Sabrina nodded and followed Adley through the house where she grabbed her purse and opened the front door. The morning was chilly, and Adley rubbed her hands up and down her arms in her short-sleeved shirt. The car chirped as Adley opened it, tossed her purse in, then reached for a pale pink zip-up hoodie that sat on her passenger side seat.
“Can we do this again?” Adley asked as she pushed her arms into the sleeves and adjusted the hood. “I really hope we can.”
“I’d like that.” Sabrina leaned forward and kissed Adley softly one more time. “Okay. Go, before I drag you back inside and we both miss our meetings.” She took a step back so Adley could get into her car, and that’s when she saw it. The logo on Adley’s hoodie.
It was a purple line drawing of an ice cream cone, the words Get the Scoop in a circle around it.
Oh, shit.
* * *
Scottie was already at a table near the window, sipping her coffee, when Adley arrived at the little diner called Sunny Side Up. It seemed busy for a Monday morning, but Adley didn’t care. She hadn’t driven there—she’d floated in on a cloud.
“Hi,” she said as she pulled out the chair across from Scottie and sat. A robust waitress whose name tag said she was Kitty smiled at her and poured her a cup of coffee, promising to be back in a few minutes to take their orders.
“You look different,” Scottie said, narrowing her eyes. “What is it?”
“What do you mean? How do I look different?” Adley added sugar, then smiled at the memory of Sabrina and the wheelbarrow. She picked up her mug and sipped, the coffee hot and strong, and waited for Scottie to answer.
“I’m not sure…You’re, like, happy. Like, really happy. And I think you were humming when you came in. It’s not like you—” She gasped suddenly, then covered her mouth and pointed at Adley.
“What?” Adley looked around. “What?”
Scottie leaned over the table and said in a stage whisper, “You had sex!”
“Oh my God, how could you possibly know that?” Adley whispered back, looking around the diner to make sure nobody heard them.
Scottie sat back in her chair and sipped her coffee, her grin huge, looking far too pleased with herself. Their eye contact held, as if they were in some kind of a standoff. Finally, Adley sighed, but with a big smile on her face. She couldn’t help it.
“And?” Scottie asked. “How was it?”
Adley did an all-over full-body shudder, big smile still in place. “Amazing. Wonderful. Hot. Sexy. Thrilling. So many things.”
Kitty returned then and took their orders. Omelets for both. When she’d turned and moved to another table, Scottie was looking at Adley. Studying her.
“What?” Adley asked. “What’s that look for?”
Scottie sighed quietly and set her coffee down. Forearms on the table, she leaned forward slightly. “I’m just worried about you. That’s all.”
“I thought you’d be happy for me. You’re the one who’s always saying how I work too much, I spend too much time at the shop, I don’t get out enough. Now…” Adley lifted one shoulder. “Now, I might’ve met somebody special.”
“Who doesn’t even live here,” Scottie pointed out. “Who isn’t staying. Who’s supposed to be just a physical release. Remember?” She sat back again. “I just don’t want you to get hurt is all.”
Adley couldn’t be mad about that, could she? Scottie was looking out for her, had only her best interests in mind. She knew that. “I get it. I hear you. I do. But for right now? I just want to ride this high a bit longer. Okay?”
Scottie looked like she wanted to protest, hesitated for a second, but ultimately nodded. “Okay. I can back off. As long as you know that I stress about this for you.”
Adley grinned. “Sweetie, I’ve known you almost my entire life, and I stress is your life’s motto.” Scottie’s childhood had been messy, and now her divorced parents were each remarried with other children, and she often found herself overlooked or even forgotten. Adley tipped her head to one side and softened. “I hear you. I promise.”
“Okay. Good. That’s all I ask.”
When their breakfasts came, they were back to normal, chatting about Jaden, Marisa’s nephew she’d been raising since the death of her brother. They chatted about Scottie’s salon and how good business was, and Adley told her she had a couple ideas for new flavors. And all the while, her mind flashed back to the previous night. To that morning. To any and all the times she’d spent with Sabrina so far, and she’d get a tingle that started somewhere around her stomach and worked its way down.
“Marisa and I have been looking at houses,” Scottie said, and that got Adley’s attention.
“What? You are? Since when?”
Scottie’s entire demeanor softened, the way it always did when she talked about the future with Marisa. Adley was always so happy to see her best friend so happy, but she also always felt a little pang of envy. She loved what Scottie and Marisa had. She wanted what Scottie and Marisa had. “We sort of danced around it for a few weeks, but I think it started—at least for me—about a month and a half ago. I mean…” Scottie looked down at her plate, pushed her eggs around for a moment, and when she looked up, her eyes were wet. “She’s the one. Capital T, capital O. You know? I can’t imagine my life without her. She’s it. She’s it for me.”
Adley reached across the table and closed her hand over Scottie’s forearm. She hoped her happiness was clear as she squeezed. “You deserve the best, Scooter. I’m so glad you found it. Especially after talking to my sister.”
“Oh God, that’s right. How did that go? What’d she say?”
Adley reiterated the story Brody had told her, talked about all the things she’d said were missing in her marriage. When she finished the story, she set down her fork. “Honestly? It kind of colored my whole view on happily ever after. I thought she and her husband were great role models. Just goes to show that none of us really knows what goes on in other people’s relationships.”
“Ugh. So true.”
“But you and Marisa have given me hope.”
Scottie laughed. “Glad to hear it.” Then her expression grew serious. “Don’t give up, Ads, okay? There’s somebody out there for you.”
Adley noticed the clarity with which she didn’t mention that maybe it was Sabrina, and she had to consciously tell herself not to get upset about it. It likely wasn’t Sabrina. How could it be? She lived in Atlanta, many states away. She traveled all over the country. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. They were basically fuck buddies, to put it bluntly, a situation she’d agreed to.