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reason did she have for returning? She wondered if the woman had missed her.
After all, they had known each other as long as Anna could remember. For the
first time she wondered if not coming back was a mistake.
    Ms. Edna didn’t have any family, so
Anna’s mom had made it a secret tradition to set aside one day a week to spend
a couple hours with their cranky neighbor. Ms. Edna would’ve resented a pity
visit, so they were required to make up reasons for visiting—such as needing a
cup of sugar—which she saw right through and sent them packing back across the
field.
    “Em was telling the truth. I’m here
for a couple weeks.”
    “Where you stayin’ since that older
Lawrence boy is shacking up at your place?”
    Anna was trying to forget Jake and
their little run-in for just this night. “Garrett offered me an apartment
behind his office.”
    “Good. I would tell you to stand up
for what is yours, but it’s best you stay away from Lawrence. He and his
brother skirt around with every floozy in town. Just look at that Bradley. He’s
practically having sex right there on the dance floor with some girl he
probably picked up last night…”
    “Ms. Edna!” Was this outspoken
sixty-year-old the woman she’d grown up living next to? She did not want to be
talking about sex with Edna. It was just… unnatural.
    “What, child? You think I don’t know
about sex? I might be a single woman, but I was young once. Those rotten ‘ lil devils are sure nice to look at, but they are
t-r-o-u-b-l-e if you ask me. You stay away.” The older woman pointed a stern
finger.
    “I’ll keep that in mind, Ms. Edna,”
Anna agreed, trying to force herself not to blush.
    “Well, I gotta go over here and see
when Louise wants to come in and get her hair fixed. Don’t be a stranger.” Edna
gave her one more hard look, as if to make sure Anna was really there and not a
ghost. Even though Anna wanted to give her a hug, she decided against it
because she knew Ms. Edna wouldn’t like the sign of endearment—especially in
public.
    Nonetheless, Anna was glad to be done
with the odd conversation. She couldn’t erase the picture of Edna as a young
girl, skirtin ’ around with all the single handsome men.
Why hadn’t her dear neighbor ever married or talked about an ex-lover? It was a
thought Anna became intrigued by. Did she have any family?
    Anna turned her attention back to the
buffet Ms. Edna had just nonchalantly snacked from. She needed to keep her hands
busy and make herself feel like she was not on the outside. She hated to admit
it, but it was times like this she longed to have a man to cling too. Someone
she could be surrounded by, instead of standing alone holding a dinner plate in
place of a warm hand. It was hard to be in a crowded room full of couples and
yet feel so terribly alone.
    Before she had time to grab a plate
and fill it with food she didn’t have the stomach to eat, the honoree of the
party rushed up. “Come on. I want to introduce you to the other bridesmaids.”
    She could feel a knot forming in her
stomach at the word introduce. Usually, when around new people, or in this
case, old friends she hadn’t seen in over a decade, her nerves took over, and
her face and chest turned an awful shade of red. So far she’d gotten by with
just a few hellos from other passing guests and the short, nerve-rattling sex
talk with Ms. Edna. She was anxious about meeting Em’s friends. She hoped they accepted her as the maid of honor. While she took Ms.
Edna’s lead and told herself it didn’t matter what anyone else thought about
her, deep down she wanted Em to have a wonderful wedding. Em didn’t deserve to
have her Patience friends and her best friend, who lived what seemed a million
miles away, to be at odds and uncomfortable with one another.
    I really don’t want to mingle.
    Because of the lack of time, she’d
thrown herself together in a frenzy. After the irritating conversation with her
realtor—and she