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Megan: Thank you!!! :)

Once she was home, Megan helped Sophia with her schoolwork and chatted with her about her day. Nocturne curled up in her lap, which was very comforting, but also meant that she couldn’t move. Eventually, though, Nocturne got up and sought out Sophia’s lap, allowing Megan to grab her phone and call Tasha’s mom.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mrs. Washington. I don’t know if you remember me—it’s Megan Kowalski.”

“Megan! Of course I remember you! And call me Estelle.”

“Thank you, Estelle. Um, you’re probably wondering why I’m calling…”

“Is it Tasha? Is she okay?”

“Oh, yeah… No. Tasha is good. She’s doing well.”

“So, you’ve seen her?”

“Yeah, actually, my daughter and I are living with her right now.”

“Are you alright?”

“Yes… No… Kinda both. Brad cheated on me and I left him. Tasha is letting us stay with her for a little bit.”

“Hmm. Tasha never liked that boy… I’m sorry to hear about that.”

“Thanks. It’s been a rough couple of weeks, but Tasha is a great friend, which makes things better.”

“Uh huh. Are you going to try to work things out with Brad, or are you done?”

“Definitely done.”

“Well, I don’t know any lawyers in Oregon, but I know half the lawyers in South Carolina and I’m sure that one of them knows a good divorce lawyer in Oregon.”

“Oh, thank you, Estelle. That’s very kind, but I have a divorce lawyer already. She’s a friend of Tasha’s.”

“How did Tasha meet a divorce lawyer?”

“Um…”

“Never mind. I’m glad that she’s doing well. Now you were about to tell me why you called.”

Relieved that she didn’t have to figure out how to explain how Tasha knew Maria, Megan said, “I’ve been struggling lately to understand love. My parents have always been terrible role models, but you and Mr. Washin… Um, John. You and John seem to have a genuine love for each other. What makes it work for the two of you?”

“Well, it’s not always sunshine and roses, you know.”

“I know.”

“We get along because we are honest with each other. We trust each other. We are always there for each other. It’s more than that, though. We have a deep emotional bond.”

“I always saw that between you two. How did you know? Like, before you got married.”

“Oh, honey. That was a long time ago. We met in college. I was pre-law and he was an English major. We met at a Black student union mixer. He was very shy, but handsome.” Estelle laughed. “I caught him looking at me all night and I finally went up and talked to him because he clearly wasn’t making the first move.”

“Wow, that’s awesome.”

“You know that I am a tigress!” Estelle laughed again, then continued. “We ended up talking the rest of the evening. He was very charming—once he opened his mouth, of course. I gave him my number and told him that he better call me. He did. John! John, come over here. It’s Megan. Tasha’s friend from college. She wants to know how we fell in love.”

Megan heard rustling on the other end of the line, then a man’s voice. “Hello?”