Page 33 of Love Bitters

Imogene

“Oh, hey, guys. You’re early,” Jolene says to Abi and me while opening her front door for us.

I grin at her and the clear nervousness in her voice. She takes the platter of finger sandwiches from me and leads us toward the kitchen.

“I hope it’s okay,” I tell her back. “We figured we’d get here before everyone else to see if you needed any help.”

She laughs in a huff just as Jade bounds down the stairs with her friend from the coffee shop in tow. “You’re kidding, right?” she asks. “Jo has been up since before the roosters started crowing, and making stuff down here.”

“What do you even know about roosters?” her friend teases

At the same time, Jolene says, “Keep talking and you won’t be getting any of it either.”

Abilene laughs, taking a seat on one of their barstools. “I wish I would’ve had a sister growing up.”

A pang of sadness shoots through my chest at the thought of my own sister, but I squeeze it tight and shove it back down in its box for now.

“Hey,” Jade’s friend says suddenly, “you’re Abilene Banks, aren’t you?”

She shoots him a genuine smile unlike the perfectly fake one the normal people who recognize her get. “One in the same.”

“Wow,” he gushes, “I’ve seen all your movies so many times. I know you probably hear this so much you’re tired of it, but you’re seriously one of the greatest actors of your time.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, guys,” Jade says, waving a hand between us. “This is my friend Hudson, and these are my new friends Imma and Abilene.”

We weren’t introduced the last time, because we’d been ready to leave about the time they showed up.

“Nice to meet you,” I reply politely.

“You can call me Abi,” Abilene tells him.

A smile lights up his face as his light blue eyes widen. The color is so light that between that and the frames of his glasses surrounding them, it reminds me so much of Evan that it makes my chest hurt. Thankfully, I don’t have any of their attention, so no one notices when my lips drop into a frown before I turn away from them. Unfortunately, Jolene is facing us and misses nothing. There’s a question or two in her gaze, but I give her a tiny shake of my head to cut them off. She may not be so willing to let it fly later, and I’m sure I’ll end up crying my fucking heart out like I want to do right now. Stupid, ridiculous hormones.

Hudson is still gushing over Abilene as Jade starts slowly pushing him to the front door. When she closes him out and makes it back to us, it’s with an apology for his behavior. Like the rest of us, she knows how Abilene feels about all the attention right now. However, she just waves it off like it’s nothing. I’d say it’s not as easy on the inside to sweep those feelings under the metaphorical rug as she makes it out to be. I, for one, would know.

Jade claps her hands and rubs them together, saying, “Okay, no boys in the house. Who’s ready to get this party started?”

Over the next hour, we chat while we work, laying out little finger dishes Jolene’s been making since the crack of dawn. By this time, others start arriving, Maisie being the first. She sets a beautiful bouquet of flowers on the coffee table in the living room at Jolene’s instruction. In my opinion, it’s kind of an odd thing to bring, but I don’t comment on it since she already seems self-conscious about them, blushing as she sets the flowers down. Despite the horrific burn scars on her face, she’s still super pretty with her speckling of freckles mixing with that blush. Every so often she’ll move the one side of her reddish-brown hair to hide parts of her face. Jade is making sure to include her in the conversation as Jolene welcomes Penelope at the door.

“Hey, ladies,” she greets, dropping a small fruit tray on the counter before handing me a tall drink in a glass bottle. “I brought this for you, Imma. One of my friends swore by this smoothie when she was pregnant.”

“Thanks,” I tell her gratefully, albeit a tiny bit skeptically. With how weak my stomach still is, I have to ask, “What’s in it?”

“It’s like the king of organic superfood smoothies,” she says with a wink of her almond-shaped eyes. “There are berries, almond milk, flax hemp meal, and greens. Plus, a dash of organic peanut butter because of your craving right now. You don’t have any food allergies, do you?”

I shake my head and take a tentative sip. No matter the disgusting color of the drink, it tastes amazing. “This is really good,” I exclaim, watching her smile widen with the praise. “And really nice of you, too. Thank you.”

“I’ll give you the recipe before I leave,” she offers easily just as there’s another knock at the door.

I thank her as Blythe and Luci come in at the same time. The latter looks like she stepped right out of the pages of a Martha Stewart cookbook in her peach-colored cardigan and khakis. Her highlighted blonde hair looks professionally styled, making me feel like a complete frump since I’m in a comfortable, loose black maxi dress.

And, of course, Blythe looks like a million bucks, as pristine and polished as ever, flipping blonde hair over her shoulder. She slides a small expensive-looking covered board of cheese onto the counter and sets down a bottle of wine beside it. “I wasn’t sure what to bring,” she confesses to no one in particular. “But this has always served me well. I hope everyone likes wine and cheese.”

Her eyes find mine where I stand propped against the counter on the other side of the room. “Sorry you can’t drink the wine, but you can probably have the cheese. I’ve never been around pregnant people before so don’t hold me to that.”

Jolene jumps in before I can reply. “That’s very kind of you. Thank you.”

Blythe shrugs a skinny shoulder as Luci quietly says, “My apologies for coming empty handed. It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this. I’ll have something ready for our next meeting.”

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