Page 11 of August
“That’s okay,” Myra replied with a smile. “I know the way home.”
Elisa laughed and said, “I’m sure you do.”
“I’ll send you the estimate to approve, and if it’s okay, I’ll get started after that.”
“Sounds good.”
And itdidsound good. Having Myra in her house, doing the work herself, soundedverygood because what Elisa hadn’t yet revealed to Myra was the reason she had finally left her husband. All these years, she had known and had been too scared to admit it. In college, when they had met, Elisa had known, but one date with Archie Senior had led to another and another, and then, sex, a condom breaking, her not being on birth control long enough yet, and two babies. Then, a wedding and a marriage. All these years, though, she had known and hadn’t said anything to anyone until she had finally had the courage to tell Gwen. When Gwen had told her that she needed to be herself to be happy and to leave her own brother, Elisa hadn’t been sure at first, but when she realized that the reasons she had stayed in her marriage were about to go to college and not need her in the same way anymore, she had finally done it. She had come out to her now ex-husband and her kids. Now, she was watching Myra walk out of her kitchen, hearing Myra mention her ex-wifeover and over again in her head.
CHAPTER 5
“Hey, Henry,” Melinda said.
Myra looked up and spotted Melinda, Kyle, and Jill walking through the door of her uncle’s Po-Boy shop. It was still interesting to her that she had never really noticed Melinda or any of her new friends here before, even though, according to Melinda, the woman had been coming to the restaurant for years, and Myra was in here at least once a week to grab something. Usually, she would grab the food and go, though, so maybe that was why she hadn’t noticed any of the now-familiar faces prior to them becoming friends.
“Hey, Mel!” Uncle Henry yelled in response. “Have a seat. Usual?”
“Yeah. For me and Ky. Jill?”
“Me too,” Jill said but didn’t look up from her phone.
“Hi,” Melinda greeted her as she sat down across from Myra and next to her fiancée, while Jill sat down next to Myra. “She’s texting with Willa,” Melinda added in explanation as she nodded toward Jill.
“Actually, I was messaging Enid, who had a work question,” Jill replied. “But now that you’ve mentioned it, Iwillgo ahead and message my girlfriend, too, because I want her to come over tonight.”
“Isn’t she there all the time anyway?” Kyle asked, wrapping an arm around Melinda’s chair.
“Not all the time,” Jill said. “And like you two can talk; you moved in together after, like, five days.”
“It wasn’t five days,” Melinda said as she laughed. “And moving in?”
“What? No,” Jill replied as she shook her head. “We’re not doing that yet. Maybe in the future. I mean, Ihopewe do in the future, but she’s just starting that new job. I’ve got my mom, whom I’m still a little worried about, Juni is changingschools, and I’ve got a new job, too, now that you’ve finally promoted me. That’s already a lot. Besides, I’m meeting her sister this weekend, and that’s a big step.”
“Just the sister?” Myra asked her.
“To start. She’s also one of those super successful older sisters that you want to impress. Willa’s really cute about the whole thing, wanting to make sure I’m prepared for her lawyer sister to grill me on the witness stand.” Jill smirked. “It’s led to some really hot sex for us this week.”
Myra laughed and took a drink of the sweet tea she had grabbed for herself from the back.
“I’m not nervous. Should I be nervous?” Jill asked them then.
“I don’t think so,” Melinda replied.
“Yeah, it’s just her sister, not her parents, right?” Kyle asked.
“Not yet. They’ll be next, I’m sure. Willa said that once I meet Wallis, it’s her brother after that. Wade is just on a trip right now, so I can’t meet him first, but he is a little more laid back, from what I’ve been told. Once I meet Wallis, though, she’ll fill their parents in that Willa has a serious girlfriend, and they’ll expect a meeting.”
“That’s good,” Melinda noted. “It is serious, so you’ll want to take those steps with her.”
“I just wanther. I’ll take all the steps, but I just want Will. I know it hasn’t been long, but I can see us together for the long haul, kind of like you two. That’s the point, right? If you want to find one person and not date around, if you don’t see anything happening in the future, it just ends. I don’t wantthisto end. Same, I assume?” Jill nodded toward Kyle and Melinda.
“I still can’t believe how it all worked out,” Kyle said. “I only came here because my grandmother died, so I needed to find some things out about my family history, but I ended up staying and found the love of my life at the same time.”
Melinda just smiled over at Kyle before she leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Myra watched the exchange andfelt that familiar jealousy she had whenever she was around these two. She missed it, what she’d once had with her wife. It hadn’t worked out, and they clearly weren’t meant to be, after all, but she’d once believed that she had found the love ofherlife. She still wasn’t sure how she had gotten the thing so wrong.
“Our life is just so boring,” her ex had told her the night they had had the big talk.
“It’s boring?” Myra had asked.
