Brenna made it all the way to Friday morning without any nightmares or headaches and had just returned from her morning run when she heard a knock on the front door. Frowning, she grabbed a kitchen towel to wipe off her face and neck and went to see what stranger could be at the wrong door.
Her face and heart froze when she saw Adena standing on the front porch, looking around her with a slight expression of distaste. It was that very look on the other woman's face that jumpstarted her heart and loosed her temper. How dare she stand uninvited on her front porch with that look on her face? Brenna tapped on the window and motioned to Adena to come around to the back.
Brenna walked to the kitchen door and on opening it, stood in the doorway. She saw no reason to invite the woman in. Surely this wasn't a social call.
"Can I help you?"
"I just stopped by to drop off Julie's shower lists. You haven't had much time for renovations yet, I see."
"On the contrary, I've been working on the interior since I moved in." Brenna smiled stiffly.
"As I recall, there was a lot to be done. Adam and I looked at this house when we were house-hunting, but I didn't want to have to do so much remodeling right after getting married. I really thought his interest was mainly sentimental since his grandmother used to live next door."
Brenna didn't register much of anything after that second sentence containing the words 'house-hunting' and 'married'. She took the lists held out in Adena's perfectly manicured hand, noting as she did that her own hands could use some attention. Painting and gardening had left their marks.
"Thank you." Brenna closed the door in Adena's face. She stood there leaning on the back door for awhile until her thought processes were functioning again. Zoe nosed at her hand, confused. Putting the lists aside on the counter, she poured a glass of wine. Maybe not the most nutritious lunch, but there was an exception to every rule. She took the glass outside and sat in her chair in the sun, face up and eyes closed. Don't let her get to you. She's just trying to get Adam back and he's made it clear it's not going to happen. Then why were tears finding their way from behind her closed eyelids as she began to sniffle? Because she was not the ice queen here, that's why. Her tears dried in the sun as she drank her wine in the silence of the warm noontime, broken only by the hum of insects and an occasional birdcall.
A while later, Brenna was awakened by the sound of a familiar engine pulling into the drive, music blaring. Good grief, she'd fallen asleep in the sun. That's what she got for drinking wine for lunch. She wrinkled up her face to check for sunburn, but it felt okay. She hauled herself out of the chair as Molly came around the side of the house, her hands full of shopping bags. She dropped them and gave Brenna a big hug.
Then simultaneously, "Man, am I glad to see you."
Later in the afternoon, their voices slightly hoarse from catching up on all the latest news, they relaxed in the cool shaded parlor. Brenna curled up with a leg over one arm of her rocker while Molly stretched out on the carpet, inviting kitties to lie on her. Madeline stalked up her back and began kneading her shoulders.
Molly had been suitably appalled by the appearance of Adena and by her behavior, and was more than ready to give her a piece of her mind.
"That bitch, where does she get off? Adam obviously doesn't want her. I don't know him really well yet, but he doesn't strike me as the kind of man who puts up with women jerking him around."
Brenna smiled. "No, he's not. It's just that my feelings are stronger than I wanted them to be and on top of that, she's beautiful. In an ice princess sort of way."
"Then she doesn't have a chance because you, my dear, are the real McCoy."