I want to be like Elizabeth when I grow up!
“I did. I told her I had invited you over to talk about plans for Josh’s birthday party and that I thought her visit should be coming to an end. That little bitch got all excited and begged Josh to let her stay and help with the party plans. He said…he said…” Elizabeth turned and threw her hands in the air.
“He said what?” I practically shouted.
“He said she could stay and help…that you wouldn’t mind. I just stared and told my own son that he was an idiot, and then I stormed out. That was when I saw you. ”
I rolled my eyes because I could so see Victoria doing just that. For some reason, she had gotten her hooks into Josh, and it scared the shit out of me, especially with me not being around as much as I wanted to.
I started pacing as my mind started spinning. I had to do something. With me being gone all the time, she was getting closer and closer to Josh. I’d brought it up the other night on the phone, and he’d sworn to me that he didn’t have feelings for her like he did for me. Even though I believed him, that whole conversation with Victoria in the restroom kept coming up in my mind. I could still hear her bragging about giving Josh blow jobs and how much he liked it.
Oh god. I’m gonna be sick.
I snapped my head up at Elizabeth. She grabbed my arm and began leading me toward the back of the barn. I barely made it before I started throwing up.
Elizabeth pulled back my hair and held it up for me while I just threw up over and over again.
Damn it! The stomach flu again!
When she started rubbing my back, I almost cried because my mother would do the same thing when I got sick.
After my stomach finally settled down, I stood back up.
“Come on, baby girl. Let’s go in the house and get you some water. You need to sit down. ” Elizabeth began heading back toward the house.
“I’m going to take a leave of absence,” I blurted out.
“What?”
“I’m going to take a leave of absence from my job,” I said, standing up taller.
What the fuck am I saying? I love my job…but I love Josh more.
“Heather, why? You love your job!”
“I love Josh more. I need to be here more since this bitch is moving in on my man. I won’t let her take him from me, Elizabeth. I will not let her take him from me. I’ll just tell the school I’m having personal issues that I need to take care of. With Amanda staying at my house for a while, I won’t have to worry about things in Fredericksburg. I can talk to Ari’s parents about staying at the cottage. ” I started to walk toward the house.
“No,” Elizabeth said.
I stopped and turned to look at her. She had a smile as wide as the Grand Canyon on her face. “I think you should stay here…with us. We have three extra bedrooms and all. ”
“Um…I guess I could stay here,” I said as she skipped up and hooked her arm in mine.
She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh my god! Please let me be the one to break the news to Victoria!”
I giggled at the thought of seeing Victoria’s face when she found out I would be moving into the same house as Josh. I peeked over at Elizabeth. She was now humming a song as we made our way back to the house.
She looked over at me as her smile grew. “Oh, this day has turned out to be one of the best days of my life!” she said with a wink.
I laughed, shaking my head. “Why?”
When she glanced back at the house, Josh was talking with Victoria at her car. It looked like she was leaving.
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough, baby girl. Soon enough. ”
As we got closer to the car, I heard Josh telling Victoria about us all going to Luckenbach dance hall next weekend.
No! Shit! No, no, no, do