Page 8 of April

Asher looked at Sophie and shook her head. She didn’t need water. She needed to have a do-over. She needed to walk into the bar five minutes after she had or not at all. Instead, sheleaned over the table, white-knuckling it as she gripped the edge because she’d just watched Linden and Jill full-on make out on a dance floor. Something in her had changed then. She’d seen Linden kiss a few random women, but she’d mostly just looked away, or Linden would take them home, and Asher wouldn’t have to see anything at all. That was her preference, and she’d never understood it until right this minute.

Linden was her best friend, and Asher wanted her to be happy. If that meant Linden wanted to meet women right now, Asher had been supportive, despite feeling like she herself was ready to settle down and no longer accompany her on nights like this one. Linden needed this, though, so Asher had been there to offer support. But now, it was different. Now, she knew.

“Asher?”

“Sorry,” she finally said to Sophie. “I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she said with a short nod.

“Did Linden and Jill just kiss?” Sophie asked.

Asher didn’t say anything because when she turned back to the dance floor, Linden Washington was staring at her in confusion. Jill started making her way over to the table to join them, and she had Linden following close behind her.

“Did you two just kiss?” Sophie asked them.

“Yeah. So?” Jill said before she took a drink of a beer on the table.

“Uh… That one’s mine,” Linden told her.

“You just had your tongue down my throat. I think we can swap beers,” Jill replied.

“Hey,” Linden said as she walked over to Asher’s side, apparently ignoring Jill’s comment.

“Hi,” Asher replied.

“You two just kissed,” Sophie said again.

“It happens,” Jill told her, shrugging a shoulder. “We were dancing. It got a little heated. Right, Linden?”

“Sure,” Linden replied, not looking away from Asher. “Ash?”

“What?” she asked as she stared down at the table.

“What’s wrong?” Linden asked.

“Nothing. I just got here.”

“You look pale, like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“No ghosts here,” Jill noted. “I’d know: I do the ghost tour,” she added of her job as a New Orleans tour guide.

“She kind of got pale a minute ago,” Sophie explained. “I asked if she wanted some water.”

Linden’s hand was on her back then, and she started rubbing it over Asher’s dress, which was a pale blue and more appropriate for a society wedding than a bar in the French Quarter, but she hadn’t had time to go home and change.

“Ash?” Linden asked. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m fine,” she replied, still feeling like she might throw up.

“I’ll get you that water, okay?” Linden said. “Did you not eat today?” She turned to Sophie and Jill, adding, “When you run weddings, you forget to eat a lot of the time.” Then, she turned back to Asher and offered, “We can grab some Po-Boys, if you want.”

“No, I ate,” she lied. “I don’t need water. Maybe just a real drink.”

“I don’t know, Ash… You feel warm to me,” Linden said as her hand moved from Asher’s back up to her neck. She cupped the back of it. “And you’re kind of clammy. Let me take you home, okay?”

“I’m fine. And you wanted to come out. I’m here, Linden.”

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