Page 5

"Oh, she does, my friend. She does." Ainsley smiled and patted my hand. "If you would like to come, we are happy to have you. If you really don't want to, I'll respect that."

In all the time I'd been on this Earth, no one pursued me the way Ainsley did. At least not for friendship. I watched her, glancing from her face down to the space where she held my cold hand in her warm palm. I wanted so badly to believe that she wanted me there. Rebecca's words about doing what made me happy played over in my mind. The problem with that was that I didn't know what made me happy.

"I do want to go, Ainsley," I told her, my voice soft.

"Then what's stopping you?"

"What if I get overwhelmed?"

"You can leave. The doors open both in and out."

"What if I get tired?"

"You can have a nap in the guestroom." She smiled and leaned her elbow on the back of the sofa. "I might have an answer for everything. Be careful."

"Your house isn't on a bus line. What if I want to leave? I don't want you to have to leave to drive me…"

"That's what Uber is for," she said, on the tails of a chuckle. "See? Answer for everything."

"It's just Jordan and your two friends?"

"And their kids. Three girls under seven. That's it." She held her hands up in a gesture of good faith. "No surprises. You know Alice, too."

"Yeah. She was always nice to me."

"If you decide to come, I'll stay here while you get ready."

I considered everything she said, and glanced around the room. Bookshelves built into the wall cradled the television perched on a small stand. I read over the titles of some of the books while I waited for my heart to stop pounding.

"Okay. I'll go."

"Hooray! My nudge worked." Ainsley leaned forward and smooched my cheek. The gesture shocked me, and she grabbed my hands a moment later. "Go ahead and do what you need to do. I'm self-entertaining."

"I think you're generally entertaining." I stood from my spot and gestured toward the bedroom door. "I need to shower and stuff."

"Go ahead." She nodded and made some sort of sound with her teeth as she browsed my bookshelf. She picked up a ceramic cat statue that I painted on a craft night. "What's his name?"

"Um...Ziggy."

"Well then, we'll get acquainted while you ready yourself." She grinned at me and I laughed my way to the bathroom.