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"Sophomore year at college," Lena said and hugged her back. "I heard you'd left school
to help out with the family business. I had no idea it was a bakery!"
"This is it." Benny motioned around the cozy place. "I'm going to school part-time now. I
need two semesters before I graduate."
"Good for you!" Lena shot me an annoyed look. "Why didn't you tell me Benny owned
this place?"
"I didn't know you two were acquainted."
"We were in the same dorm freshman year," Benny explained. "We had a pretty good
time together."
"Hell yes we did!" Lena's skilled eye jumped around the bakery. "Looks like you could
use some marketing and PR help, Benny. This is a good location but you're not doing nearly as
much business as you could."
Benny swallowed a bit nervously. "Those kinds of skills are expensive to hire."
Lena smiled warmly. "I'm sure we can work something out."
Benn looked surprised. "You're in PR now?"
Lena nodded. "I work at Hillman & Crest where I do mainly night clubs and restaurants
but I know I can handle this. Why don't we trade contact info& "
When the line moved, Vivi and I left the two old friends behind to talk business. We
placed our order and found a table. A short time later, Lena joined us with her coffee and
breakfast burrito. She seemed rather excited about working with Benny.
"Isn't this a step down from the usual posh places you promo whore for?" Vivian asked.
Lena didn't deny it. "I won't do it on company time, obviously, but she's a really nice girl.
It's clear she could use some help." She dumped a few tablespoons of sugar into her coffee and
gave it a stir. Her gaze held mine. "So how was it at the jail yesterday?"
I licked some of the sweet cinnamon filling that had oozed out of my pastry from my
finger. With a grimace, I said, "It was okay. Jails are creepy places."
"Is Ruby doing well in treatment?" Vivi sipped her tea. "She's five weeks into it. That's
better than she's ever done, right?"
I nodded. "She was& difficult during our visit. I could tell that she's depressed and having
a hard time facing the consequences of what she's done. Being high as a kite for years made it
easy to mask all the wrong she was doing. Now it's staring her right in the face. She's trying,
though, and that's all that really matters."
Lena emptied a couple of creamer packets into her cup. "Has her lawyer finished
hammering out her plea deal?"
"She's going to finish the six months of mandatory in-jail rehab and do another six
months in an extended treatment program at the jail. Twelve months total," I said. "Then
probation."
"Wow," Vivi said softly. "That's harsh but I guess she's just lucky to be alive."
"Absolutely," I agreed.
"Have you," Lena lowered her voice, "have you had any more problems with you-know-
who?"
She meant the Albanians and the Hermanos. "No, they've left us all alone."
"Do you blame them?" Vivi asked. "Ivan put one of those guys in a halo brace and the
other one had to have his leg rebuilt. I'm sure they're going to avoid you two like the plague."
"Speaking of Ivan," Lena said with a lascivious smile, "how are things with your big
Russian hunk?"
My cheeks grew hot. "Very good."
"Oh come on!" She practically begged. "Details? Please! I live with a nun," she gestured
to Vivi, "and I'm stranded in a sex desert where there isn't one good penis to be found."
Now my ears were bright red. I glanced around the tables surrounding us and prayed no
one was eavesdropping. "Not here! Maybe later."
"No maybe to it, Erin. I'm going to get all the juicy, dirty details from you."
Vivi rolled her eyes and whacked Lena's arm. "Calm down! You're worse than a frat
boy."
Lena looked contrite. "Yes, Sister Vivian."
I laughed as the two roommates and longtime friends pinched and smacked one another.
When they were done with their childish play, they laughed and turned back to me. Both stared
expectantly and I realized they wanted to hear more about my relationship with Ivan. I figured
now was as good a time as any to tell them.
"So Ivan wants me to go back to school in the fall and work on my MBA. I was hoping
to turn my part-time gig at the firm into full-time employment but they've made it clear they're
going to downsize. I won't be kept on as an accountant. I was toying with the idea of going to
grad school but it's so expensive. Ivan offered to help." I hesitated. "And he wants me move in
with him."
Instead of the cries of outrage at the idea of moving in so quickly with him, they both
looked rather calm. Finally, Vivi spoke. "Well are you going to?"
"What? Go back for my MBA or move in with him?"
"Both," she clarified.
I chewed my lower lip and admitted, "I'm leaning toward yes on both."
"But?" Lena asked.
"But it's a big step, right? Moving in with him and letting him help me with school?"
"Dude!" Lena gaped at me as if I were dumb. "The man saved your sister from two
bloodthirsty gangs and fought off two armed dickheads with his bare hands! How the heck do
you say no to that?"
"She's right," Vivi agreed. "Look, I'm always the one who says be careful and stay away
from guys like Ivan but not this time. I know he's not perfect and he's done some shady things in
his past but he's reformed himself. He's a standup guy and he loves you."
I couldn't deny that. He hadn't said it outright but I wasn't blind. Ivan loved me just as
much as I loved him.
I put my head in my hands. "Maybe I'm just scared that moving in with him is going to
ruin it. What we have is so special. I don't want to lose that."
"You won't." Lena spoke with authority. "I'm not the sappy, lovey-dovey, fate type, you
know? But when I look at you two? It makes me hope that someday I'll have someone like Ivan
in my life." She paused. "Just without the criminal record."
I threw a piece of pastry at her, whacking her right in the face. "Bitch!"
She laughed and brushed the pastry onto the table. "I've got enough male criminals in my
life. I don't need one sharing my bed."
Lena said it with a smile but I could hear the pain in her voice. It couldn't have been easy
to have a father who was known as the best fence in Houston or a cousin who was in and out of
juvie and now working as her dad's protégé.
"Sorry, Lena."
She waved it off. "We can't pick our family."
I smiled at Vivi and Lena. "No but I think we did a good job picking our friends."
* * *
Later that afternoon, I puttered around the apartment. I wandered by the door to Ruby's
room and opened it. Nothing in her room had changed since I'd gone through and cleaned it last
week. I hadn't had the heart to box up her things but if I decided to move in with Ivan it would
have to be done. I wasn't at all sure how she was going to take that news. Badly, I presumed.
But I couldn't keep living my life worrying about Ruby. I'd been putting her and her
problems first for so long that I'd been neglecting my life.
What I hadn't told Vivi and Lena was that my boss at the accounting firm had made it
clear that he would have fought for me to be retained as a full-time employee if I'd been more
reliable. I'd wanted to explain that cutting out of work early or coming in late had been caused by
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