The Friendship List(28)

Once she was home, she carried her purchases into her room and sorted through them. On the whole, she was happy with what she’d bought. She had a new wardrobe, she hadn’t broken the bank and she’d checked off an important item on her list. Or at least she would once she started actually wearing the clothes. And speaking of the list...

She pulled it out of her underwear drawer and studied it. So many of the items seemed impossible. While sex with a handsome man was the most unlikely, the one that scared her the most was letting Cooper spend time with his dad. She knew she had to do it and having it happen while they were in LA made the most sense. But thinking that and following through were two very different things.

But what if he liked his dad better? What if he wanted to move to LA and never spoke to her again? What if everything about Jeremy’s Hollywood life was more exciting and somehow he blamed her for his dad not being interested in acting like a father?

She returned the list to the drawer and drew in a breath. She would tell Coop about the phone call and potential visit, she vowed. Once they were on the bus, she would let him know and set up some kind of meeting. That would give her time to brace herself and a distraction once he heard the news. Cowardly, perhaps, but it was pretty much the best she could do.

  Unity had battled low-grade nausea for days and this morning was no different. She’d dealt with customers, sent out her guys, installed floating shelves and a multifunction Toto toilet that was genuinely more fancy than any car she’d ever owned, ate her meals and lived her life, all with a stomach that wouldn’t settle.

She had acted like an idiot. No, that was unfair to all the idiots in the world. She’d been incoherent. She’d been shaking. She’d acted like she’d been trapped in a cage of lions or snakes or, worst of all, spiders.

After Thaddeus had left, Dagmar had asked if she wanted to talk about what had happened. When Unity had said no, they’d had a nice dinner together, never mentioning the bigger-than-an-elephant in the room.

So her friend had tried to set her up. It happened all the time. Not to her, but in other people’s lives, it happened. Yes, she’d been caught off guard. She had the excuse of shock and not being used to having drinks with a man, but still. She’d been so awkward and dumb about the whole thing that just thinking about it made her insides writhe. She might never want to date again, but shouldn’t she be able to sit in close proximity to a man without having some kind of social seizure?

As she drove to Ellen’s, she thought about everything that had happened in the past few weeks. The pickleball rejection, the fight with Ellen, the grief group rebellion, her reaction to meeting Thaddeus. Maybe the Universe was trying to send her a message. And if it was, maybe she should listen.

She knocked once on Ellen’s front door, then let herself in.

“It’s me,” she called.

Ellen walked into the living room and paused, her hands on her hips. At the sight of her, Unity momentarily forgot her own discomfort. Her friend had on denim shorts and a pale pink T-shirt, neither of which was surprising given the promise of a high around eighty-two. No, the shocker was how the clothes actually fit, showing off Ellen’s body. Just as startling were the eye shadow and mascara enhancing her big blue eyes.

Unity stared at her. “You look great.”

“I feel stupid.”

“You look amazing. Are you wearing eyeliner?”

“Yes. And it’s not easy to put on. I tried a smoky eye yesterday, but I just looked like I got in a fight. How do those YouTube girls do it? Plus, I got mascara in my eye and let me tell you, that’s painful.” She tugged at her T-shirt. “I feel exposed. It’s so tight.”

“It’s not tight. It fits.”

They went into the kitchen. Ellen poured them each a cup of coffee and joined Unity at the table.

“I have all new clothes for the trip.”

“You leave Monday, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Excited?”

Ellen groaned. “No. I mean I’m glad I’m going but all that time with a bunch of teenagers on a bus? Keith is dealing with some unexpected attitude from Lissa. I’m hoping to have some time with her to try to figure out what’s going on. And I do want to work through a few items on my list.”

“And Disneyland,” Unity teased.

“I’ll confess the aquarium in Monterey is probably more my thing, but the kids will love it.” She paused. “You okay?”

Unity clutched her cup of coffee and shook her head. “No. Something happened.”

Ellen leaned toward her. “What? Tell me.”

Unity recounted how Dagmar had invited her to dinner without warning her there would be a man there.

“He’s her great-nephew or something. It was so surreal. I was shocked and confused and then I just got scared. I’m not kidding. I almost couldn’t speak and I was shaking. I can’t imagine what he was thinking. I feel stupid and inept.”

Ellen held up her hand. “Wait a minute. Dagmar set you up without warning you? Has she met you? You still sleep in Stuart’s room, in the bed he had in high school. You’re still going to a grief group and she set you up without telling you?”

Unity nodded. “It was awful. Not the guy. He was nice enough, I guess. I don’t really remember very much about him.”