“Why the big sigh, Red?” Jade probes. “I thought you and the Spooky Doubles were going to go get beautified. That should be fun.”
I laugh out loud at her description of Ivy and Rogue, although I can’t say it’s wrong. “That’s just it, it should be fun. It’s just not so much fun anymore because their lives are so perfect now and mine is pretty boring and predictable. Unless you count the people I sell cheaply made cell phone cases to out of the kiosk in the mall, I don’t have much interaction with real people these days. It’s me, my books, my cat and my fellow Theater Arts geeks. If you examine my life closely, you’ll see that I’ve pretty much turned into my grandparents before my twenty-fifth birthday. That’s pretty darned depressing.”
“Didn’t Ivy tell me that you were going out with that Mitch guy from BrainsRSexy? Seems to me that just looking at his picture would count as mega-social interaction. He’s pretty cute. Anybody that rescues dogs gets bonus points in my book,” Jade remarks with a knowing snicker.
“Oh, I don’t disagree that he’s cute. Still, I can’t help but wonder if maybe he’s too cute, you know what I mean? We’ve gone out a few times for a coffee and to a couple of movies. We even took the dogs out to play at the dog park. It was a real blast. He’s pretty shy, but he has a great sense of humor if he can get over his nerves. I can’t really tell if he likes me because he seems awfully busy. So, maybe he’s trying to avoid me and I’m just not getting the clue and he doesn’t know how to let me down easy. I’m terrible at reading situations like this,” I explain it as I throw my hands up in the air. “Maybe I should just hole up in my house with my cat and stalk people on the Internet.”
Jade chokes back a snort of laughter as she says, “Well, we’ll always have social media to hide behind; we can post whatever pretend life we want to have.”
“That’s the sad thing, my grandpa outclasses me there, too. He has more Facebook friends and Twitter followers than I do. He posts an online Bible study group every week and he posts a new Scripture every day and gets hundreds of likes and comments. Last time I got brave enough to post a selfie, someone told me that my eyeliner was crooked.”
Jade’s phone beeps and she briefly looks down to check the message. She mutters to herself, “Okay, that settles it. I’m not part owner of this business for nothing. I’m going to give myself the afternoon off. We single girls — or in your case quasi-single — need to stick together against the onslaught of couple-dom. Besides, I need to see if I can get a professional to do something with this mop that’s sitting on the top of my head. It drives me crazy to look at it every time I go past a mirror.”
If I thought shopping trips with just Ivy and her mom were crazy, I was in for a rude awakening. Rogue together with Jade and Ivy are a whole other category.
Ivy and Rogue have taken to being Floridians with money quite nicely. It’s hard to believe that these were that same girls that had a hard time coming up with rent money. Ivy has never been as poor as Rogue because her adoptive parents were pretty solidly middle-class but she never was comfortable spending money. It’s funny how quickly she’s acclimated to her change in circumstances. When I asked about it, she just shrugged and told me that Marcus finally showed her the books to the shop and told her that as long as she didn’t try to buy the whole store and all its inventory, and every stock option, he’d probably be fine.
I finally acquiesced and agreed to the full treatment. That announcement alone made Jade’s day, I was pretty much her own personal, living dress-up doll. I’ve never had an experience like that in my whole life. I have to admit that she has an eye for what looks good on me. Usually, I’m so petite that everything looks like I’m a kid trying to play dress-up in grown-up clothes. Somehow Jade worked around that and for once, I look really sophisticated — not Theater Arts sophisticated, like throw on a bunch of black and bright lipstick and call it good — but, stop and take notice good.
Rogue insists that we meet everyone for dinner since we look so fabulous after our day at the spa. I am trying not to let my sadness show. I know that this day is supposed to be a happy treat, but all it has done is underscore how lonely I really am. I miss my family more than I care to admit. Today is especially hard. I try to hide my tears as Jade holds the door for me. “I don’t think you need those today, Red,” she comments vaguely.
Her comment is so odd, it makes me stop in the middle of the doorway, but I don’t know her well enough to question her further. Puzzled, I just follow Rogue and Ivy into the restaurant. When I look around the dim interior, I’m not surprised to discover that it’s a karaoke joint. If there’s one thing that unites this group of friends, it’s their love of karaoke. It’s pretty legendary for sure. For the first time all day, I breathe a sigh of relief. I actually like karaoke. As a Theater Arts major, I’m pretty much in my element here. It’s not like we’re going to get into any deep relationship talk here and no one’s going to grill me about my lack of significant other. Jade taps me on the shoulder and asks, “How’re you feeling about this now?”
“Only about a hundred and fifty percent better!” I shout over a guy who is trying to sing a really bad version of Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines. “This might turn out to be pretty bodacious after all.”
“Good, glad you feel that way, because it’s going to get even more outrageous,” Jade warns.
Just then, the guy on stage did a really strange pubic thrust. “More outrageous than that guy?” I ask with a snort.
Jade just shakes her head in disbelief as she corrects herself, “Maybe that was a poor choice of words, but I think you’re going to have fun tonight in the best sense of the word.”
The hostess leads us to a back room, through a couple of really heavy doors. I thought this was really strange because the restaurant isn’t really all that full and I want to see the people performing on stage. Before I can ask Ivy about it, I figure out what’s going on. There are a couple rows of tables and a bunch of balloons. Disconcertingly, Ivy’s mom — well, I guess you call her the adoptive mom — Lenore is standing next to what I can only guess is my birthday cake. I only know it’s my birthday cake because it’s done up in my favorite colors of teal and royal blue. A few months ago, after Ivy got engaged to Marcus, I was at her house for a preplanning wedding party and Lenore was there. She was shocked to hear that I had never had a Barbie cake. I was equally surprised to learn that this was a pretty standard rite of passage for most girls. My mom never bothered to do anything like that for me. My grandma is talented at many things but she is simply not all that gifted in the kitchen — especially when it comes to baking. I suppose it never occurred to her to bake me a cake like that or, if it did, it may have just been above her skill level. My grandparents put every last dime they had into saving the farm so there wasn’t much left for any extra luxuries. Extravagant birthday parties were definitely considered a luxury. This is huge — especially considering the fact that Ivy doesn’t even live with me anymore. I haven’t left any clues for anybody about it for over two years, so I’m surprised that anybody actually remembers that it’s my birthday.
Just when I finish absorbing the shock from the fact that Ivy’s parents are here to help me celebrate my birthday, I hear a bark of familiar laughter from the other side of the room. Startled, I look up and I notice that Mitch is standing around talking to Marcus and Isaac.
“Wait! Stop the bus. What the heck? What in the world are you doing here, Mitch?” I demand. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m on vacation in a completely different city. How in the world did you even know that?” The hair on the back of my arm starts to stand up. This is starting to have stalker vibes all over it. I’ve seen stories like this on the news.
“I wish I could take some credit for spectacular planning and claim to have phenomenal romantic instincts, but in reality, it was a happy little accident of fate. It turns out that I was invited to this little shindig,” Mitch answers with an embarrassed look on his face
ARE YOU SURE IT W
AS really that random?” Jessica asks me pointedly. “I thought you had search and rescue training this week.”
I nod solemnly as I answer, “Scout’s honor. I was in the area to deliver a search and rescue dog to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and I called Tristan to see if I could meet with him to hand over a copy of the surveillance tape that I have on the punks that we suspect took Hope. I didn’t want to risk having it corrupted on the server when we uploaded it. At some point, our county is going to do a system wide upgrade, and I’m not exactly sure when. I don’t want the upload to get caught in the middle of that system change. So, I thought I would drive up to Gainesville to make that switch possible without any threat of corruption.”
“That explains why you’re in town, but that doesn’t explain why you’re at my birthday party,” she challenges.
“When these guys mentioned that today’s your birthday, I didn’t want to miss it, so I rather rudely invited myself along. If I had known that it was your birthday this weekend, we would’ve done something really special. Although, it would have been nice if you would have told me at some point during the last two months we’ve been going out. It would’ve been really fun to be able to surprise you,” I tease.
I watch as a wave of emotion passes over Jessica’s face. It takes her a couple moments to collect herself enough to speak. “I don’t have very many people left in my life to do anything special on my birthday. I like to pretend that days like today don’t matter, because to most people, I don’t matter.”
“Please never say you don’t matter. You do matter. You most definitely are important to Hope because you saved her life and you are pretty special to me. I’ve been wearing a smile on my face ever since you and I crossed paths. I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this happy. You matter a lot to me. Let’s go celebrate your birthday, Jess.”
A woman with dark hair elbows Jessica in the side and practically yells, “Red, I thought you said you didn’t have a boyfriend. He sure looks like a boyfriend to me — he sounds like one, too. I sure wish I had some random guy drive all the way across the state to see me. Can you make him look like that, too?”
Jessica flushes bright red before she answers, “Gee, could you work a little harder to embarrass me?”
“I was a bit embarrassing, I’m sorry, That was uncool. I propose that we declare a truce over chocolate ganache cake,” Jade announces graciously.
A crease mars Jessica’s delicate brow as she vacillates, “I don’t think I could do that. I haven’t had dinner yet.”
Rogue walks up beside us and says, “Hi, Mitch. It’s nice to finally meet you in person. Jessica, come on join us on the dark side and eat dessert before dinner. It’s not going to kill you, I promise.”
Jessica looks down at the ground in embarrassment before she says, “I know it’s bad. I’ve been away from home so long you think I’d be over all my hang ups. I fell for the stereotypical bad boy and lost everything that was important to me in the process. The ironic thing is that my grandfather hated Dex on sight and it didn’t get any better the whole time we dated. As much as I wish it wasn’t so and as much as it cramps my style, my grandparents are usually right about this kind of stuff.”
“I know that I’m not always the brightest guy in the room, but I’m completely confused,” Marcus admits. “I mean, my mom could start a mug book with all the people my brother dated that she couldn’t stand. I’m not really sure what any of this has to do with whether we can dig into this chocolate cake before the pizza comes. The homemade pizza dough in this restaurant is to die for, but it takes forever for them to make food. Jessica, blow out those candles.”
Tristan makes a big show of holding Marcus back from the cake as he says, “Geez, man, let the lady decide for herself how she wants to handle her own birthday party. It’s her day.”
I watch as Jessica seems to give herself a mental shake and visibly straightens her spine. “Oh, all right. It’s not as if a little chocolate cake is full-on debauchery or anything. Besides, these ladies ran me ragged today; my blood sugar must be a little low,” she justifies, as she walks over to the cake.
Isaac pulls out a vintage Zippo and lights the candles. “Wish carefully, Mi Pequeña; wishes made in the presence of friends and family are especially powerful,” he cautions, as he puts his arm around Jessica. “I heard your padre is not interested in the job. Just so you know, there is room for you at my table just as there is for my daughters.”
Jessica blinks away tears as she kisses Isaac’s cheek. When she bends down to blow out the candles, her hair gets in the way. Impulsively, I step behind her and gather her hair in a loose ponytail to prevent her from singeing it. I’ve spent far more time than I care to admit in recent days thinking about running my fingers through her hair, but my fantasies pale in comparison to the actual experience. In order to behave like the gentleman I was raised to be, I try to concentrate on what’s going on in front of me instead of the sensation of her hair resting like silk in my hand.
Jessica looks around at her friends and declares, “You guys are simply the best. This is the best birthday I’ve had since… I can’t remember when.”
“I’m so glad you are happy. Between your job at the mall and your Theater Arts commitments, you are one hard chick to surprise. I almost had a heart attack this afternoon when Jade said that you were thinking about not coming with us. That would’ve thrown everything out of whack,” Ivy admits.
Jessica looks at Jade with narrowed eyes as she accuses, “You were in on this, too?”
Jade looks at Jessica and shrugs, “Sure, I couldn’t let the Spooky Duo down, although unlike some people, I actually have to use my cell phone to communicate.”
Her friend looks a me and remarks, “It was a stroke of genius for them to include you though. I’m pretty good at surprise parties, I couldn’t have pulled that one off.”
I hold my hands up in a gesture of supplication as I proclaim my innocence, “Actually, I am here entirely by coincidence. I had no idea that it was Red’s birthday until today. If I had known, I would have done some elaborate planning all on my own. Although, I don’t know that I could’ve topped all this — but, I can tell you one thing: never in a million years would I have chosen karaoke.”
I can tell by the look that crosses Jessica’s face that I have said the wrong thing. Her eyes light up with pure mischief as a sly grin splits her face.
“Really? Did you just say that out loud in a karaoke bar? Are you for real? You know what that means, right?” Jessica asks with almost a maniacal laugh. “Everybody knows it’s pretty much a universal, unwritten rule that the person who admits that they don’t want to be in a karaoke bar and insists would never get on stage absolutely, positively, without a doubt has to be the very next person on stage. That rule is pretty much written in stone,” she states matter-of-factly and then she turns to her friends to confirm, “Right, everybody?”
Almost as if they’re puppets, the whole entourage nods in unison, as if on cue. My throat immediately dries up and my palms start to sweat. I don’t know why I am at all shocked. Everything that’s happened in my life since I’ve encountered Jessica and her friends has been akin to an episode of the Twilight Zone. Nothing has followed any sense of logic or pattern.
I take a bite of cake as I try to formulate an argument that might get through to Jessica. As I take a drink of soda, I tug her down into my knee and start to state my case, “Jess, I know we haven’t really done the whole-bare-your-soul, get to know you thing, but, this would probably be a really good time for me to tell you that I don’t sing. I don’t sing or dance. By that, I mean I really don’t sing in public. Like never—not in the car, or in the shower. I work with animals and they would flee if they heard me sing — that’s how truly terrible I am. If I’m bad at singing, I’m even worse at dancing.”
Jessica looks at me with mirth in her eyes as she says, “Nope, I’m not buying it. A cute guy like you? I bet you went to all the high scho
ol dances. In fact, I bet you dated a cheerleader. In fact, I suspect you were named Homecoming King a time or two.”
I flush a little as I realize how uncannily correct all of her guesses are. “You’re sort of correct. I was never personally Homecoming King. That honor always went to Stuart, because he was always more popular than me. I tended to be more shy. He is Mr. Personality-and-a-Half. Besides, he and Nora always made the storybook couple. Everybody always named them the golden couple. That was okay with me because I didn’t like the limelight much. Remember, I don’t dance and the Homecoming couple always had to dance. I did date a cheerleader, but only because she had a crush on another guy and didn’t want anybody to know. So, we held each other’s secret all the way through school. Her story turned out a little less tragic than mine, because she finally told the object of her affection, and last I heard they’ve got three kids. When she and I went to the dances, we basically hung out with the faculty members. We never actually danced.”
Jessica looks at me with a shadow of pity in her eyes as she remarks, “I guess I’ll have to make up some ground.”
I groan as I reply, “I don’t think I’ll be able to make my body do what yours does.”
Jessica immediately slaps her finger over my lips as she harshly whispers, “Shh! These guys don’t know. You’re the only person who knows both sides of me.”
At first, I’m surprised when she tells me this, because I thought she mentioned that she began belly dancing in college, but then I remember she told me she began dancing when she was in New York. Ivy only knows her from Florida. I make a zipping motion with my fingers and whisper, “Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.”
Sheltered Hearts (A Hidden Hearts Novel Book 2) Page 7
