Page 107 of Recipe for Rivals

“Right, but I want to make sure it’s handled right. We don’t want anything blowing back on Brody or Patty.”

“I trust you, son. What did you have in mind?”

“This place is crawling with cops.” I scanned the crowd, looking for someone I could trust. “I figured I’d start by talking to one of them.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

NOVA

Desi had approachedme while I was trying to peek at the auction slip for my cookies. Could you blame me for hoping someone would want them? I was prepared to write a fake name and bid ten bucks myself if it meant they didn’t sit on the table all night, unwanted. Instead, I saw Dusty had started the bidding at $100, and the rascal had already been outbid. He must have done it while setting up. These people really had come in clutch to support the team. We all knew that was why the bids were so high, and it warmed my heart.

I scanned the crowd, half-listening while Desi talked about the latest drama with the elementary school’s spring carnival. I couldn’t see Dusty anymore. He had been talking to Tucker and June a minute ago, but he must have excused himself to make that phone call.

“What do you think?” Desi asked.

Shoot. What had she been talking about? The carnival, right? Gosh, I hope she wasn’t asking me to join the committee. “Sorry, I was distracted.”

Desi looked like she could see right through me. “A girl’snight. We could throw on an old romcom or go to Beeler for dinner.”

Oh. She wanted to friend-date me. The part of me that desired friends of my own wanted to eagerly leap at this opportunity. She embodied the police family I’d left behind in New York, which was obviously a draw. To say nothing about how well Kendall and Alice got along. But it was important to be honest with her. I’d meant what I said to Dusty earlier. If we were going to become friends, I had to tell her how I felt.

“I’ll never date Chad,” I said, holding her gaze.

Desi looked thrown off, her brows drawing together. She shifted, the motion making her perfectly highlighted blonde hair sway like a shampoo commercial. “That’s okay.”

“Kendall told me and Alice what you said, that Chad could become my husband and we could all be friends.” I put my hand up to stave off her explanations. “I’m not mad, and I totally get it. It’s so convenient having couple friends when you get along with both people. But he’s just not…” How did I finish that sentence honestly? A good person? Not a good idea. “I’m not interested in him. I don’t want to lead you on if that’s your end game here.”

Desi took my arm and pulled me away from the tables until we were alone near the wall. “I don’t blame you. He can be kind of a tool. Please don’t let my stupid daydreaming come between us. I’m sorry I said anything around Kendall. I know how kids can talk.”

She was so honest and forthright I found myself believing her. Desi had accepted me from the minute we’d met and, despite my disparaging the PTA, she still invited me to her house and offered me friendship. My walls had been up, but had hers? I began to wonder if I’d projected my assumptions onto Desi this entire time. She wasn’t Trish. Being well dressed in Arcadia Creek did not make her into all the frustrating moms I’d left behind in New York, either.

“I’d love to do a girls night sometime,” I told her, and I meant it.

Desi’s face lit up.

“Maybe you can come over one night after all our kids are in bed,” I said. It meant I needed to buy a TV if we were going to be watching romcoms, but the kids were tired of watching movies on my laptop anyway. It was worth dipping into savings or trying to sell some cookies.

“That would be great. I’ll look at Travis’s schedule and text you later to nail down a day.”

“Okay.” I tried to sound like it wasn’t a big deal, but inside, I was glowing. Warmth blossomed in my chest and made me giddy. Coming here hadn’t just meant pulling my kids away from everything they’d known; it had meant tearing myself away from the places and communities I’d spent my entire life in. Maybe I hadn’t grow up in Manhattan, but I’d built a community there the last ten years. I missed my neighbors and friends. My family home in Brooklyn was only on the other side of the water, which meant I had seen my parents and brother often.

It was nice pulling Blair up on FaceTime every few days and letting the kids chat with their cousins, but that wasn’t the same as dropping by their apartment or meeting at the park. We missed them, and it had left a hole in my heart. This invitation seemed to shove Play-doh in that hole, filling it a little with the female companionship I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.

Between Desi and Kendall, Pete, Gigi, and now Dusty, and all the people they were introducing me to, I was building a new community here. It wasn’t my old familiar group, but it was worn and comfortable still, like my blue couch from the yard sale—comfy and loved and ready to bring me in.

“I talked to Ashley about throwing an end-of-the-season party together for the football team and the cheerleaders,” Desisaid. “Maybe we can invite her and make this a party planning meeting.”

Bonus. Two friends. “We should do that. Ben and Alice would both love it.”

“Hey,” a warm voice said behind me. Dusty slid an arm around my waist and smiled at Desi. That sense of community and home grew warm and fuzzy, the pressure of his arm anchoring me to Texas. “I need to talk to your husband. Is he around?”

It took a moment to realize he was addressing Desi.

“He took Kendall to the bounce houses,” she said, looking as curious as I felt. Her eyes dipped to his arm around my waist and her eyebrows seemed to say she knew exactly why I wasn’t interested in Chad.

But my cozy feeling evaporated. Dusty had come here looking for Travis. Seeking out a police officer right after trying to locate one of his students didn’t seem like a good sign. I tried to look up and read Dusty’s expression, but it was guarded. I could sense strain in the feathered lines around his eyes.

“Come on. Let’s go try to find him,” Desi said, sensing he needed Travisnow.

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