Page 115 of Ringer's Freedom

Brenna watches the road as she drives us toward the city. I turn toward her and study her side profile. She is an entirely different person than when she came to Desert Rose.

Gone is the shy, reserved girl, and in her place is a beautifully confident woman who walks with her spine straight and her head held high. I admire her so much.

“Of course. I would love to. It will give me something to do in all my free time,” I reply and force a chuckle.

Brenna turns to me, and her brows frown over the rim of her aviator sunglasses. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way.”

I wave her off. “You’re fine. It’s true, though. It honestly will work out well for me. I can’t sit still for long. I get antsy.”

“I feel you there, sister. I am the exact same way. I cannot even believe how satisfying tattooing has made me feel. I constantly have something that I could be doing.”

I nod. “That’s how I feel about baking, but I obviously can’t do that right now. So instead, I’ve turned to my second love. Clothes.”

“I am so jealous of your style.” Brenna eyes my outfit choice of the day and smiles in approval.

“My style of old shirts and ratty pants?” I laugh. I’ve always gotten compliments on the pieces I combine, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t an ego boost.

We pull up to the spa and wave through the windshield at Lyric, Pebbles, and Winnie, who are waiting on the sidewalk.

Pebbles wraps me in her skinny arms first before moving on to Brenna. Winnie looks beside herself with excitement as we walk into the chic spa. The mood in this place is fun. Upbeat music is playing from the speakers in the reception area. It definitely isn’t the playlist I was expecting for such a relaxing atmosphere, but it works. Behind the reception desk is a waterfall wall. The cliché makes me chuckle.

A gorgeous redhead is behind the counter, and when we walk up to her, her blinding smile beams as she takes all of us in. “Welcome to Body and Soul! How can I help you?”

I stand back as Winnie checks all of us in and continue surveying the spa. The reception area is blocked off from the rest of the spa by two large frosted glass doors on each side of the desk. One door is etched with the word ‘staff,’and the other door, in gorgeous calligraphy, says,"Let us take care of you Body and Soul.”Cute.

The redhead, whom we’ve discovered is named Ollie, guides us through the right door and into a locker room of sorts. We all chuck our clothes into assigned lockers and change into plush, forest-green robes.

“Damn, this place is snazzy!” Lyric sticks her tongue out playfully and wiggles her eyebrows at Winnie, who has had a permanent smile plastered on her face since we pulled up. Someone’s excited to get pampered today.

I hold in my laugh at Pebbles and Winnie, whose bellies stick out of their robes, as we walk into the next room. Another gorgeous employee brings a tray over and offers flutes of champagne and juice for the mamas-to-be.

One by one, we are pulled into another room for massages. I then go from a blissful full-body massage to a small salon where I almost forget I have a husband and offer to marry a 60-year-old woman who washes, massages, and brushes my hair to within an inch of my life. Who knew you could die from the satisfying pleasure of someone playing with your hair?

We all meet back up in the main area for manicures and pedicures. My eyes almost burst out of their sockets when I see Pebbles. Her hair is curled, and she must have gotten eyelash extensions. She looks amazing, just like she used to.

“Damn, girl!” I whistle.

She bows theatrically, bending in half over her big belly and laughs as we all rush her with compliments.

She drops down at the station right next to me and offers her left hand forward to the technician.

“What are you getting?” shs asks me.

I nod at the bright red gel polish next to me and roll my eyes with a smile. “Like I’d pick something different.”

Pebbles laughs and flips through the color samples with her free hand.

Over the next hour and a half, we switch between the manicure station and the pedicure chairs, talking, laughing, and, most importantly, relaxing. It’s just what I needed after all the drama since the fire at the bakery.

After the spa, we end up at the cafe we all love and spend another hour and a half chatting. It’s been decided that I am going to be making all the couples’ Halloween costumes. We make plans to meet at the fabric shop I love so that I can get all of the supplies and materials to make this one of the best costume parties yet.

Brenna drops me back at home, and I can already see my dad and Ringer still in the garage tinkering around.

I lean my hip against the workbench and watch them work on my dad’s bike in tandem.

They are so focused on their task that neither one of them noticed Brenna’s car dropping me off or heard me walk into the garage. Now I’m standing less than four feet away from them, and they are still clueless.

“Don’t you think you guys should pay more attention to your surroundings?” I finally pipe up after about five minutes of watching them.

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