“It wouldn’t have mattered. I’m having to wait for Nick and Kimmy to come back from their parents’ funeral.”
Anguish filled her at the reminder of her coworkers’ losses. The brother and sister traveled with the band longer than she had and they’d taken her under their wings to show her the ropes. In their late twenties, they still remained unusually close to their parents. It was a nightly ritual that they FaceTimed their parents together and discussed their day. Often, they would drag others on the bus into the conversations. When Penni had told her that their parents had been killed in a freak accident while they were hiking, Ginny had felt their sudden loss and had reached out to the siblings to express her sympathy.
Penni was just as saddened. “I didn’t want to pressure them to send the badges back. They get back tonight and are going to drop them off Friday.” She turned to the woman who’d walked in. “Sorry, Zoey. I didn’t mean to drag you into my drama with Alec. Let me introduce you. This is Gianna and Ginny.” The women shared smiles as Penni continued, “Zoey just rented the office across from us. She’s a life coach and is getting a big following on Instagram. You should check her out.”
“What do you coach people to do?” Gianna asked.
“Depends on what they want to achieve.”
Ginny didn’t know what a life coach was supposed to look like, but if she did, she would have imagined someone more exuberant like Gianna or Penni, not the woman who had an almost Zen-like quality about her. She was dressed in a colorful, airy gauze skirt and a filmy top and made her feel calm just staring at her.
“She coaches me to live a healthier life. I have to admit to having a caffeine and processed food addiction.” Giving the coffee machine in the corner of her office a longing look, Penni sat down on the corner of Grace’s desk.
“She coaches me to deal with Penni,” Grace joked.
“Can you coach me on how to get my boyfriend to propose?”
“I could.” Zoey smiled. “Or I could coach you to propose to him.”
“You’re hired.”
“Good luck getting an appointment.” Grace grabbed her purse off her desk. “So, where are we eating? Penni’s the only one starved.”
“Gianna and I are going to Harry’s Seafood, if you want to come with us?”
“Sounds good. We could drive in my car,” Penni said. “And I can bring you and Gianna back after lunch.”
“Is that okay with you, Gianna?” Ginny asked.
“Works for me unless it’s too superstitious for five people to go in one car,” she readily agreed.
The small group filed out of the office, then stopped in the hallway as Grace locked the door where they eyed Gianna questioningly.
“Ginny was telling me some of the superstitions that Kentuckians believe in,” Gianna explained as they went to the elevator.
“Not everyone, just a few of the older mountain people.”
Zoey pressed the button. “Like what?”
“For instance, if two women dress a bride, one of the three will die by the end of the year.”
“I’ve never heard that one, and I go to Kentucky regularly,” Penni chimed in. “What’s another one?”
Ginny had to think for a minute, then came up with one that she hadn’t told Gianna. “If you count the number of rings of the women you’re with and recite the alphabet, that’s the initial of your future husband’s name.”
Stepping out of the elevator, the women circled around her to hold their hands out.
“It won’t work with us; Gianna and I are both unmarried.” Ginny tried to cut between Zoey and Penni, wishing she had chosen anther one to entertain them.
“Zoey isn’t married either.” Penni took a step sideways, blocking her. “We just count it differently with each of you.”
Hungry, she knew it was quicker to play along, so she stuck her hands out and showed her ringless fingers.
“Each of us have to do our own counting. It’s bad luck for Penni or Grace to. If they count, it’s how many years before they get divorced.” Ginny nodded at the woman across from her. “Gianna, you go first.”
Her roommate counted the five rings on Penni’s hands. “E so far, right?”
“Yes. Go ahead,” Ginny encouraged her.
Gianna switched her gaze to Grace. She had two on each hand. “I. I guess that leaves Chris in the dust.” Then she went to Zoey’s hands. “You really like rings, don’t you?” She had stacks of delicate rings on both hands.
“Yes. I usually don’t wear this many,” she said, wiggling her fingers for Gianna to count. She had ten on one hand and six on the other.
“Y? I don’t know anyone with a Y name.” Irritated, she looked around at them as if they knew someone who did.
“Good things come to those who wait.”
“Stuff it, Zoey.”
“It’s my turn.” Zoey turned the topic at Gianna’s burgeoning aggression, sweeping her eyes over the display of rings. “M.”