Susan Mallery - Not Quite Over You

She knew that Drew was the reason she hadn’t been able to indulge in her Monday morning ritual. Between the new partnership, Leigh’s upcoming wedding and the reality of Autumn, she had too much on her mind.

She got up and decided to take advantage of her extra time by cleaning her loft apartment. Then she placed her orders for the upcoming weekend and tried to figure out what to take to the girlfriend lunch.

Nearly every Monday or Tuesday she and her friends met for lunch. In a town where weddings dominated the calendar, the locals treated Monday and Tuesday as their weekend. Silver and her friends rotated hosting duties for their lunch. Whoever hosted provided the entrée while everyone else brought another dish. Silver was toying with the idea of making a salad when she realized she had a couple of leftover honeydew melons.

She cut them up, then pureed them with ice but didn’t add any sugar. She put the sealed container into a cooler along with a few cans of lemon-lime soda, plastic glasses and spoons. Before she left for the lunch, she called in an order to her favorite Mexican restaurant. She picked up chips, salsa, guacamole and a dozen chicken taquitos, then drove out to the animal preserve.

In addition to being a wedding destination town, Happily Inc was the proud home of one of the most awarded recycling centers in the country. Theirs was a town that recycled and composted in earnest. There were even competitions where residents on different blocks tried to have the least amount of trash each week.

The owners of the Happily Inc Landfill and Recycling Center had also purchased hundreds of adjoining acres where they’d started an animal preserve. The nonpredatory residents—zebras, gazelles, a water buffalo and a new-to-them herd of giraffes grazed, played and added a charming element to the already-quirky town.

Carol Lund-Mitchell ran the animal preserve. Her father and uncle owned the landfill and the surrounding land, and she took care of the animals. When it was Carol’s turn to host and the weather was nice, they ate outside in the preserve.

Silver followed another small pickup into the parking area by the main office, then waved as Bethany climbed out.

“Tell me you didn’t bring salad,” the pretty blonde called as she lifted a bakery bag off the seat next to her. “I’m very stressed these days and in desperate need of sugar and carbs.”

“I brought both.”

“That’s why I love you.” Bethany laughed. “Pallas texted to say she was bringing Renee to lunch today.”

“I know. I heard from her, too.”

Renee had moved to town a few months ago. Pallas had talked to Silver about adding her new employee to the girlfriend lunch. Given how tense Renee could be, Pallas hadn’t been sure, but Silver had given her a thumbs-up. Renee had loosened up in recent weeks and there had been hints of a wicked sense of humor.

“I’m excited not to be the new girl,” Bethany confessed.

“We can’t all have been born here,” Silver teased. “Some of us got lucky and some of us didn’t. But even us transplants become family.”

They walked onto the path leading into the preserve. After passing through a double set of gates, they made their way to the big tree where Carol usually set up lunch. She’d spread out a half dozen blankets and brought in big pillows for lounging.

Silver stared at the familiar arrangement. Carol, a sensible-looking redhead wearing khakis and work boots, looked at her.

“What? Did I forget something?”

Silver smiled. “I was just wondering how much longer we can have lunch out here. We try to get together at least three times a month and with us rotating the location through all six or seven of us, we won’t be back here for at least two months.” She eyed her friend’s rounded belly. “I’m not sure you and Pallas will be physically capable of sprawling on the ground then.”

Carol and Pallas were both pregnant. They were married to brothers, and Natalie, newly engaged to yet another Mitchell brother, had confessed to being incredibly vigilant when it came to birth control. She didn’t want any surprises until after the wedding.

Carol lightly touched her stomach. “We’ll move to the house when that happens. I’m not giving up my girlfriend lunches for anything.”

“Labor,” Bethany teased. “You might have to give up one or two when you have the baby.”

“We’ll see.”

Wynn and Natalie arrived, followed by Pallas and Renee. Everyone settled on the blankets.

“I have chicken salad sandwiches,” Carol said, pointing to a pink bakery box. “On croissants.”

Pallas moaned. “Sounds delicious.”

Silver explained about her wedding cocktail and how she had modified a nonalcoholic version for the lunch. Everyone helped themselves to food and Silver poured drinks. Bethany filled her plate, and then looked at Pallas.

“Thank you for still being my friend.”

Pallas rolled her eyes. “You’re marrying my brother. I don’t really have a choice in the matter, but even if I did, I would still like you. I swear.”

Bethany hung her head and sighed. “I hate my life.”

“You don’t,” Wynn told her. “You’re in love with a great guy.”

“There is that, but everything else.” She turned to Renee. “Do you know who I am?”

Renee put down her sandwich and cleared her throat. “Bethany Archer?”

Everyone laughed.

Pallas hugged Renee. “I think what Bethany is means is do you—” she made air quotes “— know who she is , as in her parents are the king and queen of El Bahar.”

Renee’s green eyes widened. “I didn’t know that. Am I supposed to call you something like ma’am or Your Highness?”

“No. Just Bethany.” She groaned and explained how her mother, an American schoolteacher, had gone to El Bahar to teach at the international school and had met and fallen in love with then–Crown Prince Malik.

“When my dad died, Malik adopted me,” she continued. “So while I have El Baharian citizenship, I was born in Riverside, California.”

Pallas smiled. “She brought over a stallion that my brother bought and they fell madly in love and now they’re getting married.”

“Maybe,” Bethany grumbled.

Silver stared at her. “What? No! What happened to madly in love? Why didn’t anyone say anything?” Silver might not be looking for love herself, but she very much wanted her friends to be happy.

“We’re fine,” Bethany said hastily. “It’s not us, it’s tradition.” She drew in a breath. “My parents really want me to get married in El Bahar. They want to do the big royal wedding. But that means not having the wedding here, where Cade grew up. We’re still working it all out.”

Natalie leaned toward Renee. “Apparently marrying a princess can be complicated.”

“It was never on my to-do list,” Renee murmured. “But I will keep it in mind.”

Everyone laughed.

“We’ll figure it out,” Pallas told her future sister-in-law. “I promise. You, me and your mom are still talking options.”

No one knew weddings better than Pallas, Silver thought fondly, but before she could say anything, she heard an odd rustling sound in the bushes on the other side of the tree. One of the zebras stepped out into the clearing and eyed them.

“That’s strange,” Natalie said, pointing to the handsome boy. “I thought the zebras pretty much kept to themselves.”

“They do.” Carol smiled. “Don’t worry—they’re perfectly safe.”

“Maybe they like taquitos,” Pallas said, waving one. “I know I do.”

Conversation shifted to Natalie’s recent success at the gallery where she worked part-time and showed her art. She’d been featured in a show and had sold everything. Wynn talked about how her son, Hunter, was doing in school this year.