Page 164 of Breathe Again

Zale agreed. “I’ve put in a good word for him, not sure what’s really holding her back.”

“Is it so unbelievable to you guys that a woman could withstand your charms?” Bex sassed.

“Yes,” they responded in unison.

Bex snorted and I laughed. They did not. Bex and I went back to our conversation and soccer talk resumed in the front seat.

“Willa wants to keep up with the routine even though I’m feeling better.”

“I do, too. The twins will be out of school for summer break soon and they’ll join us. I think it’ll be good for all of us.”

“I’m not sure what to do with all the extra time at this point.”

“What would you like to do?”

I’d been asking myself the same question. I’d toyed with the idea of writing a novel, but I was almost embarrassed to say anything about it. Truthfully, I had the entire plotline worked out on my computer. I’d been working on that more than I had been working on my children’s books.

“You have something you want to do. I can see it on your face.”

“There are a few things,” I stated slowly, “there’s a story I want to write, for adults, not for kids…” My voice petered off.

“That’s fantastic! You used to talk about that all the time.”

The thing about having a friend for as long as I’d had Bex is that they know your history, and sometimes they remember things about you that you’ve forgotten. This was one of those things.

“That’s true. I’d forgotten about that,” I mused. “I’m going to write it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome, chickie,” she squeezed my hand, “tell me about it?”

“Not yet,” I hedged, “but I will. You can be my reader if you like?”

Rebecca put her hands on her heart. “I would love that. I’m happy to see you spreading your wings a bit.”

“What about you, Bex? Are you wanting to do anything new or different?”

She nodded. “I am taking on an assistant. I’ve contacted the local college program and I’ve offered an internship program.”

“Really? Wow, I never thought you’d ever do something like that. What brought that on?”

“Busy! Lots of orders, I can’t keep up. To keep up, I’d have to give up the craft fair circuit, and I am really loving that.”

Rebecca had just gotten back on the craft fair circuit, getting up face to face with her customers, the previous summer.

“Also, I’ve so enjoyed teaching Olivia, I think I’ll enjoy training budding jewelers. We’ll see, I guess. Might backfire, might be great.”

“I think it’s definitely worth a try, for sure. It’s better than having to say no to orders, and I would not want you to give up the craft fair circuit. How long is the initial commitment?”

“Just one semester. If it goes well, I can offer an internship to another student, ditch the program, or hire a graduate if I find someone who works well with me.”

We lucked out with the parking and Zale carefully handed me down from Rhys’ truck, his hands wrapped firmly around my ribs, my hands to his shoulders. I didn’t get the full butt massage, what with being in public, but he kept his hand on me from the moment he helped me out of the truck until he seated me at our table. Even then, he pulled my chair closer to his, and stretched his arm along the back of it.

That chair business was standard procedure for Zale, the undisguised intensity of the attention was not. I reveled in it. I felt loved. Interesting. What a revelation that he could give me that feeling outside of our bedroom, outside of sex. Maybe it was more about the focus than it was about the sex. I was floating on air.

The restaurant was bumping, the buzz of conversation and laughter permeating the very air. Rhys, being a natural storyteller, entertained us with stories about his work, his family, and the twins. We shared the events from the past week, plans for the coming week, and hopes for future plans.

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