
With that little nugget, she was out the door, making me realize for the first time just how busy my Sundays were going to be from now on. Girls club brunch followed by cooking and Sunday dinner? There wouldn't be time to read a page, let alone the book and a half I used to manage on weekend days.
Somehow, though, I was actually kind of okay with that.
"I have to get going too," Elsie declared, giving Cy a smile.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Else. I really appreciated that."
"Anytime," she said on her way out.
"You gave Alex your coffee," I said oddly as the door closed and we were alone again.
"You ever try keeping Alex from her coffee? I'd be missing a vital organ," he quipped, only half-joking. "So, you got ambushed by the girls club, huh?" he asked as he took my coffee out of the holder, and held it out to me.
Greedy for a little kick, I took a long sip. "It wasn't that bad."
"They're good chicks. I know you just like being prepared. I'd have tried to slow them down if I were around, but at least you got that part over with."