Page 76 of February

Monica sighed and said, “I was supposed to come here and buy a company. That was it. My dad told me to plan for a few weeks, but that was just because he also wanted me to take some time off. I thought it would take a few days, we’d get the lawyers working, and I’d go home.”

“Oh,” Bridgette said with disappointment in her tone.

“Then, I got down here, and I was fine in my fancy hotel room and ordering room service, but this annoying local kept mocking me and insisting I take time to enjoy the city.”

“Annoying? That local sounds brilliant,” Bridgette said.

Monica laughed quietly again and replied, “She has her moments. Now, I’m also taking my son on college tours down here, and I’m glad I’m not going home tomorrow.”

“You are?”

Monica nodded slowly and said, “There’s something about this place, isn’t there?”

“Yes, there is,” Bridgette replied.

She heard her cell ringing from the coffee table, where she’d left it before answering the door, and thought about letting it go to voicemail.

“You can get that,” Monica said.

“It’s fine. I’ll check the message later.”

The phone stopped ringing, but then there was a ping, indicating a text message.

“I’ll just…” Bridgette stood and placed her wine on the small table between their two chairs. “Be right back.”

She walked inside and picked up her phone, thinking to herself that this better be good. It wasn’t. Bridgette groaned internally when she saw that Jill had been the caller and Melinda had been the texter. They wanted to know if she wanted to grab brunch tomorrow, and it seemed that their timing was coincidental more than anything. She didn’t reply, though, figuring she’d do that later, and when she turned around, she saw Monica standing there now.

“Sorry,” Bridgette spoke. “Friends.” She held up the phone before she placed it back on the table.

“Everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah. They just want brunch tomorrow.”

Monica nodded contemplatively and said, “I should go.”

“You just got here,” Bridgette noted.

“We have a long day tomorrow at LSU. I should get some sleep and maybe take a nice bath or something.”

“Okay,” Bridgette said.

“Thank you for the drink and for everything, really.”

“You don’t have to thank me. I liked it.”

“The wine?” Monica teased.

“That too,” she said, chuckling. “But I meant today. I liked today. Aaron is great. And you…”

“Me?”

“I liked spending time with you.”

“You did?”

“I usually do, yeah, now that you’ve pulled that giant stick out of your ass.”

Monica laughed, and Bridgette thought she was crazy because she thought she’d seen Monica taking a step toward her. She was probably just going to hug her again.

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