“I was just sitting here thinking how amazing it is that we’re sitting here, so happy with our lives. We’ve each found men who we really love and are planning futures all in the same city. And if it wasn’t for one little DNA test, we wouldn’t have found each other at all.”
“I think about that all the time too,” Traci said. “But, you got something wrong, Shannon.”
“What was that?”
This time it was Kimber who spoke up. “It wasn’t just a little DNA test. It was you reaching out to us. It was you taking that first step. You’re the reason we’re all together.”
“It was also you two being willing to give up so much to move here. To give us a try.”
Kimber chuckled. “And now look at us. Three peas in a pod.”
Three peas in a pod. It was a silly expression but one that felt fitting—because that’s what they had become. In spite of everything, they were three unique women who fit together imperfectly.
But she’d long ago decided that perfection was overrated.
Tucking her legs under her, Shannon said, “Well, we’ve got the whole night to ourselves. What should we do?”
“That’s easy,” Kimber said. She picked up the remote control and tossed it to Traci. “Pick a movie. I’m going to go put on sweats. And yes, I brought y’all some sweatpants and old T-shirts too.”
As Traci started flipping the channels, Shannon said, “That’s what you want to do? Put on old sweats and watch a movie?”
“And eat ice cream,” Traci said. “Don’t forget that. Oh! How about You’ve Got Mail?”
Kimber rolled her eyes. “I’ve only seen that four or five times.”
Looking delighted, Traci smiled. “Me too. So it’s perfect, right?”
Shannon was about to disagree when she realized that when she was little, moments like these were just what she’d always wanted.
Time to do nothing. Just sit with two people she cared about. Because she could.
And right then, right at that moment, she realized something for the first time.
These were the moments you couldn’t put a finger on, couldn’t really explain, but that meant everything.
These were the moments that counted.
They counted for everything.
“Don’t eat all the cookies and cream!” she shouted.
When Traci and Kimber just laughed, she followed them upstairs. Because what they did didn’t really matter.
All that mattered was that her sisters understood just what she meant—and she had a feeling that they always would.
That was all that mattered. Maybe it was all that ever had.
The End
Excerpt from
Edgewater Road
rumors in ross county, book 1
CHAPTER 1
It had been a really bad idea. Staring at the five vehicles parked haphazardly in the long driveway leading to her neighbor’s farmhouse, Jennifer pressed hard on her Camry’s brakes and seriously contemplated turning around.
But the two guys drinking beer on the front porch had already seen her. One of them waved.
If she turned around, Jennifer knew that John Bennett would find out. And when he did, he wouldn’t let it slide, because that was the way he was. Shoot, he’d probably show up at her front door tomorrow morning and ask her a dozen questions about why she hadn’t parked and gone in.
He might even decide to stop by later that night.
Though she’d only spoken to John, who also went by Lincoln—his better known and preferred nickname—a couple of times, Jennifer had already gotten the feeling he didn’t suffer fools. Or liars, which was what she would be if he asked why she’d decided to show up at his house without calling first.
Jennifer wasn’t typically a liar, but she knew herself well enough to realize that she’d feel so foolish, she’d start making up all kinds of excuses that were as flimsy as a sheet of tissue paper.
So she had to go inside and do what she came to do.
Feeling a weight on her chest, Jennifer carefully pulled off to the side of the driveway, leaving plenty of room to turn around. That wouldn’t be hard to do. Lincoln’s house was on a full two acres, just like her own. There was plenty of space for parking.
And, it seemed, parties.
Turning off the ignition, Jennifer came up with a plan. She was going to walk up to John’s front door, say hello to his friends, deliver this really bad idea, and then hurry home.
Feeling the men’s eyes on her, she walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and pulled out her whole reason for being there. One triple layer chocolate cake with a chocolate mousse filling and a creamy white seven-minute-frosting. It was a beautiful dessert, if she did say so herself.
She’d baked it for Lincoln. As a thank you present. She’d thought it was the kind of gift her grandmother, Ginny Smiley, would have delivered back in the day.
But now that Jennifer thought about it? She was starting to get the feeling that MeMe would have done no such thing.
It was just another example of how her grandmother had been far cooler than she could ever hope to be.
The longer she lived in MeMe’s old Victorian farmhouse, the more aware Jennifer became that she really hadn’t known her grandmother all that well.
Then again, there was a lot to know about MeMe. She’d had a really interesting life. Even at eighty years old she’d been far more confident and vivacious than Jennifer, Ginny Smiley’s namesake.
Yep, Jennifer was plain, store-brand vanilla, while her grandmother had been a lot more like one of those crazy Ben and Jerry’s flavors that were filled with ten different mix-ins and cost double the price. Side by side, there was no comparison.
“Hey.”
Startled, she turned to face one of the men who’d come over to help her unload the U-Haul when she’d moved in next door a week ago. He’d shown up barely ten minutes after Lincoln had stopped by. Lincoln had pulled in her driveway to introduced himself but then had quickly realized she was moving in all by herself. That she was completely alone.
He’d frowned when she’d told him that she was fine and didn’t need a single thing.
Seconds after that, he’d sent a text, and then his friends had arrived.
Now, looking at the man dressed in a long-sleeved T-shirt and worn jeans, Jennifer couldn’t remember what his name was. All she could recall was that he’d been a lot easier to talk to than John Bennett.
“Hi . . . I’m sorry but I forgot your name. Was it Ben?”