Page 17 of Crossing the Line
"She looks like a smitten kitten." Caroline giggled.
"More like... What did they call it in Bambi? Twitterpated?"
"Oh... I like that one."
"Maybe we should send a note over to that table and ask if any of them is single?"
"Single?" Janice turned her head. "What? Which table?"
Janice felt panic rising in her chest. She was the only one at her table that was single.
Divorced counted as single, right?
Leaned over until they were shoulder to shoulder and pointed at Bixby's table. "That table."
"What?"
Janice leaned back.
"What are you talking about?" Her face suddenly felt cool and clammy. "Bixby's table?"
Caroline reached across the table and touched her arm. "Have you seen how you look at him?"
Taylor snorted another laugh. "I don't think that's physiologically possible, Caroline. She'd have to be outside herself to see herself and that is-"
"We're not talking plot holes, Taylor. That's your husband's thing. I'm just saying that our lovely friend here obviously has it bad for her neighbor." Caroline lifted a brow and Janice saw her wink. "It just so happens that he's your ex."
Janice shook her head. "I don't think..."
"If you don't mind me asking, and you don't even have to answer if you don't want to. No harm no foul. But I wasn't around when you and Bixby divorced. You guys seem to get along really well."
Janice smiled at that. "It's true. We made up a very short set of rules before the divorce was finalized." She took her straw and stirred the drink in her glass. "Honestly, I can't remember exactly why we decided it was over. I think we just looked at each other one day and... and it just made sense."
Janice felt the smile die on her face. It fell away and she lifted the glass to take a sip of her drink and ended up almost emptyingit in one gulp before she slowly lowered it back to the table. "We split the store in half. I," she shuddered physically, "I never like the meat aspect of it. Seeing him cut through a side of beef made me sick."
Taylor nodded and Caroline shrugged.
"Of course you'd be okay with it," Janice wrinkled her nose at her chef friend. "I just... ick."
They all laughed.
"And the house. We talked about one of us buying the other out, but with most of our money tied up in the market, that wasn't really possible on either side. So we took a quick look at the house and our finances and realized we could split the house down the center." Janice lifted her chin toward the other table. "Hank did us a favor and helped Bixby put up the wall down the center and added in the other kitchen on Bixby's side."
Taylor grinned at that. "If you have to have a best friend, make it a kick ass carpenter."
Janice nodded. "I think we just paid off his fee in beer and bratwurst last week."
They'd actually paid Hank in cash long ago, but it was a long-standing joke among them that they'd paid him in beer and brats.
"I have to say," Caroline's cheeks flamed with heat, "I've had your ex's brat and it is good."
The whole table went silent for a moment and then they all burst out in laughs.
Taylor refilled all the glasses and lifted her own in a toast.
She waited until Janice and Caroline lifted their glasses as well.
"To thick and juicy... sausages!"
