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“You’re new what?”
I paused, realizing I hadn’t even told her about my breakup! Lynne and her boyfriend had spent the last ten days in Curacao, enjoying the sun-kissed Caribbean. It was a much better weather situation than the outskirts of Buffalo in the winter.
Not boyfriend,my memory reminded me sharply.Fiancé. Remember?
Oh yeah. Who could forget that?
“Sloane?”
I shook myself out of my trance. “Hmm?”
“What were you going to say?” Lynne asked. “Your newwhat?”
I hadn’t told her about my breakup over the phone because I hadn’t wanted to mess with her vacation. Lynne was a good friend. The type who would’ve called me three times a day, when she should’ve been snorkeling and parasailing and screwing her boyfriend — correction, her fiancé — somewhere beautiful and majestic, like under a waterfall.
“My new piece,” I lied, wincing as I did it. “I can’t wait for you to see it. It turned out amazing.”
“I’m sure it did,” Lynne said encouragingly. “Send me a photo of it. Or better yet, I’ll come see it this weekend. Maybe Friday night, if you and Drake aren’t doing anything, that is.”
Friday night…
My stomach lurched, as a familiar warmth crept over me. I was taking the boys out Friday night. All three of them at once…
“I’ll give you a call,” I said, “and we’ll see what happens. No matter what, we’re getting together soon. There have been some changes in my life,” I teased. “I have a lot to tell you.”
My best friend perked up almost instantly. “Really?”
“Uh huh.”
“What kind of changes?”
“The kind that require a face-to-face meeting,” I told her. “And good coffee.”
“Reallygood coffee,” Lynne corrected me. “That’s what you promised.”
I laughed. “You got it.”
Hanging up, I realized I still didn’t have anyone to come to the foundry with me tonight. Not that I needed someone, mind you. Everything I needed to do I could accomplish by myself.
I’ll have an assistant.
My promise to Mr. Drumm came back to haunt me, echoing in my mind.
Every pour.
“Shit.”
I thumbed through my contacts, considering my options. I could call Mark, of course. He’d already offered to help. But Mark had his own unique ways of doing things at the foundry, and those ways weren’t anything like mine. He’d only mire every step of the process with unnecessary procedures, leaving me with half a night’s work when I was finally done.
Forget that.
Lynne was too tired. My friend Sandy was out. Gina might come if called, but she’d talk my ear off the whole time, distracting my focus. I’d get even less done with her than with Mark.
You know, you could call one of the guys.
I stared down at my text-message exchange with Brock, which consisted of little more than me sending him my address. I hadn’t even added him to my contact list yet.
He’d come for sure,I thought to myself. Or one of the others would.
