The Girlfriend (Single Wide Female in Love, Book 2) Read online

  “It was a whirlwind type of romance. You know, like the kind you read about in books or watch at the movies—girl meets boy, they fall madly in love and live happily ever after.

  “That’s not what happened, I take it?”

  “At first it was. Dylan and I met at the grocery store, of all places, so that made it seem even more meant to be. We dated and hit it off really well. It seemed like we both wanted the same things, and honestly, Samantha, it felt as if I’d been waiting to meet him my entire life. He made me feel different than any man ever had. He was wild and spontaneous. He woke me up to the fact that life could be fun.”

  “So what happened?” I tried to be gentle, but I was genuinely curious. It sounded like Stephanie had met her perfect match.

  “Well, he proposed. I was over the moon and of course said yes. He wanted to go right down to a drive-through chapel and get married. As much as I admired his sense of adventure, I thought that was a little too crazy. So we moved in together first. It wasn’t long before I figured out that most of his wildness came from keeping himself well lubricated.”

  “Huh?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “I mean, he took a drink first thing in the morning. He drank on his way to work, he drank at lunch, he drank on the way home from work—it was nonstop all day. Don’t get me wrong, he was never really drunk—I guess he’d developed a tolerance for it—but he always had to have something to drink.”

  “Wow.” My eyes widened. “I can’t believe that someone could live like that.”

  “Me either. To be honest with you, Sam, I was going to work with it. I thought—okay, we all have flaws—I’ll just talk to him about his drinking and that will be that. But when I brought it up, he got really defensive. We had a horrible fight. He said things to me that I could never have imagined him saying. So, I ended it. Maybe he woke me up to the fun in life, but I wasn’t about to tolerate being treated like that.”

  “Good for you, Steph. I mean, not that you had to go through that, but that you were able to get yourself out of it.”

  “It was heartbreaking.” Stephanie sighed.

  “Wow, I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you during that difficult time.”

  Chapter 4

  My heart ached for Stephanie. I remembered how painful it had been for me when I thought that Blue—who I now knew was Max—had rejected me.

  “It’s okay. I know you would have been there if I’d reached out. It was something I had to handle by myself. But now it’s over and we have happy news to celebrate. You, Max, and I should get together some time.”

  “I would love that.” A sensation of peace settled within me. I hadn’t even realized how much I’d missed Stephanie’s being part of my life until we were together again. “Thanks, Stephanie.” I reached across the table and patted the back of her hand. “Don’t let that one bad experience turn you off. Your great love is out there.”

  “Maybe.” She shrugged. “I’m not sure that I believe in that any more.”

  Her words hurt my heart. I knew that she had a right to be angry, but to give up on love altogether was a depressing notion. I had been there before myself.

  “Sometimes it doesn’t matter if you believe in it or not, it happens upon you anyway.”

  “Anything can happen, right?” Stephanie brightened. “Should we split a dessert?”

  I was prepared to say no until I saw flan on the menu. “Okay, just this once.” I grinned.

  After we shared our dessert we walked out to the parking lot together. She paused beside her car and turned to look at me.

  “Samantha, I’ve really missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too. Why don’t we do something together this weekend—all three of us?”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a third wheel.” She shook her head.

  “I’m absolutely sure. Max would love to see you.”

  “Okay, great! Send me a text and let me know when and where.”

  “Will do!” I hugged her close. It felt good to have my girlfriend back. “I promise.”

  “See you soon, Samantha.” She waved to me as she climbed into her car.

  I walked across the parking lot to my own car. As soon as I reached it, my phone began to ring. I laughed and answered it.

  “Stephanie, do you miss me already?”

  “Stephanie?” Max asked.

  “Oh, Max! I thought you were Stephanie.”

  “Okay. Why?” He laughed.

  “I just had lunch with her. Can you believe it’s been over a year since I’ve seen her?”

  “Wow, I didn’t realize it had been that long.”

  “I invited her to do something with us this weekend.”

  “Us?”

  I was a little surprised by his reluctant tone. “Sure, why not?”

  “Well, uh, it might be a little awkward is all, since we dated.”

  “Max, if I had to avoid everyone you’ve ever dated, I’d probably have to head for Canada.”

  “Hey!” He laughed again. “You really think I was that much of a player, huh?”

  “I’m just saying that it might be difficult.” I giggled as I got into the car. “Besides, we were all friends before, we can all be friends again. Don’t you think?”

  “I guess you’re right. If it’s what you want, it’s what I want.”

  “Oh, is that so?”

  “Maybe.” He sensed danger.

  “I’ll have to remember that.”

  “Oh, boy.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.” I laughed as I hung up the phone.

  Max and I had the best relationship I’d ever experienced. I never felt like I had to be a certain way to please him. There’d been none of that having to get comfortable with one another difficulty in our romantic relationship, because we were already comfortable with each other. He knew my sense of humor so well that I had to try to come up with new material.

  The only thing I couldn’t offer Max was a surprise.

  After leaving the restaurant, I headed to the grocery store to pick up some things. As I was walking through the store, I noticed how I wasn’t even drawn to the foods that I used to crave so much. Maybe it was because my life was happier or maybe it was because I had been eating a healthy diet. Either way it felt nice to march right past them.

  As I loaded my grocery cart with fruits and vegetables, I noticed the man at the deli counter looking in my direction. Since I’d begun feeling more confident about how I looked, I’d recognized people noticing me more. Maybe they had before as well, and I just hadn’t seen it.

  I decided to ignore the attention and headed to the next aisle. I was a few aisles from the end of the store when I heard footsteps behind me. I stopped and glanced over my shoulder. It was the man from the deli counter. Now I felt a little uncomfortable. Why was he following me around?

  “Are you Samantha?” he asked.

  I shivered a little. I had done some online dating before things heated up between Max and me. Could this be one of the men that I’d turned down? How else would he know my name?

  “Why?” I stared at him.

  “I just need to know if you’re Samantha.”

  “And if I am?”

  He sighed. “Look, I’m not playing any games, I just need to know.”

  Chapter 5

  I narrowed my eyes. The man seemed rather pushy about knowing who I was. I was starting to feel very uncomfortable.

  “I have Mace.” I raised an eyebrow.

  “No, you don’t.”

  “What? Yes, I most certainly do and I’m not afraid to use it.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think you will be able to.”

  “Listen, I don’t know who you are, or why you know my name, but I am a happily almost-engaged woman and I don’t welcome your attention. So either leave me alone or I will use it.”

  He laughed. He actually laughed. I was stunned.

  “Go ahead.” He smirked.

  “Okay, I will!” I r
eached into my basket to get my purse only to find that it wasn’t there. “What?” I stared at the empty spot.

  “You dropped your purse near the bananas. One of the clerks brought it to me. I thought it was you from your driver’s license, but—uh—you look pretty different.”

  I cringed. My driver’s license picture was from about fifty pounds ago. He continued, “I didn’t want to tell you I had it because you could lie and say it was yours when it wasn’t. You know?”

  I was mortified as I processed what he’d said. In my overreacting mind, I already had him cast as a psychotic stalker looking for love.

  He tilted his head toward the end of the aisle. “It’s up at the deli counter, but now I’m a little afraid to give it to you. You’re not going to Mace me, are you?”

  “No.” I frowned. “Sorry about that.”

  “It’s alright. It’s good to know how to defend yourself. I’ll go get it for you.”

  “That’s alright. I’ll go with you. I need some meat anyway.”

  “Okay.” He fell into step beside me. As we reached the counter he looked over at me. “So what exactly is almost engaged, anyway?”

  “Never mind. Can I just have my purse?”

  He laughed and grabbed it from behind the counter. Once he handed it over, I remembered to be polite.

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Just promise me that you won’t Mace me the next time you see me.”

  “I promise.” I had no problem making that promise, as I doubted that I would ever show my face in the store again.

  After I checked out I hurried to my car.

  By the time I got back to my apartment I was still feeling pretty embarrassed. I tried to carry all of my grocery bags inside in one trip. I was almost to the door when I felt one of the bags get much lighter. I groaned as I realized the bag had split open. My nectarines were rolling across the floor. I dropped down onto my hands and knees and crawled after them. I grabbed one and tried to grab for another, only to grab on to a shoe instead.

  “What are you doing?” Max laughed.

  I looked up at him with a shy smile. “I might have had a grocery bag malfunction.”

  “I can see that. Here, let me help.” He dropped down to the floor as well and helped me collect the wayward nectarines. “Let me help you with the rest.” He grabbed a few of the bags while I collected the remnants of the broken bag.

  “I didn’t know you were coming over.”

  “I had a few minutes free and thought I’d stop by.” He sighed as he put the bags on the kitchen counter. “Okay, the truth is that I missed you.”

  “I missed you too.” I smiled and placed my hands on his chest.

  He gazed into my eyes. Then we kissed. What amazed me the most after a year of dating Max—and knowing him much longer than that—was that when we kissed, it still felt just as thrilling and intoxicating as it did that first time. The kiss lingered longer than usual. When I finally broke away from him, his smile couldn’t have been brighter.

  “There, now I feel better.” He chuckled.

  “It’s so nice when we get to spend extra time together.” I pretended not to be hinting at anything as I put the groceries away.

  “Yes, it is.” He handed me the yogurt.

  “I look forward to seeing you all of the time.”

  “Me too.” He caught me around the waist and stole a quick kiss. “But right now I have to go. I really did only have a few minutes.”

  “Well, you arrived right on time. My grocery hero.”

  “Any time you need me.” He kissed my forehead and then headed for the door.

  I couldn’t help but think about how lucky I was. Maybe I didn’t have the ring yet, but I had his love, and that was all that really mattered to me.

  Once I’d put all the groceries away, I looked back at my computer. I knew I had work that I could do.

  After getting together with Stephanie, I thought about the way women’s lives were changed when a relationship that they’d hoped for didn’t go the way that they’d planned. I decided that I would incorporate that into the next chapter I was writing. It didn’t matter what size you were, how old you were, or where you lived, we all had the same heartbreak when it came to a romance gone wrong.

  Chapter 6

  Over the next few days Stephanie and I texted back and forth throughout the day. We talked at least once a day. I might have used a bit of her experience as motivation for getting a few chapters under my belt. Stephanie was very open about the signs that she’d missed and how she knew better for the next time.

  The mention of signs made me think that I needed to pay a little more attention to Max. Not because he might be showing signs of addiction or abusive behavior, but if there were signs for negative behavior, there had to be signs for positive behavior too. Women were bombarded with all of the things they should watch out for, but what were the good signs that should reassure them that they were in a healthy relationship?

  I set up a day trip for the three of us so that Max and Stephanie could reconnect. There was a show at a botanical garden nearby that I’d always managed to miss each year. I was looking forward to having the chance to actually go this time.

  I chose my favorite flowered print shirt so that I could blend in. This wasn’t just a pleasure trip, though—I took a small pen and notebook with me. I wanted to study Max and come up with a list of signs that he was a great guy—to use it for research for one of my books.

  Max picked me up that morning and then we drove to Stephanie’s house.

  “Flowers.” Max said as he turned down Stephanie’s street.

  “Yes?”

  “Do they have food there?”

  “I’m sure.” I smiled.

  “I hope so.”

  I patted his knee. “It’ll be beautiful, I promise.”

  “I’m just saying there are lot of other things that we could be doing—like not going to a flower show.”

  I looked over at him. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”

  Max parked the car in Stephanie’s driveway. He turned to look at me. “Sammy, I want to go anywhere that you are. Even if there are bees. Do you think there will be bees?”

  I tried not to laugh, as he seemed very concerned about potential bees. “Don’t worry, Max, I will protect you from any bees.”

  He didn’t look convinced as we got out of the car. Max started to walk up to the front door. I hung back near the car.

  “Are you coming?” He glanced at me.

  “I’ll be there in just a minute.”

  He looked from me to the front door and then shrugged. From the tension in his shoulders I could see that he was a little anxious. I remembered that this was likely the first time that he’d seen Stephanie since they’d broken up. As he walked up to the door, I pulled out my notebook. I jotted down a good sign.

  He wants to be wherever you are, even if it’s not something he enjoys.

  “Hi!” Stephanie opened the door and stepped outside.

  She had a big floppy hat on that made me immediately envious. I hadn’t even thought of the opportunity to wear a big hat to a flower show. She paused beside Max as I caught up to him.

  “Hi, Stephanie, I love your hat.”

  “You don’t think it’s too much?” She laughed. “I bought this thing to use at the beach but then haven’t been to the beach since. I thought I could get some use out of it today.”

  “I think it’s perfect. What do you think, Max?” I looked over at him.

  Max’s eyes widened. “I think it’s—uh—it’s a hat.”

  Stephanie and I looked at each other and laughed. I immediately felt a camaraderie with her. We looped arms and headed for the car with Max trailing behind us.

  The drive to the botanical garden was all giggles and recounting past stories of things we’d done together. Max listened intently. I noticed that he looked a little surprised about some of the things that Stephanie and I had gotten into. I thoug
ht this was funny since they paled in comparison to the things Max and I had gotten into together.

  “Stephanie is single, Max, so who of your friends are we going to set her up with?”

  Max stared out through the windshield. “I don’t know. I think Rick and his girlfriend just broke up.”

  “Absolutely not. No setups!” Stephanie shook her head so wildly that her hat slipped off. “I don’t want any blind dates, or anything like that. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen naturally.”

  “That’s a good way to look at it.” I nodded. “I promise, no setups without your permission.”

  “Great.” Stephanie looked out the window.

  I watched her expression as she stared at the passing scenery. I knew how lonely I’d once felt, despite the fact that I worked hard to be confident on my own.

  Chapter 7

  When we arrived at the gardens, I slid my arm through Max’s. I was a little surprised when Stephanie hooked her arm right through Max’s also. Max looked uncomfortable as he glanced at me. I smiled at him and gave his arm a little squeeze. He nodded and didn’t pull away from Stephanie. The gardens were in full bloom with flowers of every color.

  “Look at this!” Stephanie pointed out a huge purple flower. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  “Oh yes, it is.” I stared at the rich color on its petals. “Don’t you think it’s gorgeous, Max?” I smiled. “Max?” I turned around to see Max headed for the concession cart.

  “Must be more interested in his stomach.” Stephanie smiled. “I could use a drink too, actually. Do you want anything?”

  “No, thanks.”

  I frowned as I pulled out my notebook. It wasn’t like Max to not even offer to get me something as well. That certainly wasn’t a good sign to jot down. But he was here when he would much rather be somewhere else, I reminded myself.

  I decided to take a few minutes to watch him as if I were studying an animal in the wild. I watched as Stephanie walked up beside him. Max looked over at her and instantly smiled. She said something to him and he threw his head back and laughed. Then he reached out and touched her elbow. He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. Right away I wanted to know what he was whispering to her. It seemed strange to me that he had barely spoken to me, but apparently needed to confide something personal to Stephanie.