LITMIR.BIZ

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going to take him back.” Even under the best circumstances, Jackie didn’t have a forgiving nature. This was probably the reason men feared her.

      “Well, I think it’s about time she got rid of that bum,” Moni said. “Everyone can see that Brock is in love with Farah. Once he recovers from his liver transplant, he’s going to tell her how he feels.” Moni had always believed that love conquered all, which explained why she focused her energy on keeping a man instead of keeping a job.

      “Good luck,” Carla said, ever the pessimist. “I’ll bet you an entire case of snack cakes that Brock is dead before the end of the week.”

      “Okay, okay.” Rennie held up two fingers. “That’s enough commentary on ‘To Love and to Cherish.’ Doesn’t anyone have any real issues to discuss today?”

      Rennie let her gaze rest on each of the four women in turn. Silence. “What about you, Carla? What’s on your mind?”

      Instead of harping on her good-for-nothing husband, as expected, the petite blonde looked at the soda can in her hand. “If you want to know the truth, I really wish you’d keep more diet soda in the refrigerator. This is the second week in a row that I’ve had to drink regular.”

      Rennie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Carla, I’ve told you before that you’re free to bring whatever you want to keep in the fridge. I could go broke trying to cater to everyone’s snacking preferences. That said, I think there’s one more diet cola hidden in the vegetable crisper.”

      Carla let out a joyful squeal and headed to the kitchenette.

      “What about you, Jackie?” Rennie asked.

      “Hey, yeah. Carla, bring me an orange, will ya?”

      Rennie sighed. Normally she loved the apartment-style setup of her office. The comfortable sofas and overstuffed chairs usually helped her clients feel more relaxed. But there were times when the unconventional surroundings worked against her.

      In the beginning, Rennie had met with each woman individually, trying to work through the worst of their problems. Once their lives began to turn around, she brought them together, hoping the women could benefit from a support system of their peers.

      The group had been meeting twice a week for a little over a month, and it had been working quite well. Much of the time, Rennie could guide the discussion and then allow the other women to offer guidance and support to whoever was having a problem at the moment. As an added bonus, the women were becoming real friends. Most days, this was a good thing.

      But, on days like today, it could be a problem. Combine their chatty mood with the cozy living room setup, and trying to get any genuine feedback this late on a Friday was nearly impossible. Under normal circumstances, Rennie knew just how to keep the women on track, but right now even she was having trouble focusing.

      No matter where her thoughts traveled, they always came fluttering back to Gray. She wanted to kick herself every time she remembered the disastrous conversation she’d had with him—

      Rennie’s head jerked up as a pair of fingers snapped in front of her face. Sarita backed up and sank into her recliner. “Welcome back, Rennie. Did you have a good trip?”

      Heat suffused her cheeks as Rennie realized she’d been caught daydreaming. She tried to play it off. “So, have you all decided what you’d like to discuss today?”

      Moni nodded. “Yeah, I’d like to know what’s up with you. First of all, you never let us get away with chitchat for more than fifteen minutes. Today you let us talk for almost half an hour.”

      “Plus,” Jackie added. “You’ve been staring off into space all day. What’s on your mind?”

      “It’s got to be a man,” Carla said. “When a woman has problems, it’s always a man.” She was the only married member of the group, and ironically the only one who didn’t want to be.

      Rennie shook her head. “This is not about me. We’re supposed to be talking about the issues that the four of you are dealing with.”

      Sarita grinned. “Well, Miss Thang, thanks to you, all of us are doing just fine right now. Looks like you’re the one with a lot of junk on your mind. Are you too good to let us psychoanalyze you for a change?”

      “Yeah.” Carla cheered, taking a long swig of her diet soda.

      Rennie’s first instinct was to protest. It wasn’t her place to take up group time with her personal problems. But, as she looked at the expectant faces of the woman surrounding her, she began to think twice.

      After some rocky months, they had all learned to open up to her and to each other. This was an environment of safety and trust that they’d created together. If Rennie chose to back off now, they might very well come to the conclusion that their trust had been misplaced.

      “Okay, you win. It’s not a big deal, but I do have something on my mind that I have mixed feelings about.”

      “Lay it on us, Rennie. We’re all getting pretty good at this psychology stuff,” Jackie said, sharing one section of her orange with Moni.

      “All right. I ran into an old flame yesterday.”

      “Where?” Sarita asked. “At the club last night?”

      Rennie nodded. “He caught me off guard, because I hadn’t seen him since I moved to Texas to go to college several years ago.”

      “I see,” Jackie said, putting on a dramatically serious face. “And what happened then?” The woman winked as if to say, “See, I can do this.”

      “We talked for a few minutes, but the conversation went nowhere. To make a long story short, the last few years haven’t gone as well for him as they have for me.”

      “I see,” Jackie said, tapping her chin with her index finger. “How did seeing him again make you feel?”

      “How did it make me feel?” Rennie shook her head. There was no easy answer to that question. First, his soft, melting smile had thrilled her heart, then the hard shards of ice in his eyes had broken it. “Strange. I said all the wrong things, and he’s been on my mind ever since.”

      “Has he been on your mind because you didn’t like what you said to him or because you still feel some attraction to him?”

      Rennie adjusted the collar of her shirt. Suddenly, it felt a bit constricting. “Both.”

      “So what do you think is going to make you feel better about this situation?” Jackie asked, turning Rennie’s favorite phrase around on her.

      “Well, for one thing, I want to apologize to him for the way our last meeting went. He’s had some tough times, and I’m sure he thought I was judging him. We’d been close once, and I’d like the chance to be more supportive.”

      “And the chance to see if there are any sparks left?” Moni asked with a hopeful grin.

      “I don’t know. He may not be available anymore. There’s been so much time between us, and we’ve both changed so much. I’m not even sure we still have anything in common.”

      “So, what I hear you saying is that you want to see him again, but you’re not sure if he’s still single. If he is, are you interested?”

      Rennie squirmed in her seat. They were digging a little deeper than she was ready to go right now.

      “Ha,” Carla shouted. “It’s not so easy in the hot seat, is it?”

      Rennie laughed. “I must say, you guys are pretty good at this. I guess I should be flattered that you all were actually paying attention in our sessions.”

      Jackie looked at the clock. “We’re almost out of time, but that doesn’t mean you can wiggle out of the question. If your guy is available, would you be interested?”

      Rennie shrugged. “I can’t answer that right now.”

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