You Belong to Me (Stevens Book 6)

Chapter 13

Alice had just opened the door to her office and put her stuff down on the table when Dr. Grace Winston came waltzing in with an extra cup of coffee.

Rainer hadn't just taught her how to be sexy, he had given her confidence. A confidence that had made meeting new people easy, she had even managed to go out on a few dates. Not with much success though because there was no man that could measure up to Rainer.

Alice had met Grace shortly before the semester had started. Grace was an Anthropologist who had her office in the same building as hers. The building that held the Anthropology department was being renovated. so they had spread all of the professors out into other buildings. It made it a bit awkward for the students, but everyone seemed to be making the best of it, and it had meant that Alice and Grace had met and become fast and strong friends.

"So, did you get all of your papers graded?"

"Barely, I was up until after one." Not that Alice minded that. She never slept anyway. She had the news channel on twenty four hours a day, always watching for Rainer. The few times she had seen him reporting on the news she had actually touched the screen as if she were touching him.

It had been just over three months since she had last seen him. He had sent her a brief email message thanking her for her work and letting her know that he was doing his best to stay safe, but she had only thanked him in a return message because she didn't know what she could say that wouldn't sound desperate.

"I invited my sister-in-law, Cassie, to girl's night, I hope that's all right?" Grace interrupted her thoughts.

"Sure." Alice and Grace had a girl's night every Friday. It was a time for them to de-stress and vent about, not only the politics in their different departments, but their students as well. Grace was married, but she claimed her husband wanted to solve her problems not just listen, which was all Grace needed him to do.

"Do you want me to pick out the movie?" Grace asked.

"No, the last one your chose was horrible. Why don't you let Cassie pick it since you and I can never agree?"

"That sounds good as long as she doesn't let Mason help."

"Mason?" Alice asked distracted.

"That's her husband."

Alice made an agreeing noise as she started to look over her email.

"Forget it, you're already gone," Grace said with a smile.

"Sorry... we'll have a good chat tonight, I promise. I bought some new fingernail polishes for us to play with."

"Just remind me to try them out after we eat the popcorn not before."

"Will do, thanks for the coffee, I needed it."

"What are friends for?"

Alice rose and walked over to her, giving her a spontaneous hug.

Grace hugged her back. "Good luck with the young'ens."

"Young'ens?"

"My husband is from Texas. It is an expression they use to describe young adults, see you later."

Alice thought about Texas for a minute before she snapped herself out of it. She only had fifteen minutes to get to class.

Her classes went well. She was teaching Shakespeare and the classics, so and she had divided up the students in her classes, making them translate what they thought the characters were saying. Since her students were a diverse group she had some very interesting and funny results.

When Alice got home that night she had only an hour to straighten up her apartment before Grace and her sister-in law arrived.

She loved her loft style apartment. The kitchen and living area was a large room that was so vast that it had a few support posts in the middle of the room. The bedroom and bathroom were off to one side, tucked behind the kitchen. What she loved most was the large bank of windows that looked down on the city. She had chosen old comfortable furniture that made the large room feel cozy.

Alice also had a thing for lamps. They were everywhere and she loved to change the mood of the room depending on which lamps she chose.

She was just uncorking the wine when she heard her doorbell ring, and when she answered it she saw Grace and a beautiful redhead. Her hair was curly and a deep auburn, and she was so lovely that Alice was automatically drawn to her.

"Alice this is my sister Cassie," Grace introduced as she hugged Alice then entered the apartment, putting her stuff down and moving straight for the wine.

"Hello Alice, thanks for letting me butt in tonight," Cassie said taking her hand.

Alice gave her a warm smile. "You're very welcome."

Alice moved to get herself glass of wine while watching the two women interact. She could tell that they were close by the vibe they had. "I thought you two were sisters-in law?"

"We are," Grace confirmed. "Our husbands are brothers."

"I thought in-laws weren't supposed to get along?"

Grace shrugged. "I guess we're just lucky," she said, not realizing what she was saying until it was too late. "That was thoughtless of me Alice. I'm sorry."

Alice had told Grace about Frank, part of it anyway. Just the part about him leaving her for her sister. Cassie looked from one to the other wanting an explanation and Grace looked at Alice with a questioning glance.

"It really is a very sad and demeaning tale. You see, my fiancé left me for my sister," Alice supplied, so that Grace wouldn't have to feel bad when she explained the situation to Cassie.

"Shut-up!" Cassie exclaimed. "Seriously?"

It made Alice laugh. There was no pity from her, just amazement, and it had been close to the reply that Rainer had given her when she had told him the sad tale.

"I thought that only happened in the movies."

Alice went to the fridge and started putting out nibbles. "To make matters worse, my parents supported his decision to marry my sister since they thought it was a better match, and my father is backing his political career."

"What's his name, have I heard of him?"

"Franklin Johnson," Alice said, rooting through the drawer where she kept the to-go menus.

Cassie nodded her head, confirming that she had heard of him.

"Enough about me, what do you do Cassie?" Alice had been looking at the pizza menu, but when she was met with only silence she looked up at the two women who were both staring at her.

"What?"

"Alice, Cassie is a very well-known singer. She is currently starring in a show on Broadway."

"Sorry," Alice blushed. "I live in books."

Cassie just laughed, a deep sexy laugh, that hinted at the power of her voice.

"Well, at least I know you'll either like me or not for myself."

"Then here is your first test. What do you want to eat?" She pushed the menus over to Cassie.

"That's easy, pizza loaded. I don't know about you, but I always feel less guilty if I put more vegetables on it."

"O.K. second test, what movie did you pick? Grace is horrible at choosing them."

"But you love me anyway," Grace said, throwing herself down on the couch and kicking off her shoes.

Cassie had chosen a thriller that Alice had been wanting to see.

"Excellent. Well famous Cassie, I think we will be fast friends," Alice said giving her a hug. "But I don't know if I have a fingernail polish that will match your hair."

After that the night flew by, and by the time the ladies left she was actually tired and fell into the first contented sleep that she had had in a while.