and I Believe. Jodie Richard-Bohman

it was affecting you and Mia. But I promise you,” I said, lifting her chin up. “Things are going to change and I won’t act like that ever again. Okay?”

      She eagerly nodded her head, looking happy and relieved.

      I dropped the girls off at school and daycare and was sitting on a step outside by Mom and Dad’s garage waiting on Liz. It was so beautiful and peaceful out here. There was still a thin layer of white snow that covered the grass, and the sun was slowly peaking through the clouds, giving hope that spring might soon be here.

      Liz pulled into the driveway.

      “Sorry for being late. I assumed you would be late like you usually are, so I took my time,” she said when I got in her car.

      “I get that a lot,” I kidded back.

      “Now let’s finish what we started a month ago. Today, we’re getting the works. I have scheduled massages, haircuts, pedicures and manicures, along with some shopping. I also made a special reservation for lunch,” she said as we drove off.

      The first thing on our agenda was massages. We were in separate rooms with the lights turned down and soft music playing in the background. With each rub, every ounce of my stress was being stripped away, one problem at a time. By the time the lady finished, I walked out of the room feeling intoxicated. Liz was flipping through a magazine and when she saw me, she chuckled.

      “What?” I asked.

      “Your hair,” she said, pointing to my head.

      I felt my hair, which was oily and sticking straight up on end.

      “I bet I look really cute right now.”

      “All I can say is thank goodness we get our haircuts next,” she said.

      I visited my beautician every six weeks, but it had been ten weeks since my last cut and highlight, and my hair was a mess. First came the foils then came a lot of cutting here and there and then voilà - my hair looked fabulous! She wedged the back of my hair, leaving my sides longer and flipped out, and the extra blonde highlights set everything off.

      “Wow! I feel like a new woman! I can’t believe I was walking around for so long looking like a shaggy dog,” I said, staring at my hair in the mirror.

      Liz was beside me, and out of the blue, barked out loud, startling a lady in the booth next to us. We began laughing so hard that we had tears rolling down our cheeks.

      “We better get out of here before they kick us out,” I said and we headed over to get our manicures and pedicures.

      While they were working on our feet, a lady offered us some wine, grapes and cheese.

      “This wine is going down really well. I’m about ready to ask for the whole bottle,” I said.

      “Hey - speaking of drinking, some of us girls are going to Creekside tonight for their St. Patty’s Day party. It should be a really good time. Shelly and Tina are coming.”

      I completely forgot that it was St. Patrick’s Day. I loved St. Patrick’s Day.

      I barely let her finish her sentence. “I’ll go.”

      “What? Really?” she asked, surprised.

      “Yes.”

      “Are you serious?”

      “Yes,” I answered again.

      “Woo-hoo! The old Kate is finally back!”

      Once our nails were done, we went shopping. I bought myself a few new outfits, along with a fun St. Patty’s Day shirt for tonight. It was a green short sleeve shirt that said “Kiss me, not because I am Irish, but because I want you to” on the front of it. I had a long sleeve white tee at home that would look perfect underneath it.

      One of my favorite restaurants was this awesome sushi and hibachi grill, and Liz surprised me by making reservations there. I was like a kid in a candy store as I ordered five different sushi rolls, each topped off with this spicy sauce.

      “I loved Saturday nights when we would go to your mom and dad’s house,” I reminisced while we were eating. “We three girls would wait patiently as Dad showered and Mom got ready. Then we’d all load up in the family Oldsmobile and drive over to your house. The second we pulled into your driveway, there would be seven heads peaking out the windows at us.”

      “We didn’t have company very often, so anytime a car pulled in, we were like wild animals checking to see who it was. It was like a special occasion when your family came over and Mom made sure to break out the fancy arrangement of ring bologna and cheese,” Liz said.

      By the end of our meal, my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Liz always had a way of bringing humor to my life when I needed it the most.

      Chapter 17

      I was still in a fantastic mood from Liz and my “girls’ day” earlier today, and was even pleasant to Aaron when he picked the girls up for the weekend. While it was still hard to see the girls leave, I didn’t feel as sad and lonely as I did the last time. Instead, I took a nice long hot bath then freshened up.

      A little tease here and a little spray there and my hair was looking as good as it did this morning. There was a good song on the radio that I was humming to as I rooted through my shopping bag. I couldn’t contain my excitement as I put on my new jeans and shirt and slid my feet into my brand new pair of black wedge pumps. Pleased with what I saw in the mirror, I remembered that there was one last thing I needed to do. I reached back into the bag and wrapped my hand around a small jewelry box. My heart melted when I slid the sterling silver smoky quartz eternity ring that I bought earlier today onto my left ring finger.

       It’s time for a new beginning!

      “It’s about time you came out of hiding,” I heard yelled at me when we walked into Creekside.

      It had been a couple of years since I had last been in this bar, but the old familiar feelings came rushing back to me. The front door still creaked when it was opened, and the nonstop chatter amongst the people sitting around the bar sounded the same as it did way back then.

      “I know, I know,” I laughed, as Liz and I walked over to the table where Tina, Shelly and some of our other friends were sitting.

      “All I’m going to say is we love you, and we miss you, and you better not avoid us anymore, or I will kick your little butt,” Shelly joked. “Now, we have a lot of catching up to do and beer to drink, so let’s get this party started.”

      “Woo-hoo!” I said, taking a seat next to Tina.

      We were all sitting there talking and catching up when Tony, the owner of the bar, walked over to our table.

      “Oh my gosh. Long time no see,” I said, getting up to give him a hug.

      “I know. I had to do a double take when you walked in,” he said, hugging me back. “I heard you stopped by.”

      “Yeah . . . I was going to come inside but chickened out.”

      “Surprise, surprise,” he laughed.

      “What do you mean by that?” I asked, amused.

      “Girls can’t go into bars by themselves or to the bathrooms by themselves or . . .”

      “Okay, okay, I get the point,” I joked. “Here, have a seat and tell me what you’ve been up to these last ten years.”

      He took a seat beside me and we talked for the longest time about everything we had been up to. He mentioned how he had heard through the grapevine that Aaron and I were separated, but other than that, nothing more was said about it, which was a major relief. Tony was one of my best guy friends in high school, and it was just great to talk and reminisce about all of the happy times in our lives, instead of the sad.

      By nine o’clock the