Ten minutes later, miraculously, all of them are available. With the screen split into four different sections, I can see that Myra is still in bed, Amelia is driving, and Charlie is applying her makeup in the bathroom.
“Good morning, Norie!” Charlie chirps. She’s an early riser and almost always cheerful.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Myra grumbles from under a pink comforter. “Good morning and all that. Now spill!”
“Sheesh,” I complain, taking a sip of my coffee. “You don’t see me questioning all of you when a vehicle shows up in your driveway. Nosy Nancies.”
“Yes, that’s because it’s not uncommon for us to have strange cars in our driveways! You don’t even drive!” Amelia yells at me.
“Maybe if you all would just shut up, she’d actually tell us what happened,” Layla barks.
I choke on a laugh. She’s usually pretty mild-tempered, but when she’s feeling spunky, it’s very entertaining.
“Fine,” I begin. “On Saturday, I went in to apologize to Pat for mydespicable behavior. I jokingly told him I’d wash dishes to make up for it. He thought that sounded like a great idea and told me to be back at seven on Sunday. So I went, still expecting tonotdo dishes.” I pause to take another drink of coffee. “I was very wrong. Apparently, he does Senior Night every other Sunday or something. He was slammed and immediately sent me back to the kitchen, but I wasn’t the only one. Good old Pat took it upon himself to have Eamon Kennedy do dishes too.”
There’s a collective gasp at this point. Myra starts to say something, but I pointedly cut her off. Once she gets started, it’s almost impossible to get her to stop.
“Before you start getting any ideas, there was nothingremotelyromantic about it. At the end of the night, Pat asked Eamon to drive me home so I wouldn’t be walking alone—I guess he lives close to Pat’s as well. Anyway, I told him I wasn’t comfortable riding in a car with someone I didn’t know. Much to my surprise, he demanded that I take his car keys and he would walk.”
“Aw!” they all coo at once. I roll my eyes.
“I tried to tell him no, but he wouldn’t have it. He told me to drop the car off at Pat’s today and call him when it was there. That’s all. Nothing exciting.”
“You’re joking, right?” Amelia asks in disbelief, eyes darting back and forth between her phone and the road. “This is theepitomeof exciting! He cares about your safety, trusts you with his car, and gives you his number!Hewantsyou to call him!”
Myra adds from the cocoon of blankets, “Why not just call him over to your house? Thank himproperly!”
I cringe. “Ugh. No. You’re all wrong. He was just being nice. That’s all.”
“Whatever. You guys are totally going to hook up!” Myra sing-songs.
“I mean, it wouldn’t really be a bad thing! He’s super hot!” Charlie says while she coats her lashes in mascara.
Rolling my eyes yet again, I look at Layla. “Please talk some sense into these crazies.”
“I don’t know, Norie. It kind of sounds like he’s interested,” she says carefully, head tilted to the side as she observes me. “Guys, maybe Norah isn’t interested inhim,”Layla finally says. “He may be hot, and he may be nice, but maybe—just maybe—Norah has no desire to be with him.”
Well, let’s not get carried away.
“If Eamon Kennedy doesn’t stoke your fires, who does?” Amelia asks curiously. “Unless you’re not into men anymore. Which is understandable.”
I glare at her. “Did you really just ask me that? Do I really have to explain my hesitancy to get involved with someone?”
I’m on the verge of tears now. It’s all too much. Yes, I’m physically attracted to Eamon, but given my past, I don’t think that there’s any way I’ll ever be able to make a relationship with a man work. Those scars run too deeply.
“Okay, Norie. Take a deep breath,” Charlie says softly, sensing my rising anxiety. “We all know why you haven’t been in a relationship. We know it’s hard for you, but we all just want to see you happy and to find someone that truly brings you joy. That’s all. We love you.”
They all murmur their agreement as I sniffle and wipe the corner of my eye. I know they have my best interests at heart, but I’m still terrified.
“Thanks, girls. I love you too. It’s just overwhelming. I will freely admit that Eamon is very attractive and the fact that he’s Irish doesn’t hurt.” I pause for a moment to breathe slowly before continuing, ”But I just can’t bring myself to consider a relationship with anyone, let alone him. That’s if he’s even interested, which isn’t likely.”
“Stop that. You obviously don’t know just how gorgeous you are,” Layla says sternly. “Before you roll your eyes at me, hear me out. You’re stunning! You have flawless skin, and your eyes sparkle when you talk about something you love,andyou’re a ginger. What’s not to love? No, we can’t all be like the other skinny bitches in the group—sorry, ladies, we still love you—but your curves are inall the right places. I don’t want to hear that talk out of your mouth again.”
I sniffle again, but a smile plays on my lips. “Now that I’ve been put in my place…”
They all laugh, and I reassure them that I’m okay. We chat for a few more minutes until I realize that I really need to head to class. I end our little conference and hug Layla goodbye before racing to my room to throw on some clean clothes. I’m going to be so late.
* * *
