Chapter 13

Megan woke up on Thursday feeling better than she had in a while. She definitely owed Lauren a very nice thank you. She was really grateful that Tasha had texted her last night to say when she and Sophia would be back. That gave her time to set up her own surprise for Tasha—an air mattress for Megan and Sophia to sleep on. Megan felt more than a bit guilty about stealing Tasha’s bed. Tasha insisted that she slept on the couch a lot of nights anyway, but Megan didn’t want her to feel like she had to sleep on the couch in her own apartment.

Looking over, she saw that Sophia was still asleep, so she quietly got up and started working on breakfast and coffee. Not long after, she heard Tasha waking up. A couple minutes later, Tasha padded into the kitchenette to join her.

Megan whispered, “Good morning, Tasha. How did you sleep?”

“I slept well. I really don’t mind the couch, but thank you. You’re very sweet. You’re also still glowing, and I bet that it’s not because of the air mattress…”

Megan blushed. She reached out and embraced her friend. Not a quick hug, but one of those comfort hugs where you just sort of melt into each other and feel the joy of connecting with another person. A body and soul hug.

“Thank you, Tasha. I didn’t realize how much I needed last night.”

“I’ve got you, Megan. Any time you need that again, you tell me, okay?”

“Same for you. I don’t want to cramp your style.”

As they released their hug, Megan turned her head to give Tasha a friendly kiss on the cheek. Tasha apparently had the same idea because both of their heads turned at the same time and they ended up with a quick kiss on the lips instead.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Megan exclaimed as she once again blushed furiously. “I meant to kiss you on the cheek.”

“Same! I’m sorry, too!”

They looked at each other awkwardly. “Um, I’m going to make a quick trip to the store after I eat. I hate being a Thanksgiving shopper, but I thought that Sophia and I could make cupcakes for Friendsgiving today. Do you need anything?”

“That’s great. Let me see what supplies I have for cupcakes. I think I’m gonna whip up my famous chili mac. I’ll make a list of what I need.”

“Sounds good, Tasha. Let me finish my yogurt and put on some real pants. Speaking of—what’s the dress code for today?”

“Whatever you want to wear is fine. Some people will be in jeans, and some go all-out. I like to dress up a bit for this. Just because I don’t get too many other opportunities to get dolled up. Feel free to look in my closet if you wanna borrow something.”

The three of them spent the morning in and out of the kitchen. Megan decided to do the cupcakes from scratch. It wasn’t much harder than a box and people were always impressed. Plus, it would be fun to show Sophia some real baking. Tasha kept the stovetop occupied with her chili, but that was an off-and-on process, so her cooking didn’t interfere with their baking.

Megan and Sophia were done with the oven before Tasha started on the mac and cheese. Megan watched as Tasha walked Sophia through the steps of how to make her homemade mac and cheese, and the two of them combined it with the chili to create Tasha’s fabled chili mac. Then Sophia got a lesson in how to make homemade buttercream frosting. Knowing her daughter, Megan made extra—Sophia was definitely going to sneak some frosting. Tasha helped out with that while her chili mac baked.

The trio had a light lunch, then got ready for Friendsgiving. Megan and Tasha went through the latter’s closet, looking for something to wear. Megan’s limited supply of dressy items were hundreds of miles away, but thankfully she and Tasha were about the same size. Tasha insisted that she try on a long purple dress with a scandalously high side-slit. She said that it would match Megan’s new hair color. Checking herself in the bathroom mirror, Megan had to agree. Her hair was now a purple so dark that it was nearly black, with lavender highlights, and it matched well with the rich purple of the dress. Strappy black wedge sandals completed the look. She exited the bathroom, feeling both giddy and a bit self-conscious about just how much of her leg showed as she walked.

Megan and Tasha saw each other simultaneously, each struck speechless by the other.

Tasha recovered first, exclaiming, “Damn, girl! I thought I looked good in that dress, but wow, you wear it well!”

As Megan looked at Tasha in her shimmering red minidress, she realized that she hadn’t seen Tasha wearing anything except pants and sleeved shirts in the past week. She realized this because she was absolutely sure that she would have remembered seeing those tattoos— what appeared to be a panther stalking out of a ruined jungle temple on Tasha’s right thigh, and a band of thorns wrapping around her right arm. Cat pawprints trailed up Tasha’s left arm and disappeared under the top of the dress.

“Wow, that dress looks amazing on you! And you never told me that you have tattoos.”

“I… um… I’m deliberate about when I show them off, and where. I love them, but there is a lot of pain attached.”

“I bet! That leg one looks like it took forever.”

“Well, that did hurt a lot. No, I mean… I got the thorns back when I was still living in Charleston. Momma saw it and told me it was sacrilegious to have Jesus’ crown of thorns tattooed on my arm.”

“Oh, no…”

“Yeah… and then I told her that it wasn’t about Jesus and that I didn’t care anyway because I was an atheist.”

“Oh, shit…”

“We haven’t spoken since. Six months later, I took a job here.”

“Oh, Tasha! I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, really.”

Somehow, Megan didn’t believe that. She heard the strain behind Tasha’s apparent cheer. Now wasn’t the time to talk about it, though.

Shifting the conversation, Megan asked, “Did you have that panther tattoo the day that you shut your office down by wearing a skirt?”

Tasha laughed. “No, I got the panther after that incident. I actually bought the dress that you’re wearing after I got this done. The side slit shows glimpses of the tattoo as I walk.” She smiled. “I definitely turn some heads with that! Oh, maybe since you look so good in that dress, you should get something similar on your leg.”

“Um, I don’t have any tattoos. I think that might be a bit much, especially for my first time.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll get you inked up yet!”

“Um…”

“Come on now, let’s go celebrate.”

They exited the bedroom, and a wonderstruck Sophia gasped. “Mommy! You’re so pretty!”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“Aunt Tasha! Your tattoos are so cool!”

Tasha grinned at Megan and mouthed, “Your turn.”

Megan rolled her eyes and grabbed the cupcakes.