Forgiving Patience by Jennifer Simpkins Page B

party, or what?” Em couldn’t hide the big smile spreading across
her face.
    Her friend was dressed down for her
day off, but she still looked like she could replace her running shorts and
baby doll tee with a flashy dress and be ready to walk down a runway in an
instant. Her white-blond hair was straightened, making it look a couple inches
longer than what it actually was. Her makeup was flawless, with pale pink
painted lips. Anna would have felt inadequate if it wasn’t for Jesse sitting
there in Liberty overalls, wearing only a sports bra in place of a shirt.
Jesse’s body was toned and tanned. Even though she farmed most of the day,
which was what probably kept her in top shape, a farmer’s tan didn’t mar her
body. Maybe, instead of wanting to open up a coffee shop, she should get into
the farming business. She was never one to want to flaunt her body, but she had
to admit that if she had Jesse’s, she would have worn just a sports bra to the
walking track instead of her extra-large T-shirt. There was no telling what
Jake would have said about that.
    “No, Jake and I certainly did not get
it on.”
    Jesse asked, “So what was the rush to
get out of the stuffy party?”
    “Hey…” Em cut in, “…my party was not
stuffy. You just wouldn’t know class if it was a snake and snuck up and bit you
on the butt.”
    All three women went quiet before
Jesse broke out in laughter. “Really, Em? Did you just say that? That was
undoubtedly the worst and overused line ever.”
    “Why don’t you just shut up…how is
that line?”
    It felt good to laugh and be around
friends. At least that’s what she hoped Jesse was starting to think of her as.
The woman was fun to be around and kept Em on her toes.
    “Now, instead of making fun of me,
let’s get back to Anna,” Em told Jesse.
    Jesse stood, pulling her John Deere
cap down low. “You may as well just spit out your news, otherwise this one,”
she pointed to her future sister-in-law, “will just pry it out of you anyway.”
    Anna knew she wasn’t going to make it
out of Cut & Curls without having to spill her guts. She didn’t know if she
wanted—or needed—to keep it to herself anymore. Maybe it would be best if she
asked what they thought about the whole situation. She’d gone over it in her
head for most of the night and still had come up with nothing remotely logical,
unless you counted the idea of sneaking in his back door and smothering him in
his sleep with his own pillow. If she didn’t talk to someone, she was liable to
kill him.
    Gently closing her book, she began,
“This doesn’t leave these sacred walls, got it?”
    Both answered in unison, “Got it.”
    Anna took a steady breath. “Okay. I
didn’t rush out of the party because I couldn’t wait to have sex with Jake. He
made me a proposition, I refused, and I couldn’t be in the same room with him
any longer.”
    Anna had never seen Em speechless,
but at that moment her best friend couldn’t muster up a single word. So, Jesse
took the lead. “What kind of proposition?”
    “You already know this part.
Remember, Em? He said he would give me my house back if I went on three dates
with him.” Anna left out the part about them hitting the sheets. Nobody was
getting that piece of private information. Em and Jesse could beg all they
wanted, they were not hearing that little bit of juicy information.
    “Oh, yeah,” Em recalled.
    “Dickhead,” Jesse commented.
    “What else?” Em questioned. “Has
something else happened I don’t already know about?”
    She should’ve known her friend would
know she was holding something back. She had never been a good liar, having
nothing like Em’s abilities.
    “After I left your house yesterday, I
went to the walking track just to clear my head and try to shed these twenty
pounds I’ve packed on. I had earphones in my ears, so when someone grabbed me
from behind, I thought I was being attacked—”
    “Wait? You weren’t, though, were
you?”