“My mom will miss her,” I say. I can’t even count the number of years our mothers have been best friends. “That sounds all wrong. We’ll be happy to have you and Leo.”
She laughs. “Relax, there’s nothing in this world you can say that would offend me.”
All of a sudden, I’m overcome by emotion. The realization of how special it is to have that kind of a friend. Tears fill my eyes, and I sniff as a sob tears through me. How many people get to hear the words that Riley just said to me?
There’s nothing in this world you can say that would offend me.
“Cora! Are you okay? What is it?”
I can’t talk from ugly sobbing. Riley stops the car. “I’m getting worried. Tell me what is wrong.”
I manage to stop sobbing and look at Riley. “It just hit me how special our friendship is. When you said there was nothing I could say that would offend you, it just floored me. For the record, I could say the same.”
Riley’s eyes tear up. “I know what you mean. I’ve told Leo how much our friendship means to me so many times that I’m sure that he is fed up now.”
I laugh shakily. “Look at us. This is crazy. We’ve parked the car on the side of the road to cry.”
Riley laughs too, and in the next few minutes, we laugh, although I am sure neither of us remembers what we’re laughing about. She jams the car into gear and guns the engine.
“So where are we going for pizza?” I ask Riley.
“Downtown LA. It’s near the firehouse,” she says.
Leo is a firefighter, and he works in fire station 254. I know this because Riley was a paramedic firefighter before she gave it up to work for an ambulance service.
“It’s owned by the woman who was our wedding planner, Marian Stevens. You remember her?” Without giving me time to respond, she continues speaking. “Anyway, her husband, Declan owns the pizza place. His brother, Ace is a firefighter as well and works with Leo.”
“I can’t keep track of who is who in the station and definitely can’t remember who is related to who.”
“Declan and Marian are the couple I was telling you about who got hitched in Vegas after a drunken night,” Riley says.
The story comes back to me, and I laugh. Apparently, they’d met on the plane and then found themselves in the same hotel in Vegas, unaware that they were there to attend the same wedding. They’d met again at the bar and proceeded to drink together. Then one of them had come up with the idea of getting married. I shake my head as I imagine the horror of waking up to a stranger who just happens to be your new husband. Their story makes me and Thomas look pale by comparison. It’s nice to hear they’re still together.
They are like one big family in the station, and I admire them for that. It’s rare to find Leo and Riley at home during the weekends. There’s always something or another for one of the guys. If not that, then they are out of town visiting Leo’s family, who live on a farm somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
Life is tough for us single women. As pleased as you are when your friend finds love, it’s tough because they become scarce. Riley and I are lucky because our jobs are pretty flexible, and we can meet during the week.
She glides to a stop and gets a parking spot right in front of the pizza place.
“You’ll love their pepperoni pizza,” Riley says, and my stomach starts rumbling. Only when we get out of the car and we’re walking to the entrance do I notice how big Riley’s belly has gotten.
“The baby has really grown,” I say admiringly as if it’s all Riley’s doing.
We chat about our pregnancies as we enter the restaurant. I’m hit by the delicious scent of roasting bread. It’s clearly a popular place judging by the ordering queue. Funny that I’m not a pizza fan or indeed any type of junk food, but right now, I can’t think of anything I’d want to eat more. The queue moves fast and, in a few minutes, it’s our turn to order.
We find an empty table, settle in, and wait until our order is ready. Riley carries the pizza, and I carry our bottles of water. For the next five minutes, the only sounds that come from our table are the crunching of teeth.
“I feel human again,” Riley says.
“Me too.” I take a gulp of water and eat the next slice of pizza more luxuriously now that the initial gnawing hunger has been abated.
“How long is your mom going to be away?” I ask Riley.
“Might be a while. She’s gone to take care of Eva.”