A Life That Fits (31 page)

As I spoke I realized he might say he hadn't
been trying to date me, but I knew he had and he didn't bother
pretending. "I'm sorry to hear that. If you change your mind, let
me know."

I smiled. If I changed my mind, Tom would not
be the first man I told, but I didn't think he needed to know that.
"Thank you for the boots. They're great."

"They look terrific on you."

"They feel even better." They did too, so
comfortable they really might have been made just for me. "I think
I have finally found my perfect fit."

He grinned and handed me a stack of his
business cards. "Tell all your friends, okay?"

"You got it," I said, and we spent another
hour chatting before I had to go feed Harrison.

The musical theater group was starting up
again, and David had emailed us all for suggestions for a fun
outing before the work began. I'd checked my list of things I
wanted to try and suggested laser tag, and to my shock I turned out
to be a pretty accurate shot. Since I was also a small target, I
racked up the best kill/death ratio and George nicknamed me
'Sniper', which was soon being used by the entire group despite my
mock protests.

After, we went out for drinks amid some
pretend 'what if we all get sick again?' fears, and I showed off my
boots and nearly every woman in the group, plus our waitress,
demanded one of Tom's business cards.

Another clothes-shopping expedition with
Wendy, who adored my boots and also claimed a business card, netted
me a vibrant blue coat for the upcoming winter instead of my old
dull but practical black one, along with a sweater nearly the color
of Loren's eyes.

Loren. I loved all my activities and the
fullness of my life, but no matter what I did or where I was, I
couldn't stop thinking about him. Wendy was staying in touch with
him and had informed us all at our weekly staff meeting that he was
doing well in his new job. I asked her afterward to let him know I
was thrilled for him, and she promised she would. I had no idea how
he'd take that, or how they talked about me and my refusal to date
him, but I had to let him know I still cared.

Saturday, just over a week after Loren left
the group, I was sitting at home struggling to keep my
yarn-spinning spindle moving in the right direction when my phone
rang. Though I knew it wouldn't be him, my heart jumped in hope,
then settled when I saw the call display.

"Hey, Wendy, what's up? Don't you have
the--"

"You have to help me," she said, quiet but
intense.

I set down the spindle. "Of course. What's
wrong?"

"Alex is in the bathroom getting ready to go
to this damned party, and I just
know
I don't want to go
with him. I finally see it. I'd rather go by myself and face Henry
then be with him another second. That's crazy, right?"

"You're asking the wrong person about crazy,
my friend. But if you truly would rather go alone, then do it. Tell
him he's not coming."

"Forget that, I want to tell him I'll never
see him again. I don't like him, Andrea, I just don't. You should
hear him, he's being so nasty to me. I don't want him any
more."

"Then tell him that. Kick his butt out."

"I will. I'll--"

In the background, I heard Alex say, "You're
on the phone? Hurry up, we have to go," in that same snotty tone
he'd been applying to me far too often before I left him.

"Tell him!" Then I added, "If you're sure,"
not wanting to pressure her.

"Oh, I am," she said into the phone. Then I
heard it click down onto a hard surface, but she didn't hang it up.
"Alex?" Her voice wobbled even on that one word, and she cleared
her throat before she said, "Go home."

"What? We have to go. Henry's expecting
us."

The wobble was back but she said, "I
am
going. You're not."

I sat frozen, afraid I'd somehow make a noise
he could hear through the phone. I didn't know if she'd meant to
let me hear this but there was nothing I could do about it but send
supportive thoughts to her. She was saying strong words but her
voice was still so weak, and I didn't know if she'd be able to
stick to what I knew she wanted.

"Come on, you know you can't handle it
without me. Henry will take you apart. Don't be so stupid."

Amazingly, he was actually being nastier to
her than he'd been to me. He sounded exactly like Henry had when
he'd said Wendy was stupid. Fire and fury flooded me on her
behalf.

Maybe I somehow took the heat of his comment
from her, because her voice was ice-cold and strong when she said,
"You will not call me that again. Get out. Now."

"Fine, I'm sorry," Alex said, sounding like
the kind of kid you want to slap. "Is that better?"

Silence, and I imagined her standing staring
at him.

"You're serious? You think you can survive
that party without me. Good luck. Henry's going to laugh in your
face."

"Better that than having you in my face. Go.
And don't ever talk to me again."

I had to cover my mouth to make sure my
giggles didn't sneak through the line. Nice one, Wendy.

Alex didn't say another word, but I heard a
door slam then Wendy said into the phone, "Well, that's that."

"Good for you."

"Could you hear him? Did you like what I
said?"

"You were brilliant," I said honestly. "And
he was obnoxious. Was he shocked?"

"I'm imitating his fish face right now. I
wish you could see it."

"Me too. Show me tomorrow? Want to have lunch
after my reading group?"

"Definitely. That'll get me all fattened up
for my aerobics class at one-thirty. And I'll let you know how the
party goes."

"Give Henry hell, okay? You know you're doing
the right thing."

"I do. And I will. You're awesome."

"That'd be you. See you tomorrow."

She hung up, and I sent all my strongest
wishes out after her. I knew far too well that just knowing you're
doing the right thing isn't enough to make it easy.

Wendy texted me the next morning to arrange
our lunch date, but would only say "I'll tell you in person" when I
asked how the party had gone. That worried me.

Since she had her aerobics class after lunch,
I'd called Mark and suggested he and I hang out for the afternoon.
He'd agreed, and agreed again when I said, "Can you meet me at
Setherwood Cafe at twelve forty-five? I'm having lunch with my
friend Wendy there." I didn't want to force anything between them,
but I figured they should meet. They were both my friends, after
all. If they didn't hit it off, Wendy would be off to her class in
a few minutes and no harm done.

Once Wendy and I settled at our table I
nearly forgot Mark was coming, so engrossed in her story. Henry had
indeed been obnoxious about Alex's absence and had mocked Wendy,
with those little snide cracks I knew he did so well, for not being
able to hold onto her man.

"I let the first couple go for Lee-Anne's
sake. Didn't want to embarrass her. But then I was talking to a man
who works with Henry and he came over and said, 'Oh, James, don't
bother with her. She can't keep a boyfriend so she must be doing
something wrong in the bedroom.'"

I stared at her. "Right out like that?"

"Oh, yeah. He pretended to be joking but he
wasn't. James tried to defend me, I'll give him that, but what do
you say, right? 'Oh, I'm sure she's amazing in bed.'?"

"Yeah. So what did
you
say?"

She smiled at me, her eyes dancing. "I got
all serious and said, 'Oh, Henry, I'm so sorry.' He couldn't figure
out what I meant, of course, so I said, 'I had no idea you've spent
so much time worrying about my sex life. I should have told you
it's just fine. Better than fine. I can give you the details if you
want. Since you're so interested in what I do in bed. Obsessed,
even.'"

I burst out laughing.

She grinned. "I played it up for all I was
worth."

"Wish I'd seen it. And what did he do?"

"Well, he went like this a few times." She
opened and closed her mouth, her eyes wide with fake shock. "Then
he said, 'I didn't mean anything by it,' and James said, 'Then you
should have kept your mouth shut' and I damn near kissed him."

I grinned at her, then realized something.
She looked different. I studied her, trying to figure out what had
changed.

"Do I have something on my face?"

I shook my head. "Sorry. It's just... you
look...." I squinted. "Different somehow." She took a breath but
then I made the connection. "You look so
happy
. Your eyes
are just shining."

She grinned. "I have put up with Henry and
his crap for ten years. Ten! Yesterday was the first time, the
first
time, I was able to shut him down, and I didn't need
Alex to do it for me after all. And you know what? He didn't say
another word to me until the party ended and then he gave me a hug
goodbye like Lee-Anne always wants him to and he muttered that he
was sorry. I changed everything with just that one comment. And
yeah, I'm happy. I did it, all on my own, and I can do it again if
I have to, and oh wow."

I blinked, then looked in the direction of
her fixed stare. "You like him?"

"Quite."

I waved. Mark waved back and started over. "I
told you my friend was coming to meet me," I said innocently,
loving her reaction to him.

"You didn't describe him though. Quick,
you're sure you don't want him?"

I nodded.

"You're the best friend ever," she whispered
as Mark reached us.

I introduced them, then said, "Mark, we've
only got a few minutes with Wendy. She has a class so--"

"No, I don't."

I turned to her. "No?"

"It was cancelled. I..." She paused, blinked
once, then turned toward Mark. "Actually, it wasn't, but I'd rather
hang out with you guys. If that's all right."

I reached over and hugged her, so impressed
with her newfound nerve.

She hugged me back and whispered, "What's
happening to me?"

"You're doing what you want to do," I
murmured back. "It's awesome."

She squeezed me, then we let go as Mark said,
"It's more than all right with me."

The three of us spent nearly an hour
together, chatting as if we'd been friends forever, then Mark said,
"So, I've been wanting to see the new 'Hatchet Monster' movie.
Would you ladies want to do that?"

Wendy said, "Definitely. I adore Hatchet
Monster."

Mark blinked. "Seriously?"

"She does. Her screen saver at work has
quotes from the movies."

"Are there any? Besides 'Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh,
don't kill me!', I mean?"

"There are a few," Wendy said. "Don't you
remember?"

She started rhyming them off, and he was able
to finish nearly all her sentences.

"See? You do know."

He smiled at her. "And you weren't kidding
that you're a fan." He turned to me. "You in too?"

I shook my head. "I've read the first book,
but I hated its movie so I probably won't like this one either. You
guys go ahead."

Wendy frowned and turned herself away from
Mark. "You sure? I wasn't trying to take over your afternoon."

I smiled, touched she was worried but not
wanting to see the movie and definitely not wanting to get in the
way of what a blind woman could see was a blossoming relationship
between them. "I'm positive. I have yarn calling my name at
home."

We stood up, and Mark helped us into our
coats then held each door for us on the way out of the restaurant.
He did it unconsciously, because he always did it, but I saw its
effect on Wendy and it made me smile.

Outside, Mark said, "Well, Andrea, enjoy your
yarn."

"I will. Enjoy your blood and guts."

We all laughed, and he said, "Absolutely." He
turned to Wendy. "Ready?"

She smiled into his eyes. "Definitely."

A few days later, after dinner with a
hopelessly smitten and adorably grateful Wendy, who'd barely been
able to stop talking about Mark long enough to compliment me again
on my new boots and how perfect they were with my brown skirt and
aquamarine sweater, I walked into the same drug store where I'd
bought my teal nail polish after Alex dumped me. I'd accidentally
left the top off the bottle and the polish was rock hard, and while
I was disappointed I was also glad for the opportunity to pick out
something new.

I wandered around, feeling relaxed and
comfortable in my clothes and my skin, gathering a few other
essentials and saving the nail polish section to savor at the end.
When I reached for a tube of toothpaste, my right hand bumped into
the left of a man, my fingernail clicking off his ornate gold
wedding band.

"Sorry," he said. "You okay?"

I looked up and nodded. Cute guy, with a nice
friendly smile. "I didn't scratch your hand, did I?"

He shook his head. "Looks like we'll both
survive."

"Good." I smiled at him and moved on, pleased
with how much more comfortably I handled this encounter than my
first one in the drug store. I must be getting closer to getting
over Alex.

My stomach turned cold. Confused, I stood
still for a moment, but nothing seemed to be causing the reaction.
I took a few deep breaths and it eased, but it still worried me. I
was missing something.

Trying to relax, I browsed the magazines and
picked up one on making jewelry, which I'd never tried but thought
might be fun, then at last reached the nail polish. I studied them
all in depth, enjoying the hunt for the perfect color, then jumped
when a hand reached right in front of me.

"Sorry, again." The man's smile was even
warmer. "We're after the same things today."

I blinked. "You need nail polish?"

"My coworker asked for some clear. It helps
with stocking runs, or so I'm told."