Page 80 of Full Circle

Maggie grinned over the rim of her own mug. “Because you don’t have enough experience going out.”

We were at The Comfy Cushion, and for once I was grateful for the lack of customers. I could barely make my legs function let alone serve a dining room full of people. Desiree had pursed her lips with a fierce glare when she arrived to pick Iris up for all her dance stuff in Savannah, but then glanced at Maggie in a way that let me know we would speak about everything later when we didn’t have an audience.

Marla came around from the kitchen carrying three plates of eggs, toast, and bacon. On an ordinary day it would smell divine, but right now, the very thought of food was enough to turn my stomach.

“So tell me about this party,” Marla began. “Was it hopping?”

Maggie snorted out a laugh. It had been nearly three in the morning by the time we made it back to River’s Run, crashing in Marla’s spare bedroom like girls at a sleepover. Had Iris not woken me up a couple hours later, the restaurant wouldn’t even be open right now.

“It was…fun,” I hedged. It had been fun, and thrilling, and wild…all things that were long gone from my vocabulary. Yet it felt strange conveying any of it to the two of them. Maggie had already peppered me with questions on the way back to River’s Run, but I managed to dodge them all. It was hard to believe last night had really happened. That was the part of the story everyone missed out on; how did Cinderella really feel when she woke up the next morning and realized it had all been the equivalent of a fever dream?

“Celeste had way more than just regular fun, wouldn’t you say, Cee?” Maggie prompted me. The twinkle in her eye promised mischief that I couldn’t escape. “You were just about to tell me about your mystery man, after all.”

Busted.

Marla blinked at me in surprise. “Mystery man? Did you meet a fella?”

I rolled my eyes at her old fashioned expression, then pushed the food around on my plate to buy myself some time. “Not exactly,” I finally replied.

Now Maggie was laughing in earnest. “Disappearing with a guy for a couple hours doesn’t count as meeting someone?”

With the right force, even an old butter knife could break the skin. Why was Maggie outing me like this?!

“I never asked his name,” I admitted.

Both of the women hollered, though Maggie’s was more with glee while Marla was clearly in shock. Her mouth hung open as she gaped at me.

“Celeste Renee Hendricks, did you have a one night stand?” Marla gasped.

Sighing, I turned back to the coffee pot to refill my mug. Nothing could have prepared me for this conversation, and I didn’t know how to continue because I remembered so little of it. For being such a lightweight, I sure pounded back drinks last night like I had the liver of a Marine.

The stranger in the white mask, though, stood out to me clear as day. What I couldn’t understand was why he reminded me so much of Wesley when the elevator doors closed. Maybe it was just triggering memories because Wes was the only other person I had ever slept with. Maybe I was simply wishing it had been him, because let’s face it, if I had to choose a partner, he was the only one I would have wanted. And yet, I did want someone else last night. Someone with dark hair and a gravelly voice who whispered sweet nothings in my ear.

I involuntarily shuddered.

“What’s done is done, so there’s no use harping on it,” I decreed.

Maggie shook her head. “No, ma’am, that is not how this is gonna work. I need details. What happened? You disappeared into the VIP area with him and then scampered back in different clothes later.”

This time Marla definitely gasped as she gaped at me.

Yeah, there was no version of this story that wasn’t gonna make me out to be the harlot Desiree used to accuse me of being. “We agreed not to exchange names. We were both pretty wasted and things just…happened.” It was a lame excuse, certainly not a story I would have ever accepted from Iris if the roles were reversed, but I didn’t know what to say.

Marla smiled softly. “You know, your mama and I used to go down to the docks in Savannah and get wild.” Her eyes were lost in another time and place. “She was so much fun. Never feared anybody. You couldn’t have scared her off with a shotgun pointed at her chest! Rachel used to think the stories were what made it worth it. ‘I’m too young for regrets,’ is what she’d tell me.”

I smiled. That definitely sounded like something Mama would say.

“So you don’t know anything about him?” pressed Maggie. “You can’t find him or see him again?”

Shrugging, I replied, “It’s not like I want to, Mags. He isn’t—” I cut myself off, biting down hard on the inside of my cheek until I tasted the bitter tang of blood.

“He isn’t Wesley,” she finished for me. “Honey, you don’t have to cut him out of your life. You chose to do that without giving him a chance to explain.”

We had been over this so many times that I felt like a broken record. “He’s had ten years’ worth of chances that he didn’t take. He left me, Maggie, right when I needed him most. It’s as simple as that.”

Marla’s eyes darted between the two of us, and she hesitated before saying her piece. “Celeste, I love you as if you were my own flesh and blood. But I was also here to see how that boy loved you. I’m willing to bet there’s a darn good reason why he didn’t come back for you.”

Tears sprung up unwittingly, making me briskly swipe my cheeks. “Guess we’ll never know, will we?” I countered.

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