Page 94 of Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail

The protests flitted around in Jordan’s mind, but she couldn’t seem to get them onto her tongue. She just looked at Astrid and nodded.

Why the hell was she nodding?

But Astrid nodded back, her brown eyes clouded. She was clenching her teeth. Jordan could tell, that muscle in her jaw working furiously. But then, as Astrid stepped out of the pantry, Jordan saw her lower lip bob just a little before she pressed her mouth together, her jaw even tighter now.

And Jordan watched her walk away.

“I’ll walk you out,” Simon said when Astrid was halfway to the back door. “Okay?” he added, eyes on Jordan.

She nodded. Again. Jesus, someone needed to lock her neck into place.

She glanced at Astrid, hoping she’d look back as she stepped out the door, but somehow knowing she wouldn’t.

The door closed, and Jordan got that horrible, dread-soaked feeling in her gut that she’d fucked up.

She’d fix it.

She could fix it.

But first, she had to figure out why the hell Meredith was in theEverwood kitchen. She had to know why she’d just prioritized the woman who left her and made her feel like nothing over the woman she was currently falling for.

“So,” she said, brilliantly.

Meredith just smiled at her, always so fucking calm. She was wearing a royal blue romper, a woven straw sun hat in her hands. Jordan knew she was sensitive to the sun since chemo, had to slather on a layer of sunscreen every hour if she was going to be outside. She looked good though. Really good. She’d gained weight, and her skin glowed with health and vitamin D. Her hair was longer but still barely reached her earlobes, a slight curl to the once-straight locks.

“What are you doing here, Meredith?” Jordan finally managed to ask. “How did you even know I was in Bright Falls?”

“Well,” Meredith said, leaning against the kitchen’s island, “I went to Savannah first. Got there yesterday morning. But then someone who wasn’t you answered the door to our house—”

“My house.”

Meredith’s eyes narrowed softly. “Your house. That was my first clue.”

“And your second?”

“Aside from the fact that I was your wife and know that this place is like your own personal Disneyland? You left a forwarding address with the new tenant.”

Goddamn Simon. Jordan didn’t leave shit.

“Did you sell it?” Meredith asked. “The house?”

Jordan shook her head. “Renting it out for now. But I will.”

Meredith nodded. “Probably a good choice.”

“I didn’t ask for your approval.”

“Jo. Don’t be like this.”

“Like what?”

Meredith waved her hand at her. “This. I wanted to see you. I’d hoped you’d want to see me. We’re still us.”

Jordan laughed. “That’s the thing, Meredith, we’re not. We’re not us. At all. You left me for... what was it?”

“Jo.”

“Ah, yes, I remember now. A destiny. Have you found that yet? Any destinies lurking in the Rockies or on top of the Eiffel Tower or wherever the hell else you’ve been for the past year?”