Page 34 of September

“No. I would like to maybe get married, buy a house, and have kids one day. The trust fund I have now isn’t massive, so if I use the money to get by while I start a business, I’ll have less for the house and kids.”

“I understand,” Myra replied.

“I get more if I get married by the time I’m thirty-five, so I’ve got three years to find her and put a ring on it.” Gwen laughed and added, “Not that I care about that. My parents think that money solves all problems, but I’m perfectly content with my one-bedroom apartment and my job that they see as being a dead end.”

“That’s the most important thing: happiness. I started my own business because it made me happy to do it, not because I had to,” Myra replied. “And after a devastating divorce from my cheating ex-wife, I’m happy with Elisa now.”

Gwen nodded and said, “I don’t know if my mother’s ever found it; happiness. I don’t think my dad would know the difference. Archie definitely thought he had it, with Elisa being the dutiful wife, but I don’t think he did. I think Annabelle pretends she does but is actually miserable, and Grant just kind of goes with the flow of whatever my parents suggest. I don’t know if any of that is happiness.”

“And you?”

“Me? Well, I thrive off of driving my mother crazy, have a crush on a pretty girl, and I get to hang out with animals, so I’m living my best life right now,” she joked.

After lunch with Myra, Gwen walked two of her best boys, Marvin and Bolt. Then, she needed an afternoon pick-me-up, so she decided to give Southern Roastery a try so that she would have something to talk to Juliet about. It could even be a text message about how she had ordered a cappuccino and how she’d liked it better than her usual latte or something. Juliet could reply, and they’d exchange messages for a while. Gwen shook her head at the thought because she was planning conversation starters for a text exchange with Juliet just because she wanted to talk to her.

“Molly?” she asked when she noticed Molly on her way into the café.

“Oh, hi,” Molly said. “It’s Gwen, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Just grabbing coffee?”

“I am. Juliet was on my case because I’ve only been here once or twice, so I thought I’d give it a real try this time. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, much better now. It was a twenty-four-hour thing, I think, but it was brutal. I’ll save you the gory details.”

“Thanks for that,” Gwen replied.

“So, how’s Carly?”

“She’s good. I took her home with me last night. Don’t worry; Juliet okayed it.”

“I assumed so,” Molly replied and shifted her coffee to her other hand.

“Just grabbing a coffee, too?” Gwen asked, feeling the awkward silence now but not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah. This place is the closest to our office, so I usually come here a few times a week for the extra caffeine in the afternoon if I can get away.”

“What would you recommend?”

“Oh, I’m in HR. I don’t really know much about what’s good or not. Juliet is the one who went through all the training. I usually just get a vanilla latte.”

“Okay. That sounds good,” she said.

“So, Jules is out of town for a few days?”

“Yes,” Gwen replied, thinking Molly should probably know that since they work together and were close enough to hang out at the bar the other night.

“And you’re keeping Carly with you?”

“Probably. But she did well last night.”

“Could I maybe visit with her? She’s just a sweet dog, and I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Oh, sure. I mean, I’ll have to check with Juliet.”

“Right. No problem. I’ll text her and ask.”