Coming Home

Chapter 5

"I have a feeling you girls are looking for trouble tonight," Gran mimics my thoughts, chuckling when she sees us coming downstairs.

"You know us, Lola!" Denise laughs, ushering Erin and me through the doors.

We were so excited to have a night out that we put in some extra effort to get dressed up to go to Cuba. The joy of getting ready together after years was so big that we just allowed ourselves to live in the moment and have fun.

We are all dressed up in tight-fitting jeans, low-cut tank tops, and heels that reach for the sky. Our faces have a beautiful, radiant glow thanks to the bold lipstick and shimmering eye shadow we have used. We feel so beautiful and sexy like nothing can bring us down from the high of being out together.

"My car is broken down the road," I say as we all get inside Erin's car. "Could one of your hubbies help me tow it?"

Denise sits in the front seat and they both share a laugh as they buckle their seat belts at the same time. They share a knowing smile and a silent joke, one that only they understand. Despite knowing I shouldn't feel jealous, a pang of sadness still wells up inside me as I realize how much I've missed since leaving this place.

"I'll text Gav," Denise says. "I'll ask him to tow it to Sam's shop."

Smiling, I nod as I get settled in the back seat. The girl's parents are staying with their kids, so it's likely their husbands will join us at Cuba soon and my time with them will be short-lived. They've been together for so long, I guess it's weird for them not to include their husbands when they get an adults' night out.

"I still can't believe Sam is working at his father's garage," I say. "I thought he'd get the hell out of here and never look back. He was such a brilliant kid..." I look through the windows, so lost inside my head as I watch the dead empty fields around us; I take some time to realize the girls went silent.

"What?" I ask when they both look at each other.

"He loves this place, Jen," Erin says. "After a few renovations, he turned his father's old garage into a neat modern shop. People from all over the country come here to have their cars fixed or remodeled."

"Really? Wow! Cool! So, I guess he didn't put all his intelligence to waste, then." I let out a sigh, and Denise snorts in response.

"And we did?" she asks. "We put out intelligence to waste because we didn't get fancy jobs?"

"That's not what I mean, Dennie. You guys are... happy here... have always been. But there's more to the world than just this small town. You could've at least lived a little, tried new things..."

"Like getting rich boyfriends and buying nice clothes?" She snorts again, making my walls go up.

"Well, that too. But I'm also talking about finding your place in the world, building a solid career, going to nice places, meeting other people..." I sigh. We've had this conversation repeatedly over the years.

"As we said, we are happy here with our little lives." She crosses her arms over her chest and I know I've upset her once again.

"I don't think you guys live an insignificant life, just that you don't know what's out there because you tied yourselves to this place," I say.

"So, please enlighten us. What are we missing?" She turns in her seat to look at me, and I hate to see the hurt in her eyes.

"This is ridiculous. I don't want to fight with you guys. I'm just-"

"You think you know better." Erin sighs, her eyes fixed on the road.

"That's not true! You know what? We see things differently, but it doesn't mean we have to fight over them. I missed you girls so much. Can we forget everything and just enjoy ourselves tonight?" I say, desperately wanting to go back to our cheerful mood.