MacKenzie Fire(95)

I’m also ten times more nervous about Ian meeting my life back in Florida than I was when he first mentioned it. Now it’s Andie trying to give me advice and pep talks, a total role reversal.

“You’ll be fine, he’ll be fine. Believe me, he’s very open minded.” Andie watches as I pack my bag, nursing Sarah like it’s second nature. She’s so good at being a mom. I’m no longer jealous of her, just looking forward to the day that I can try and emulate her super mommy skills.

“But what about Jorge and Sunil and all my people?” I only have one employee, technically, and that’s Sunil. Jorge is my partner and all the others are independent contractors who rent space from me in the salon. They’ve all been there for years and years, so long that it’s like they’re my family. If they don’t like Ian I don’t know how it could possibly work between us.

Andie rolls her eyes. “Jorge is gorgeous, Sunil is a doll, and your people are amazing. Trust me, Ian will fit right in.”

“He’s a cowboy,” I say, laughing at the idea of him fitting into a group of gays, immigrants, and fashionistas.

“You’ll see.” Andie moves Sarah to her other breast. “Love conquers all.”

“You really think he loves me?” I sit down on the side of the bed and look at Andie, trying to do the human lie detector on her. Her pupils appear to be staying the same size and her eye contact is pretty good. I think she’s telling the truth.

“Of course I do. I wouldn’t be encouraging this if I didn’t.” She grimaces in pain as Sarah latches on. “I don’t want to see either of you get hurt,” she says, “but you can’t risk nothing and get everything.”

“I want to have everything. Like you have.” I reach out and squeeze her arm.

“Thanks to you,” she says, lifting an eyebrow.

I smile. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Please,” she scoffs. “The day after you took Ginny out, I had two invitations to Tupperware parties and a girl I’ve only spoken to twice started arranging a baby shower for me.”

“Hey, that’s on Maeve. She’s the one who started introducing you around.”

“But you’re the one who showed the whole town that Ginny is a liar.”

“Ginny is a liar in jail,” I add, happy that she got what was coming to her. That stupid wench made me get a horrible knot in my arm muscle that’s probably permanent. I still can’t hold up a flat iron for longer than five minutes without my hand going numb.

“That’s what you get for committing an assault and battery,” Andie says. “I talked to the prosecutor. She’s probably just going to get a slap on the wrist.”

“Better than nothing,” I say. “My goal was to get the truth out there and that’s what we did.”

“You’re my superhero,” Andie says warmly, her eyes going moist.

“No crying,” I say, pointing at her face. “You’ll make my mascara leak all over the place.”

“You really have to leave today?” Andie asks in her whiney voice.

“Yes, I really do. Jorge is threatening to move to Fiji if I don’t come back to work tomorrow.”

“Did you tell them that you’re bringing Ian with you yet?”

I grimace. “No.”

Andie shakes her head. “Good luck with that.”

She knows Jorge well, so there’s a lot of meaning in that sentence of hers. “Thanks. I think.”

Ian sticks his head in the doorway. “You ready to go yet? We need to scoot if we’re going to make that flight.”

I nod. “Ready.” I zip up my bag and take one last look around the room to make sure I didn’t forget anything. The place is empty but full of memories I hate to leave behind.

Ian comes in and takes my case, and I’m struck by how different everything is now, just two weeks after I arrived. My first day here I didn’t want him touching my things or coming near me. He was the bad guy making my best friend miserable. Now I want nothing but him touching me, and he was never really Andie’s problem. He’s been one of her biggest supporters besides Mack. I feel like I’ve not just gained a little god-daughter in my life but a whole other family too. I can’t remember a time in my life when I was happier. It scares the ever loving shit out of me.

“Promise you’ll call as soon as you arrive. I want to hear everything,” Andie says, hugging me as best she can with one arm. Sarah keeps sucking away like nothing’s going on.

“I promise.” I kiss the baby’s fuzzy head. “Don’t forget me while I’m gone.” Inhaling her heavenly sent, I smile when her tiny hairs tickle my nose.

“She can’t forget you. I show her your picture every day. And if you send me videos, I’ll play them for her daily.” Andie grabs me in another hug. “I don’t want to let you go.” She’s crying again. She still does that a lot.

I pat her on the back. “I’ll be fine. And I’m going to visit again soon.”

Neither of us speaks about the possibility that Ian and I might not make it out in Florida and that this would make visits to Baker very uncomfortable. We’ve decided to cross that bridge when and if we ever come to it.

“I’m leaving!” Ian shouts from downstairs.