Page 42 of April

Under that group text message was a picture of Melinda with wet eyes and a smile as she held up her hand to show off her brand-new engagement ring.

CHAPTER 12

“She’s cute.”

“Yeah, she is,” Asher replied. “She’s free tonight.”

“Tonight?” Linden asked.

“Yes. Is that too soon? I just had a date last night, and it didn’t go well.”

“Ash, in the grand scheme of things, I’d call that date a success. I could give you horror stories that I’ve heard, but I don’t want to discourage you here.”

“Maybe I should just talk to her for a few days before going out with her.”

“You can do that,” Linden replied. “You can also just ask her for coffee and hit up a public place. Get your coffee to-go and tell her you have something to do after it, so you can’t stay too long. If you end up wanting to stay, you just tell her you’ll cancel your other thing.”

Asher rolled her eyes at her and said, “That sounds like playing games.”

“Well, that’s dating,” she said. “I can’t be there tonight, by the way. I have a date of my own.”

“You do?” Asher asked, looking up from her phone for the first time now.

“Yeah, a woman from the app, too. We’ve messaged a few times. We’re meeting for drinks tonight.”

“Oh,” Asher said and returned her gaze to her phone. “I’ll say yes, I think.”

“You will?” Linden asked, surprised.

“Why not? It’s just coffee, right? I like coffee.”

“Yeah. It’s just coffee.”

Linden watched as Asher sent a message to the woman she’d be having coffee with that night, and her stomach did a weird dance. She hadn’t eaten anything yet, so she was probably just hungry. Just then, there was a knock on Asher’s office door. Linden looked up and saw Monica and Bridgette standing there.

“Hey, you two,” she said.

“Oh, hey,” Asher added as well, looking up. “You’re early. Come on in.”

“We can wait if you–” Monica began.

“No, no. Come in,” Asher replied, dropping her phone onto her desk. “I’m excited to get started on this.”

“Yeah, so are we,” Bridgette said as they walked into the office hand in hand. “Are you going to be planning Mel and Kyle’s, too?”

“They messaged me this morning, actually,” Linden replied. “Ash has yours. I’m going to do theirs.”

“Well, let’s just make sure we pick different dates and, preferably, different months, too, because I’ll be Mel’s maid of honor, and she’ll be mine.”

“They’re coming in today,” Linden shared. “Probably soon. Jolie is in town, and Kyle planned the proposal to be before she got here so that they could then start planning everything together. Should be fun.”

She stood up.

“Want to just bring them in here?” Asher asked. “We could all plan together.” She looked at Monica and Bridgette. “Up to you two, obviously.”

“I think that makes sense. We’re all going to be involved in both weddings in one way or another. Might as well make sure everything can line up properly,” Monica said.

“I can get us the conference room,” Linden suggested. “I’ll grab Kyle and Mel and meet you in there, if they’re good with it.”

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