Page 7 of L.O.V.E

Avoiding any commitment to the gym, I changed the subject. “You’re late.” I glanced at the clock. “You’re never late.”

Sunday dinner with my parents was a longstanding tradition. Lacey had only missed one dinner in four years, and only because she’d had a bad flu.

“Yeah. Sorry.” Her doe eyes widened. “You’ll never guess who I ran into.”

Mom came around the corner, carrying a bottle of wine, then stopped short when she spied Lacey. “Who’d you run into?” She pulled both of us into a hug. “Do tell.”

Dad called from the dining room, “Gossip after grace. I’m hungry.”

We joined Dad at the table. We prayed. Before my knife hit the steak, Mom said, “The suspense is killing me. Who’d you run into?”

“Victoria Ford,” Lacey blurted.

Dad cleared his throat. Mom choked on her merlot.

“Oh.” Last name I’d expected to hear. My gut twisted into painful knots. “I thought she moved across the country.” My fork suddenly weighed a thousand pounds, and I lowered it to my plate.

“Get this.” Lacy wiggled in her chair and leaned closer to me. “She’s engaged to some uber rich guy, an heir to some real estate or retail fortune or something like that. She couldn’t stop flashing her ring.”

The room darkened and my stomach sank, but I blinked my best friend back into focus. Victoria Ford. Beautiful, sociopathic bully. The girl who had tormented me for years. Grade school through graduation. Memories pelted my psyche, a cold chill prickling my skin. She could only continue to taunt if I gave her the power. I would not concede my power ever again.

“Well. Good for Victoria. Hope she gets all the happiness she deserves.” I studied my steak, the crust of caramelized spices, the juices dripping down the sides.

One deep breath. Release the negative energy in a slow exhale.

Time to steer the conversation elsewhere. “Tell Mom and Dad about your new love interest.”

Mom jumped all over the subject change. “Who? What? What? What? Did you have a date?”

Lacey gave Mom the lowdown on her gym crush. I chewed my sirloin with gusto. Dad eyed me warily but kept his mouth shut. Good man.

Lacey drove me home since I’d helped Mom polish off the second bottle of wine. At my door, she said, “Are you okay? I’m sorry I brought upShe Who Shall Not Be Named.”

That made me laugh. “It’s okay. I just haven’t thought about Victoria for a long time.” I tried, and failed, to get my key into the lock.

“Well, Seattle’s a big city. Chances are we’ll never run into her again.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right. And if I do, well? I don’t know what will happen, but we’re adults now. I’ll be an adult.” After six years of therapy, I could survive an encounter with Victoria. Life would be peachier, though, if I never had to look at that face again.

After the third attempt at my lock, I managed to open my door.

“Do you need me to help you get in bed?”

“Naw, I’m good.”

Hands to hips, Lacey stared at me.

“What?”

“I just love you so much, Nat Brat.” She pulled me in for a squeeze.

“Love you more, Lacey Lulu.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” I repeated my morning mantra as I jogged down the stairwell, my Free People booties making a terrible racket on the cement steps, an ungodly echo ringing my ears.

I’d overslept.Thanks, Mom, for the wine.

The elevator was under repair, hence my morning jog down four flights of stairs. My head buzzed, pounding something fierce, and my stomach threatened punishment. I pushed through the nausea, adrenaline kicking in.

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