“Oh. Right. Thanks.” Spencer logged off her computer, then pushedherself back from her desk and bent to retrieve her purse from underneath.
“You okay?” When Spencer sat back up, Jennifer was looking at herwith gentle concern. “You’ve been kind of quiet today.”
“I’m good. I’m fine. Just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.” Notthe whole truth, but not a lie. She’d seen 1:37, 2:45, and 3:50 on the clockthe night before.
Jennifer’s face said she was skeptical, but luckily, she didn’tpress. “All right. Just checking on you.”
“I appreciate it.” Spencer forced a smile, then escaped the officeas quickly as she could before Jennifer changed her mind and decided to probefurther.
The locker room at BodyFit was full and buzzing. A shiny red lockhung from Spencer’s usual locker and she wrinkled her nose as she glared at it.No sign of Lucy. Spencer figured she must be out there already. Choosing thenext locker over, she opened it, put her purse inside, and set down her bag toget changed as she eavesdropped on conversations around her. The two womendirectly behind her were discussing some sort of recipe…chicken? No, turkey—oneswearing that the slow cooker was the only way to go. They headed out andSpencer could then hear voices she recognized as Brittany and Bella, theirtones joyful and excited, as they chatted from the next aisle over.
“It’s red velvet with a buttercream frosting that’s justridiculous,” Brittany was saying.
“Oh, red velvet…”
Bella must’ve made some kind of dreamy face because Brittany addedwith a laugh, “Yes! That’s exactly how I looked.”
“We decided on cupcakes, but the flavors are kind of exotic,”Bella said then. “Key lime. Egyptian spice. Chocolate cayenne.”
“Cupcakes are a fantastic idea! I almost went there, but I wanteda tiered cake.”
“Totally understandable. Did you have fun?”
“I did. I think choosing the cake was the least stressful thingabout the planning…though I haven’t really minded any of it.” Brittany soundedso happy, so incredibly joyous, and Spencer was surprised by the wave of envythat rushed through her. Their voices faded as they left the locker room, andSpencer gave herself a full minute before following.
After a ten-minute warm-up on cardio equipment, the five bridesmet Rebecca at their usual corner of the gym to find out what they’d be workingon today. Spencer allowed herself ten seconds to soak up the tight-fittingblack workout pants and red racer-back tank Rebecca wore before forcing hereyes down toward the floor and keeping them there.
“Hello there, my hardworking brides-to-be. We’ve only got fourclasses left. Can you believe that?”
“No way,” Lucy said, then covered her mouth in an adorable displayofI didn’t mean to saythat out loud.
“It’s true, I’m afraid.” Rebecca grinned at Lucy. “That just meansI’ve got four more days to work in all the remaining torture I can think of.” Shewinked and then her expression softened; Spencer allowed herself a quickglance. “You guys have made some amazing progress. I’m really proud of you andwant you to know that. Also, I’m sorry about Monday. Rough day.”
“Everything okay?” Lucy asked. Because of course, Lucy would ask.She was sweet like that.
Rebecca took a deep breath. “It is now. My best friend since highschool had what we thought was a heart attack on Sunday, so I spent Mondayhelping his wife get him home from the hospital and settled.”
Spencer let out a small gasp, and before she could catch herself,she asked, “Nick?”
Rebecca met her eyes, held them, nodded. “It was just a case ofacute angina, and he’s fine.” She seemed to have to make a concerted effort topull her gaze from Spencer, but once she had, she clapped her hands togetheronce and smiled widely. “The good news is he’s now going to actually listen tome about diet and exercise, so…silver lining?”
Chuckles went through the other four, but Spencer didn’t jointhem. She could see the veiled worry on Rebecca’s face, the slight shadowsunder her eyes that said she probably wasn’t sleeping well, and all she wantedto do was wrap Rebecca in her arms. The sudden image of the two of them on acouch, Rebecca’s head in her lap while Spencer played with her hair, was sostrong, so solid, it made Spencer’s breath catch in her throat.
“Okay, let’s get to work.”
Rebecca hadn’t been kidding; she worked them hard, didn’t take iteasy on them just because the classes were drawing to a close. Spencerconcentrated, did her best to focus, to not look at Rebecca. Which was finebecause Rebecca didn’t seem to want to look at her either. The entire timeSpencer exercised, with each new move or circuit Rebecca instructed her to do,she could feel her emotions inside going from a simmer to a slow bubble to alow boil, their intensity increasing as she pushed her body. She didn’tunderstand it. She’d made a decision. She knew what she needed to do, so whaton earth was the problem? Why couldn’t her brain settle?
It was core work today, Spencer’s least favorite, so thatcertainly wasn’t helping her mood. They finished up the last set of crunches,all five women flat on their backs, groaning and panting, but when Spencerturned to look down the line, all seemed to be smiling. Happy.
Envy washed through her.
“Okay,” Rebecca said, her sneakered feet moving past Spencer’shead. “On your stomachs. You know the drill.” She had her phone out, andpresumably, the timer all set for planks. “Some of you got this and some of youare so close. Sixty seconds. Ready?”
Spencer didn’t look at her—par for the course today—and got intoposition, her feelings roiling inside her like a cauldron full of somethingsour.
“Go.”
All five women braced on forearms and toes and held it.
