Circle of Friends, Part 2 Read Online Free PDF Page A

found herself on the other side of things. “The rules are good,” she said. “They give you boundaries. Trust me, rules are better than no rules.”
    Tiffany rolled her eyes. “What do you know? You got married and left. You don’t have any rules anymore. You can do anything you want. I want that. I want people to stop telling me what to do all the time!”
    With that, she stalked out of the kitchen and let the back door slam behind her.
    Noelle winced. “Tell me I wasn’t that bad.”
    â€œMost teenagers are a challenge, in their own way. She’ll get through it.”
    Noelle watched Tiffany walk around the pool and flop down in a chair. “I remember feeling lost and confused about the world when I was her age. It wasn’t fun.”
    Her gaze strayed to where Dev stood talking to her father. At the sight of him, she felt her heartbeat increase. The need to move close, to touch him and kiss him nearly overwhelmed her. But it was more than that. She also wanted to hear his voice and see him smile at her. Life was better when he was with her.
    Beside her, her mother sighed. “I remember those days.”
    Noelle glanced at her. “Being fifteen?”
    Her mother smiled. “Being in love and newly married. I couldn’t take my eyes off of your dad. Every day was magic and there weren’t enough hours for us to express our feelings. What a wonderful time. I wouldn’t want to live through being a teenager again, but I wouldn’t mind revisiting that romantic intensity for a few days.”
    Noelle felt herself flush. “We’re, um... It’s just...”
    Her mother laughed. “You don’t have to explain it to me. I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
    Noelle doubted that. She and Dev weren’t in love the way her mother thought. They were just...
    What? What were they? Married, of course. Having a baby together. Living in the same house, caring about each other, building a life. It certainly looked like a strong, healthy relationship. They had respect, mutual affection, attraction.
    Her gaze returned to Dev. Whatever they had felt wonderful.
    â€œNoelle, did you mention the medical bills to Dev?”
    She blinked and turned her attention to the question. “What? Oh, my bills? I don’t think so.” She remembered one of their earlier conversations, where she’d confessed she would marry him and had explained the reasons why. That she didn’t want to financially burden her family.
    She grimaced. “Wait. I did mention them. Should I not have said anything?”
    Her mother shrugged. “I can’t decide. They’ve been paid. Anonymously, of course. At first I thought it was someone in the congregations, but we know who all the large contributors are and they generally want us to know they’re giving. Plus, this is a personal matter and no one knew. Which made it a mystery. Then I thought of Dev.”
    â€œHe never said anything,” Noelle admitted, not sure how to react to the information. “I don’t know if it was him.”
    â€œThere isn’t anyone else with both the information and the money.”
    Had he done that for her? Helped out her family without expecting anything in return? Her chest tightened slightly and she felt all warm and gooey inside.
    â€œI both appreciate the act and respect his desire for privacy,” her mother said. “I like that he didn’t feel the need to brag about what he’d done. You’ve chosen well, Noelle. Dev is a good man.”
    She looked back at the man she’d married. “Yes, he is.”
    * * *
    S UMMER ’ S BOYFRIEND DRONED on endlessly about the advantages of dual exhaust in his car. Noelle stretched out in the sun and ignored the conversation, even when Dev joined in on the pitfalls of retrofitting something like that on an older car.
    Tiffany sat by Noelle’s feet on the lounge chair.
    â€œSo