The Perfect Recipe for Love and Friendship by Shirley Jump

Author:Shirley Jump
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2017-07-11T04:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

The letter opener glared back at Bridget, the overhead kitchen light dancing off the blade. The world was quiet, everyone with any sense asleep in their beds. Even though she had to be at the bakery in a few hours, Bridget had rolled out of bed, paced the floors for a while, and then finally gone down to the kitchen. She sat there, drank an entire glass of chardonnay, poured a second, took a deep breath, and started slitting the flaps. It was time. Actually, it was past time.

One after another, the bills piled up—gas, electric, trash, mortgage, credit cards.…

At the bottom of the pile, the bank statement. She took a long gulp of the wine and opened the envelope. She’d been hoping for a mistake, one of those Monopoly Chance cards that said Bank error in your favor: collect two thousand dollars.

But there was no bright orange card, no accounting error. Her heart fell and her lungs tightened. She could feel that rip tide closing over her again, heavier, thicker. How was she ever going to get out of this mess?

Her phone buzzed, and the screen lit with a text message from Magpie: Heading back into town in a couple days. Heard you are still surviving at Charmed, you glutton for punishment. Want to make your favorite sister some black and white cookies?

Bridget chuckled. Those had always been Magpie’s favorite. She had loved them when she was little, even though she could barely hold the oversized two-tone frosted sugar cookies. Ma would always bake a few extras for holidays and Magpie’s birthday and as a reward for good grades. Definitely! And hey, I took your advice. Did something unexpected.

The phone rang, and Bridget jumped. “Hello?”

“You can’t just text something like that and not expect me to call you.” In the background, Bridget could hear a band and voices. “What’d you do?”

“Went to see Abby.”

“You did? That’s great!” Magpie mumbled something about being right back. A moment later, the background noise dropped away. “Sorry, I was in a club. But I’m outside now. Tell me all about it. How is she? Did you meet Jessie?”

“Wait, you know about Jessie?”

“Yup. I saw pictures of her about a year ago, I think, when I just showed up on Abby’s doorstep. I mean, Abby didn’t tell me about them being involved but I could tell from the pictures. They looked so happy, you know?”

“And you never said anything?”

“About what? About the fact that she’s involved with a woman? Hell, I don’t care. All I care about is that you all are happy. She could marry a schnauzer and I’ll stand beside her and hold her bouquet.”

Bridget laughed. “Magpie, you are one of a kind.”

“That’s what they keep telling me. Probably a good thing too.”

They talked a little while longer, and then Magpie said she had to go. “Our taxi’s here. But I’ll be home Wednesday. See you then?”

“For sure.”

“Good. You sound better, Bridge. Much better.” Magpie shouted she’d be right there and then came back to the phone.

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