Page 91 of Derivation

“No, don’t.” Sarai smiled at her. “You look amazing.”

“You do, too,” Gabi said and held out her hand. “Shall we?”

“Did you park on the street by chance?”

“Yes, why?”

“Because Violet’s here, which means her car is in the driveway, and I didn’t want us to get blocked in,” she replied as she took Gabi’s hand.

“Violet’s here? Where?”

Violet cleared her throat in the kitchen, so Gabi turned her head, but Sarai used her free hand to turn it back toward her instead.

“Probably in the bathroom. Bad stomach, that Violet. I actually feel really bad for Stella, having to put up with all the… you know, smells.”

There was a high-pitched sound from the kitchen that nearly made Sarai laugh, but she held it together.

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, but does she need any medication or something? Does she still have any here if she does?”

“That’s for Stella to worry about now. Once one of us has a significant other, the rest of us are off the hook.”

“You four have some very interesting rules; you know that, right?” Gabi joked.

“Yes. We’re way too close. So, let’s go and get me away from all of them as quickly as possible.”

“Okay.” Gabi chuckled.

They walked out the front door then, and Sarai took a deep breath and let it out. This was not the start to the date that she’d wanted for them, so now, she was a different kind of nervous that was mixing with the nerves that were already there, and that could not be good.

“They were in the kitchen, weren’t they?” Gabi asked, squeezing Sarai’s hand as they walked to the car.

“Yes,” she admitted as she lowered her head.

“And that whole Violet stomach thing?”

“I made it up. But can you not tell her that I told you? And maybe bring up how you’re concerned about her every so often?”

Gabi laughed and replied, “No problem. Did you make them hide in the kitchen for my benefit, though?”

“No, mine. And I didn’t tell them to hide in the kitchen. I suggested the garage, the backyard, or Arlowe’s bedroom. They had their pick and chose the kitchen, of course, so that they could eavesdrop.”

“Well, that calls for revenge, I think,” Gabi said as she unlocked the car with her key fob.

“Yeah?” Sarai asked, surprised to hear Gabi say that.

“Definitely. Want to plot something on the drive to the restaurant?”

Sarai laughed and climbed into the car, feeling instantly better, and when Gabi joined her, it hit her that they were on a date now. It was happening. It had started once they’d left the house. They were actually on a date.

“You okay?” Gabi asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“On a scale of one to ten, how much are you freaking out?”

“I’m not freaking–”