Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

GEMMA

T he day before Thanksgiving, Mariam was back in town and so was Laurel. Our pack of three was finally back together again and I loved it.

I tossed my arms around Laurel from the side as we took a morning walk around the neighborhood. “I miss you like crazy when you’re gone. Do you know that? Both of you, actually. Although Mimi hasn’t been gone that long, but still. It kills me.”

Laurel chuckled and slid an arm around my waist, hugging me back. She tipped her face up toward the blue sky. “I miss you guys, too. It’s also damn good just to be breathing Texas air again. Don’t get me wrong, I love Franklin, but there sure is something about being home.”

“Something like Leif?” I teased.

A smile appeared on her face when I mentioned her high school sweetheart’s name.

After hooking up with him at the reunion, she’d gotten his contact details, and once she’d received her first Naughty List task, my girl had dutifully reached out to him. Her old flame.

Leif and Laurel had been that couple back in high school, the one everyone had thought would be together forever. Unfortunately, tragedy had struck both their families on the same day, and their relationship had pretty much gone downhill from there. I’d seen the way they’d looked at each other at the reunion, though.

I had a feeling their breakup was on the rocks. From the looks of things, Leif and Laurel were very much about to become an item again, and this time, I suspected it would stick. The hometown sweetheart and the golden-hearted, football-playing, math-club-leading hottie were going to be together forever.

She sighed dreamily as she shrugged. “It’s not just about Leif. I also love just being home. There really is no place like it, but this year, seeing him again definitely added an extra layer of excitement for the trip. So sue me.”

“Nah. I’m behind this,” I said. “I’ve always been Team Leif and Laurel. It broke my heart when you guys called it quits back in the day.”

“Same here,” Mariam said from Laurel’s other side. “I’m glad that you’re working things out. I’ve always felt like you two belonged together. I just wasn’t sure you’d ever get your second chance.”

Laurel smiled at her. “Second chances are a rare thing.”

Warmth filled my chest as I thought about seeing them together again. How naturally they just seemed to fit together that night at the reunion, even after all these years. It was incredible, but I couldn’t deny that a little green-eyed monster had also reared its ugly head deep inside me.

I so badly wanted what they had, and while I couldn’t go back and fabricate that level of shared history with anyone, it was more the present I was concerned about anyway.

My turn would come when the time was right. I’d always believed that. I still wasn’t convinced I would ever have some love story or a romance for the ages, but at least once in my life, I wanted a relationship that would be seared into my soul forever. All I wanted was to experience what it felt like.

Everyone should, right?

After our walk, we headed to the grocery store with Deb, Laurel’s mom. She was on a mission to get in, get everything, and get out. She eyed us like she was the coach of an NFL team and we were the players about to take the field for the Super Bowl.

“Right, ladies, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to help me make sure that when we leave here today, we don’t have to come back until after Thanksgiving. We’ve got a list. We’ve got two carts. We can do this. I have faith in you.”

Mariam saluted her. “Yes, ma’am. You can count on us.”

I nodded my agreement, scanning the shopping list in my hand and grabbing some mustard from the shelf behind me. “No condiment left behind.”

As Laurel laughed and joked around with her mom, we moved down the aisle slowly, making sure that we weren’t passing anything we needed. Eventually, the conversation turned back to Leif and how Laurel had kissed her old flame last night, meaning that she’d officially checked the first item off her list, and that brought us back to the list itself.

Mariam had drawn “TP a house” as one of her tasks, and we decided to do it on Thanksgiving after dinner. All of us together.

Laurel was going to invite Leif and his brother, Jack, and nerves suddenly bloomed in my stomach. I hadn’t seen Noah yet since he’d come to Austin, but I knew he was getting in before Thanksgiving and we’d been talking more regularly ever since he’d asked me to handle those events for the band.

All week long, I’d been counting the minutes until I could see him again, and I even already mentioned Thanksgiving dinner at Deb’s house. Now I just had to ask her if it was okay if I invited him.

“So I’ve, uh, sort of been talking to this new guy,” I blurted out. “He’s younger than us, but he might want to join us.” I glanced at Deb. “Is it okay if he also comes to dinner? I’ve kind of already told him he’d be welcome.”

“Of course.” Deb smiled, her head tilting as she surveyed my face. “Why do you look so guilty? Just how young is this guy?”

“Uh, he’s twenty-ish.“

“Cougar!” Laurel laughed, lifting her hand for a high-five. “That’s so cool. I can’t believe you. Actually, since you’re you and you’re awesome, I can, but how on earth did you even meet a twenty-year-old?”

“Kindergarten,” Mariam joked immediately. “Wait, no. A playground.”

“Maybe she babysat him,” Deb teased. “Did you remember to remind him to brush his teeth before bedtime?”

I winked at her. “Of course, I did. Then I tucked him in nice and tight and gave him a little something to help him sleep.”

Laurel cracked up laughing, Mariam groaned, and Deb giggled as she shook her head at me. “Let’s just pretend I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I need to be able to look your mom in the eyes at dinner tomorrow.”

“Oh, I’ve told her all about him. You guys can have a blast mocking me about being a cougar, but wait until you see this guy. He is so insanely hot and he’s surprisingly nice too. He may be young, but he’s an old soul.”

“Why are you surprised that he’s nice?” Laurel asked. “You also still haven’t told us where you met him, assuming that you weren’t really his babysitter, that is.”

I drew in a deep breath, lowering my voice as I leaned closer. “Have you guys heard of a band called City Lights?”

Laurel frowned. “I think so.”

“Wait,” Deb said suddenly. “I have. They played somewhere when I was on my book tour. It might’ve been Houston? They’re a boy band, right?”

“Oh!” Laurel blinked hard. “That’s right. They are. They’re blowing up all over. I heard an interview with them on the radio on my way to the airport.”

“That’s them,” I said, still speaking softly. “They’re going to be doing events all around Austin and guess who’s going to be organizing them?“

“The Events Co?” Laurel’s eyes widened. “Wow, girl. That’s huge, but what does it have to do with your twenty-year-old?”

Mariam laughed. “It’s Noah Parks, isn’t it? The guy you’ve been hanging out with. I guess you called him after all?”

My nose crinkled in delight. “Yes, it is! It’s Noah. And he called me!”

“You’re hanging out with a member of the latest sensation boy band?” Laurel did a slow double-take. “Wow. That’s amazing. But I hope you’re ready to be the most hated girl in the world when his fans find out.”

I waved her off. “It’s nothing they need to know about. We just get along well and I enjoy his company. Like I said, he’s an old soul.”

Deb started a slow clap, a huge grin on her face as she nodded at me. “Well done, darling. And if the fans find out, screw ‘em. You just have fun and be yourself.”

“Thanks, Deb.” I gave her a quick hug before I winced as I pulled away. “Actually, Noah’s not the only person who asked if they could come with me. Dave would like to join us as well.”

Deb blinked. “Dave, as in your ex-husband, Dave?”

“That’s the one.” I smiled through a sigh. “I know I’m asking a lot, bringing two extra people, but it would mean the world to me if he could come too.”

Deb agreed, though she muttered about it being an interesting day under the circumstances. I promised her there wouldn’t be any drama, and the girls asked me about it while we were making wassail later that afternoon.

Our Thanksgiving traditions were some of my favorites. At times, while we’d been growing up, I hadn’t had the best home life. Laurel’s family had always been my safe place to go over the holidays, and it helped that Deb had always loved having us, opening her home to us as if it were our own.

Laurel glanced at me. “Noah Parks, huh? Are you sure you should be inviting your new love interest to a Thanksgiving dinner with your ex-husband?”

“Sure,” I said breezily, though I wasn’t feeling particularly breezy about it. I sighed. “Noah doesn’t have any idea about Dave, though. I plan on keeping it that way.”

“It’s not your fault he turned out to be gay,” Laurel said. “Your divorce was amicable. Why wouldn’t you just tell him about it?”

I laughed. “Nope. Maybe it wasn’t my fault, but it’s still not an awesome thing to have to tell a new love interest, that you’re a divorcee. I’d rather keep that for the fifth date or so.”

Mariam chuckled. “I’m sure he’d understand, but I get why you’d rather not come right out with it. Dave is coming to Thanksgiving, though. What are you going to tell Noah about him?”

“Just that he’s an old friend,” I said. “That is also true. Dave was my friend before he became my husband, and he’s been my friend again for quite some time now after the divorce, so it’s not a lie.”

Laurel widened her eyes at me. “You’re calling trouble to your door, my friend, but okay. You do you. How on earth did you meet him, though? Through the company.”

“Mariam already knows,” I said, smiling. “I actually met him on the plane on Halloween when Mariam and I were on our way to New York. He’s the guy I kissed to complete my first task. Although I have to admit that he kissed me, but still, I kissed a superstar in an airplane bathroom and we totally would’ve gotten arrested for it if we’d been caught.”

Laurel laughed. “No doubt. So those pictures you sent me of a guy walking away and the airplane out of the airport window, that was Noah and the plane you kissed on?”

I nodded. “It was crazy fun. So exhilarating. Until Mariam and I saw him onstage at the charity gala we were in New York to attend. I only realized who he was when the band came out. Talk about a surprise.”

Mariam giggled. “You should’ve seen her. She was dumbstruck. She just kept staring at him. Although in her defense, he kept staring right back.”

Laurel glanced at me, a soft smile on her lips as her gaze lingered on mine. “Well, I can tell that you’re smitten. You must’ve found a way to make peace with who he is.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “It’s great to see you too, buddy. But watch who you’re calling smitten. Let’s talk about Mariam instead. What news have you got for us? Any progress with the list in snowy Sun Valley?”

We talked and giggled about life and the list. My soul finally felt at peace for the first time since it had occurred to me that I was the only one of us who had never left Austin. The fact was that, as much as I wanted to go seek a new life full of new adventures, I was quite happy exactly where I was.

Especially at times like these when our pack of three was complete, fresh wassail was standing in Deb’s kitchen, and the fall festival was coming up tonight. When stuff like that happened, I had to admit, my life felt pretty darn perfect.