Read Online By Design by Jayne Denker - Free Book Online Page B

filled with weird, old doppelgängers of people we used to know in high school, and I’m outnumbered! It’s like being in a zombie movie!”
    Emmie took a deep breath and clicked off. Trish had to be almost there. Maybe she didn’t answer because she was getting out of her car and walking to the front door at that very minute, and she didn’t want to waste time digging her phone out of her purse. That was probably it.
    Emmie looked around for a box of tissues, didn’t find one, and blew her nose on some toilet paper. It looked like Juliet had just moved in—the powder room was as stark as the rest of the house; the entire place echoed emptily with only the barest amount of furniture and absolutely no creature comforts. She expected Juliet to have decorated every inch of the place by now, but there was not one stylish accessory in the place yet. Maybe Juliet was a good candidate for Wilman Designs, she thought.
    Emmie was passing through the kitchen with the drinks table as her target—she had lost her first thimble-sized plastic “wineglass” somewhere along the way, and she desperately needed a replacement—when her phone rang in her pocket. She scrambled to answer it.
    “Hey, honey,” came a distant voice.
    Emmie frantically turned up the volume on her phone. “Trish! Where are you? Tell me you’re on your way.”
    “Uh, no, sweetie, I’m afraid not.”
    “ Why not?”
    Emmie was ready to rend her friend six ways from Sunday, but she stopped short when Trish said in a tight voice, “We’re at the hospital.”
    “Oh my God. What happened?”
    “Nothing major,” she rushed to reassure her friend. “It’s Logan; he just had to try out Justin’s skateboard even though we’ve told him a thousand times he’s not allowed, and he fell. He might have a broken arm.”
    “How awful for the poor little punkin. I’ll be right there.” And Emmie started to look around for Juliet to find out how to get her personal effects released.
    Trish actually laughed. “You’re not getting out of the party that easily.”
    “Oh, screw the party. I’m worried about Logan. And you,” she added.
    “Logan’s arm is iced and he hasn’t even had X-rays yet. He’s watching television, and I’m going to get him some dinner. Do you know they have McDonald’s in the hospital? Isn’t that kind of a conflict of interest?”
    “Good for repeat business, at the very least.”
    “Anyway, we know the drill, after Justin’s concussion and both of his sprains from soccer. Stupid sport,” she muttered. “I feel like we should have a Campo Memorial Cubicle here or something. I’ve got a nice one picked out; I’m going to ask the charge nurse if we can have a plaque and a little ceremony—you know, maybe some canapés and champagne for the local dignitaries, nothing big.” Emmie started to insist again that she was going to show up at the hospital, but Trish interrupted her. “Honestly, Emmie, we’re fine. I mean it. Okay?”
    “I don’t like it,” Emmie grumbled.
    “Well, suck it up. Now get in there and mingle with those zombie alums!”
    After eliciting a promise from Trish that she would phone when she had an update on Logan’s status, Emmie ended the call and looked around, a little desperate. She was on her own. She’d rather be at the hospital with Trish and Logan. She’d rather be at home. She’d rather be in a foxhole under heavy mortar fire.
    Suddenly Juliet was at her elbow. “Emmie, is everything okay?”
    There it was again— everything okay? Emmie didn’t even want to speculate on what Juliet thought of her—most likely that she was the biggest drama magnet on the planet. Funny how it wasn’t so long ago that Trish accused her of having a boring life. Proved her wrong, Emmie thought smugly. As for Juliet, well, Emmie was going to show her just how downright normal she was.
    She put on a smile and dragged her best vocabulary out of mothballs. “Yes, everything’s fine. But I’m afraid I