“Why?” Bridget sounded confused.
“Why what?”
“Stop calling her my ex-girlfriend? It’s what she is.”
Jerica sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “She is, but I think as everyone can attest, she’s far more your friend now—and then—than she was your girlfriend. You two have found common ground again. You’re more than just exes.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Bridget sighed. “So, then, will you come to my best friend’s wedding with me?”
Giggling, Jerica nodded even though Bridget couldn’t see her. “Yes, Bridge, I will go to the wedding with you. When is it again?”
“Um…in a week and a half from now? Not this Saturday, but the next one.”
“I think I actually have that day off.”
“Really?” Bridget sounded surprised.
“Let me check.” Jerica pulled up her phone where she kept her work schedule and skimmed through the next two weeks. Sure enough, she had that one Saturday off the entire month. “It’s our luck in timing. My only Saturday off, and I’m all yours.”
“Good. It’ll be fun, I promise, though I won’t be doing much dancing with this bum leg of mine.”
“Then we’ll have to dance at the next party.” Jerica closed her eyes and settled into the couch, weariness sliding its way into every muscle in her body. If she wasn’t careful, she would fall asleep right there while on the phone with Bridget. “Because I would love to dance with you.”
“I must warn you…I lead.”
Giving a tired laugh, Jerica stayed right where she was. “Somehow, I suspected that.”
“I’m sure you did.” Bridget paused. “You sound exhausted.”
“Someone kept me up all night, and then I had to wake up extra early to get to work on time.”
“Hmm…sounds like a rough night.”
“No. No, it was a beautiful night,” Jerica corrected. “One I don’t regret at all. Well, maybe drinking so much. I shouldn’t have had that much.”
“Did you have a hangover?”
“Very slight, and something easily remedied with a couple Tylenol and water.”
“Good. I’d hate for you to be compromised at your job.”
“Never.” Jerica couldn’t even pry her eyes open anymore. She really was going to fall asleep on the couch, with Bridget talking into her ear on the phone. It wasn’t as perfect as the night before, but it was damn close to as perfect as she could get while being so far away from her. “I saw Chaplain Melville today. She was asking after you.”
“She was very kind,” Bridget answered. “And I’m beyond grateful for all she did for me when I was in the hospital.”
“I’ll tell her you said that next time I see her.”
“Please do.”
“Bridge?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Holding back her giggle, but barely, Jerica braced herself for an answer she wasn’t sure she wanted to receive. “If I go to this wedding with you, are we going as a couple or friends? I know…I know you’re not exactly out, and it’s fine with me if you want to keep some distance from me while we’re there.”
Bridget hissed. “No. I’m not doing that. I did that with Eli, and I’m pretty sure that was one of the major reasons we had so many problems. Not the only reason, but definitely up there in the top.”
“So does that mean…?”