Page 84 of Decoding Morse

“It was evening. You work early,” Sage said, taking a step back. I couldn’t blame him. Thia looked downright feral.

“That’s the same lame-ass excuse your boss gave. From now on, if she’s in trouble…” She swung that finger back to me. “Everyone tells me. No excuses. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison.

“Thank you,” she said, spinning on her heel. “Is it okay if I park there?”

Nobody cared where Thia parked, so she and Jenny retrieved her bags and locked her car. Then Thia sat with the sleeping Carol while I showered and changed. By the time I came back down, Carol was awake, and Thia sat perched on a stool beside her and was chatting like she’d known the woman forever.

Thia’s smile turned devious as I joined them. “My new friend Carol and I were just talking about you.”

I eyed the two of them. “That sounds ominous.”

“Oh, it is. We were discussing this trip you took with your hot biker and decided you need to spill the tea.”

“Why am I not surprised?” I squeezed Carol’s hand. “How you feeling?”

“We’re not talking about me right now,” she said around her oxygen mask. “Or would you deny a dying woman’s last wish?”

I groaned, being dramatic even though I had every intention of giving in. I needed someone to talk to, and these were my girls. Thia was a freaking godsend. Now that she wasn’t screaming obscenities at the bikers, she was all conspiratorial smiles and cheer, precisely what we needed. I would hug her and tell her what a goddamn gem she was if it wouldn’t turn me into a sobbing mess.

Instead, I grabbed a second stool and squeezed in beside them while Thia pulled a bottle of red wine and three brand-new expandable cups out of her bag. Someone had made a pit stop.

“I don’t think Carol’s allowed to have wine,” I said, examining her oxygen mask.

“Says who?” Carol asked. “I can have whatever I damn well please. I’m the one dying.”

She had a point, but her head was elevated at a twenty-five-degree angle. “We’d have to sit you up and… maybe find a straw? Not to mention the mask.”

“Don’t be difficult, be resourceful,” Carol said.

Thia picked up her purse and started digging. “I have a straw in here somewhere. Aha! There it is. Still wrapped and everything.” She held up her prize.

The wrapper had seen better days, but it was mostly intact. We both looked at Carol, waiting for her verdict.

“What are you waiting for? Sit me up.”

Working together, Thia and I helped Carol take two sips of wine before I sat back and started my story. Carol was out by the time I got to the sniper, so I whispered through that part, not wanting to taint her dreams with my real-life nightmare. When I made it to the shower experience, Thia started forcing details out of me.

“But how big was his dick?” asked a raspy voice.

Thia and I both looked at Carol, aghast. Her eyes were still closed, but beneath her oxygen mask, a smile tugged at her lips.

Thia and I collapsed into laughter like schoolgirls, and I had to wipe tears away before continuing.

“What are you going to do?” Thia asked after I caught her up.

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “He’s eight years younger than me.”

“So?”

“Everyone says age is just a number, but it matters. What happens when he decides he wants kids?”

“Ifhe wants kids. Not everyone does, Amelia, and you have no right to assume he will. No jumping to conclusions about a man who’s obviously willing to do anything for you. Sure, watching you without your permission is problematic and something you definitely need to talk through, but at least he’s into you. I can’t even find a woman willing to share ameal without her checking her phone. You have this man’s full attention. Do you know what I would give for that?”

“What if my kids don’t approve?”

“They’ll come around.”

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