Page 12 of Yours, Always
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me, Prudence Marie Hardwick!” Annabelle exclaimed. She shook her head, her jaw dropping. “This is not possible!”
Prudence could feel sweat start to form on her face, sure that she’d turned a most unappealing shade of red. “Well—”
“There’s no ‘well’ about this Pru. You talk to Greysonall of the timeand you’ve never thought to mention to him, ‘gee, maybe I should tell you I’m dating our mutual friend, Chuck’?”
“But—”
“There are no ‘buts’ either. We’re talking about him coming home—at your insistence, mind you—and then, what? Blindsiding him? Making out with Chuck in front of him so he sees it, and you don’t actually have to tell him?”
“Okay!” Prudence exclaimed, holding her hand up then pressing her fingers to her temple. “I get it, but we don’t tell each othereverything. He didn’t tell me about Samantha Crane.” She reached over with her other hand and snatched the rest of the muffin back from Annabelle.Carbs be damned.
Annabelle sat in silence, watching Prudence, clearly waiting for the real explanation.
“It never seemed like the right time.” Prudence finally broke the silence, picking up the wrapper, shredding it as she spoke. “I wasn’t trying to hide anything from him—” Annabelle opened her mouth to interrupt, but Prudence cut her off. “I wasn’t! Greyson and I are just friends. Yeah, we do share a lot, and I really did mean to tell him, but I was never sure where Chuck and I were going.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Sometimes I’m as surprised as you are that Chuck and I have been dating for almost a year.”
“When are you going to tell him.” Annabelle didnotform this as a question.
“I don’t even know if he’s coming home, yet. It was a quick conversation late last night, it’s not like he’s already booked a flight.”
Annabelle reached for her phone, now vibrating and shimmying across the surface of the table. “Speak of the devil, that’s him texting me.” She slid her phone so Prudence could also see the screen as she typed.
Hey, Lois Lane, saw the article in the Bee Online, it’s great!
The hell are you doing up so early?
These abs don’t define themselves.
Prudence tapped her fingers on the table in an agitated staccato while Annabelle was typing. Annabelle had pulled the phone back and she could no longer see the screen. “What’s he saying? Ask him when he’ll be here.” She stopped tapping and held out her hand. “No, wait! Don’t ask him anything.”
Annabelle ignored Prudence and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘abs, my ass’ and continued typing.
Now annoyed and tapping on the table again, Prudence tried for nonchalance. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Should I switch this over to our group thread?” Annabelle asked.
“No!” Prudence responded not wanting to look too eager for details.
“I’m going to ask him if he’s coming home.”
Prudence was silent for a moment as she started to chew on the nail she’d stripped of its polish earlier. “Okay. Besides, if you tell him to come home, too, he’ll have a harder time saying ‘no’.”
“Good point.” Annabelle nodded as she resumed typing.
“He’s already booked a ticket.” Annabelle paused as Prudence let out a surprised exclamation. “He’ll call you later with the specifics. You must’ve really gotten through to him last night, Pru,” she said, laying her phone on the table. “Youhaveto tell him. There’ll be no avoiding Chuck when he’s here, and he needs to know sooner rather than later. And by the way, did he sayanythingabout why he didn’t tell you about Samantha Crane?”
“It was so weird. He had nothing to say about it other than he was busy and was always thinking about something else when we spoke.”
“That sounds suspiciously like the excuse you just gave me for not telling him about Chuck.”
“Oh crap.” Prudence exhaled, looking like a balloon that had been let go before being tied closed. “You’re right. I promise to tell him before he gets here.”
Annabelle nodded in approval then glanced at her watch. “Oh crap! Gotta go!” She sprung out of her seat, quickly gathering her papers, and shoved them into her bag. “There’s a meeting today at the Bee. Apparently, there’ll be some staffing changes, and if anyone is getting axed, I really don’t want to be late for that.”
“They wouldn’t fire their star reporter, AB,” Prudence assured her, using her nickname, helping to stack papers on the table.
“Oh, I have absolutely no reason to believe it would be me, but I’d sure hate to miss it if it’s someone else.” Annabelle smiled a bit too ghoulishly, putting the last of the papers into her bag and backing toward the door, her usual mode of exiting, tossing some cash to Devlin at the counter. “Here you go, babe, coffee was perfect. Text me later, Pru. And tell Greyson today!”
Chapter Seven