Page 394 of Dark Love

“You’ll embarrass Prue.” Harper takes a sip of her sweet tea.

“It’s her man we’re talking about. Prue, are you embarrassed by your man?”

Silence rings out. That almost never happens.

“The man I told my mother about isn’t mine. He’s just a kind neighbor.” A blush runs up my face.

“Do you want him to be?” Fea asks softly.

Garnet sets down her wine and leans forward. “Context clues people. You aren’t listening to the clues.”

“What clues?” Keeley blinks onto the screen. “What did I miss?”

“Prue is about to tell us about her men. She’s dressed for a date,” Savie gleefully shares.

“Prue is dating!! I thought she took a vow of chastity or something.” Keeley almost jumps out of her chair.

“Well now, she’s juggling two men.”

It would be wrong to mute Savie. “I’m not juggling two men. They’re—”

“See, I told you there were two.” Savie points a needle at the screen.

“Let her speak.” Dylan sets her pen down.

“Fine, I’ll be quiet.”

A silence looms over the group as they all wait for me to explain my crazy life. “I told my mother about my neighbor. He’s a nice man.”

“A nice man that you want to—”

“Savie!” Dylan bites out.

“Fine.” Savie mimes zipping her lips.

“He isn’t interested in me at all.” Well, not seriously at least. “He stops by to check on me once in a while.”

“He likes you,” Junie adds that irritating bit of false wisdom.

“No, he doesn’t. But even if he does, I don’t feel anything for him.”

“Nothing at all? Not even a little flutter?” Savie stabs her needle into the ball of yarn.

She’s a little scary. “Not even a hint of a flutter.”

“Then it must be the other guy that makes her heart flutter.”

Savie isn’t wrong.

“Why would your mother have you dress up like that for a guy that doesn’t make your heart flutter?” Garnet stares into her glass.

“Because she has me married off to any man I ever speak to. I’m pretty sure she’s booked the country club for the wedding already.” How am I going to talk her into canceling that?

“And does the other guy make your heart flutter?” Fea asks.

“Yes,” I whisper.

The group sighs.

---