“Awe, Jules. Here,” Lanie says, handing me her sweatshirt. “Let me look through this stuff back here and pull out something you can wear. Do you still want to go to dinner?” The way she asks has me lifting an eyebrow at her, she has something up her sleeve.
“I… do…” I draw out. “Why are you asking like that?”
A smile too perfect to be real plays across Lanie’s lovely face. Clapping her hands like a child, she dives into the back seat. “This will be perfect, Jules. Just perfect.”
“Perfect for what, Lanie? What the hell are you talking about?”
“We are going to practice your flirting skills at dinner, and you just bought the perfect outfit for it,” she informs me since I have no clue what is in any of the bags.
“No. Oh, definitely not. Lanie, I am putting my foot down,” I tell her as I slip out of my wet shoes and yoga pants, followed by my favorite Henley. I reach for her sweatshirt and pull it over my near-naked self. Luckily, it’s dark. I wasn’t really paying attention when I started stripping.
Folding her hands in her lap, she says, “Jules, it’ll be good for you, I promise. Plus, you’re starving.”
Lanie is the only one who has ever settled me. She places a gentle hand on mine, and it’s all the support I need to calm myself. I take a deep breath and turn to look at her.
“Lanes, you know I love you, but I’ve had my fill today. Tomorrow will be a long day of driving, and I still need to pack. I promise when we get back to my house, you can give me all the pointers I’ll need, but right now, I’m going to drive through Al’s French Frys, order us some burgers, and drive us back to Burke. Okay?” I say, finally running out of steam.
Squeezing my arm one more time before wrapping me in a hug, Lanie says, “Of course it is, Jules. You know I’m only pushing because you asked me to, remember? Last week? You begged me not to let you get out of this. You even made me pinky promise, which I did. Plus, it’s about time you moved on. You broke up with Erick almost two years ago.”
“Right,” I grumble. “Two years,” and don’t I fucking know it. Two-hundred and twenty thousand dollars down, only one-hundred and ninety-four to go.
Pulling back, Lanie looks at me and laughs, “Are you really going to drive home in my old sweatshirt and nothing else?”
Putting the car in drive, I smile at her before pulling into traffic, “You know I am.”
Chapter 2
-One Night Standards, Ashley McBryde
Julia
I wake to a constant beeping sound and I know immediately that it isn’t coming from my phone. Rolling over, I notice the curtains in my pale-yellow bedroom have been drawn wide open. Lanie. Turning to my stomach, I pull a pillow over my head. I’m almost back to sleep when the covers get ripped from my body.
“Rise and shine, Chica! We have to finish getting you packed up!” Lanie tells me.
“It’s way too early in the morning for that kind of perkiness,” I grumble.
“Oh, stop being such a baby. Come on, get up. I’ve got your coffee ready for you.”
Ugh, Lanie knows the way to my heart.
“Okay, fine,” I say, sitting up in my bed but barely opening my eyes as I’m blinded by the morning sun. Why the hell does the master bedroom in this house face the rising sun? Someone should be shot for this. Holding my hands out in a gimme-gimme kind of way, I ask her, “Did you sleep here last night? You know you should just move in with me and save money on rent.”
Rolling her eyes, Lanie completely ignores me. I’ve told her this at least a hundred times, but she flat out refuses. She thinks she has to live on her own to prove something; I don’t know how to make her understand she can lean on those of us that love her.
“No, I didn’t sleep here. You watched me walk out the door. Did you drink more wine after I left?” she asks, smirking, knowing it wouldn’t be the first time.
“Jesus, no. I was so worn out from our little shopping excursion I took a Xanax and passed out. If you didn't sleep here, then why the hell are you here so early?” I can’t help the grumpiness in my voice. Looking at the clock, I see it’s 8:30 am. “Ugh, Lanes. Seriously, I don’t even have to leave until 1:00 pm.”
“I know, but it will take us a couple of hours to go through these outfits unless you want another dressing room fiasco on your hands with no one to rescue you this time,” she laughs.
“Always a freaking comedian,” I throw a pillow from the bed at her. “Fine, show me what you think I need.”
And she does. For the next hour, Lanie places outfit after outfit in front of me, taking pictures with a Polaroid so I’ll know how to put everything together when I’m on my own. I’m about to pull my hair out when I hear my front door open and slam shut, followed by my new rescuer calling out.
“Lanie? Julia? Where the hell you two at?”
Lanie and I make eye contact and start laughing.
“What is GG doing here?” I ask.
“She brought us breakfast, if we don’t hurry, she will have the entire town out looking for us.”
This is not an exaggeration. For someone in her eighty’s, GG has taken to texting better than most adults. She has the entire town in a group text. She says it’s a safety measure, but really, she just figured out gossip can spread faster this way.
Jumping up, we both scatter to the door, tripping over each other as we race down the stairs.
“You two numbnuts had best quit all that ruckus before ya kill ya-selves,” GG scolds us.
GG is Lanie’s grandmother and has been GG to me as well since we were kids. When Lanie’s aunt died, we were all around two years old, and GG took in her cousin, Lexi. Lanie told me once she thought that was the reason her mother went off the rails. She never really had a normal childhood after that.
“Sorry, GG,” Lanie and I say at the same time.
“Oooo, GG, what did you bring me? Did you know your granddaughter has been torturing me with clothing for the last twenty-four hours?”
“Nah, by the looks of things, ya could probably use some help in that department if ya wanna find a man,” GG says matter-of-factly.
“No way, GG, I’m not looking for a man, just a man for the night if you know what I mean,” I say with a wink.
GG cackles in the way only she can, “Good Lord, you lil’ hussy. Good to know someone is getting somethin’ these days,” she says, looking unabashedly at Lanie, who holds up her hands in surrender.
“Oh no, you don’t. You two are not going to gang up on me. I am perfectly happy just the way things are. I have no interest in relationships, you both know how that has worked out for my mother,” she tells us.
“That’s a bunch of bullshit, Lanie Heart, and you know it,” GG admonishes. “You are not and never gonna be, your mother.” Before Lanie can respond, GG turns her attention back to me. “Now, you,” she says, pointing a crooked finger at me. “I know you’re gonna get a man’s attention, but I’ve been touching with the ladies, and we need to talk about safety before you go bumpin’ bones down there in Boston, ya know.”