Page 43 of Party Favors
“It’s been cathartic. I’m so glad you convinced me to come.”
“I’m so glad you said ‘fuck it’ and hopped on a plane.”
“Hello?” a voice hollered from the front of their cottage.
Both Amanda and Wren glanced up in alarm. They couldn’t see the yeller, but his voice had carried.
“Who is that?” Amanda asked.
“That, pretty girl, is Leo Whittaker. Let’s go. It must be later than I realized.”
“You go ahead. I’m going to call my parents real quick. They’ve been blowing up my phone.”
Wren helped Amanda stand up. Both of them had wet spots on their clothes. “You going to stay out here?”
Amanda nodded and looked around. “I like the snow.”
“It’s cold. I’ll get you another layer.”
Leo and Rosie came around the side of the cottage, stepping gingerly through the snow. Quick introductions were made, and they all headed toward the enclosed back porch.
Wren retrieved a soft flannel blanket for Amanda, who sat on the back porch steps. Wren wrapped it around Amanda’s shoulders, giving extra care to cover the bare spot on the back of her neck.
When Wren turned around and headed back inside, she found Leo and Rosie waiting for her, matching expressions of surprise on their features, their eyes big. She rolled her own eyes and led them into the living room.
Who cared if she was an open book? Amanda went home tomorrow anyway.
* * *
This phone call with her parents was not going well. They were both on the phone, but her dad was only contributing by saying, “Oh, Amanda,” every so often in his disappointed voice.
“I don’t understand where this is coming from. Ridiculous,” her mom said. “I expected you to be here tonight.”
“I told you I wouldn’t be,” Amanda said. “More than once.”
“Guess this dress I got you is wasted money.”
“Mom. We’ve already had this conversation. I didn’t ask you to buy me a dress.”
A very sophisticated huff sounded through the phone. Her mother, again. “And what is this about sellingusedclothing?”
Amanda had to laugh at the inflection in her mom’s voice. “I’ve got a line on stock to get me started, and I already have a closet full of vintage patterns. I’ll start small, but hopefully I can do it full time.”
“Oh, Amanda.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. Her parents’ usual suspicion and foot-dragging wasn’t bringing her down.
“I’m trying to be brave and honest. I don’t want to sell wine glasses in bulk to Hollywood event organizers for the rest of my life.”
“Ellis International Products has given you a lot, young lady. You shouldn’t knock it,” her mom said.
“I’m not knocking it. I just want something different.”
Her father sighed again and actually said a full sentence with verbs and everything. “What was this remote work idea?”
Amanda pumped her fist. “Okay. Here’s what I was thinking.”
An hour later, Amanda, Wren, and Rosie were pruning up in the hot tub together, and Amanda was riding high from her conversation with her parents. Leo had disappeared to hang out with Benji and William.
