Serendipity (13 page)

Walking out to the field to the fire pit, we wheel out a cooler full of beer, in addition to the open ones we each have in our hands.

“So, that’s Barbie, huh?” Austin asks.

I load some wood into the pit and tilt the can of fire starter until the can is empty. I answer without looking up. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“Damn, Dean, she’s fucking hot,” Jake replies.

I toss the can aside and light a few matches and throw them into the pit. The fire catches immediately, and the flames lick the cool night air.

“Yeah, I guess she is. Once you talk to her though, that all changes. She looks like an angel but don’t let her looks deceive you, she’s really an evil bitch.” I sit on the log bench and sip on my beer.

After last night, the last thing I wanted to do was drink again but this time with them is long overdue.

“Looks like she’s an all-round angel to me,” Austin offers.

I growl at his comment. I saw how they looked at each other. In school, Austin was the playboy—hell who am I kidding, he still is. All he has to do is look at a girl and she’ll drop her panties.

We were dubbed the Three Musketeers years ago and it has stuck with us to this day. Both guys went away to college but returned right after they graduated. Austin works at a large bank in Nashville, and Jake is the P.E. teacher at our old high school.

“Like I said, man, looks can be deceiving,” I say to Austin but it’s really for them both.

“She off limits then?” Jake asks.

Hell yes she’s off limits. Barbie is mine!

“Nah, man, you guys can go after her all you want. Sure, she’s probably the hottest damn woman I’ve ever seen but I wouldn’t touch her if she was the last woman on earth.” I toss the empty beer can into the small pile that will soon become a mountain of cans.

“Montgomery, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a thing for Angel?” Austin says.

I snort—not a chance on God’s green earth. “You’re sadly mistaken, Austin. And what’s this shit about calling her
Angel
? It’s Barbie, get it straight,” I try to hide my frustration and pop the top off another can.

“Man, you need to ease up. I heard you almost call her Barbie in the house and she didn’t look too happy. Has she heard you call her that before?” Jake asks.

I ignore him and get up to toss more logs into the fire. I look over my shoulder to see Jake and Austin sharing a laugh and no doubt it’s about Barbie.

“What are y’all laughing about?” I ask.

Both guys stop laughing and look at me. “Nothing,” they say in unison.

Yeah, like I’m buying that.

“Forget about Barbie, let’s talk about something else.” I offer and they agree.

By one o’clock, the fire has started to die down and I’m exhausted. With nearly a case of beer gone—split between the three of us—we call it a night. I walk the guys to their car and head back to the fire and watch as the embers turn from bright orange to black. I lean back on the bench and watch as they change shape and color and think about… Barbie.

There’s no way I like that bitch. I have no clue what my friends are thinking, but they couldn’t be more wrong. I like girls like Devon—beautiful, sweet with personality to boot. But she wants more than what I can give her right now. Speaking of angelic, what is with them calling Barbie, Angel? She may look like an angel, but looks are as far as it goes—that girl seems to trade her halo for horns when I’m around.

I clean up the beer cans and head off to the house. I shine the flash light on the ground to see where I’m walking. When I get into the house, I notice the kitchen light on. I close the door quietly behind me and peek around the corner.

Phoebe stands there looking out the window and drinking a glass of water. She’s in the nightgown that she wore last night in my dream. Okay, now I can see why the guys say she looks like an angel. The cream colored gown flows freely down her body and one of the thin straps slips off of her silky shoulder.

I take off my boots and slip inside. She jumps and turns around when the floor creaks beneath me.

She nearly drops the glass of water and her eyes go wide. “Jesus, you scared me.”

“I’d hate to break it to you darlin’ but I’m not Jesus, though most women call me God when I’m fucking them.”

Did I just fucking say that? I didn’t drink that much... did I?

Her eyes go wide and I can tell she’s trying not to laugh, which makes me laugh.

“Night,” I say chuckling as I walk past her and into the den.

I undress and notice that my cock is still hard from looking at Ang—Phoe—Barbie.

I get under the covers and start stroking myself. I recall the dream I had last night. I had her pinned up against a wall, and I could feel how wet she was for me through her panties. She felt and smelled so damn good. I could have licked and nipped at her for days and it still wouldn’t be enough.

After I relieve myself, I clean myself up and roll over. When I close my eyes, images of Barbie pop in my head—only when she speaks, I hear Devon’s voice.

I wake up, feeling better than I have all week. I’m thankful for the Montgomery’s letting me stay with them, I could never go out in public looking like this.

Reaching for my phone, I call Mr. Keiser to let him know what’s going on. The hospital faxed over information about the accident and my work restrictions, but I know he’ll worry if he doesn’t hear from me. He assures me that everything will be fine and they will take care of the balance at the hotel, as well as the rental.

I walk downstairs and inhale the scent of summer that wafts in through the open windows. It’s a beautiful day and things are finally starting to turn around. I only have five more days until I get my stitches out, so today is going to be dedicated to getting everything in order, and hopefully finding a place to live.

I greet Emily when I walk into the kitchen and pour myself a cup of coffee. When I sit down at the table, Emily sets down a plate of eggs in front of me and I dig in.

“Where are Keith and Dean?” I ask, dipping my toast into the egg and breaking the yoke.

“They went to check out the damage to the truck,” she sets a glass of milk down in front of me and pulls out a chair.

“I talked to Mr. Keiser, he’s my boss, when I woke up. He told me that he’ll take care of the hotel and the rental for me. Now, I just need to look for a place to live,” I say happily.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see her face fall. “What’s wrong?” I turn towards her and she looks like she wants to say something.

“It’s nothing, dear. Eat up and then you and I can go into town today. I have some things to get,” she avoids eye contact, which is odd.

“Are you sure nothing’s wrong?”

“Positive,” she replies, but her smile is fake. I’ve only known her for a few days but it feels much longer, and I can tell that something isn’t right with Emily.

After breakfast, we each go off to get ready to head out. I make sure all of my things are in my purse and I wait for Emily at the kitchen table.

I’m staring out of the kitchen window when the back door opens and the Montgomery men walk in.

“Mornin’, Phoebe,” Keith greets me.

“Good morning,” I reply with a smile.

I look over to Dean and he doesn’t look happy. He stays quiet and walks past me to go into the den.

“I hear you and Em are going into town?” Keith pulls out the chair next to me after pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Yep, it’ll be good to get out of the house today,” I say as Emily walks in.

Her summer dress is somewhat fitting and I’m shocked. The only outfits I’ve seen her in so far are her house clothes—adding an apron is about as exciting as her accessorizing gets.

The crimson dress comes down to her knees. Now I feel a little underdressed in my shorts and t-shirt. I glance at Keith to see if he says anything about her appearance but he just smiles and stands to greet her with a peck on the cheek. She blushes at the gesture—I think it’s adorable.

“Ready, Phoebe?” Emily asks, slipping into a pair of black flats.

“Um, sure!” I grab my purse and we walk out to the truck. When I open the door, the scent of Dean instantly hits me and I pause, taking it in.

I break from my trance when I hear Emily’s door slam shut. It’s a slightly difficult task, but I manage to get into the truck without assistance. Emily flicks the A/C to ‘high’ and turns up the radio. A song comes on, spilling through the speakers—a girl sings about memories and Tim McGraw.

I like all types of music, but country is not one of them. I would love to just reach over and change the station but Emily is enjoying herself way too much. We drive along the dirt road with the windows down
, t
he breeze blowing through our hair. I look in the mirror and see the trail of dust that follows behind the truck as we drive along.

This is kind of nice
, I think to myself. I’ve always been a city girl but I guess I’ve never known any different. I look over at Emily who is singing along with the song. This is a side of her I’ve never seen before. It’s a carefree Emily, almost like how my mom is.

“Where are we going today?” I ask over the music.

She turns down the radio and brushes her windblown hair out of her face.

“I have to go to a hobby store, and then grocery shopping. If you’d like, we can treat ourselves to a pedicure?”

Holy shit, I
really
like this Emily! “Hell yeah!” I say and instantly cover my mouth at the curse. I’ve never sworn in front of them, and I’ve rarely heard any cussing in their house.

She giggles. “Oh, Pheebs, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like we don’t cuss in our house,” she says.

“You do?” I ask in disbelief.

Her giggles turn into a full fit of laughter. “Of course we do, we aren’t saints,” she replies.

That makes me laugh. All this time and I thought that I had to be on my best behavior. “Well in that case, hell yes, I’d love to go get a pedicure with you. I used to get them all the time with my mom but since she’s staying in Chicago, that won’t be happening much anymore.” Tears prick my eyes. I miss my mom so much. I guess I haven’t had much time to think about it with everything that has happened since I’ve been here.

“I know. When I talked to Abigail, she told me all of your favorite foods and the things you guys like to do together,” she smiles and turns her attention back to the road. Since when did Emily call my mom by her first name? “Oh, I didn’t think you two were on the phone for that long.”

“We weren’t, we only got to talk for a few minutes because she was going out of town, but we’ve talked since then.”

Going out of town and she didn’t tell me? And they’ve talked since then? What the hell is going on??

“Hmm, well maybe I’ll call her when we get back,” I say my thoughts out loud.

“She’s still on vacation, so you should probably wait until they get home.” She says, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

I squeeze the seat as hard as I can. ‘They’ plays over and over in my head. Why does it feel like my mom has a whole new life and I’m not included in it?

“Relax, Phoebe. They just went to go visit Ben’s children in a city called Springfield,” she states matter-of-factly.

How in the hell does she know more than I do and why can’t my mom tell me this stuff? I suddenly feel sick and clutch my stomach. My mom is turning into a completely different woman. First, she hides her boyfriend from me for
eight months
, and now she’s taking trips with ‘Ben’ to see his kids without telling me, after I’ve just been in an accident? It’s always been just me and her against the world, and I feel like I’m losing my best friend.

“Are you okay, Phoebe?” Emily asks with concern.

I shake my head and try to hold back the bile that is threatening to rise. When Emily pulls to the side of the road, I open the door before the truck completely stops. I’m out and bring up my breakfast before she gets to my side.

After I expel everything, Emily lets go of my hair that she was holding back and hands me some napkins to wipe my mouth.

“Should we go back home?” She asks.

I shake my head. “No, I’ll be fine. I think the medication I’m taking is upsetting my stomach,” I lie.