Page 81 of One Sweet Day is Never Enough

Twenty

Even Marcy and Angela had the whole day off, so Kira and Courtney had talked them and Gia into spending their Sunday on a four-mile hike through the shady wooded trails of nearby Headland State Park. It wasn’t often the girls were all free at the same time, so they’d grabbed sandwiches and iced lattes at the West End Coffee Shop and headed out for some fresh air and exercise.

Angela led the way up a mossy hill with Courtney on her heels, and Gia brought up the middle.

“So how’d the anniversary party go last night, Gia?” Kira raised her voice from the back of the line so the others could hear.

“It went well, thanks.” Gia said with forced enthusiasm as she stepped over a log in the trail. She told them about the beautiful setup, the fun cover band, and how everything had stayed on schedule.

“Sounds great!” Marcy said. “So how’d it go with you and Seth, first time working side by side? I really liked him when we talked at the bonfire, by the way. You found yourself a winner, Gia.”

Should she get into it? She wasn’t sure she wanted to get upset again. “Thanks, Marcy. And actually, no problems on that front. He’s really good at working a room. Total social butterfly. He was in his element.”

“Did you get to dance with him?” Courtney asked. “It sounds like it was so romantic.”

If only she knew.“It really was. The orchard looked amazing all dressed up...” She paused. “But no. We were going to…” Gia hesitated and let out a heavy sigh. “Okay, you guys, so things got a little out of control.” She proceeded to tell them the whole story about Stacey, all the way through to the part where she pulled Gia’s hair and accused Seth of cheating on her.

“Getout!” Angela stopped to turn around and gape at Gia for a few seconds as they left the shade of the trees and started into a meadow. Tall grasses and the occasional birch tree grew on either side of the trail and wildflowers clustered randomly among the lush foliage. “She pulled your hair? What is this, second grade?” Angela let out another roar of laughter.

“I know, right?” Gia laughed and tightened her long ponytail, which hung through the opening in her baseball cap.

“I would’ve pulled hers back.” Angela beat a fist against the palm of her other hand.

“We know you would’ve, Ang,” Marcy said, smirking. Angela gave a firm nod of her head.

But Courtney looked concerned. “Does your boss know about it yet, Gia?”

Angela took a drink from her water bottle then turned and started walking again. They all followed suit.

“I called her this morning and explained. She was horrified, but she didn’t fire me,” Gia said. “Said she’ll talk to the client about it before she makes any decisions, but she thanked me for bringing it to her first.”

“Well, that’s good, at least,” Marcy offered. “You’re probably fine.”

“I hope so.” Gia nodded. “But who knows?”

“So then what’s going on with this wacky ex-girlfriend today? Did she stay at his house last night?” Kira was intrigued.

Gia nodded again. “As far as I know, yes. I don’t have any more details because I’m afraid of what he’ll tell me, honestly.”

“Oh,” Kira replied. “I get that.”

“Actually, Seth called me twice since last night, but I haven’t picked up,” Gia admitted. “Texted me a few times, too. I keep getting the willies every time I think about him there with her. He slow danced with her—just to keep her from making a scene. She was all over him. It was hard to watch.”

“Aw, but he can’t honestly want to get back together with her, right?” Kira went on. “She sounds like a real piece of work.”

“Fingers crossed.” Gia made a face.

Courtney turned around to glance at Gia. “So are you and Seth in a fight now, or what? He’s probably wondering what’s going on if you’re not answering his calls, right?”

What good was having a solid group of girlfriends if she didn’t accept their offer to be her sounding board every now and then? She might as well tell them everything.

Gia sighed. “You’re right. There’s a whole otherthingthat happened.” She told them about the conversation with Tom last night and how Stacey signed a lease and said that Seth gave her a job.

“What gets me is that the only thing I asked of Seth when he finally told me about Stacey was that I needed complete honesty from him, from there on out.” She motioned with her hands to emphasize. “I asked him to be completely up front, no matter what. He said he would. But then I find out about this. I don’t know what to think now.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s huge.” Marcy agreed. “He should’ve told you, and then none of this would’ve come as a surprise.”

“Exactly.” Gia frowned. “And if he’d been more upfront with both of us, Stacey probably never would’ve come here. He obviously never told her about me when he broke it off with her. I mean—if it was serious enough that she planned to move here, don’t you think he should’ve told her somevery important reasonswhy those plans were no longer a good idea? I’m thinking he only told us both the bare minimum, which is kind of a cop-out.”

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