Free Beck and Call by Abby Gordon Page A

never hurt. No one’s ever said that to me.” 62

    Beck And Call

    “Wow,” Claire whispered. “Next time you talk to him, definitely ask if he has brothers or cousins you can hook us up with.”
    “Hmph!” Debbie snorted. She glanced at Serena and winked at her. “Just because I’m happy for Serena doesn’t mean I’m ready to settle down and make babies.”
    “Wait a second!” Serena gasped, even as she understood that Debbie wanted to get Claire’s mind off her heartache. “Who said anything about settling down and making babies?”
    “Hey, you just turned thirty, remember?” came the tease as Debbie pulled a bottle of chardonnay out of the fridge. “That clock is ticking louder. Tick.
    Tock. Tick. Tock.”
    “Honestly!” groaned Serena, scraping all the carrots into the bowl where lettuce, celery, and scallions were waiting. “You’d think I had one foot in the grave!”
    “Claire, where did she put her cane?” Debbie grinned as she worked the corkscrew. “She seems to have forgotten where it is.”
    “Forgotten it? Give me a cane and I’ll whack you with it you, you young whippersnapper!” Serena laughed, trying and failing horribly to sound like an old woman. All three women giggled hysterically.
    “Oh, Lord, and we haven’t had any wine yet. You are so slow, Deb!”
    “I’m working on it,” she laughed.
    “Maybe I should help?” Serena offered. “Even my poor, weak muscles should be able to move faster than…”
    Pop! Debbie grinned. Chuckling, Claire got the glasses.
    “Good thing I stocked up on aspirin,” Serena sighed as Debbie poured the wine. And filled all three glasses to the brim. “I haven’t done this since I was about six,” she muttered, bending down to slurp 63

    Abby Gordon

    the wine so it wouldn’t spill when she picked it up.
    “And what happened when you did?” Claire asked, mimicking her action.
    “My mother swatted my rear,” she said dryly.
    “And what would she do if she knew about your phone sex?” Debbie asked archly.
    Serena froze. “She’d do a lot more than swat at me,” she whispered. Her hands started shaking. “Oh, God…”
    “No,” Debbie shook her head. “Don’t even think about it. I’m sorry I asked.”
    Sighing, Serena picked up the tongs and mixed the salad.
    “No, it’s okay. I think we all hear our mothers criticizing our actions and choices. It’s not easy sometimes, is it?” She glanced at Claire, who shook her head. “So, we do what we have to do to live our own lives. We order pizza, open however many bottles of wine we need to, and hold onto friends who understand us more than our own families.”
    “I’ll drink to that,” Claire stated, raising her glass.
    They clinked their glasses and drank.
    There was a knock on the door.
    “Yes! Pizza!” Debbie put her glass down and hurried to the door. “I’m starved.” Laughing, the other two picked up the salad, forks and plates. Putting them on the leather trunk Serena used as a coffee table, they listened as Debbie flirted with the delivery boy. Retrieving the wine glasses, Serena grinned as Claire was pulled into the laughing conversation.
    They all needed this, she smiled, pulling another bottle out of the fridge. Tucking it under her arm, she caught up the corkscrew with her pinkie as she scooped up the glasses. This was the perfect night.
    By midnight, the perfect night had disintegrated into a wine-filled haze.
    64

    Beck And Call

    Within minutes of starting the movie, Claire was crying about Paul’s interest in a threesome.
    After blowing her nose and splashing cold water on her face, she appropriated a bottle and proceeded to drink the contents. Exasperated with her roommate, Debbie scarfed down two slices and opened another bottle. Serena tried to coax them into making their usual sarcastic or witty comments about the dialogue, but gave up after thirty minutes. As the romantic comedy droned on, she pulled into herself and went over the phone