A Love We Deserve (True Love Book 2) by Betsy Anne Page A

definitely a keeper. Her house is in an older section of Milwaukee, and it’s adorable. So her . She starts screaming when she opens the door.
    “Oh my God, I’m so glad you guys are here! I felt so antsy last night; I thought Tom was going to throw me out into the backyard.”
    She and Kat crash into each other for a big bear hug. Katie had told me that they didn’t see that much of each other before her “shitty life event” as she calls it, and it really woke her up. Friends provide such an important support system, through good times and bad. Now they talk almost every day on the phone, and see each other as often as they can. Colleen grabs my hand and the three of us walk together into her house. She gives us the five-cent tour before heading back to the kitchen, where they have a wet bar attached. She opens up a cabinet and grabs three pilsner glasses, etched with her and Tom’s last initial. She opens and stares into a mini-fridge, and selects three bottles of some kind of beer I’ve never heard of.
    “Beer? Really, Coll? It’s 10:00 in the morning.”
    Katie is laughing as Colleen hands her the full glass.
    “If I had poured you wine, you wouldn’t have said anything. Girlfriend, this is Milwaukee this is how we roll up here.”
    She clinks glasses with us and downs about half of hers. I’ve never been a big beer drinker, so it’s going to take me a while to catch up. I take a sip, and it’s really bitter. Yuck.
    “Oh, don’t make that face. I know you’ve tasted worse things in your life!”
    I catch the double meaning and feel myself blush. The last sexual experience I had, with a living person, was with Caleb in the massage room, and I did just that. Of course there’s no way for her to have known, but I gave myself away.
    “See?? Obviously I’m right! So just stop your grimacing and drink up. I have a fun afternoon planned for us. First brewery tours, then lunch at my favorite local dive for some burgers. Your bellies will be full, but you’ll love me even more than you do now. Anyway, Mel, you look like you need a good burger or two. You’ve wasted away to nothing!”
    I love this chick. We finish our beers at the house, and head out for our day in the city. She was right. Best beer and food ever. I’ve had more beer, cheese and beef in the last four hours than I have in the last four years, and it was freaking worth it. I feel like I should at least be buzzed, but I’m not. I think my blood stream is trying to digest the fat I’ve consumed; it’s not even bothering with the alcohol. We do a little sightseeing after lunch, even though we’re moving at a snail’s pace, and decide to head back to her house around 5:00 p.m.
    “Holy hell, Coll, are you trying to kill me? I won’t digest that meal until next week. Look at this!”
    Katie grabs her belly and wiggles it. What little belly she has is poking out from her lunch.
    “Hey, I didn’t force you to eat that second batch of onion rings!”
    We all start laughing and grab our sides. It hurts too much.
    “What’s on the agenda for tonight?” I ask hopefully; I’m ready to party. After a little nap, of course.
    “I didn’t think you guys would want to go out after that. I thought we could hang here and watch some movies.”
    She and Katie look exhausted. But from weight loss and energy stored up from the last few years of doing nothing, I’m ready to party.
    “Come on, old ladies! Get your asses in gear!”
    They want a project; I’ll give them a project. I’ll wear them out. Colleen calls Tom and asks him where we should go. He mentions some bar downtown, and I don’t care. Just get me out among the living. I instantly regret it when we get there.
    “You begged us. We’re going in there, sister, like it or not,” Katie says with a no nonsense look. We all spent time doing our hair and make-up for this “hot spot” that Tom knew about. Clientele is young, but not too young for us to feel out of place. The music is