Page 36 of No One Like You

“Aw, that’s adorable.”

“Hey, Megan.” Tasha looked her best friend in the eye and took a deep breath. “You know how you were talking about us as a family?”

“Yeah…”

“I really feel that, too. And… I… I guess today it hit me… I feel like Sophia is a little bit like my daughter, too. Does that sound weird?”

“Oh, Tasha!” Megan exclaimed as she crushed Tasha in a bear hug. “That’s not weird. It’s beautiful. I want us to be a family.”

“I’d like that, too. I also need to breathe.”

“Oh, sorry! How was your day?”

“Long. I got through it, though. Oh, I got an email from Lauren. Some other shops like hers need website upgrades and now I’ve got some extra business.”

“Nice! Women helping women. I like it!”

“Oh, she asked how we liked her ‘gift basket.’ I told her that you enjoyed it a lot.”

“Tasha.” Megan blushed. “Hmmm, tomorrow night is an open skate night at the roller rink. Maybe I’ll take Sophia roller skating and you can try out what Lauren sent.” Megan gave her a devilish grin.

“I can’t believe you said that! Actually, I can. You know what, I am going to take you up on that offer. I haven’t had any stress release lately.”

“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now? Stress release?”

“Yes, stress release. Do I need to buy new batteries?”

“Not everything needs… Hey! I’ll show you how I like to release stress.”

Tasha had to dance, duck, and dodge to avoid Megan’s attempts to tickle her in revenge, laughing all the while.

CHAPTER 24

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS

Getting ready on Wednesday morning was a little less chaotic than the day before. They were learning how to be around each other, starting to build a routine. Megan was immensely grateful to have Tasha jumping in to help Sophia get ready. It wasn’t a seamless process, but it was getting better. Megan was able to find a moment when neither of them needed to supervise to talk with Tasha.

“Hey, so, tonight Sophia and I are going roller skating.”

“Um, yeah. Thank you… Speaking of, I’m at the cat shelter this Saturday. Why don’t I take her with me and you can stay here for some stress release?”

“I guess that stress release is a thing now… That’s fine. Um… There’s something else that I want to ask you, and you can say ‘no.”

“Uh huh…”

“I’m still struggling with the whole ‘Do I really love Brad?’ thing and I wanted an outside opinion on defining love.” Megan paused, then continued in a rush, “So, is it okay if I call your mom?”

“Wait, what? Why Momma? Why not your parents?”

“My parents hate each other, but they’re both stubborn Catholics who refuse to get divorced, so they live in misery. Your parents, though—I know they have their moments, but they always seemed to have a genuine love for each other.”

“Yeah, even at your wedding, your parents barely seemed to tolerate each other. Um, let me think about it, okay?”

“Okay, let me know.”

With that, their interlude ended and it was back into the fray, getting themselves and Sophia ready. Megan left earlier than the day before, deciding to take the bus over to Irvington Elementary. The day went fairly well, and during an afternoon prep period, she saw that she had a message from Tasha.

Tasha: I’m sending you Momma’s home and cell number. I double checked with Dante to make sure that they were right. Good luck.

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