Page 29 of Love Among Vines

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JADE

“Thanks for being cool with everything,” Jade said. She took a swig of wine, then glanced at the bottle. One of Rett’s. Of course.

Cindy peered into the oven, then shut the door. “I will admit, I am disappointed that this wasn’t real. He’s been alone for so long. But Rett’s a grown man. He can do whatever he wants. Even be an idiot.”

Jade smiled. “He really came through for me. I’m just trying to return the favor.”

Cindy slid onto a barstool and picked up her wineglass. She took a long sip. “So there are really no feelings involved in this…entanglement? Only Rett answered before.”

Jade plopped her glass down on the island and hitched herself onto the stool next to Cindy. “Just a warning, I’m about to be very frank.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Cheers.” Cindy held her glass out, and they clinked.

“So it’s the weirdest thing. We set up a friends-with-benefits agreement while I’m here. No feelings, just fun. But he also won’t sleep with me.”

“Huh?” Cindy’s face scrunched up.

“I know. He wants to wait until our next date and keeps saying I ‘deserve more.’ And then he’s doing all this stuff for me, like driving me places and giving me budgeting advice and setting up an outdoor studio. It’s very mixed messaging.”

Cindy sighed. “Honestly, that sounds like him. He thinks he has to take responsibility for everything and always tries to prop his friends up for success. He helped Elena study for her NCLEX and played prosecution for Gemma. He even let me excise some of his moles for practice.”

“Oh.”

So he wasn’t doing this for her out of interest. It was just a force of habit.

There was a knock at the door.

Cindy hopped up. “That’ll be Gemma and Elena.”

Cindy ran for the front door, and Jade followed hesitantly behind her.

“Hey, Gem.”

A buxom redhead bustled inside, laden with shopping bags. She couldn’t have been more than five two. “I’m so glad we’re doing this tonight. I had the worst day in court.”

“Let me guess.” Cindy collected two grocery bags from Gemma. “That douche nozzle Damian Jones.”

“That suit-wearing fuck tried to sneak in evidence that wasn’t provided in discovery. Again. I cannot for the life of me figure out why he thinks the rules don’t apply to him. Even the judge was annoyed. Who’s this?”

Gemma seemed to have suddenly realized that there was an unfamiliar person in the foyer.

“This is Jade. Rett’s Jade,” Cindy said.

Gemma’s eyes grew wide. “Holy shit. I never thought I’d live to see the day.” She reached out one hand.

Jade shook it and fought the urge to wince. Gemma had a grip like a pair of pliers.

“To be fair,” she said, “you still haven’t seen the day. I’m just helping Rett distract his parents from matchmaking.”

“Really? That’s disappointing.”

“Tell me about it,” Cindy said.

Time to change the subject.

“Whoever Damian is, he sounds like a dick.” Jade took another shopping bag from Gemma and peeked inside. A half gallon of what appeared to be local apple cider was nestled inside with a bottle of top-shelf tequila.

“Oh, honey. You have no idea,” Gemma said.

“Are you a defense attorney?” Jade asked.

“She’s a public defender. Let’s stop standing in the foyer like a bunch of weirdos,” Cindy said. They side-stepped the dogs, who were currently playing tug, and followed her back to the kitchen.

“Public defense is such a noble calling,” Jade said.

Gemma paused. “My dad was wrongfully incarcerated for most of my childhood for a crime he didn’t commit. We couldn’t afford a great lawyer. I wanted to prevent that from happening to as many families as possible.”

A pang hit Jade’s heart as she unpacked the grocery bag.

“Cute tattoo,” Gemma said. Jade looked down. Her off-the-shoulder top had left her stupid ice skate tattoo completely exposed.

“Ah. Thanks. My ex has a matching one. His wedding this past weekend is what brought me to town.”

“Oof,” Gemma said. “Let me make a round of apple cider margaritas. I need to hear this story.”

“She might not be comfortable telling it,” Cindy said pointedly.

“Shit, sorry,” Gemma said. “I forget sometimes that not everyone copes by bitching.”

“It’s fine, I’m only like eighty-five percent still traumatized. I’m happy to tell the story. After a margarita.”

“You’re my kind of girl. I can tell.”

Warmth engulfed Jade as she watched Cindy rip open a bag of frozen garlic bread while Gemma pulled out a cutting board.

It had been so long since she had been surrounded by strong women supporting each other. It was like a comforting, feminine hug.

There was another knock at the front door.

“I’ll get it.” Jade hopped down from the barstool and walked back down the hallway.

She opened the door to find a woman with dark hair and strong eyebrows, clad in a pair of dark jeans and a bright yellow sweater.

“You must be Elena.” Jade extended her hand.

“Yes. And you are…?”

“Jade.”

Elena’s eyes swept over her. “You look like an artist.”

“Oh. Thank you, I think.”

“Trust me, it’s a compliment. So you’re the girl to finally nail down Everett Rhodes.”

Jade shook her head. “We’re just friends. With benefits. Sort of. But don’t tell his parents that. If they ask, we’re in love.”

Elena left her flip-flops by the door. “Another situationship. Hola, chicas,” she called out. “What’s on the menu tonight?”

“Apple cider margaritas.” Gemma brandished a bag of limes.

“You’re really going to bastardize my culture like that?”

Gemma stared at Elena as she lit a cinnamon stick on fire. “It’s fall.”

“That’s fair,” Elena conceded. “I want the first one. I had to help extract something from a patient’s rectum today.”

“Uh oh,” Cindy said. “Another Coke bottle?”

“Worse. A Honeycrisp apple.”

Jade grimaced. “How festive.”

“If I had a dollar for every time I fell on a Honeycrisp apple in the shower,” Cindy said pensively.

Elena snorted.

“How can I help?” Jade asked.

Cindy waved a hot pad at her. “Just sit. You’re a guest.”

Gemma passed out margaritas. Smoking cinnamon sticks and springs of rosemary protruded from the rims.

“Uh, I’m going to have to retire in shame because you’re clearly the real artist here,” Jade said with an appreciative whiff.

“I will hire you to follow me around and compliment me all day,” Gemma said.

Jade smiled and took a sip of the margarita. Not too sweet, and not too sweaty-tasting from the tequila. It didn’t give her a tingle, but with any luck, it would give her the fortitude to tell the entire humiliating story.

“So,” Cindy said, pulling a bubbling pan of lasagna from the oven. “The tattoo.”

“Right. It all started in grad school.”

An hour later, the girls sprawled around the dining room table.

Penny and Branson were passed out on the living room floor, exhausted from a rousing game of tug.

“I’m sorry,” Gemma said. “I’m still stuck on the fact that both of them lied to your face for two years. And she was supposed to be your best friend.”

Jade picked up her margarita glass only to find it empty. “Yeah. The last time I checked, ‘screw your best friend’s boyfriend five seconds after her parents died’ was not included in the girl code.”

The other girls cringed.

“Sorry. Too far with the morbid humor?” Jade asked.

Cindy reached over and patted her on the hand. “You cope however you need to. I’m sorry everyone in your life is such an asshole.”

Elena leaned forward. “Sorry. I have to ask. What is Rett like in bed?” She held two fingers out in front of her and started indicating various lengths.

Gemma threw a balled-up napkin, which hit Elena in the face. “He’s our friend. That’s such a weird question.”

Elena threw it back at her. “Come on, like you haven’t been curious?”

Jade cleared her throat. “Sadly, I have no answers. Yet.”

“Really? Because I heard from Betty Lou that Scooter caught you guys in a…compromising position,” Elena said with eyebrows raised.

That had been all of two hours ago. Just how quickly did news travel in this town?

“He’s insisting on taking me on a real date first.”

“The fucking nerve of that guy,” Gemma said.

“I know. So what about you guys? Boyfriends? Girlfriends? Life partners with surprisingly realistic robots?”

“Tragically single,” Elena said with one end of the cinnamon stick in her mouth. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the dating pool around here isn’t huge.”

“Yeah. Same here,” Gemma said. “Even Cindy had to import hers. Besides, I work too much to make a relationship work.”

Jade nodded. “Rett did mention the dating pool was an issue. You’ve never thought about leaving?”

“Nah. I landed here after law school and never looked back. It’s small, but it’s home,” Gemma said.

“My family lives here,” Elena explained. “I take care of my abuela most weekends.”

“I can see why you stay,” Jade said.

Cindy locked eyes with her. “But you live in the city?”

“Yeah. For now. In addition to having terrible taste in men, I have also somehow completely mismanaged my life savings and am now in danger of becoming homeless in the next few months.”

Elena’s mouth formed an O.

“Why don’t you just move here?” Gemma asked. “I’m sure Rett would let you move in. His house is so big that he probably wouldn’t even notice you were there.”

“We haven’t even known each other for a full week,” Jade said. “For all I know, he could be a serial killer.”

Cindy shook her head. “I’ve known him forever. He doesn’t have the stomach for it.”

“Still,” Gemma said, “rent has to be cheaper here than in the city.”

“Sure,” Jade said, “but how’s the job market here?

If I never get my ability to paint back, I’m going to have to pivot and learn a new skill set.

I don’t have the temperament for customer service, nor the long-term memory required to be a waitress.

And then what happens if this friends-with-benefits situation implodes and then I have to dodge him around town for a year? ”