A Magnolia Friendship - Anne-Marie Meyer Page 0,2

a class I’m thinking about bringing to the studio.”

I grabbed a chip and dipped it into the salsa. “Spill it, chica,” I said.

Everyone had their gaze focused on Clementine as she took in a deep breath and then parted her lips.

“I’m thinking about getting Archer to install some poles in the back of the studio and starting a pole dancing class.”

Just as the last three words left her lips, I inhaled, causing a bit of chip to fly to the back of my throat and lodge itself there. I started hawking and pounding my chest. From the corner of my eye, I saw Maggie stand and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. When I finally dislodged it, my eyes were watering and my throat felt raw.

I glanced around to see that everyone was staring at me. I offered them a weak smile through my watering eyes. They chuckled and turned back to focus on Clementine.

“Pole dancing is amazing for your core,” Clementine continued. “I just want to know if anyone would be interested before I have them installed.” She glanced around to all of us. “What do you think?”

I widened my eyes as I watched Maggie and Fiona nod with fervent glee. Victoria just sat there with her arms folded and her nose wrinkled as if she’d just smelled something bad. Not wanting to be in the Victoria camp, I smiled and nodded along with the other two. Even though when it came down to it, I doubted I could get my post-babies hips up any pole.

“Sounds fun,” I said as I offered Clementine an encouraging smile. Her own smile deepened, and I could tell that my friend was excited about this. And even though I didn’t want to, if taking a class would help her out, I was willing to do it.

Clementine got a far-off look in her eyes as she leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “It’s going to be epic.”

We all laughed, and the conversation drifted away into silence. I grabbed another chip just as Fiona perked up.

“Well, since we aren’t going to be talking about the book, how about we do something else?” She tapped her fingers on the countertop in front of her.

“Something else? Why would we do something else?” Victoria asked.

I could hear the annoyance in her voice as she shifted on her seat. Growing up with her had taught me a lot about her personality. She liked rules. She liked order. So the idea that we were going to throw that all out the window had to be bothering her.

And it made me wonder why she was even here. After all, with her reelection just around the corner, I would have figured she would be swamped with campaigning and focusing on making her second run as Magnolia’s mayor a success. She had never been the type to value a friendship over a goal.

At least, that was how she’d treated me when she ditched me in high school. We’d been friends once, but not anymore.

We were anything but.

“What do you have in mind?” I asked as I turned to Fiona, not being shy in ignoring Victoria’s comment. Fiona had a glint in her eye that made me feel nervous and excited at the same time. Right now, I had more in common with her in the relationship department than I did with pretty much anyone else in the room.

Victoria didn’t count, and Maggie and Clementine had both found their lifelong partners. With the package looming over me at home, I was on my way to being single-Shari. And I didn’t know what that meant or how I was supposed to act. At least with Fiona around, we could both be single moms together.

There was solidarity in finding someone in the same situation as me.

“There’s a new club opening up across the bridge,” she said, perking up from my question.

I nearly choked, again, on the chip I’d just finished chewing. A club? Was she serious? I may have gotten ahead of myself thinking we could have anything in common.

“A club?” Clementine asked as if she could read my mind.

Fiona nodded. “I hear it’s super fun.” She dropped back against the back of her chair. “Blake just got over a stomach bug, and I’m in need of a break just to prove to myself that I’m a woman and not a throw-up rag.”

I stared at her. It was as if she was speaking to me. That was exactly how I felt.