by Evelyn Sola
Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHERISH
Evelyn Sola
Copyright © 2020 by Evelyn Sola
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
Resemblance to actual persons and things living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.
For my girls. You know who you are.
PROLOGUE
ALEX
“I miss you so much, Mom.” I swipe a stray tear from my cheek as I read the headstone. Mariah Jane Malone. Loving mother. Rest in paradise. For the hundredth time since I got here an hour ago, I rearrange the flowers I bought, and I let out a shaky laugh at the mismatched arrangement. My mom had a lot of favorite flowers.
I stand both arrangements against her headstone, a mixture of pink hyacinth, pink peonies, white gardenias, yellow daffodils, and lilac. I lift one to my nose and inhale, letting the flowery fragrance take me back to a time when my mother was alive, and our small kitchen table held any array of flowers.
Our small condo was packed to the brim. Mom had too many books but could never get rid of any of them. She never threw away a vase. Our walls were filled with pictures of the two of us chronicling our adventures throughout the years.
“I can’t believe it’s been two years without you. I didn’t think I could survive without you, but then I remembered that I’m your daughter and you raised me to not only survive but to thrive. I have so many questions for you, Mom. Why did you keep important information from me?” I sniff, tears filling my eyes and blurring my vision. I pull a tissue out of my purse and dab my eyes. So many memories flash through my mind at once, I fear I might short circuit. I grab onto the necklace around my neck, a half heart that she wore every day of my life and squeeze it for strength.
First day of pre-school, kindergarten, dressed in my finest, to part of my goth phase in high school. We started a new tradition when I entered high school. We’d wake up extra early, go out for breakfast, and she’d drop me off. I was never embarrassed by her long hugs or the countless kisses on my face.
We did this for six years, throughout high school and halfway through college, until a brain aneurysm took her away from me. She was here and gone, leaving me without my best friend, confidante, and only parent. I kiss my fingertips and press them to the headstone, my vision blurred through my tears.
“I will love you forever,” I whisper. “Our time was short, but you were the best mother a girl could ask for. I forgive you. I know you must have had your reasons.” The last words are caught in a loud sob. I drop to my knees in front of her tombstone and let my despair out through my tears.
CHAPTER 1
ALEX
3 YEARS LATER
“TGIF,” I say, dropping a cup of coffee on Ananda’s desk. She mouths a thank you to me right before she takes a sip, then exhales dramatically. I wink slyly as I arrange my bouquet of white gardenias and lilacs on my desk.
The office is quiet today. It’s a small office even when everyone is in, but today, it will be just a handful of us.
“Thank fuck Bethzilla isn’t here today,” she says, referencing our boss. I personally don’t think Beth is that bad, but Ananda does. Since my very first day, Ananda warned me about Beth, who she believes is unqualified to lead the department.
“If you have any questions, ask me or John. Beth’s an idiot who will throw you under the bus if anything goes wrong. This job is not rocket science, and you’re lucky. Workers’ Compensation is the worst. Liability isn’t so bad until you get into the litigated claims, but we won’t throw you into the deep end for a while.”
Despite the five-year age difference, we became instant friends on that first day. Three years in, she’s my best friend forever.
I give her the thumbs-up sign while I log into my computer, hoping that this Friday will fly by so we can get on with our after-work plans.
“I’m so excited, Nanda,” I say a few minutes later. “I can’t believe I’ve never been there since you talk about this place all the time.”
She rolls her eyes at me, and thankfully, her ringing phone saves me from whatever words were on her tongue.
I stick my tongue out at her as I pull up my Outlook calendar. Today will be a slow day with just a small claims review mid-morning.
Ananda complains about this job a lot, but I love it. I was lucky to get hired right out of college. I was just coming out of the deep mourning phase of losing my mother. Massachusetts General Hospital was recruiting at the Northeastern University campus one Friday afternoon.
With a degree in Management and no direction, after speaking about my work experience with someone from HR, she introduced me to the Vice President of Claims. Despite only working for two summers, she liked the fact that I had some insurance experience. We scheduled an interview for the following week.
I met with her, and my direct manager, Beth Goode, and was hired just a few short days later. The work is interesting, but the pay and benefits are amazing. We handle Worker’s Compensation and general liability claims for the entire hospital. While we don’t handle the claims directly, we work side by side with the hospital’s insurers.
Ananda helped train me, and we’ve been inseparable since.
The day flies by. After my file review, where I rant about someone having the nerve to file suit against the building when they were the one who got on an escalator with their cane, I reluctantly authorize the claims adjuster to make a nuisance settlement. Regardless of the person’s negligence, it never looks good to let an eighty-year-old get in front of a jury, especially not in such a liberal venue like Suffolk County.
“You ready for lunch?” I ask Ananda.
She nods and we leave our second-floor office. We take the walk to the break room and grab our lunches. Instead of eating there, we prefer to go to the cafeteria and rank the handsome doctors.
“I swear, it’
s getting to be slim pickings around here, Lex,” Ananda says to me, shaking her head while we stand in front of the microwave as we wait for our food to warm. “I haven’t seen a DILF in forever.” DILF is her code for doctor I’d like to fuck.
Ananda is on a quest to find a man, preferably a doctor. I didn’t set out to meet anyone when I started to work here, but fate had a different idea.
“Just keep your eyes off mine,” I warn.
She rolls her eyes at me again.
“Don’t worry about that. I don’t see what you see in that guy.” She takes her food out and stirs her spaghetti around. She nods her head and closes the microwave.
I pick up my own lunch and follow her to our usual table in the back of the cafeteria. “Um, he’s smart, attractive, and funny. The total package some would say, Nanda.” I take a bite of my chicken and rice and almost cry. It tastes just like what Mom used to make. I shake the memories of her trying to teach me to cook aside and refocus on my friend. “He graduated Columbia at eighteen. Went to Harvard Medical School and here he is. One of the youngest residents here.”
“And one of the most boring human beings on this planet. And he’s arrogant. Trust me, girl,” she says, pointing her fork at me. “You don’t want to be with a man who thinks he knows everything and is God’s gift to the world. Besides that, he doesn’t look at you with any heat in his eyes. That’s probably because he’s in love with himself. A girl like you needs fire. And his arms look puny.” She sits back and stares at me as if her words are gospel.
“How do you know he’s boring? You’ve not so much as said a word to him.” I look around the room, disappointed when I don’t see him. “I don’t care about his arms, but they are far from puny. I’m all about the eyes, and his eyes are two blue orbs like the ocean on a calm day. They’re soothing, Nand.”
She visibly shudders at my words. “They’re cold. He might be brilliant, but he’ll bore you to death.”
“We’ll find out tonight.”
“That we will, my friend. That we will.” She winks at me and returns to her meal.
CHAPTER 2
ALEX
“Fuck you, Boston traffic,” Ananda says after squeezing into the last open parking spot behind the Regina Russell’s Tea Room. Despite leaving the office at four o’clock, it took us over an hour to get from Boston to Quincy. Ananda looks at her mirror, flattening her already flat hair. She pulls a lipstick out of her purse and applies some gloss to her plump lips. She adds some foundation to her brown skin and smirks at herself, seemingly satisfied with how she looks.
“You never know when you’re going to meet a fine-ass man,” she says to me.
“Good thing I’ve already met mine,” I tell her.
“Uh-huh. I said fine-ass, not boring-ass. Come on. Let’s get this party started.” She hops out of her Chevy Traverse and I do the same. She walks around and attempts to do something with my tight curls. She should know by now that it’s useless. Unless I spend an hour with a blow dryer and flat iron, I end up with tight light brown curls.
“I know you don’t know who your daddy is, but I’d bet my last dollar he was a white man.” I ignore her. She hooks her arm through mine, and we take the short walk to the front door.
From the outside, it looks like a regular two-story house. The inside has a waiting area filled with round tables. There is a hideous red carpet, badly in need of vacuuming. A brunette with flawless skin sees us and walks over.
We give her our names, and she checks us off in her book. She points to a nearby table and leaves, returning a few minutes later with two cups of tea. Ananda and I clink our mugs, her brown eyes and my gray ones taking in the scene before us.
In the next room, there are three people getting tarot readings, and we are too far to hear, but I don’t miss the fact that all three are doing more listening than talking, and all three nod in agreement at some point.
“I haven’t been here in a couple of years, but my last reading was scarily accurate,” Ananda says. “She basically told me my ex-boyfriend was a no good, lying piece of shit. Did I tell you I saw him and his pregnant wife last month?” I nod, not bothering to point out that she’s told me this at least once a day since the unfortunate sighting. “Three years with that jerk; he wouldn’t even think about moving in together, but a year after we break up, he’s married with a baby on the way? Fuck him.”
It wasn’t the breakup that was hard for Ananda. The relationship had run its course and she was unhappy. But seeing Daniel move on so quickly, choosing someone else over her, is what hurt.
“It’s the idea of what you think you lost instead of actually losing him. He’s so not worth it.” I lay my hand on top of hers and squeeze it. She nods and looks around the room, smiling at an older man, effectively forgetting all about her ex.
“Alexandra?” The same brunette who checked us in asks, looking around the room. I raise my hand, and she gestures for me to come over. I approach, my knees almost going weak at the short walk across the room. “Wendy will be reading your cards tonight. She’s one of our most requested readers, but her appointment canceled. You are one lucky girl.”
I don’t know what I was expecting, but my imagination runs wild. We walk through the room where I saw other patrons earlier and into a room the size of a broom closet off to the side of the kitchen.
I pictured Wendy in a hundred different ways on the way here. My imagination ran wild as I pictured an old redhead with a wrinkled face, a bandana tied around her head and an eye patch reading a crystal ball, but what I get is a young woman around my age with blue hair styled in a bob. She has a small ring in her nose and one in the middle of her bottom lip.
She smiles as she stands, showing off perfect white teeth. I’m only average height for a female, but I have a few inches on Wendy. She offers me her hand, and her strong grip betrays her strength despite her slight stature.
“Hi, Alex,” she says, smiling wide. “No need to be nervous. Take a seat.”
“It’s my first time here,” I say, my voice shaky.
“Relax, sweetie. I don’t bite.”
CHAPTER 3
JASON
“Hello, darlin’,” I yell to the pretty woman walking past our table. “Save me a dance, beautiful.” I exaggerate my fake southern drawl even more, and despite the girl’s dark skin, I can see her blush. Her girlfriend, after taking a look at our testosterone filled table, giggles. They take a step closer to us, and I move my chair to make room.
“Join us, ladies.” I reach behind me and grab an extra chair. Luke, my best friend’s little brother, grins and grabs another chair. In no time at all, we are joined by two beautiful women.
“Don’t mind these old men.” I point at my best friend, his father, his older brother, Troy, his father’s first cousin, Eugene, and soon to be brother-in-law, Chris. “They’re married. And this one,” I say, pointing at Jake, “is getting married. We’re here for his bachelor party. Forget them. Come and meet my single friend Lucas.” The girls introduce themselves, and I order more drinks.
Jacob, my best friend since our freshman year at Boston College, gives me a warning look, but I flash him my best smile. His father, Joshua Clark, chuckles at me and raises his glass of bourbon to our new friends, whose names I’ve already forgotten. Eugene smiles politely at the women but turns to Joshua and continues their conversation.
“You and Luke are trying to get me killed,” Chris says, standing up. “You forget who I’m married to. You guys will never find my body. If I get drunk enough, maybe I can make a case of plausible deniability. Troy,” he says, pointing to Jake’s older brother, “let’s go get drunk. I know you never get out. And let’s find Steve while we’re at it.” Troy jumps out of his seat and after stumbling, giggles like a schoolgirl. The rest of the table looks around and we burst into laughter.
“This is why we’re single and we’re going to stay that way, JD!” Luke announces. He throws an arm around the girl next to him. “My brothers, Dad, and
Chris are all being led by their balls by a bunch of women. Never us.” I reach across the table to fist bump Luke, but Jake intercepts the fist bump and pushes my fist away.
“Jacob, you’re just mad because we took your phone away,” I yell a bit too loudly. I pick up my own bourbon and polish it off in one gulp. “You want to call Princess?” I taunt my best friend.
Just then, Troy and Chris come back with an entire bottle of bourbon. I pour everyone another drink and we all toast to Jake, who’s getting married in a month.
I’m so happy for my friend and his fiancée, I reach across the table and rustle his hair. When he tries to punch my arm away, I take him in a bear hug, nearly knocking him off his seat. He pushes me off, and I stumble. His father cackles and orders me to sit my drunk ass down.
“Wanna dance, darlin’?” My fake southern accent sounds extreme even in my own ears. The girl smiles seductively at me.
“Young Clark,” I say to Luke, “grab her friend. Let’s show these old married guys how it’s done.”
And the night unfolds.
While Luke and I dance with any available female, our married cohorts proceed to drink themselves silly. We stumble out of the club a few hours later. Joshua and Eugene call it a night and grab a cab back to the house we rented. Jake wants to leave too, but we drag him into another club and pour more liquor down his throat.
I see a pretty girl, and before long, she’s sitting on my lap as we tell her stories about Jake and his fiancée, Sandy.
We drink, Luke and I dance. Not with each other, but with any female. I’m propositioned by multiple females, but this weekend is about celebrating my friend, not some random hookup.
“Strippers!” Luke yells about an hour later. “What happens in Miami, stays in Miami.” I let out a shout of agreement, but the rest of the table shakes their head.
“Come on, Troy. You never have fun. You can just look,” Luke says, so drunk that his face has turned red. “We know Chris and Jake are too scared of their women to go.”
