I blushed. Not a lot happened in Midnight Cove, but that didn’t mean it was the safest please. “Yes, of course. I was having an offday.”
Martin’s snort told me his opinion of my “off day”. He let himself out but not before he yelled back, “8am.Sharp!”
“I heard you the first time!” I yelledback.
The door shut behind him and I stood there until I heard his truck leave thedrive.
I turned to the kitchen to make coffee only to realize I hadn’t replaced my pot. “Fuuucccck,” I groaned. I grabbed my keys and my purse and headed out to the local coffee shop, not giving a crap what I looked like. That’s what drive thrus were for: the perpetuallydisheveled.
I rolled up to the window, rattled off my order, and less than a minute later I had an enormous mug of sweetened coffee and all was right with my world. Well...I still had the raging headache and I felt like I’d been run over, but I had coffee so I was feeling betteralready.
I couldn’t believe Martin had found me on the couch hungover. Super. Embarrassing. He’d seen me get dumped. Well, the aftermath of it. I’d basically fired him before he ever started work. Then I’d begged him to come back, and then he found me with a bottle of vodka rolling around on mycarpet.
We were not starting off on a great foot. But I had at least paid him this time, even though writing that check made me die a little inside. I had to get back to work. Soon. I sipped the hot liquid, sighing as the sugary, creamy java made its way down and headed backhome.
By noonI was still feeling not so great, but I was up and walking around without wanting to hurl. Too much anyway. The doorbell rang and I opened it without evenlooking.
My very best friends in this town, Melody and Parker, stood in the doorway with their arms crossed, matching accusing stares on their faces. I sighed, held the door open and let them breeze past me inside. I was no match for the wedge heels they both wore and had to face them towering over me and staring down at me like I was the worst person who’d ever walked theearth.
Before they could even open their mouth, I apologized. “I’m the worst. I know this. I’m sorry. I’ve been…” What had I been? A drunk depressed shell of a woman? “Indisposed,” I said and cringed as their eyes widened indisbelief.
Melody, a dark-haired beauty and powerful witch spoke first. “Indisposed?” she said, her breathy voice going a little screechy with anger. “Indisposed is when you had to go to the bathroom or...sex. Or something other than ignoring your best friends forweeks!”
Parker, a shorter, curvier redhead with the intellect of a Mensa member and the vocabulary of a sailor, went next. “The fuck, Katie?” She was a woman of few, well targetedwords.
Melody blinked as she took in the state of my kitchen. Her head slowly craned up to stare at the enormous hole in my ceiling. Parker’s stare followed her and she whispered under her breath, “what the fuck is happening to you,Katie?”
Melody sighed, waggled her fingers at me in a shooing motion and told me to go get dressed. Parker nodded vehemently in agreement. I looked down at my lounge pants and tanktop.
“Why?”
“Because you’ve been in this house so long it’s starting to smell like vodka and depression,” Parker snapped. “Do not trifle with me or I will drag you into your bedroom and dress youmyself.”
And that was the thing about Parker. She said what she meant, but she could and would back up her words with action. I slunk off to my room to getdressed.
Ten minuteslater I walked out only to find my friends fiercely whispering amongst themselves. I cleared my throat and they stiffened and stopped talking. They weredefinitelytalking aboutme.
“Care to share?” I asked them as I slid on a pair of sandals I’d discarded by thecouch.
“Not even a little bit,” Melody said. “Are youhungry?”
“I’m hungover,” I told them both. “If it’s greasy and filling, I’lleat.”
Parker rolled her eyes and stood up. “You look marginally better, but you still look like something that got ran over and thenreinflated.”
I barked out a laugh. “You’re such ajerk.”
A smirk crossed the edge of her mouth. “I’m worried about you. That’s when all my best insults comeout.”
I grabbed my purse and opened the door to let themout.
Iletmy friends choose the place and we wound up at a burger joint aptly calledThe Greasy Spoon. I’d been here a couple of times before, but usually stayed away because I liked my cholesterol being in the normal range. Today, though, my mouth watered at the thought of a burger dripping with grease. My stomach growled inagreement.
We pushed through the doors and were greeted by Naomi, one of the only unicorns in Midnight Cove. Most people thought of a unicorn as a horse. Which...that could be the case, but they took on human form. Mostly human form. If she left the town, she’d probably be considered super eclectic because of the star in the middle of her forehead and her bright, multi-colored hair. Her eyes were prismatic and caught all the colors of the rainbow. She was like a candy store in humanform.
“Heya, Ladies,” she said as she grabbed three menus and motioned us to the back. Her pink, purple, and electric blue hair swayed as she led us to her seats. Once we were situated, she handed us our menus and said our waitress would be with us in a minute. I let my head fall back against the booth. I was exhausted. This was the first time I’d been out of my house for anything of substance inweeks.
When our waitress came over, a lumbering giant of a woman, who was probably a literal giant, I rattled off what I wanted to drink, but Parkerinterrupted.
