Page 238 of The Winslow Brothers

Phone in my hand, I swipe my finger across the screen and start rolling through any texts, calls, or emails I’ve missed.

An email from Damien that is actually work-related and can be dealt with on Monday.

A passive-aggressive email from Tara regarding the property in SoHo that I staged two days ago. She rambles on for about five paragraphs, but the gist of her words revolves around second-guessing everything I did with the place.

Unfortunately for her, I already sent Damien and Thomas a few preview photos, and they both approved of my design aesthetic.

Suck on that, Tara.

Once I send Tara a friendly but equally passive-aggressive response updating her on the cold, hard facts, I check my text messages and find one from Gwen that came in a few hours ago.Dang. She must be up early.

Gwen: Darling, I miss you. How is New York treating you?

Me: I miss you too. And New York is good. Just staying very busy with work.

And, you know, living with my husband that you don’t know about.

Ugh. I cringe and run a hand down my face. Gwen is the one person I don’t lie to. Ever. And yet, here I am, lying to her.

Gwen: Well, I hope you’re not working so much that you aren’t enjoying this glorious Saturday. What’s that famous saying? All work and no play makes you a dull girl?

A laugh bubbles up from my lungs as I type out a response.

Me: It’s actually “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” And that quote is fromThe Shining. It’s the part where Jack Nicholson officially goes off the deep end. Right before he tries to kill his family.

Gwen: So, not a good quote for a happy Saturday?

Me: Nope. LOL.

Gwen: Bad quotes aside, do you have big weekend plans? Something fun, hopefully?

Before I can even respond,Incoming FaceTime Call Gwenpops up on the screen of my phone.

Oh boy. Nerves tickle my throat, and my finger hovers over the accept button, unsure of what to do. It’s one thing to lie to herthrough text message, but it’s a whole other ball game trying to do it while we’re face-to-face.

Eventually, though, guilt wins out, and I hit accept by the third ring.

“Darling! It’s so good to see you!” she exclaims, and a big grin consumes her face. Her excitement is infectious, and for a moment, I forget about everything but just being happy to see her. Sometimes I forget how lonely my life was before Gwen.

“I missed you. How are Vancouver and the girls and David?”

“Vancouver is the same. The girls are great. And David is starting to get on my nerves, so…” She shrugs but doesn’t say anything else.

“So…?”

“It means I don’t know how much longer I’m going to keep him around. You know I don’t like to strain my attention span.”

I snort. “Poor David.”

“No,” she disagrees with a little smile and a shake of her finger, always a proponent for women having the right to put themselves first like men usually do. “Not poor David. He’s become a stage five clinger—to the point that I had to tell him he could not, in fact, attend ladies’ night with me last night even though the rule is already right there in the name—so you should actually be sayingPoor Gwen.”

How she even knows the termstage five clingeris beyond me, but it’s one of the many reasons why I love her.

“Anyway,” she hums, but her eyes squint a little when she notes the ambiance—Flynn’s apartment—behind me. “Where are you?”

“Uh…at my apartment in New York.”

“Oh, so this is the New York place.” Her eyes brighten with intrigue as she tries to see through the camera. “Very nice.”

---