Do you actually think the woman is going to stalk you?
“You live this close to the beach?” Megan’s eyes lit up. “Jealous!” She sighed a little. “Rodney and I looked at places near the beach, but he didn’t want to spend the money.”
“They’re expensive now.” Katherine sipped her green tea. “When we bought, North Beach was pretty cheap. So lots of our neighbors work at the college too.”
Megan gave her a smile, but it looked a little forced. “You must know so many interesting people.”
She could see the tension around the woman’s eyes. “You don’t like it here, do you?”
“The café?” Megan’s eyes went wide. “No, it’s nice. I—”
“California.” Katherine had the urge to take Megan’s hand. Which was strange as she wasn’t an affectionate person. “You don’t like Moonstone Cove.”
Megan’s mouth fell open. Then shut. The cheerful facade slipped, and her smile fell. “No. I kind of hate it here. My kids love it. My husband loves it. And I hate it. It leaves me absolutely cold.”
“I don’t think you’re talking about the weather.”
“That too.” A bitter smile curved Megan’s lips. “Women here are not the friendliest. Back in Atlanta, I had so many friends. College friends. Mom friends. Work friends. Here, I don’t know anyone and they all think I’m stupid and shallow because I guess if you like pink and have a Southern accent, that’s what you are.”
Katherine sipped her coffee. “I don’t think you’re stupid. Or shallow.”
Megan narrowed her eyes. “But I have a feeling if we hadn’t experienced what we did on Thursday, you wouldn’t have said hello at the gym. Am I right?”
“I don’t say hello to anyone I don’t know.” Katherine clutched her mug. “Unless it’s in a professional setting. I’m not outgoing.”
“At least you’re honest about it. Women here…” Megan shook her head. “There have been a few work events for my husband that wives were invited to, but most of the women there were phony as a five-dollar Rolex. And so much plastic surgery! Dear Lord, is it that common around here? Every single one of those girls had the same nose and teeth.” Megan’s eyes went wide. “It was unnerving.”
“I have no idea.” Katherine thought about the women she knew from work. “Not as much plastic surgery among college professors probably.”
“So most of your friends.” Megan paused to taste her coffee. “Did you get to know them through work?”
“Friends?” Did she consider her colleagues friends? “Um… no. I mean, I’m friendly with a lot of the people I work with, but I wouldn’t consider them friends.”
“So…” Megan frowned. “Who do you hang out with? Outside of work?”
“My husband.” She thought a little bit. “And I want a dog.”
“Don’t get me wrong, dogs are great, but what about girlfriends?” Megan set her coffee down. “Who do you talk to about your husband? Or that annoying thing your mother is doing? Or… hell, hot flashes and all that crap.”
Katherine blinked. “I… don’t.”
Megan cocked her head. “You don’t what? You don’t talk to anyone about that stuff?”
Baxter’s question from the day before popped into her head. “Who would you ask to watch a dog for us?”
Oh. This was why she had a hard time answering that question.
“I guess I don’t have many friends.” Katherine frowned. “I never have. I talk to my sister in San Francisco, and I really like my sister-in-law, but she lives in London. Most of my friends from college have very different lives than me. And… my husband is wonderful. He’s a great person to talk to.” When she could actually get him to pay attention. Baxter could be a little… distracted at times.
“Katherine, no offense, but you need some friends. I can at least video chat with my girls from Atlanta and have a drink. You need to get some girls.”
Katherine’s previous life experience with groups of women was far from positive.
She’d tried to join a quilting club once because she was so impressed by the precision of the craft, but she wasn’t coordinated enough with needles and she felt awkward asking for help. Her neighbor had invited her to a pottery class, but she’d only gone once. She didn’t attend a church or temple. Her department was dominated by men.
She frowned at Megan, with her perfectly coordinated outfit and effortless, charming manners. “I don’t think I fit into most women’s social circles.”
Megan’s blue eyes were kind and more than a little amused. “Well cheers.” She lifted her coffee cup. “I don’t fit in with any of the women here either, so I’m officially volunteering to be your girlfriend. Want to form a book club where we don’t actually read anything and drink wine instead?”
A short laugh burst out of Katherine. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack.”
The grey feeling fell over her in a flash, and she saw Megan fumble her coffee cup and spill caffe latte all over her pristine white pants. She jumped up and jostled the table, causing even more coffee to spill everywhere.
Katherine blinked and the grey feeling cleared. Her ears popped and sounds were crisp again; the smell of ground coffee was pungent in her nose.
Megan was sitting across from her, coffee cup in hand. “You know, I was thinking when you called—”
Katherine reached across the table and grabbed Megan’s cup before it could tip over.
Megan blinked. “If you wanted some coffee—”
“You were about to spill.”
“How—?”
“I saw you spill.”
Megan sat, silent and staring.
Okay, Katherine, here you go. “The back of your right hand was going to hit the edge of your coffee cup and you would have spilled on your pants. Then you were going to jump up and the coffee would spill on your purse.” Katherine folded her hands in her lap, wondering if that admission was the end of Megan wanting anything to do with her.
She’d been kind of into the book club idea.
“You saw
