Changed

by Alicia Renee Kline

  “It’s almost lunchtime for Sadie, too,” Lauren demurred. “I figured we’d just head home. But thanks for the offer. We’ll do lunch together soon. Just the two of us.”

  “I’m down for lunch,” Blake piped up.

  Since her vote also spoke for Chris, my eyes swung over to Will. I had a feeling of how he was going to play this, especially with Lauren and Matthew bowing out. The pairing off would have been bad enough in a party of six, but with four of us it would feel like a proper double date.

  “I’ve got to get back home, too.” However expected it was, the words still stung.

  “Suit yourself,” I said as evenly as I could.

  “In fact, since the party’s breaking up, I think it’s as good of a time as any to head out.”

  As the rest of our group provided their goodbyes, I found I couldn’t look him in the eye. I mumbled a terse “later” and tried to focus on anything, everything, besides him walking out my door.

  Lauren and Matthew left moments later, with a more enthusiastic goodbye from me.

  “Chris will drive,” Blake volunteered.

  “Whatever.” I shrugged in agreement, not really caring, and headed to the kitchen to grab my purse.

  We ended up at a Mexican restaurant that was nearly on the outskirts of downtown Fort Wayne. Blake explained that she was partial to it because it was minutes away from her studio, plus she’d ended up convincing the owner to hire her for a redecoration. As if I needed any verification of Blake’s talents or her salesmanship, the space was straight from the pages of a magazine and the owner treated the three of us like VIPs, personally taking us to a table in the back.

  Chris and Blake were regulars, judging by the way they gave the menus a perfunctory glance before setting them down on the table. I pored over mine, finally letting Blake suggest something and settling on that. Though I couldn’t begin to pronounce what it was she’d ordered on my behalf, it was delicious.

  We were loaded back up into the Trailblazer and halfway back to my place, Chris and Blake up front, me in back, when I dug into my purse and felt my stomach drop.

  “Fuck!”

  “What?” Blake whipped around, concern etched on her features.

  “I don’t have my keys.”

  “I have a key to your place, so don’t worry. Where’s the last place you had them? You drove up here, so maybe you just left them on the kitchen counter or something.”

  The light dawned on me at that moment, and I realized that this was not an accident.

  “Will,” I breathed.

  Blake stared at me like I was crazy.

  “I gave them to Will so he could start unloading my car. He never gave them back to me.”

  “Will’s a dipshit,” Chris commented.

  I begged to differ. Will was quite ingenious, setting the stage for a rendezvous later. One that Chris would indirectly invite him to, considering that he was pulling his phone out of his pocket and putting it to his ear as he drove.

  “Hey,” he said when the call connected, “do you have something that doesn’t belong to you?” A pause, then, “I’m with Gracie and she’s telling me you still have her keys. We can stop by and pick them up.”

  No, no, no! I wanted to scream. That wasn’t the way things were supposed to go.

  “Well, when will you be back home?” Chris asked. Crisis averted. “No, Blake’s got keys to the house. We’ll get her inside. Fine.”

  Instead of putting the phone back in his jeans, he flopped it on the dash and briefed me, looking at my reflection in the rearview mirror. “Will’s not home. He said he’ll swing by your place in a couple hours or so and drop your keys off. Until then, I guess you’re stuck at home.”

  I folded my arms over my chest, partially to pretend that this was a major inconvenience for me and primarily to convince my pounding heart to remain inside my ribcage. Not even half a day of living here and we were already hooking up under the radar with the assistance of our friends. There was something about the forbidden nature of our arrangement that made this a huge turn on. The thrill of getting caught - but better yet, getting away with it - was majorly exciting.

  “At least you got lunch,” Blake reasoned.

  “Hopefully he comes by dinner time. I’ve got nothing to eat.”

  “Maybe he’ll think of that and bring you something over.”

  Chris snorted. “If he can’t even remember to give her back her damn keys, he’s likely not going to be thoughtful enough to come over with food.”

  “You could suggest that,” Blake encouraged.

  Chris shook his head. “I’m not touching this one any further. He already sounded like I was being a pain in his ass.”

  “That’s just Will, isn’t it?” she contemplated.

  So her description of him didn’t exactly mesh with mine. Once you got past the dark and broody part of him that was just a scratch below the nice guy exterior, he was way more than what he appeared at face value. I bet she’d never made him laugh. I bet she’d also never bribed him with alcohol. And obviously, she’d never felt how incredibly wonderful it was to be held in his arms after having sex with him. For if she had, those words would not have come out of her mouth.

  Chris pulled the Trailblazer into my driveway and put it in park, leaving the engine running. Blake and I jumped out and went to the front door. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door for me, pushing it slightly open.

  “There you go, hon,” she said with a smile. “Sorry the day ended like it did. Hopefully he’ll come sooner rather than later. It sucks to be trapped in your own house.”

  “It’s okay. Shit happens.”

  “Call me if you need something. Like if he forgets to come over and you’re ready to chew on your own arm. I don’t have his number or I’d give it to you, but I can convince Chris to call him again if you need me to.”

  “I’m sure it will be fine.”

  “I’m serious.” Her blue eyes flashed at me, communicating something that was left unsaid. Perhaps she’d picked up on the vibes I’d been denying to Lauren all day, too. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  “I know.”

  She nodded, deciding she wasn’t going to get anything more out of me. “I’ll see you on Monday morning then. If not before.”

  “Yeah, about that?”

  “Hmm?”

  “We never really discussed hours or anything.”

  She shrugged. “You’ll get there when you get there. I’ll be at the shop by nine or so. Anytime after that, until I get you a key at least. Not much sense for you to be there without me yet anyway.”

  “Alrighty then.”

  We both swung our attention over to the driveway, knowing that Chris was likely getting impatient waiting for us. We’d only had all day to discuss things, and here we were having an impromptu meeting on my front porch. Blake grinned at him. I waved.

  “Guess that’s my cue to get out of here.”

  “Blake,” I called as she turned her back to me. She spun around, blond hair flying about her face. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  What I was thanking her for wasn’t evident, but she didn’t press nor did I expand on it. There was much that I was indebted to her for: the job, her talking Lauren into offering up her house, her and Chris coming to Indy to help move me, her unlocking my damn front door. The words had been said and that was enough for both of us.

  It was odd to step foot inside and close the door behind me, knowing I was here alone. Sure, I’d stayed at Lauren’s overnight several times, even without her here when she’d given birth to Sadie. But it had always been under the pretense of being the guest. Of having to leave eventually and commute the two hours back to my own place. Now this was my own home. Surreal.

  With nothing else to do to calm my nervous energy, I flopped down on the couch and turned on the television. The guys had left it on some sports network. I flipped blindly through the channels - all two thousand
of them, or so it seemed - finding nothing that held my interest.

  A yawn erupted from out of nowhere, and I laid my head down on the arm of the sofa. With all that had gone on today and the promise of even more to come, it would be impossible to fall asleep now, but I’d humor myself and try.

  The next thing I knew, I was being jolted awake by the sound of knocking on my door. Loud, insistent pounding. I jumped to attention and ran to answer it, not bothering to consider my appearance.

  The first thing I saw when I threw open the door was my keychain dangling in front of me. The next thing I saw was a pair of very amused green eyes, set above a grin that was fixed upon me.

  “Were you knocking for a long time?”

  “Were you asleep?”

  Our questions came simultaneously, overlapping each other and negating the need for an individual answer. Yes to both. Why he hadn’t simply let himself in was beyond me, but maybe that was the result of our casual anti-relationship. We’d intrinsically made a pact not to invade each other’s spaces without invitation. Technically, Chris had invited him, not me.

  And Blake would be proud to learn that he brought food with him.

  But what neither one of them would ever find out was that neither one of us was concerned with eating at the moment.

  Instead, we set to work creating special memories of the hallway for ourselves.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Any questions for me?” Blake asked.

  It was my first day under her employ, and I was running on information overload. Interior design was a far different animal than banking and the gears were difficult to switch. I simply stared, glassy eyed and overwhelmed. I wanted to ask her to repeat everything, but instead I inquired about the first thing that came to mind.

  “Why is this place still called Snyder Designs?”

  She stared at me, saying nothing. So I continued.

  “I mean, you took Chris’s last name when you got hitched, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “So then it should be Taylor Designs.”

  “It’s not as simple as switching the shingle on the outside of the building. I’d have to go back to the lawyer and have him draw up more paperwork. I’d have to make sure everything gets switched over for tax purposes. Stuff like that I’m not too eager to handle.”

  “I don’t know. I just don’t see Chris being the type to not be offended by that. Besides, you hate your parents.”

  “But I love Matthew, Lauren and Sadie. I’m part of that Snyder family still, aren’t I?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So there.”

  “But will you ever change it?”

  “I’m waiting to see how things pan out.”

  “With your marriage?” My eyes grew big. Considering they’d been in love with one another since their formative years, should any quickie marriage succeed, theirs would be it. And trouble in paradise, as riveting as it was when it happened to people I didn’t know, absolutely blew chunks when it happened before my eyes.

  “No silly, not with that. Just things in general.”

  “So what? Expansion plans? Starting a franchise?”

  A shrug. “I don’t know,” she demurred, though it was plain as day that she was feeding me a line.

  “I’ll take that to mean that I’m lucky to get in on this thing in its infancy.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Now I just have to make sure you don’t fire me.”

  She laughed, a full, throaty sound that reminded me of music. Beautiful, just like her. It wasn’t just the tone; it was the meaning behind it. Blake had always been nice to me, but in a way that hinted that there was so much hidden below the surface that her happiness could never be genuine. But there was no way possible to fake the expression of joy that she wore now.

  Even though she had bared her soul to me first - after Chris, of course - I knew none of the credit for her about face belonged to me. I was in the right place at the right time and she just wasn’t able to hold it in any longer. And I’d sat and listened without judgment. Who knew why in the world she decided to trust me with her deepest, darkest secret?

  And just when she let her guard down, I put mine up.

  “It’s close to five,” Blake said, causing me to jump to attention. “Your head is swimming. Why don’t you take off and I’ll see you in the morning?” She noticed my hesitation and correctly guessed its origin. “You’re salaried, dear. We don’t punch a clock here.”

  “Well, if that’s the case, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I swung my purse over my shoulder and headed for the exit, leaving her alone to whatever it was that I was keeping her from accomplishing. I doubted she’d actually done much in the way of real work today. It was more like babysitting me.

  “One day you won’t feel like a liability,” I whispered to myself as I got in my car. “Hopefully one day soon.”

  Snyder Designs was located in downtown Fort Wayne, which meant that my route home involved passing the turnoff for Will’s duplex. I didn’t have much experience driving in my new city yet, so I’d taken everyone’s word on the shortest way to work. This morning I’d been a bundle of nerves so I hadn’t really thought about it, but tonight was different. I’d been full on thinking about him just minutes ago. To make matters worse, I had to stop for a red light at that very intersection. When I had the right of way, I looked longingly to my left, but continued straight through.

  We’d have the weekend, or at least a part of it together, I hoped. Emma would be at her mom’s and I was ready to test out the logistics of being his hometown fuck buddy. Even though we’d christened my house just two days prior, I was experiencing some major Will withdrawal. My symptoms were exacerbated by the hush-hush nature of our coupling, the inability to vent to anyone except my father figure about it, and the fact that I had no idea where he was or what he was doing at the present moment.

  He likely wasn’t thinking of me.

  Or was he?

  Compared to Indianapolis standards the commute back home was relatively peaceful, though the done with work traffic was clearly picking up. Within minutes I was cruising through the heart of Fort Wayne’s southwest side, past the scattered shopping centers, the gridlock of restaurants, the operations center for my former and Lauren’s current employer - where my bestie was no doubt still at her desk - and past the hospital and the interstate. When the bulk of city life disappeared in my rearview mirror the landscape switched to residential.

  I turned off the highway and headed towards my house. While it was in a subdivision, you still had to cross railroad tracks and pass a bit of honest to goodness farmland before you ended up there. I knew it didn’t qualify as living in the country, but for Indy born and bred me, the place was as remote as I could handle.

  Lauren had fallen in love with the ranch practically the second I’d forced her to make the pilgrimage there. In her words, and I was possibly paraphrasing, it was close enough to everything she needed, but far enough away that she could start fresh.

  Like some cornfields and horses could keep Matthew away from her. He’d taken his dear sweet time in finding her, but I for one had never doubted him. She could have moved to freaking Alaska and somehow, some time, some way, he would have shown up at her doorstep.

  Of course he had help. He had Will, the good-hearted cop who’d pulled her over and ratted her out to Chris. Chris had struggled with his intense dislike of Lauren only momentarily before spilling the beans. And history was made.

  Everyone should be so lucky.

  I flipped down my visor and punched the button on my garage door opener, pulling the Taurus to rest smack dab in the middle of the two car space. Those were the benefits of living alone; you didn’t have to pick a side. That way I didn’t have to worry about slamming into the wall when I opened my door or taking off my mirrors when I pulled back out.

  Out of habit, I kicked off my shoes as soon as I hit the kitchen, stooping down and picking them up as I
continued through to my bedroom. Blake didn’t have a dress code for work like the bank had, and even if she would have, it wouldn’t have been nearly as restrictive. But changing my clothes the second I got home was just something that I did with very few exceptions.

  Dressed in a pair of running pants and a t-shirt, I headed back out to the kitchen to check the food situation. Seriously, I obviously knew what I had already since I’d just been to the grocery, but it didn’t stop me from opening the fridge and staring at the contents like they’d magically appeared. Nothing inspired me. I wasn’t a slouch in the cooking department, but didn’t feel like going to much hassle just to make something for myself, so I decided on putting together a sandwich.

  I grabbed my plate and a can of Coke and retreated to the couch, flipping on the television for some background noise. A quick scan through the channels confirmed that I wasn’t interested in any of my options. I chose the lesser of the evils and left it on the news, turning the volume down to a dull roar.

  About halfway through my sandwich and conveniently mid-bite, my doorbell rang. I popped up from the sofa, nearly dumping my food on the floor. Pausing for a brief second, I balanced my dinner on the end table and went to reveal the identity of my visitor.

  I was only slightly disappointed it was Lauren, but I hid it well. Besides, she was readjusting Sadie in her arms, so her attention was diverted.

  “Hey,” I greeted, stepping aside and allowing her in.

  Of course my best friend would stop by for an unannounced visit on my first day at my new job. Especially when Regina babysat Sadie, and she lived right across the street. Silly me for not expecting her to pop in for a chat on her way back home to her wonderful husband and fantastic home life.

  Okay, maybe I was more than a bit disappointed that she wasn’t Will.

  “Hey.”

  Fortunately, she wasn’t privy to my internal dialogue and she waltzed in and took a seat on my - or was it hers now that she was here? - couch. She took a glimpse at my abandoned turkey on rye.